Chapter 17 Lecture Two of Two Crete 2012

ARCHAEOLOGY AND CRETAN MYTH © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Archaeology and Cretan Myth • Crete between Greek and trade routes to the east,

Archaeology and Cretan Myth • First people from Anatolia (7000 B. C. ) –

Archaeology and Cretan Myth • Minoan power ends in 1450 • Cnossos rebuilt but

Archaeology and Cretan Myth • What can we know about the Minoans? • Ancient

Fig. 17. 6 Reconstructed portion of the Minoan palace at Cnossus. Author’s photo ©

Archaeology and Cretan Myth • Minoans were vigorous, pleasure-loving, seafaring, with a taste for

Archaeology and Cretan Myth • Minoan Religion – Worshipped a Great Mother goddess –

Fig. 17. 7 The snake-goddess Heraklion Museum, Crete; © Giraudon/Art Resource, New York ©

Archaeology and Cretan Myth • Athenian youths given to the Minotaur perhaps an image

Fig. 17. 8 Bull-Vaulting Fresco Heraklion Museum, Crete; Marie Manzy/Art Resource, New York ©

Archaeology and Cretan Myth • Minoan myth preserved by the Greeks who emphasized the

Archaeology and Cretan Myth • The story of Theseus appears to be a folktale

Archaeology and Cretan Myth Theseus Journey to a far land Male Initiation Driven from

Archaeology and Cretan Myth • Daedalus, the trickster, also underlines the folktale quality of

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Archaeology and Cretan Myth • First people from Anatolia (7000 B. C. ) – First script pictorial – Second: Linear A – Later, the Mycenaeans adapted Linear A for use in their own language. This script called Linear B © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Archaeology and Cretan Myth • What can we know about the Minoans? • Ancient Greeks wanted to know too and used their myths as guide to history – Thucydides • Arthur Evans (1899) – Uncovered Minoan material culture at Cnossos © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Archaeology and Cretan Myth • Minoans were vigorous, pleasure-loving, seafaring, with a taste for vibrant, naturalistic art • Palaces not fortified – A thalassocracy? • Relationship with Athens perhaps a historical truth – Theseus and the Minotaur © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Archaeology and Cretan Myth • Minoan Religion – Worshipped a Great Mother goddess – The “Snake Goddess” – Ariadnê (“the very holy one”) – Ariadnê Aphrodite – Bull as the symbol of male fertility and Zeus? • Bull jumping as human sacrifice to the god? © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Archaeology and Cretan Myth • Athenian youths given to the Minotaur perhaps an image of child-sacrifice • Double axe – Used to sacrifice the bull? – Labys < Labyrinth “house of the double axe”? • Pasiphaë and the bull a reflection of sacrifice of young women to the god? – modified to a sexual surrender © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Archaeology and Cretan Myth • The story of Theseus appears to be a folktale that resembles a male’s initiation into adulthood – In Athens, young men (18– 20 ) who were ephebes alluded to the model of Theseus in their oath © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.

Archaeology and Cretan Myth Theseus Journey to a far land Male Initiation Driven from native land Victory over death and a Mock death and demonster Amorous adventure Sexual experience Becomes king Return to society with full privileges © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.