The Mycenaeans (Peoples of the Ancient World) [Paperback]

Rodney Castleden (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 2005 | ISBN-10: 0415363365 | ISBN-13: 978-0415363365 | Edition: annotated edition

Following on from Rodney Castleden's best-selling study Minoans, this major contribution to our understanding of the crucial Mycenaean period clearly and effectively brings together research and knowledge we have accumulated since the discovery of the remains of the civilization of Mycenae in the 1870s.

In lively prose, informed by the latest research and using a full bibliography and over 100 illustrations, this vivid study delivers the fundamentals of the Mycenaean civilization including its culture, hierarchy, economy and religion. Castleden introduces controversial views of the Mycenaean palaces as temples, and studies their impressive sea empire and their crucial interaction with the outside Bronze Age world before discussing the causes of the end of their civilization.

Providing clear, easy information and understanding, this is a perfect starting point for the study of the Greek Bronze Age.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Rodney Castleden has been actively involved in research on landscape projects and prehistory for the last twenty years. His published works include Minoans and Atlantis Destroyed.

Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; annotated edition edition (June 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415363365
• ISBN-13: 978-0415363365
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,338,950 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good overview ..., March 9, 2006

By 

Charles D. Gilliland "thegloriosus" (Arlington, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Mycenaeans (Peoples of the Ancient World) (Paperback)

Castleden has done a very good job synthesizing the archeological evidence and presenting a look at Mycenean society, the people and their interactions with their neighbors while comparing it with the traditional legends that had come from that time. The book is well written with easy to follow text and discourse, and is filled with illustrations and annotations of artifacts, maps, floorplans of extant buildings, and pen & ink representations of wall paintings and artifacts.

Since Castleden is well versed in Minoan studies he is quick to point up just how much the Myceneans had appropriated from this island culture: Their art, their dress, and eventually their trade routes and craftsmen. However, he also points up the Mycenean accomplishments as well, expanding out of the Polyponese where most other books focus, and into the northern territories dominated by Orchomenos and Thebes. He looks at their engineering feats and discusses how they might've been influenced by Hittite and Egyptian cultures as well.

These people were bureaucratic, they were not afraid to attempt to change the landscape to suit their needs, diverting rivers, and draining shallow lakes, and they were militaristic. The author addresses the various other interpretations put forth and comes forward with his own take on the material. By and large, presenting a well-reasoned and supporting argument for his interpretations. He discusses the daily life of the common people, and puts forth a hypothetical reconstruction of the trade routes of the various Mycenean cities with their overseas trading partners, and presents the various hypotheses of what happened to bring this age crashing down. The biggest issue brought forth by him is the reinterpretation of the citidels which were argued to be the Palaces of the Kings to actually be the temple centers of the kingdom, akin to the acropolis in classical athens, but temples that took a more active role in administering to the material being of the kingdoms.

All in all, I found this volume very enjoyable and informative.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars could have been better?, May 2, 2009

By 

Howard Schulman (Providence, RI) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mycenaeans (Peoples of the Ancient World) (Kindle Edition)

My biggest problem with Rodney Castleden's "Mycenaens" is that the book is poorly illustrated. Too many times he's talking about a topic, when a photograph or well-designed map would have helped, tremendously. There were some sections that were interesting, but also other sections that were dry.

Part of the problem may be that not a whole lot is truly known about these people. Apparently, even thought they were literate in what we now call Linear B, which we can read, they only wrote to document inventories, etc, and not to record literature or narratives.