There is no need to enter into further detail; but
broadly it is the fact that the distribution of Mycenaean remains
practically follows, at least to a great extent, the geography of
the poems. The world with which the Homeric bards were familiar was,
in the main, the world in which the civilization of the Mycenaeans
prevailed.
The Homeric house also finds a striking parallel in the details
of the Mycenaean palaces whose remains have been preserved. Leaving
aside all disputed points, the broad fact remains that 'all the
structural features described, the courtyard, with its altar to
Zeus and trench for sacrifices; the vestibule; the ante-chamber;
the hall, with its fireplace and its pillars; the bathroom, with
passage from the hall; the upper story, sometimes containing the
women's quarters; the spaciousness; the decoration; even the furniture,
have been most wonderfully identified at Tiryns and Mycenae, and
in Crete.' In Crete, along with the resemblances above referred
to, are found important differences, such as the position of the
hearth, and the details of the lighting. These, which are probably
due to differences of climate, do not, however, invalidate the
fact of the general correspondence.
In details, we have the frieze of _kuanos_ of the Palace of Alcinous,
paralleled by the fragments discovered, as already mentioned, at
Tiryns, and by similar friezes at Knossos, while the bronze walls
of the same palace have been, if not paralleled, at all events
illustrated, by the bronze decorations of the vaults of the great
bee-hive tombs at Mycenae and Orchomenos.
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