Hunting and the Elite

At a glance

Why the Mycenaeans hunted

much of Greece was poor farmland, and the flat land was needed for crops, so hunting wild animals was essential for meat; much of the game lived in the mountains
but hunting was also about courage and prestige, none more so than the lion hunt, the greatest challenge a hunter could face

The Lion Hunt Dagger

Prescribed source · Grave Circle A, Mycenae

Prescribed source

Object: dagger blade showing a hunting scene
Date: 16th century BC
Location: Grave IV, Grave Circle A, Mycenae
Materials: gold, silver and niello
Significance: shows the inlay technique, the weapons and armour of the day, and evidence of trade and hunting

What it shows

a lion hunt: hunters armed with spears and large body-shields (figure-of-eight and tower types), with the hunter on the right felled by the lion
it is far too fine and precious to have seen combat: an ornamental object, almost certainly a king's status symbol
the inlay (different metals set into the blade) shows great skill, and the materials point to wide trade

Other evidence

Sources for hunting beyond the dagger

the boar hunt fresco from Tiryns, showing hounds and hunters (and women riding out in a chariot) after boar
gold signet rings from the shaft graves, engraved with hunting and combat scenes
the boar's tusk helmet, which needed the tusks of many boars — so hunting fed straight into warfare and status

Significance & interpretation

What the dagger tells us

What it shows

hunting mattered for food and for prestige, and the lion hunt was the ultimate test of an elite man
the object shows a ruling class that owned beautiful, costly things and commanded skilled craftsmen
its materials and technique are evidence of trade links
Limits: it is an idealised elite image, so it shows values and display more than how ordinary hunting actually worked

Link to Homer

Homer's heroes hunt in the same way: the boar hunt that gives Odysseus his scar (Odyssey 19) is just this kind of dangerous, status-making hunt
his warriors are constantly compared to lions in his similes, so the lion hunt sits at the heart of the heroic ideal the poems describe
the large body-shields on the blade (figure-of-eight and tower) match the huge shields of early epic, like Ajax's shield “like a tower”
so the dagger helps show that the warrior-hunter values Homer pictures really did belong to this world, even though the poems were composed centuries later

The dagger is not a weapon but a boast: a king's prized possession that turns a dangerous hunt into a statement of status.

Exam focus

Practice questions

Short answer & explain

Describe what is shown on the Lion Hunt Dagger. [short answer]

Explain why hunting was important to the Mycenaean elite. [explain]

Source usefulness

How useful is the Lion Hunt Dagger as evidence for Mycenaean life? [source usefulness]

Flashcards

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