Peloponnese: Mycenae

Home to Agamemnon. . .

The ancient ruins of Mycenae, the center of the Mycenaean world, and  the resting place of the infamous Agamemnon from the Trojan War.

Old tombs.

Agamemnon had to sacrifice his daughter, Iphigineia, by Artemis' command if he wished to have victory over the Trojans. The sacrifice was very unholy. Aside from the fact that it was a human sacrifice, she was also gagged and slaughtered naked. Her father tricked her into coming amongst the troops, thinking she would marry, when in fact, she was being baited. She was gagged to keep her from cursing her father before her death. It is believed that the curse uttered off from the lips of a dying person was the most wicked and forceful of them all. As they lifted her up to be killed, her marriage gown fell off her body. Iphigineia was then associated with Artemis, sharing her duties of attending children through their rights of passage and such.

At Mycenae, we visited the tomb of Agamemnon and wife Clytemnestra. The site itself has a lot of grave circles and markings in it. But was much like other sites we've seen.

Sarah in the Tunnel

Something particularly interesting is the fact that there is some kind of tunnel, man made, that leads to an area that could have been a reservoir. We're not entirely sure what its function was, but there are a few theories out there. We got to go down into it. We lit candles and walked 100 feet below the entrance to where there is some water in the bottom. It was pitch black in there, and people were trying to get pictures of it with the flash of their camera.

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The password is "Mycenae"