Grave Circle A at Mycenae
The royal burial ground at Mycenae where Schliemann discovered the golden death masks, connecting Homeric mythology to archaeological reality.
The Story of Grave Circle A at Mycenae
Grave Circle A at Mycenae was excavated by Heinrich Schliemann in 1876, following his conviction that Homer's epics described real places and real people. Inside the circle of upright stone slabs, he found six shaft graves containing nineteen bodies adorned with gold — masks, diadems, breast plates, and hundreds of gold ornaments. Upon removing a golden mask from one of the male burials, Schliemann reportedly telegraphed the King of Greece: "I have gazed upon the face of Agamemnon." The mask, though magnificent, dates to the 16th century BC — about 300 years before the traditional date of the Trojan War. The burials belonged to an earlier Mycenaean dynasty. Nevertheless, the discovery proved that Mycenae was indeed the wealthy, powerful citadel Homer described. The Lion Gate, the megaron, and the tholos tombs all confirmed that the Iliad's descriptions of golden Mycenae were rooted in genuine Bronze Age splendour.
Parents
Agamemnon (traditional), earlier dynasty (actual)
Symbols
Fun Fact
The "Mask of Agamemnon" is the most famous archaeological artifact in Greece, but Schliemann almost certainly knew it wasn't actually Agamemnon's face — it's 300 years too old. Some scholars even suspect he planted or modified artifacts to make his discoveries more dramatic. Regardless, his gamble that Homer described real places revolutionised archaeology. The mask, whoever it belonged to, proved that a semi-literate businessman reading Homer like a guidebook could find treasures that professional scholars had dismissed as fantasy.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Mycenae
🏛 placeCitadel of Agamemnon
Mycenae was the great Bronze Age citadel in the Argolid, seat of King Agamemnon who led the Greek expedition against Troy — its Lion Gate still stands after 3,200 years.
Troy
🏛 placeThe archaeological site
Hisarlik in Turkey is the archaeological site identified as Homer's Troy — multiple cities layered upon each other across four thousand years.
Knossos
🏛 placePalace of Minos and the Labyrinth
Knossos was the vast Bronze Age palace complex in Crete — seat of King Minos and the mythological site of the Labyrinth.
Eleusis
🏛 placeSite of the Mysteries
Eleusis was a sacred city near Athens, home to the Eleusinian Mysteries — the most important secret religious rites in the ancient Greek world.
Ilium
🏛 placeGeography
The citadel of Troy, site of the legendary ten-year siege by the Greek forces
Sicyon
🏛 placeGeography
An ancient city near Corinth claiming to be one of the oldest in Greece and site of Prometheus's sacrifice trick
Phrygia
🏛 placekingdom, Anatolia
An ancient kingdom in central Anatolia famous in Greek myth for King Midas and the cult of the Great Mother goddess Cybele.
Mount Ida
🏛 placeBirthplace cave of Zeus
Mount Ida was the highest peak in Crete, home to the cave where the infant Zeus was hidden from his father Kronos and raised in secret by nymphs and the Kouretes.
Tegea
🏛 placegeography
An Arcadian city with a great temple of Athena Alea, and possessor of the tusks of the Calydonian Boar and the bones of Orestes.
Colchis
🏛 placeLand of the Golden Fleece
Colchis was a kingdom at the eastern edge of the Greek world, on the shore of the Black Sea in modern Georgia, famous as the destination of Jason and the Argonauts.
Crete
🏛 placeIsland of the Minotaur and Minoan civilisation
Crete was the largest Greek island and the seat of the Minoan civilisation, home to King Minos, the labyrinth, and the bull-cult that produced some of mythology's most famous stories.
Rhoeteum
🏛 placegeography
A promontory on the Trojan shore where the tomb of Ajax was located and pilgrims came to honour the hero.