I didn't actually mention the palace in Agios Basileios in this video! But yes, there is a Mycenaean palace there not far from the village Xerokambi that was found in 2008. It's a different palace to the Menelaion which is about 5km outside of modern Sparta. We've known about that one since the mid 1800s I believe.
@ariskritikos160 The statement at 3.40 is in reference specifically to a Homeric palace, in the area he assigns to Menelaus. As I mentioned, the Menelaion doesn't date until the 8th century well after the Collapse. We have palaces in Lakonia, absolutely, but none around Sparta that can be considered a candidate for Homer's Menelaus, and based on our view of Homer, there probably wasn't one.
@@mystai The Agios Basileios palace is a canditate. It is few klms away from present day Sparta as is the Menelaion. The palace of Nestor is also few klms away from modern Pylos but it is accepted that it is the homeric palace. They have even found linear b tablets in Agios Basileios.
@@ariskritikos160 Theoretically it could be, but it has more or less the same validity/claim to Menelaus as the Menelaion does. The majority of graves there are comparitavely very poor compared to other palaces, and the Geophys survey carried out on the hilltop shows it was tiny, especially for a palace. It's only around 9ha, compared to Thebes or Mycene which were 30-40ha. It also seems to have been unfortified and was destroyed much earlier, perhaps as much as 2 generations earlier, than the other Mycenaean palaces. The Linear B fragments aren't complete tablets, and the largest wasn't found in situ, so is hard to pin down with certainty. If we find more, especially with an inscription referencing Menelaus or Helen, then there's something to really look at. But, in its defense, the palace does seem to have been a political centre in Lakonia, just not associated with Menelaus, but you never know :)
Fantastic series, keep up the good work.
Thank you! Hope you caught the next episode.
🔥🔥❤️
The mycenean palace in Lakonia is in Agios Basileios, not Menelaion.
I didn't actually mention the palace in Agios Basileios in this video! But yes, there is a Mycenaean palace there not far from the village Xerokambi that was found in 2008. It's a different palace to the Menelaion which is about 5km outside of modern Sparta. We've known about that one since the mid 1800s I believe.
Exactly. So the statement in the video that we haven't found a palace in Lakonia is not accurate.
@ariskritikos160 The statement at 3.40 is in reference specifically to a Homeric palace, in the area he assigns to Menelaus. As I mentioned, the Menelaion doesn't date until the 8th century well after the Collapse. We have palaces in Lakonia, absolutely, but none around Sparta that can be considered a candidate for Homer's Menelaus, and based on our view of Homer, there probably wasn't one.
@@mystai The Agios Basileios palace is a canditate. It is few klms away from present day Sparta as is the Menelaion. The palace of Nestor is also few klms away from modern Pylos but it is accepted that it is the homeric palace. They have even found linear b tablets in Agios Basileios.
@@ariskritikos160 Theoretically it could be, but it has more or less the same validity/claim to Menelaus as the Menelaion does. The majority of graves there are comparitavely very poor compared to other palaces, and the Geophys survey carried out on the hilltop shows it was tiny, especially for a palace. It's only around 9ha, compared to Thebes or Mycene which were 30-40ha. It also seems to have been unfortified and was destroyed much earlier, perhaps as much as 2 generations earlier, than the other Mycenaean palaces.
The Linear B fragments aren't complete tablets, and the largest wasn't found in situ, so is hard to pin down with certainty. If we find more, especially with an inscription referencing Menelaus or Helen, then there's something to really look at. But, in its defense, the palace does seem to have been a political centre in Lakonia, just not associated with Menelaus, but you never know :)