“Here, after having examined the ruin, we lunched and again mounting our horses, proceeded to view the celebrated ‘Lions’ of Mycenæ, once the site of the royal palace of Agamemnon—itself a _ruin in the time of Homer_—its foundation going back to an almost dateless antiquity. The ruins of Mycenæ are, in many respects, unequaled in interest by any object in Greece. Their position is fortunate; there is no habitation near them. The traveler ascends from the open plain to the deserted hill on which they stand. The walls of the citadel may still be traced in their entire circuit, and on the western side they rise to a considerable height. Only a few foundations of ancient buildings remain, and one or two cisterns hewn in the rocky soil, and lined with cement. Such is the present state of the Acropolis of Mycenæ. Two gates, one on the northeast, the other on the northwest, both guarded by a tower, gave entrance into the city. The two gates and tower seem to have been connected, and illustrate the military architecture presented to our notice in the Iliad. The ‘Lions’ are represented in high relief, rampant, headless, their feet resting on a pedestal which is a Doric column reversed, carved out of a block of gray limestone. By whom erected, or for what purpose, must ever remain a mystery. Perhaps the simplest explanation is the best, that they denote the ‘courage leonine,’ and were heraldic badges upon the national escutcheon of Mycenæ. We clambered over the walls of the ruined palace of Agamemnon, on the hill-side we came across several pieces of antique pottery, which we have preserved. To make the illusion more complete, while we were exploring the ruins, a fierce, wolfish, shepherd-dog, the only guardian of the place, in a field below, kept up a loud, persistent barking, which ceased not till we had left the spot.” It is perhaps too soon, in the present imperfect state of the excavations at Mycenæ, to form a true estimate of their value, as related to the authenticity of the heroes of Homer. However, we will give, as far as that is possible, from the reports of Dr. Schliemann himself, a review of the wonderful things which this great sapper and miner has brought to light: [Sidenote: THE CITY OF MYCENÆ.] The city of Mycenæ must have been wonderfully beautiful. Homer calls it “the city rich in gold and broad of streets,” at the time when the ruler of Mycenæ, Agamemnon, assisted the Greeks against Troja, with one hundred ships, and a great number of men, for which service he was elected their commander-in-chief. He fell, at his return, by the faithlessness of his wife, and with him the glory of the city was gone. Only rarely we find, in history, traces of her unimportant existence. About the middle of the fifth century B. C., she was destroyed by the Argivi, and her inhabitants dispersed. [Illustration: THE EXPLORATIONS AT MYCENÆ. THE TREASURY OF ATREUS (ENTRANCE.)]