The Mask of Agamemnon
There are a lot of artworks that will always contain some secret concerning its true origin and authenticity. One of such sculptures is definitely the case with the Mask of Agamemnon. This artifact from the Greek Bronze Age was discovered by distinguished German archaeologist, Heinrich Schliemann, in Mycenae dated 1876. After the stunning discovery of the real location of the legendary Troy, Schliemann was next planning to find the final resting place of Agamemnon, the famous king of ancient Mycenae who headed the Greek troops during the Trojan War. All his grand triumphs and tribulations are eulogized in Homer’s epic poems, Iliad and Odyssey as well as in Euripides’ tragic plays.
The case of the Mask of Agamemnon is really a mysterious one. Observing the archeological find from the period long before our own, everybody unconsciously plunges in thoughts of those remote years, fantasizing how the life at the time of the Trojan War could look like. The obscure facts and uncorroborated data concerning the discovery of the artifact, force many inquiring history lovers to make their own researches and excite their curiosity in the captivating historic events, epochs and places even more than before.
Though there are any convincing evidences that Heinrich Schliemann really accomplished his goal, he was lucky to discover another striking archeological find – the Mask of Agamemnon. This quite detailed and stylistically expressive mask was one of a few gold funeral masks found laid over the face of the departed buried in the shaft tomb of a regal cemetery. The Mask of Agamemnon has a great importance for the European Nationalism since this artefact puts some light on the personality of the famous Greek leader of the Trojan War not just as a legendary character but as a real man.
The controversy and many doubts of identity over this mask, however, remained till today. Modern researchers and archaeologists tend to believe, for example, that the artefact refers to an era much before the life and reigning of the king Agamemnon himself. None the less, the Mask of Agamemnon is as original as many other sculptures found in the European nationalism. It is one of the most remarkable discoveries from the ancient Mycenaean ages with a quite strong effect on people’s understanding of the history where duplicating this artwork is rather difficult.
Heinrich Schliemann, the archaeologist famous for uncovering lost civilization, excavated or found the mask of Agamemnon in the graves where the royal family hid its treasure and was also buried. According to the excavation permit and on the part of the Greek Archaeological Society, Schliemann began in 1874 his archeological dig at Mycenae. This work was controlled by scrupulous Greek archaeologist, Panagiotis Stamatakis, who used to accuse Schliemann of ruining classical antiquities in his pursuit of Homeric relics. Soon Schliemann together with his archaeological team and workmen found first of five late Bronze Age shaft graves. This grave circle was then named as grave circle A, five sepulchres of which were marked with Roman numerals.
Despite of the fact that the graves were later proved to refer to the period of at least thirty hundred years earlier than the presumed date of the Trojan War, for a long time people seemed to believe that Schliemann had actually disclosed the Homeric world. Heinrich Schliemann, though, did not himself determined one of the masks as that of the king Agamemnon. Just taking into consideration the obvious fact that it was the most excellent of all the specimens, the archaeologist suggested it had to belong to some hero.
The Mask of Agamemnon from grave V is in fact the most well-known and absorbing of all. First of all, the Agamemnon mask is apparently different from all other Mycenaean masks in its original style. Crafted out of pure gold, this artefact is about 12 inches in height. Exactly due to exceptional eyebrows, handlebar moustache, characteristic of Schliemann’s time period rather than that of Mycenaean Greece, ears cut out from the body of the mask as well as cut out beard, the Mask of Agamemnon is evidently distinguished from the others four masks found at Mycenae.
The thick sheet of gold of the mask was hammered against a wooden background. The gold colour probably was utilized with the purpose of intensifying the theme within the work of art. This could be explained by the quite expensive price of gold that only representatives of the royal family could afford to buy. The man presented in the mask possesses “an oblong face, wide forehead, long fine nose and densely closed thin lips” (Bryn 44). Since only this mask of all five portrayed a bearded man, Schliemann concluded it had to appertain to the famous king Agamemnon.
Thanks to repousse, the goldsmith managed to demonstrate the distinctive details of the moustache, beard and the eyebrows. Two holes made near the ears allowed to keep the mask over the face of the departed’s face with the help of a string. Besides, a height and a width of this mask make it possible to change the flow of the sculpture anytime. Finally, the Mask of Agamemnon has the accurate dimensions of a face, so that it could tightly cover the face of the dead.
All in all, the Mask of Agamemnon is definitely the artwork of highly innovative and consummate goldsmith. This man succeeded in inserting all the passion and ardour in his craft that made it really genuine one as well as strongly impressed all the viewers who had a chance to lay their eyes on this precious treasure at least once in their lives. As soon as Schlieman made his striking discovery, he returned to Europe and stated his archaeological find of the true face of Agamemnon. This event immediately brought world flame to the German archeologist, who became from now on called the Father of Mycenaean Archaeology.
