Agamemnon, King of Mycenae
Agamemnon is one of the most famous characters in Classical Greek literature. Apart from appearing in Homer’s
Iliad and
Odyssey, Agamemnon was also a favorite character amongst Greek writers of tragedy, as his triumphant return from Troy was soon followed by his murder at the hands of either his wife, Clytemnestra or her lover, Aegisthus. It was the work of the 2
nd century A.D. traveler, Pausanias, that would provide Schliemann with the clues required to uncover the tomb of Agamemnon.
In Mycenae, according to Pausanias, “there are also underground chambers of Atreus (the father of Agamemnon) and his children, in which were stored their treasures…. Agamemnon has his tomb, and so has Eurymedon the charioteer, while another is shared by Teledamus and Pelops, twin sons, they say, of Cassandra,… Clytemnestra and Aegisthus were buried at some little distance from the wall. They were thought unworthy of a place within it, where lay Aga