THE EARLY AGE OF GREECE VOL.I by W.Ridgeway 1901

WHO WERE THE MAKERS? 109
1184 B.C. Perseus therefore flourished about 1300 R.c. But
he had overthrown Megapenthes, the son and successor of
Proetus king of Tiryns, whose fioruit may therefore be placed
about 18o0 H.L". Proetus was third in descent from Danaus,
whose date therefore falls about 1450 B.C.
Again, the evidence derived from the Egyptian sources
indicates that the fully developed Mycenean period coincides
with that of the xviilth Dynasty (loOO 1100 Kc). But the
coming of Danaus and the Achean concjuest both fall within
this period.
The traditional chronology therefore coincides
in a remarkable dei^ree with that of the pure archaeologists,
who have arrived at their conclusion independently of all
tradition, which most of them hold in utter contempt.
That the date assigned to the expedition known as the
siege of Troy cannot be much later than 1184 B.C. is rendered
probable by the fact that the Iliad and Odijsseij
show no
kn(jwledge of the Dorian invasion, or of any Greek colonies in
Ionia, for ]\Iiletus. which was in later days to be the ([ueen
of b)nia in the Catalogue' of Shi])s,
is still a city of the
'barbarous-speaking Carians.' Again, there is no ti'uci' oi' any
Achean settlements in Italy or Sicily. In the face of theso
considerations it is hard t wc just ihcd
110 WHO WERE THE MAKERS?
in considering the Spartan or the Phaeacian palace Achean ?
Menelaus occupies that at Sparta in virtue of his marriage with
Helen, the daughter of Tyndareus. There was a very ancient
dynasty there of which Tyndareus was the last king. This
dynasty can be shown from the ancient pedigrees to be not
Achean.
That the ancient genealogies may be used for questions
of race was the opinion of Niebuhr. Such pedigrees can be
easily remembered and transmitted, a.s amongst the chieftain
families of all countries they are held of supreme importance.
If Homer is sufficient as a witness, it was so in early Greece.
There are constant recitations of pedigrees in the Poems and
;
further, that
such were part of the lore imparted by the elders
to the younger,
is shown by the words of Nestor, who tells
how Tydeus had discoursed to him
irdvrwv Apyelcov ^peoiv yevti'iv re tokov re^
We may therefore reasonably take as a fair piece of evidence
for race the pedigree of Tyndareus. He was the son of Oebalus
and Gorgophone. Gorgt)ph()ne was the daughter of Perseus,
who was the son of Danae, who was the daughter of Acrisius,
.
whose Pelasgian pedigree we have already proved. Oebalus was
the son of C^'nortas, who was the son of Amyelas, who was the
son of Lacedaemon, who was the son of Zeus. Tyndareus is
thus descended on the father's side from the autochthonous
founders of Lacedaemon and Amyclae without any .suspicion of
any sti-ain of the blood of the new Acheans, the sons of
Xuthus, the son of HcUen, that king of Thcssaly from whom
the Acheans traced their descent.
We may therefore reasonably conclude that thi' palace
at S})ai'ta ()ccu|)ic(l by Menelaus and Hi'K'U, where Tcleniachus
visited them, was the ancient residence of Tyndareus and the
old kings of Sparta. That it was more sjik'iidid than the usual
residence of an Achean chief is certain from the words in
which the poet describes the wonder and adniiralion that
tilled Telemachus and his comrade Nestor's son.
If it be said that it was because of the great wealth and rich
'
//. VII. 12H.