- Tiryns
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/tir"inz/, n.an ancient city in Greece, in Peloponnesus: destroyed in 486 B.C. by the Argives; excavated ruins include Cyclopean walls forming part of a great fortress.
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Ancient city, eastern Peloponnese, southern Greece.Inhabited from Neolithic times, it developed as an important Mycenaean centre in the Bronze Age, reaching its height с 1400 BC. It declined as Argos grew in power after 1100 BC. The Argives destroyed it с 468 BC. Ruins of its palace and massive walls date from the 15th–12th centuries BC. The term cyclopean masonry derives from the huge stones used in its construction, supposedly by the Cyclops for Proteus. The city is also connected with Perseus and Heracles.* * *
▪ ancient city, Greeceprehistoric city in the Argolis, Greece, noted for its architectural remains of the Homeric period. Excavations show the area to have been inhabited from the Neolithic Age. Not later than the beginning of the Early Bronze Age, or Early Helladic Period (c. 3000–c. 2200 BC), a pre-Greek agricultural people arrived, probably from western Anatolia, as suggested by place-name endings such as -ssos, -ttos, -inthos, -indos, and -enai. In the Middle Bronze Age, or Middle Helladic Period, people from the north moved in who are believed to have spoken an early variant of the Greek language. In contrast to the violent invasions by these people in other areas, their arrival at Tiryns appeared to have been peaceful. The settlement at Tiryns developed into a centre of the Mycenaean, or Late Helladic, culture, influenced by that of Minoan Crete. Tiryns, situated on a ridge in the plain between Nauplia (modern Návplion) and Mycenae, survived into the classical period but was destroyed by Argos about 468 BC. From the huge stones of the walls of its citadel, supposedly built by the Cyclopes for the legendary king Proteus, the expression cyclopean masonry is derived.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
