The Mycenaeans. Warrior Merchants of Greece. A powerful civilization
which one day disappeared. Their might… their splendor… gone in
the blink of a metaphorical eye. Violence entered like a giant raptor
into their cities and clawed away their existence. Their warriors…
destroyed. Citadels and shrines… consumed by fires. Palaces…
obliterated. The populace was on the run. Ladies of privilege…
flouncing away in fading finery. Tall men bearing shields and swords
… skulking away in shamed misery. The arts declined. The writings
of the day disappeared. After 400 years of greatness and
prosperity… the Mycenaean civilization had disappeared. Nobody
knows how. Nobody knows why.
And it was gone. A puff of smoke. A wisp of vapor. It had evanesced
into into the vacuous pages of history. Till the year 1876 when
Heinrich Schliemann-- a German merchant–an eccentric… a
self-taught scholar… discovered the royal graves inside the citadel
of Mycenae. Nineteen skeletons… interred with burial masks and
jewelry of hammered gold and ornaments of amber, and rock and crystal
and ivory… and inlaid daggers and swords. The proof was there that
the civilization had once existed.
The story of this civilization and its influences on the great poets
like Homer and the reasons for its sudden disappearance is far too
vast for me to write about.
But there is this… a bright and shining moment to interrupt the
dismal chantings of historical chaff. It is a gold ring. It speaks of
war. It speaks of death. It speaks of the very nature of man as he
seeks to eradicate his fellow man from the very podium of existence.
What greater glory than to appeal to the noble brutality of our
natures. What greater shrine than to create a memento depicting the
elegance of inflicted death.
Mommy. Look. Those men are killing each other. Now you hush up
honey… and enjoy the show.
Can anyone doubt that there are any creatures on this earth more
creative than we when it comes to the hallowed art of destroying
those who impede our pursuits? Let us hear it for man… let the
crowds cheer… while I show you a ring… a gold ring… a Mycenaean
gold ring… embossed with helmeted soldiers stabbing their enemies
to death in order to win… in order to win… in order to win.
So go… take a peek… and you will see an image of a gold
Mycenaean ring discovered in the royal graves of Mycenae… which
dates back to the 16th century B.C. when the great civilizations
began to emerge from the mainland of Greece.
For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits…may I
direct you to my home page at http://www.tyler-adam.com where you
will scroll down the left side menu till you get to the area that
says Current Tidbits… and you will see represented on our pages the
ring of which I speak.
And there ya have it.
That’s it for this week folks.
Catch you all next week.
Benjamin Mark