|
Travel Essays - Stationhill.com |
||
|
| Next | Back | Home | Fiction | Non-Fiction | Poems | Book Excerpts |Religious|Travel Essays|
Mycenae – Travel Essay Located in Greece, Peloponnese, a little over two hours by car from Athens Athens Airport is the nearest International Airport General: Tourists are welcome to visit Mycenae and to watch any ongoing excavations. Mycenae was called “Rich in Gold” by the poet Homer. The stones that made up the outer walls were called Cyclopean. These “stones” are so huge that the contemporary people did not know who had assembled the walls. The walls are 13 meters high and 10 meters thick. The contemporary people thought that a race of giants from long ago had built the walls and that the walls had always been there. To the best of my knowledge, there were only three fortresses that were called Cyclopean; Mycenae, Tiryns and Gla. It took a long time to find and excavate Troy. Mycenae on the other hand was always above ground and Mycenae’s location was always known. At Mycenae you must see at least the Cyclopean walls, the Lions Gate, the Treasury of Atreus, and the Tomb shafts. Heinrich Schliemann also made excavations at Mycenae. As the legend is told; (Circa 1280 B.C.) Paris came from Troy on a goodwill tour to visit the Greeks. Somehow, Helen (the most beautiful woman in the world) either eloped with Paris or was kidnapped by Paris. All the Greek Kings had sworn an oath to protect Helen. Helen was the face that launched 1000 ships. The 1000 ships went to fight at Troy. The fighting lasted 10 years. Agamemnon was the high king of the Greeks and Achilles was the Greek champion. Priam was the high king of the Trojans and Hector was the Trojan champion. The Greeks won the war. After the war was over, the entire economy went bust and everyone had tremendous troubles. The Greeks left Troy to return home. This is the Odyssey. Large numbers of Greeks perished on the trip home. Sources: Internet, Wikipedia, Funk & Wagnalls, In Search of The Trojan War & The Iliad. Roger Lacroix, Contact:
Roger@Stationhill.com Posted 04/22/2009
|
