Mycenæ: a narrative of researches and discoveries at Mycenæ and TirynsSchliemann, Heinrich
History
Mycenæ: a narrative of researches and discoveries at Mycenæ and Tiryns
Schliemann, Heinrich
Mycenae (Extinct city); Tiryns (Extinct city)
I further found with the three bodies of the third tomb two golden
ornaments, representing two women, each having a pigeon on her head. One
of them (No. 268) has also a pigeon attached to each arm. Both women
are of the same type and have a long pointed nose, which protrudes in a
straight line from the forehead, and large eyes. The heads of both are
crowned with a diadem. Each has a hollow in the left cheek, which is
alone visible; both touch their breasts with the hands, and this must be
a symbol of fertility or abundance. I call attention to the resemblance
in the attitude of these women to that of the numerous terra-cotta idols
of Aphrodite from Cyprus, as well as to the so-called statue of Niobe
on the rock of Sipylos, which also touch their breasts with both hands.
The four pigeons are represented with spread wings, as if they were
flying. The first woman (No. 267) has four perforations and her bird has
two, by which this ornament was sewn on the clothes or drapery. On the
other hand, the woman with the three pigeons has evidently been fixed to
something else with two small gold pins, the broad heads of which we see,
the one between the knees of the woman, the other on her belly.
[Illustration: No. 269. Golden Ornament. Sepulchre III. Actual size.]
[Illustration: Nos. 270, 271. Two Golden Cuttle Fish. Sepulchre III.
Actual size.]
I further found in the same tomb golden ornaments like No. 269, but I
find it difficult to explain whether the artist intended to represent
a horse, a hippocampus, or a dog. Of golden ornaments in the form of
cuttle-fish, or sepias, I found not less than twenty-seven of the shape
of those represented under Nos. 270 and 271. All of them are double, that
is to say, two sepias are always soldered together, so that the ornament
represents a sepia on either side. The Mycenean goldsmith, always eager
to convert everything into spirals, has done so here with all the feet
of the sepias, every one of which forms a beautiful spiral. Some of the
sepias, like No. 270, have in addition four perforations for fixing
them with thread. How these ornaments may have been used is altogether
a riddle to me. No. 272 represents a flying griffin of gold. Like No.
261, it has the body of a lion, the head and wings of an eagle, and is
ornamented with spirals. As it has no perforations, it must have been
fastened with glue on the drapery.
[Illustration: No. 272. A Flying Griffin of Gold. Sepulchre III. Actual
size.]
[Illustration: No. 273. Golden Ornament. Sepulchre III. Actual size.]
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