Mycenae and the Mycenaean Age: Homeric Heroes, Near Eastern Potentates, or Something Else?

Dimitri Nakassis, Professor of Classics, University of Colorado Boulder

George E. Mylonas Lecture in Classical Art and Archaeology
Free ticket required (www.slam.org)

In his magisterial book Mycenae and the Mycenaean Age (1966), Professor George Mylonas synthesized an enormous amount of evidence about the Mycenaean world and characterized the Mycenaeans as the historical heroes of Homer. This influential perspective has not been accepted by all historians and archaeologists, as some prefer to characterize the Mycenaeans as a Near Eastern–style monarchy. This lecture will argue that new evidence and innovative methods suggest a better way of understanding the enigmatic societies of the Greek late Bronze Age.

 

Cosponsored by the Hellenic Government–Karakas Family Foundation Professorship in Greek Studies, University of Missouri–St. Louis; the Departments of Classics and Art History and Archaeology, Washington University in St. Louis; the Classical Club of St. Louis; and the Saint Louis Art Museum.