Discovering the Greeks: Mid-Term Image Bank

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards identifying the key monuments, archaeological plans, ceramic styles, frescoes, and sculptures from the Discovering the Greeks (CL 10) mid-term image bank.

Spherical Vase from Dimini; Late Neolithic period; the vase seems to be made of ceramic and displays a spherical shape with polychrome decoration. The high quality of the polychrome pottery from Dimini attests to the vitality of the culture. Their craftsmen are highly skilled and sophisticated.

This is a model of Dimini, a Late Neolithic settlement in Thessaly, Greece. Its architecture is notable for its concentric stone circuit walls enclosing an open central courtyard and a central structure. Could this structure be defensive? To preserve the walls? The central structure, called the megaron, could indicate an emerging central authority, leading to themes of social stratification.

Cycladic figurine of the Bronze Age in the Aegean (Early Cycladic II); it is made of marble, and it is a Spedos variety defined by abstract geometric proportions, arms folded across the chest, rudimentary breasts, and a pubic triangle. Most Cycladic figurines depicted women, as could be seen by the figurines’ breasts. Not much is concretely known about the figurines. Are they idols and objects of veneration, suggesting a cult of female fertility, or are they no more than dolls? Were they handled? Were they displayed? Do they represent deities? Ancestral or household spirits?

This depicts the floor plan of the palace of Knossos. Dated to the Bronze Age, the image reflects the complexity and sophistication of Minoan culture. The ground plan of the site pays attention to regularity and strict adherence to axial design. Notice that access to the center of the complex is restricted and controlled—just entering the throne room requires penetrating to the center of the palace. This demonstrates the society’s participation in hierarchical organization.

The Minoan Bull's-Head Rhyton. Dated to the Bronze Age, the rhyton was used in Minoan rituals to pour liquid libations, typically for deities. The body is made of black steatite, carved and crafted to give the look of fur and skin lines. These rhyta were also typically destroyed and buried after use. It is also suggested that, since the bull rhyta was too heavy to hold, they often just held the blood of the sacrificial bulls.

The image depicts the Minoan Snake Goddess, dating back to the Bronze Age. In Minoan society, the snake goddesses were common; faience figurines show women wearing Minoan skirts with snakes wrapped around their arms. Unfortunately, there is not much we can say with certainty about the figurine—we are left in much mystery. Could they be equivalent to snake handlers in the south of the United States, or were some kind of ancestor worship? Could the snake be a symbol of regeneration?

Saffron Gatherer (Detail, Akrotiri)

A wall-painting detail from Xeste 3 at Akrotiri on Thera (Santorini), depicting a young woman with a shaved blue scalp, ponytail, and hoop earring gathering crocus flowers.

Flotilla Fresco (Shipwreck Scene, Akrotiri)

A miniature narrative wall painting from the West House at Akrotiri, Thera, depicting coastal settlements, marching soldiers bearing spears and shields, and drowning sailors among sunken ships.

Lion Hunt Dagger

A bronze dagger blade from Shaft Grave IV in Grave Circle A at Mycenae (Late Helladic I), decorated with gold, silver, and niello inlay showing hunters armed with tower shields confronting lions.

Grave Circle A (Mycenae)

A 16th-century BCE royal shaft grave enclosure at Mycenae surrounded by a double ring of limestone slabs, later incorporated directly within the citadel walls near the Lion Gate.

Treasury of Atreus

A monumental Late Bronze Age tholos (beehive) tomb at Mycenae, featuring a long masonry dromos, an ashlar lintel with a corbeled relieving triangle, and a vast vaulted chamber.

Lefkandi Heroon (Toumpa Building)

A monumental Early Iron Age (ca. 10th century BCE) apsidal timber-and-mudbrick building with an exterior peristyle at Lefkandi, Euboea, sheltering the burials of an elite man, a woman, and sacrificed horses.

Centaur of Lefkandi

A Protogeometric terracotta figurine of a half-man, half-horse creature with painted geometric designs, deliberately broken into two pieces and deposited in separate tombs at Lefkandi.

Mykonos Pithos

An Archaic relief storage vessel (c. 675 BCE) found on Mykonos featuring the earliest known depiction of the Trojan Horse on its neck, accompanied by metopes showing the sack of Troy.

Dipylon Krater

A monumental Attic Late Geometric vessel from the Dipylon Cemetery in Athens, serving as a grave marker with registers depicting a funerary prothesis (laying out the dead) and a chariot procession.

Heraion of Samos (Sanctuary Plan)

An architectural plan showing the sequence of temple construction at the sanctuary of Hera on Samos, including Hekatompedon A, Hekatompedon B, and the massive dipteral Rhoikos Temple.

Eleusis Amphora (Blinding of Polyphemus)

A Proto-Attic monumental amphora (c. 670–650 BCE) by the Polyphemus Painter, highlighted by a neck scene showing Odysseus and his comrades thrusting a stake into the eye of Polyphemus.

Temple C Metope, Selinus (Perseus and Medusa)

An Archaic relief metope (c. 540–530 BCE) from Temple C at Selinus, Sicily, showing Perseus beheading the Gorgon Medusa under Athena's protection as Pegasus emerges.

Artemis Orthia Ivory Ship Plaque

An Archaic Spartan carved ivory votive plaque from the Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia, depicting a warship with crewmen, shields aligned along the gunwale, and marine life below.

Spartan Bronze Hoplite Figurine

An Archaic bronze statuette (c. 530–520 BCE) of a fully armed Greek infantryman, wearing a high-crested Corinthian helmet, an anatomical cuirass, and decorated bronze greaves.

Phrasikleia Kore

A remarkably preserved Archaic marble funerary statue sculpted by Aristion of Paros (c. 550–540 BCE), depicting an elaborately dressed maiden wearing a rosette-patterned red chiton and holding a lotus flower.

Attic Funerary Pinax (Prothesis Plaque)

A Late Archaic black-figure terracotta plaque depicting a funerary prothesis, with the deceased stretched out upon a kline surrounded by male and female mourners gesturing in grief.

Themistokles Ostrakon

Inscribed potsherds bearing the name 'Themistokles, son of Neokles' (OEMISOOKLET NEOKLEOS), cast by Athenian citizens during an ostracism assembly to vote a political leader into ten years of exile.