Summary GCSE OCR Classical Civilisation - Homeric World - Mycenaean Life in Mycenaean Age

palaces
● what would a Mycenaean city be ruled by?
○ wanax - king
● what kind of rooms were in a palace?
○ comfortable / pleasant rooms for leisure
○ rooms for official documents
○ shrines
○ potteries
○ oil press rooms
○ armouries
○ storerooms for food
● megaron
○ central hall in the Mycenaean palace, used for banquets, worship, meetings
● where was the megaron?
○ highest part of the city - Upper city, dominating the area
● features of a megaron
○ rectangular in shape
○ entrance porch with two columns
○ vestibule behind it (lobby B)
○ throne-room with hearth
○ one or more courtyards
○ similar to temples
● what was the most important feature of the megaron and what features does it have?
○ hearth
○ stone area, circular
○ fire lit on it for religious purposes or cooking
○ four columns around it, supported the roof
○ hole in the roof to allow smoke to escape
● functions of a megaron
○ throne-room
○ poetry would have been recited there
○ feasts, like in the Odyssey

, society

● wanax
○ the Mycenaean word for a chieftain or king
● what did the wanax have?
○ royal lands
○ special garments (purple)
○ freedom from taxes
● lawagetas
○ the leader of the people in Mycenae, who was also probably the leader of the army
● what did the lawagetas have?
○ estate a third the size of that of the wanax (at Pylos)
● hequetai
○ the nobles in Mycenae, probably also important troops in the army
● what did the hequetai have?
○ landowners
○ maybe slave owners