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Article: THE MANY FACES OF AGAMEMNON
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- June 11, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1995 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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IN MORE trusting times, a visit to Greece completed the
education of any eager teenager who had spent schooldays labouring
over dry classical texts. A slow train through Yugo-slavia or an
odyssey on the Brindisi ferry preceded that magical moment in the
National Museum at Athens when you beheld - carelessly displayed in
a dusty glass case - the crinkled features of a long-dead king,
imprinted on a thin disc of gold. A small card informed the viewer
that Heinrich Schliemann, the German archaeologist, had found this
treasure in 1876. In excitement he telegraphed the King of Greece:
"I have gazed on the face of Agamemnon," he is supposed to have
said.
Mythology, however, proved as powerful in ...