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 population are to be distinguished in Argolis, the older of which is the Danaans and the younger the Achaeans.

The Danaans are associated by tradition with Argos and the seacoast. Their ancestor, Danaüs, is closely connected with the hydrography of Argolis, as the myth of the Danaïdes illustrates. Probably the Danaans originally dwelt in pile villages and founded Tiryns, which was once surrounded by swamps. The Achaeans lived in and around Mycenae in the mountainous country to the north. These two people came into conflict with each other. A friendly settlement seems to have been reached, the Achaeans remaining masters of the upper country without expelling the Danaans.

According to legend, Mycenae was founded by Perseus, a descendant of Danaüs of Tiryns, and his descendants ruled in Mycenae until the time of Eurystheus; then the sovereignty passed to Atreus and Thyestes—i. e., to the Achaeans.

From the fact that the citadel at Mycenae shows two periods of construction—an older, in which the wall had an entrance similar to that of Tiryns, and a later, in which the citadel was extended and the Lions' Gate was built—Tsountas infers that the earlier period, to which must be assigned the shaft-graves in the so-called circle of graves on the acropolis, corresponded to the founding by Perseus, and that the later, with the beehive tombs situated outside the