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The Kings of Midea and the Cemetery in Dendra the Acropolis of Midea

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Arnhem (nl) 2016 – Hellas in the bronze age- 2 © Joost Blasweiler The kings of Midea and the cemetery in Dendra Royal tombs at Dendra, July 2015, pictures by author. The acropolis of Midea was the third most-powerful centre of the Mycenaean Argolid after the other two cyclopedian citadels of Mycenae and Tiryns.1 The history of this kingdom has almost disappeared, although the myth of Perseus tells us of the rise of the kingdom in the time period of the Mycenaeans. Jorrit Kelder stated that the Mycenaean kings had ruled a large territory of about three times the size of modern provinces of Greece. Its territory included various major centers like Tiryns and the harbor Nauplion, which could plausibly be seen as important yet dependent sub-centers ruled by branches of the Mycenae’s royal clan.2 Katie Demakopoulo confirmed that all these citadels belong to the floruit of the Mycenaean civilization. The fortifications of Tiryns were the earliest from the beginning of the 14th century BC; the others followed some decennia later. Nevertheless Midea had already been inhabited during the final phases of the Stone Age and it became, according to Demakopoulo, a flourishing settlement in the early and mid Bronze Age (3200-1600 BC).3 By the establishment of a palace system of government in Mycenaean Greece, Midea played an important role in the control and protection of the fertile Argive plain. 1 Katie Demakopoulo 2012, The Mycenaean Acropolis of Midea, published by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 12. 2 Jorrit M. Kelder 2010, The kingdom of Mycenae, 97. 3 Katie Demakopoulo 2012, The Mycenaean Acropolis of Midea, 12. 1 The myth of Perseus gives more details about the interrelationship of these kings in the area. It was in the myths of ancient people that they made their view of the world explicit. Myths were used to describe a specific time and location where a narrative had taken place; historical narratives according to a tradition of a specific town or area. These myths evolved for centuries. Almost all of the etiological narratives, in which the Hellenes relate to us narratives of where they come from or who they originally were, are myths. And in these myths, we are told how the gods, the lower deities, and the demons, were acting. The supernatural element to life was extremely important in the lives of the people in the ancient world, so it was only natural that in their historical narratives they are relating to us the deeds of the gods, and the meaning of their deeds in their daily life. Perseus, king of Tiryns, was the son of Danaë and Zeus, who founded Mycenae and Midea. The myth tells us that king Akrisios has ruled Argos at the Peloponnesus.4 His life was poisoned by his fear from a prophecy of an oracle. That one day, the son of his only daughter Danaë would kill him. To prevent his daughter from marrying, he built a huge bronze tower and at the top he locked her up, strongly guarded. Lonely and longing for her salvation she passed her days, till Zeus laid his eyes upon her. He was touched by her sadness and beauty. Zeus descended from the sky to her like a golden rain. Aerial photograph of the acropolis of Midea 2010 ©Katie Demakopoulo - the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. 4 Sophie Ramondt 1989, Mythen en Sagen van de Griekse wereld, Perseus: 86-116. There are several variants of the myth. 2 Then everything became light and lovely around Danaë, and within her, a child of Zeus grew in a wonderful way. In the tower-top she gave birth to a child: the radiant Perseus. King Akrisios became frantic and he ordered that his daughter and her son be placed in a box and thrown into the sea. Protected by Zeus, they bobbed to the small island Serifos, where king Polydektes accommodated them friendly. Perseus grew up and being challenged by king Polydektes, he decided to slay Medusa. Perseus is helped by Hermes, Athene, and Hephaestus with advice and vital equipment how to find and kill Medusa.5 Perseus beheaded Medusa and flew away with her head above the sea. Drops of blood of Medusa fell down and mingled with sea foam, from which a snow-white, winged horse, Pegasus was born by the will of Poseidon. Perseus flew above the mountains and deserts of Africa and landed in Aethiopia. There he killed a sea-drakōn of Poseidon to save Andromeda, the daughter of king Kepheus, the king of Aethiopia. And he had to defeat the brother of Kepheus, because Andromeda, when she was young, had been promised to marry her uncle. Afterwards, Perseus