King Agamemnon, a figure lost in the realm of myth, was a face that haunted Ancient Greece's consciousness. The quest for his kingdom following descriptions of both Homer and Pausanias, lead Heinrich Schliemann to Grave Circle A in 1876. To the right of the Gate of the Lions, he discovered six graves rich in grave goods, weapons, vessels, and jewellery. It was a burial field of shaft graves, in other words, graves dug into the ground with rectangular roofs made of planks. Their tombstones are the first examples of monumental sculpture with relief decoration. This type of burial seems quite similar to those of our times. Among the grave goods, he found a few golden masks five in total belonging to the deceased rulers. One of them bore the imposing characteristics of a bearded man with an oval face, a wide forehead, a long, fine nose, and thin lips, tightly sealed; the eyebrows perched over closed eyes, the moustache and beard expressed through engraved, parallel lines. A regal figure, without doubt. Schliemann believed that he had discovered the grave of legendary king Agamemnon. Thus, he named the find "The Mask of Agamemnon" and shook the world of archaeology of his time. After the discovery of Troy, he had found the "abounding in gold Mycenae". Hence, archaeology confirmed Homer, offering historical substance to myth.
However, research revealed that this mask belonged to a king that reigned before the time we assume Agamemnon had lived. It was made of a single, thick gold sheet and forged, most probably, on a wooden mould. At the ears, holes were opened to secure the mask on the face of the deceased with the help of a twine. Grave Circle A underlines the respect Mycenaeans showed to the spirit of past kings which inspired them and guided them to a blessed future.
