<P> The gate itself consists of two great monoliths capped with a huge lintel that measures 4.5 × 2.0 × 0.8 m (15 × 7 × 3 ft). Above the lintel, the masonry courses form a corbelled arch, leaving an opening that lightens the weight carried by the lintel . This relieving triangle is a great limestone slab on which two confronted lionesses or lions carved in high relief stand on either sides of a central pillar . The heads of the animals were fashioned separately and are missing . The pillar, specifically, is a Minoan - type column that is placed on top of an altar - like platform that the lionesses or lions rest their front legs on . An interesting note is that lions were not actually present in Greece at the time showing some sort of hierarchy in power with them fashioned on this monumental gate . </P> <P> Another view is that the figures were male lions . The Mycenaean artist did not indicate the sex of lions by the genital organs on any artifact known to have been recovered from an excavation . Neither were teats indicated on the body of the lions to indicate they were female . Furthermore, on the Lion Gate relief, cuttings on the side of the neck of the lion to the left of the spectator indicate that the animal represented is male, for the cuttings were where the ends of the mane of the animal were fitted to provide additional support to the block, perhaps of steatite, on which the head, face, and mane of the animal were carved . The same section of the lion to the right has weathered badly . However, there too we have at least the remnants of one cutting which would indicate that a similar provision was made for the head of that lion . Consequently, both animals can be considered lions and not lionesses . Griffins or sphinxes have also been depicted on opposite sides of a column on gems and gold rings but always with wings . The absence of wings also indicates that the animals were probably lions . </P> <P> The imposing gate of the citadel with the representation of the lionesses or lions was an emblem of the Mycenaean kings and a symbol of their power to both subjects and foreigners . It also has been argued that the lionesses (assuming they are not male lions) are a symbol of the goddess Hera . The Lion Gate may be compared to the gates of the Hittite Bronze Age citadel of Hattusa, in Asia Minor . Since the heads of the animals were of a different material from their bodies and originally were fashioned to look toward those approaching below, a number of scholars have suggested that they were composite beasts, probably sphinxes, in the typical Middle Eastern tradition . On the top of the pillar is a row of four discs, apparently representing rafters supporting a further piece of sculpture that has since been lost . Another view is as follows: above the head of the column and what is probably a slab supporting an architrave is a row of discs (ends of transverse beams) and another slab the same size as the slab on top of the column . The beams and the block above them represent a more extended superstructure shortened here because of the diminishing space in the triangle . Thus, no further piece of sculpture has been lost . </P> <P> The design of the gate had precedents in other surviving artworks of the time; a similar design was depicted on 15th - century Minoan seals and a gem found at Mycenae . Many other pieces of Mycenaean artwork share the same basic pattern of two opposed animals separated by a vertical divider, such as two lambs facing a column and two sphinxes facing a sacred tree representing a deity . The architectural design in the gate relief may reflect an entrance of a type characterized by a central support, commonly a single column . More specifically, the gate relief may allude to the propylon (structure which forms the entrance) that provides the main direct access to the palace . The lions acted as guardians to the entrance of the palace . If so, the symbol of a sanctified palace entrance would have appeared above the gate of the fortifications: a double blessing . </P>

Which has been proposed about this ancient sculpture located at the top of the lion gate