married Andromeda, and they went by boat to the island Serifos, where his mother Danaë was waiting. After defeating Polydektes, who wanted to marry his mother against her will, he gave the Medusa-head to Pallas Athene, who fixed it on her aegis, a sacral fleece. All these struggles about princesses can be explained by the tradition in ancient Hellas, that the royal succession (often) has been determined by the marriage of the daughter of the king or by remarrying the queen.6 Finally they all went back to Argos, where king Akrisios still ruled his kingdom. And so it was prophesied, king Akrisios was accidentally killed by Perseus. He threw his discus in the funeral-game of the father of king Teutamides of Pelasgian Larissa. His discus carried out of its path by the wind and the will of the gods, and it killed his grandfather. After the accident it was impossible for Perseus to succeed as the king of Argos. He offered the throne of Argos to his cousin, the king of Tiryns, and therefore Perseus became king of Tiryns. The famous royal clan of the Perseīden originated 7 from Perseus and Andromeda. According to the tradition king Perseus founded Mycenae and Midea from Tyrins. At the end of the 13th century BC, Midea was hit by a devasting earthquake, which caused extensive damage to the acropolis. It would appear that Poseidon, “he who shakes the earth”, had avenged the Perseīden for their killing his former lover Medusa. Walls of the acropolis of Midea, July 2015. 5 Daniel Ogden 2013, Drakōn, 92 and 237. 6 Margalit Finkelberg 2005, Greeks and Pre-Greeks, 65-71. 7 J.G. Schlimmer and Z.C. de Boer 1910, Woordenboek der Grieksche en Romeinsche Oudheid, 456. The Tiryns area was inhabited before the Bronze age, and ancient Greeks believed that the citadel was built by Proitos, brother of the king of Argos, Akrisios, and grandfather of Perseus, the founder of Mycenae. "...Akrisios stayed in Argos, Proitos took the Heraion, and Mideia, Tiryns" (Pausanias, II 16 6). 3 Rodney Castleden stated that ancient Argos in the Mycenaean time period was not the capital of the Argolis. 8 He wrote: “There are hints that Argos was subordinated to the king of Mycenae. The Catalogue of Ships in the Iliad has the Argive contingent led by two descendants of king of Argos, but they are dominated by and outshone by Diomedes, who is the son of an Aetolian exile, but also totally loyal and subservient to Agamemnon”. Castleden described that opposite Argos, dominating the eastern edge of the Argive plain, is Midea, which is one of the least known Mycenaean sites. Midea was nevertheless the third fortress of the Argolid, after Mycenae and Tiryns, and was built on a high conical hill about half way between them. Its massive circuit walls enclosing 24.000 square meters of acropolis and terraces. Around 1200 BC, her great buildings were destroyed by conflagration and a earthquake. To the upper acropolis of Midea, July 2015. 8 Rodney Castleden 2005, Mycenaeans, 53 4 One can wonder if there was an independent kingdom of Midea in the Mycenaean time period. No text have been found in which this is indicated. The archeological results show that a (vassal?) ruler or administrator might have lived in the upper acropolis. A kind of palace building has been attested at the lower part of the acropolis.9 According to Jorrit Kelder, the wealthy kings of Mycenae had ruled not only the area of the Argive plains and mountains, but also the whole of Korinthia and probably even Achaea. He stated that it is likely that at least from LH IIIA (ca. 1400 BC) onward, the whole Argive plain was part of the kingdom of Mycenae. In the Kom el Hetan list of Egypt only Mycenae and Naupilion (the port of arrival) were mentioned and not the cities of Tiryns, Midea and Argos.10 The many royal tombs at Derna about 3 km northwest of the acropolis of Midea are a strong indication that Midea was once a separate kingdom and perhaps even in the Mycenaean time period. In Tiryns just a few large tholos graves, and around the citadel of Mycenae many royal graves and tholos have been found, which might implicate that their royal clans did not use the cemetery of Derna.11 It is quite possible that the great kings of Mycenae had subordinated many vassal kings and other kings, who had recognized the king of Mycenae as a war-leader or leader in foreign affairs. Ground plan of the fortified area of the Acropolis of Midea( after E. Markou with additions by M. Patapatiou and A. Kiratzis). Legend: 1. Palace and other building remains(13th-12th c. BC). 2 and 3 Complex of buildings end 13th c. BC. 4. Buildings of the pre- Mycenaean period 4800 -1600 BC.
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