Module 5: Cities and Citadels of Bronze Age Greece

Apotropaic

An object is believed to have the power to turn away evil

Metonymy

when a piece of something us used to represent the whole

Ashlar Masonry

Blocks of cut stone with crisp edges; Rubble wall construction

Citadel

A fortified city/town

Cyclopean masonry

massive, irregular stone fitted together without the use of mortar

Megaron

A square or oblong room with a central heart and usually four columns to support the roof

Minian

Early Greek civilization known for extensive trading networks across the Mediterranean Sea; The first maritime empire, 3000-1200 BCE; Temple/Palace at Knossos, Crete, Greece, 1600 BCE

Mycenaean

Warring civilization, rising after the fall of Minoans; mythologized in the epics of Homer; Lion Gate, Citadel of Mycenae, Greece, 1300 BCE; Tomb of Atreus, Mycenae, 1250 BCE

Palace at Knossos

Greece, 1600 BCE

Citadel of Mycenae

Greece, 1300 BCE

Lion Gate at the Citadel of Mycenae

Greece,1300 BCE

Tomb of Atreus

a bee-hive shaped tholos tomb that exemplifies the architectural sophistication of Mycenean royal burials; Mycenae, Greece,1250 BCE

King Minos

Ruler of ancient Crete, associated with Minoan civilization, famed in Greek mythology for commissioning the Labyrinth to imprison the Minotaur

Homer

ancient Greek poet; believed to have lived around 750-700 BCE; composed the epic poems The Iliad and The Odyssey

Virgil

a Roman poet; wrote the Aeneid, an epic that links Rome's origins to the heroic legacy of Troy

Odysseus

Legendary Greek hero and kind of Ithaca, mythical figure, cantral role in Homer's Odessey

Polyphemus

One eyed cyclops from Greek mythology, from Homer's Odyssey as the giant who traps and is eventually outwitted and blinded by Odysseus

Atreus

legendary king of Mycenae and father of Agamemnon; associated with the monumental "Tomb of Atreus"

Who excavated the Minoan city of Knossos?

Sir Arthur Evans

What did the ancient Greeks guess the ruins of the palace of Knossos might have been?

The palace of king Minos and the labyrinth that housed the Minotaur

What took place in the central court of Knossos?

Public ceremonies and social gatherings

What took place in the “throne room” of Knossos?

Religious ceremonies

Mycenaean society was known for being peaceful?

False

What was the central feature of Mycenaean citadels?

the megaron

What kind of tomb is the Tomb of Atreus?

Bee-hive tomb: tholos shaped like beehive; grave goods placed in tholos

How was the interior space of the Tome of Atreus created?

corbelling: blocked stone to form arcs/dome