Speaking about the Mask of Agamemnon, it will be reasonably to add some words about the king Agamemnon himself. According to the Greek mythology, he was the son of King Atreus of Mycenae and Queen Aerope. During the Trojan War Agamemnon was responsible for the Greek forces and was distinguished by his extraordinary courage and endurance. At the time when Mycenae was the most powerful and authoritative Greek town, it was rather difficult to find as skilful organizer as well as talented leader as he was. Agamemnon was also the brother of the well-known king of Mycenaean Sparta, Menelaus. Together with his wife Clytemnestra, Agamemnon had three daughters and one son. In order to provoke the heavy wind that was required for the Greek ships to sail off to Troy, the man sacrificed one of his daughters, Iphigenia, to goddess Artemis. In revenge for this cruel act, “Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus deliberately killed Agamemnon the moment he came back to his kingdom after the end of Trojan War” (Sheridan 51).
Agamemnon could be considered one of the most distinguished characters of the Classic Greek literature. Though most readers know him from the famous Homer’s poems, Iliad and Odyssey, Agamemnon was also a beloved character amongst Greek writers of tragedy. A lot of classic Greek writers impressed by his tragic death at the hands of either his wife, Clytemnestra or her lover, Aegisthus, depicted it in his famous tragedies. One of such works by the 2 nd century A.D. traveler, Pausanias, in fact inspired Heinrich Schliemann to begin his archeological digs. Furthermore, some even believe that the German archeologist found some clues needed to uncover the tomb of Agamemnon in Pausanias tragedy.
After assiduous reading of this work of literature, Heinrich Schliemann came to a conclusion that Agamemnon as well as other members of his family, the father of Agamemnon, Atreus, for example, indeed could have special underground chambers where they used to store their precious treasures. That’s why elated by such consideration and irrepressible desire to discover that which seemed completely unbelievable to most of his colleagues, Heinrich Schliemann set off on the journey of realizing his cherished dream and revealing the tomb of Agamemnon and his charioteers to the whole world.
Schliemann’s comments on Pausanias’ tragedy was based on the suggestion that the king Agamemnon had to be buried within the walls of the Bronze Age citadel. It should be mentioned that this idea was entirely opposed to the interpretation of other scholars. Most of the antecedent investigators tended to claim that the tombs were obviously located outside the walls of the city. However, Schliemann confidently continued to believe in his own interpretation and was not going to give up anyway.
In 1874, after unceasing work and great endeavors, the archeologist at least got some reword for his archeological digs. Various tests conducted by Schliemann and his colleagues and workmen inside the wall, uncovered house walls together with a tomb stone and several terracotta artifacts. Heinrich Schliemann was now completely sure that “the site was worth all the hard work and had to be investigated in the future” (Harrington 56).
In the archeological world, Schliemann’s discovery was perceived differently. Some glorified the figure of the archeologist and considered the Mask of Agamemnon one of the most prized discoveries from the ancient Mycenaean ages. Others, however, refused to accept it as a real and were trying to demonstrate that the artefact was a fake. They believed that the mask looked too new and did not contain any qualities that were characteristics of Mycenaean period. It will never be possible to entirely prove one point of view and reject the second.
The most famous archeologists who made an attempt to challenge the authenticity of the mask were William A. Calder and David A. Traill. They completed an overview of the mask, question the faulty character of Schliemann and finally originality of the mask itself and even found some arguments that were trying to demonstrate that the artwork was a forgery. Different researchers, however, state that their arguments are not reliable enough and need some scholarly reasoning to support the claimed suggestion.
Calder author of Is the Mask a Hoax attentively examined the character of Heinrich Schliemann and his relationship in the question of the legitimacy of The Mask of Agamemnon. The man proposed two quite interesting opinions. If the mask was real, Schliemann could be considered “the luckiest archaeologist of the whole world until Howard Carter” (Calder 18). However, if the mask was a true fake, Schliemann was in fact a real genius who managed to fool prominent archaeologists and historians in the planet for more than a century.
Archeologists discovered a lot of artifacts, among them were Arthur Evans who excavated remains of buildings in Knossos. Evans called the excavations the Minoam naming them after the king of the Minos. There were also the discovery of the wall paintings at Knossos and to date are the largest bronze Age settlement that have ever been discovered. There were also some metal copies that were made from gold objects. These objects resembled the original work of the Mask of Agamemnon and people could not make the difference.
Thus, none will ever know where the truth lies. The fact is that it has really stirred the entire world and will continue to be a mysterious world for a long time from now. In conclusion, the Mask of the Agamemnon has been put in museums so that people can visit, see and appreciate the fine arts that were found by the ancient archeologist. Let everybody decide if it is genuine or a fake one for themselves.
Works Cited
Appenzeller, Otto, Marita Amm, and Howard Jones. A Brief Exploration Of Neurological Art History. Journal Of The History Of The Neurosciences. Academic Search Premier, 2016. Print.
Bryn, Mawr. Classical Review. Bmcr.brynmawr.edu. N.p., 2016. Web. 24 June 2016.
Calder, William Is The Mask A Hoax? Volume 52 Number 4, July/August. The Archaeological Institute of America,1999. Print.
Harrington, Spencer P.M. Behind the Mask of Agamemnon. UIPUI Indiana, University-Purdue University 52.4 (1999). Web.
Sheridan, Michael. The Many Faces of Agamemnon. The Independent. N.p., 1995. Web. 24 June 2016.
