GCSE Classical Civilisation · The Homeric World · 2.1 · Revision

The Palace and the Megaron

The palace at the heart of the city, and the great columned hall, the megaron, at the heart of the palace.

The Palace and the Megaron
At a glance
At a glance
  • the palace stood at the highest point of the citadel, looming over the city
  • it was a working hub as much as a home: storerooms, workshops, shrines and record rooms as well as living quarters
  • at its core was the megaron, a great columned hall with a central hearth and the ruler's throne
The palace complex
  • set on the highest ground, dominating everything below
  • far more than a royal residence: there is evidence for official record rooms, shrines, potteries, oil-press rooms, armouries and storerooms for food, as well as pleasant spaces such as colonnades
  • so the palace was the political, economic and religious centre of the city all at once
The megaron
The great hall at the heart of the palace
Plan of a typical Mycenaean megaron: porch, vestibule, hall with hearth
Plan · porch, vestibule and hall with the central hearth
The megaron hearth at Pylos
The megaron hearth at Pylos
The great hall
  • the most important room, in many ways like a later Greek temple: rectangular, entered through a porch with two columns, then an inner room (the vestibule), usually set around a courtyard
  • at its centre a hearth, a circular stone where a fire burned for cooking or religious rites, ringed by four columns that held up the roof, with a hole above to let the smoke escape
  • this was the throne room, where the king sat
  • it was used for feasts and for reciting poetry, exactly the kind of hall Homer pictures for the feast where Odysseus kills the suitors
Other evidence
Other sources for the palace and megaron
  • the best-preserved example is the megaron at Pylos (the “Palace of Nestor”), where the throne base, the round hearth and the painted floor still survive
  • its throne room was covered in frescoes — a seated lyre-player (a bard) and griffins flanking the throne — art that glorified the king
  • megara are found again at Mycenae and Tiryns, which shows this was the standard plan across the citadels
Significance & interpretation
What the megaron tells us
What it shows
  • the megaron shows a society built around one powerful ruler, with everything focused on the king's hall
  • it ties the archaeology straight to Homer, whose palace feasts and great halls match the megaron closely
  • it is also an ancestor of the later Greek temple, so it matters for the wider story of Greek architecture
Link to Homer
  • Homer pictures exactly this kind of hall: the great room where Odysseus strings the bow and kills the suitors (Odyssey 22) is a megaron
  • the palaces of Nestor and Menelaus centre on a feasting hall where guests are received, just as the megaron did
  • in the poems a suppliant sits at the hearth to ask for help, so here the archaeology and the epics agree closely
To stand in the megaron is to stand at the centre of Mycenaean power: the hearth, the throne and the feast all in one room.
Exam focus
Practice questions
Short answer & explain
Describe two features of a Mycenaean megaron. [short answer]
Explain why the palace was the most important building in a Mycenaean city. [explain]
Extended response · how far do you agree
“The megaron tells us more about power than about everyday life.” How far do you agree? [extended response]
Flashcards
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