Mycenaean Art
“I have gazed into the face of Agamemnon.” Schliemann
The architecture of Mycenaean citadel sites reflects the war-like culture and its constant need for protection and fortification.
Mycenaean culture can be summarized by its architecture, whose remains demonstrate the Mycenaeans’ war-like culture and the dominance of citadel sites ruled by a single ruler. The Mycenaeans populated Greece and built citadels on high, rocky outcroppings that provided natural fortification and overlooked the plains used for farming and raising livestock. The citadels vary from city to city but each shares common attributes, including building techniques and architectural features.
By the end of this module you will be able to:
- Identify and describe the form, content, and context of Mycenaean works
- Define the critical terms related to Mycenaean art
- Describe the Mycenaean architecture and funerary practices
Building Techniques
The walls of Mycenaean citadel sites were often built with ashlar and massive stone blocks. The blocks were considered too large to be moved by humans and were believed by ancient Greeks to have been erected by the Cyclopes—one-eyed giants. Due to this ancient belief, the use of large, roughly cut, ashlar blocks in buildings are referred to as Cyclopean masonry. The thick Cyclopean walls reflect a need for protection and self-defence since these walls often encircled the citadel site and the acropolis on which the site was located.
Corbel Arch
The Mycenaeans also relied on new techniques of building to create supportive archways and vaults. A typical post and lintel structure is not strong enough to support the heavy structures built above it. Therefore, a corbeled (or corbel) arch is employed over doorways to relieve the weight on the lintel.
The corbel arch is constructed by offsetting (cantilevering) successive courses of stone (or brick) at the spring line of the walls so that they project towards the archway’s center from each supporting side until the courses meet at the apex of the archway (often, the last gap is bridged with a flat stone). The corbel arch was often used by the Mycenaeans in conjunction with a relieving triangle, which was a triangular block of stone that fits into the recess of the corbeled arch and helped to redistribute weight from the lintel to the supporting walls. The triangular space may have been left open in some structures.
Citadel Sites
Mycenaean citadel sites were centred around the megaron, a reception area for the king. The megaron was a rectangular hall, fronted by an open, two-columned porch. It contained a more or less central open hearth, which was vented through an oculus in the roof above it and surrounded by four columns. The architectural plan of the megaron became the basic shape of Greek temples, demonstrating the cultural shift as the gods of ancient Greece took the place of the Mycenaean rulers.
Citadel sites were protected from invasion through natural and man-made fortificat