In Search of Agamemnon: Early Travellers to Mycenae by Dudley Moore, Edward Rowlands, and Nektarios Karadimas (review)

Travelers’ accounts are among the most neglected and underappreciated sources of evidence available to scholars of the classical world. In Search of Agamemnon: Early Travellers to Mycenae demonstrates the potential of analyzing these accounts to address issues related to specific sites and regions. The focus of this volume is on accounts of Anglophone travelers to the Greek site of Mycenae, located at the edge of the Argolid plain in the northeastern Peloponnese.

In Search of Agamemnon includes six chapters and a short appendix along with 34 illustrations, most of which are extracted from various travelers’ accounts or are pictures of the travelers themselves. One notable lacuna, however, is a plan of Mycenae. The authors regularly refer to monuments, such as the circuit wall, Lion Gate, Grave Circle A, Tomb of Clytemnestra, etc., but present no plan to help readers understand the position of these features at the site and their relationship to one another. Sketch plans of Mycenae extracted from different travelers (pp. 110, 112) are not sufficient for this purpose. The volume also includes an “Index of Travellers” but no general index, which hinders attempts to seek out information about particular aspects of the site.

In their brief introduction to the volume (pp. 1–7), the authors state that they wish to move discussions of Mycenae’s antiquarian history beyond Heinrich Schliemann, who began excavations there in 1876, and explore how travelers’ accounts have helped to shape modern perceptions of this famous archaeological ruin. They also want to address the questions of why Mycenae was neglected as a destination prior to the early 1800s and why interest picked up after that period.

Moore, Rowlands, and Karadimas then move to an assessment of accounts of ancient travelers to Mycenae (chapter 1). This is aimed as a response to a comment by John Lavery and Elizabeth French in the Archaeological Atlas of Mycenae that those accounts are “largely irrelevant” (Lavery and French 2003: 1). The authors express surprise at this sentiment, since these ancient accounts have had a dramatic influence on antiquarian and modern travelers to Mycenae. Beginning with Homer, they explore how mythical descriptions of Mycenae were formulated by these authors and the role that the site played in the political geography of the Argolid after the Bronze Age (pp. 10–15). They also assess evidence for worship of Agamemnon and other figures at the post-Bronze Age site (pp. 15–18). A discussion of the destruction of Mycenae by Argos in 468 BC follows, based largely on descriptions in Strabo and Diodorus Siculus (pp. 18–20). While a short-lived Argive colony was re-established at Mycenae in the third century BC, they argue that this destruction impacted travel to the site in antiquity since there would have been little for interested parties to see. A discussion of the potential visibility of Grave Circle A in the archaic and classical periods includes the suggestion that Perseus would be the individual receiving veneration (pp. 20–22). Perseus had strong associations with Mycenae, according to several ancient authors, and was believed by many to be the founder of the site. The authors then assess what ruins were visible at Mycenae during the second century AD based largely on the account of the Roman-period traveler Pausanias (pp. 22–31). The chapter concludes by examining evidence for Agamemnon’s association with Sparta (pp. 31–35). Many ancient authors suggest that Agamemnon was Lakonian in origin, and the strength of that tradition may have had a negative impact on his associations with Mycenae, perhaps helping to explain why the site was neglected by such prominent visitors as Alexander the Great, Nero, and Hadrian.

Following this account of ancient views of Mycenae, the authors provide a brief overview of the Grand Tour and the history of travel to Greece (chapter 2). While the Grand Tour has its origins...