one of the most ancient cities of Greece, in Argolis, a little to the S.E. of Argos. Even in the time of Homer, it was celebrated for its strong and massive walls; and Pausanias describes them as in his day not less to be admired than the Egyptian pyramids. They consisted of huge masses of stone, the interstices between which were filled up with smaller stones. Almost the whole circuit is still remaining, and forms one of the most interesting relics of ancient Greece. It encloses a low flat hill, of an oblong shape, about 250 yards in length and from 40 to 80 in breadth, and consists of walls, towers, gates, and covered passages, leading from one part of the fortifications to another. The foundation of Tiryns is carried back to the most remote antiquity; and it is said to have been built by Protus, an ancient king of Argolis. At the time of the Dorian invasion of the Peloponnese, it seems to have been retained by the original Achaean inhabitants; and hence arose a hostility between it and Argos. Tiryns was destroyed by the Argives, probably about 468 B.C., and never again rose to any importance in history.