Ekphrastic Prompt 6: The Mask of Agamemnon

Mask of Agamemnon

Isn't this an amazing image? A golden mask, life-sized, flattened, with eyes which are at the same time open and closed. Beard, eyebrows, ears, hammered and chased into fine detail - simultaneously naive and strangely sophisticated.

This mask was discovered in 1876 by Heinrich Schliemann, a C19th German businessman who became a famous treasure hunter/archaeologist, and is now in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. Schliemann had previously excavated the remains of Troy, where, as told in Homer's Iliad, an epic ten year war was fought between the Greeks and the Trojans. The leader of the united Greek armies was Agamemnon, the king of the Mycenaeans, whose brother's wife, Helen, had been abducted by the Trojan prince, Paris.

When Agamemnon returned from the war, the legend is that he was killed by his own wife's lover, Aegisthus, or perhaps even by his wife Clytemnestra herself. This mask was found in a royal grave at Mycenae, and Schliemann was convinced that it was the death mask of Agamemnon himself, although some have claimed it to be a fake, and some archaeologists now believe it pre-dates the Trojan War by several hundred years. It is made of beaten gold, with the fine details chased out using a sharp tool. It is an amazing artefact. I saw it in Athens nearly thirty years ago when backpacking around Europe and it remains an iconic memory for me.

Today's prompt is to take this mask as a starting point for a poem. There are so many directions in which it could take you! You could just think about masks in any or all of their forms; you could concentrate on Agamemnon and his story; you could think about Schliemann; you could explore ideas of real and fake. You could even link back to what is often considered the first piece of ekphrastic writing: the description of The Shield of Achilles' in Book 18 of The Iliad.

If you are interested in some background, there's an interesting discussion here, and an article about the authenticity question here.

If you fancy reading or rereading The Iliad the translation by Richmond Lattimore is the one to go for.

And here's what Google has to say about the word 'mask':

mask

mɑːsk/

noun

noun: mask; plural noun: masks; noun: masque; plural noun: masques

1. 1.

   a covering for all or part of the face, worn as a disguise, or to amuse or frighten others.

   synonyms:

   disguise, veil, false face, domino, stocking mask, fancy dress; More

2. 2.

   a covering made of fibre or gauze and fitting over the nose and mouth to protect against air pollutants, or made of sterile gauze and worn to prevent infection of the wearer or (in surgery) of the patient.

   synonyms:

   matte, photomask, shadow mask, masking, masking tape "a mask that blocks out part of the image"

   • a protective covering fitting over the whole face, worn in fencing, ice hockey, and other sports.

     synonyms:

     face mask, protective mask, gas mask, oxygen mask, fencing mask,iron mask, ski mask, dust mask; More

   • a respirator used to filter inhaled air or to supply gas for inhalation.
3. 3.

   a face pack.

   "this exfoliating mask helps clear your pores and leaves your skin feeling soft and healthy"
4. 
   
5. 4.

   a likeness of a person's face moulded or sculpted in clay or wax.

   • a person's face regarded as having set into a particular expression.

     "his face was a mask of rage"
   • a hollow model of a human head worn by ancient Greek and Roman actors.
   • the face or head of a fox or other game animal, as a trophy.
   • 
     
6. 5.

   a manner or expression that hides one's true character or feelings.

   "I let my mask of respectability slip"

   synonyms:

   pretence, semblance, veil, screen, front, false front, facade, veneer,blind, false colours, disguise, guise, concealment, cover, cover-up,cloak, camouflage "de Craon had dropped his mask of good humour"

7. 6.

   PHOTOGRAPHY

   a piece of material such as card used to cover a part of an image that is not required when exposing a print.
8. 7.

   ELECTRONICS

   a patterned metal film used in the manufacture of microcircuits to allow selective modification of the underlying material.
9. 8.

   ENTOMOLOGY

   the enlarged labium of a dragonfly larva, which can be extended to seize prey.

verb

verb: mask; 3rd person present: masks; past tense: masked; past participle: masked; gerund or present participle: masking

1. 1.

   cover (the face) with a mask.

   "he had been masked, bound, and abducted"

   synonyms:

   hide, conceal, disguise, cover up, obscure, screen, cloak, camouflage,veil, mantle, blanket, enshroud "people carried herbs to mask the stench"

   antonyms:

   enhance, reinforce

2. 2.

   conceal (something) from view.

   "the poplars masked a factory"

   synonyms:

   hide, conceal, disguise, cover up, obscure, screen, cloak, camouflage,veil, mantle, blanket, enshroud "people carried herbs to mask the stench"

   antonyms:

   enhance, reinforce

   • (of a taste, smell, etc.) prevent the perception of (another sensation).

     "brandy did not completely mask the bitter taste"

     synonyms:

     hide, conceal, disguise, cover up, obscure, screen, cloak,camouflage, veil, mantle, blanket, enshroud "people carried herbs to mask the stench"

     antonyms:

     enhance, reinforce

3. 
   
4. 3.

   cover (an object or surface) so as to protect it during painting.

   "mask off doors and cupboards with sheets of plastic"

   synonyms:

   matte, photomask, shadow mask, masking, masking tape "a mask that blocks out part of the image"

Origin

mid 16th century: from French masque, from Italian maschera, mascara, probably from medieval Latin masca ‘witch, spectre’, but influenced by Arabic masḵara ‘buffoon’.

Image Credit: "MaskOfAgamemnon" by Xuan Che - Self-photographed (Flickr), 20 December 2010. 
Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Commons.

Definition Credit: Google