Minoan, Mycenaean lecture video (Module 2)

Homer on Minoans

(Homer was writing in the 9the century so post facto):

• On the island of Crete, lived King Minos.

• Had a pretty sick palace

• sponsored sport of bull-dancing (went into combat w/ bulls and survived by dancing over their backs)

  • Got people to participate (battling the minotaur) by having it as a mandatory tax for each island he controlled

• minotaur was imprisoned in a labyrinth (build by architect Dadalus)

• Theseus from Athens got help from the daughter of King Minos(Adradne)

  • killed minotaur

  • used thread he left behind to get out

Palace of Knossos, Crete, ca. 1700- 1400 BC:

Physical Attribute:

• over 1,000 rooms

  • corridors connecting them looking like a labyrinth

• Not fortified

  • probably because it's an island so all you need is to protect the shoreline

• Minoan column

  • Arthur Evans sound sockets and partial columns figured that they were made of wood and were red

  • 435 (top and bottom flipped)

    • all of the whole columns rn are re-constructed

  • post and lintel construction

  • (from top to bottom): Capital -> Shaft -> base

  • entasis = change in diameter of shaft from base to top (smaller @ bottom, larger @ top)

  • "cushion" capital

minotaur - composite form that represents a successful bull dancer
Arthur Evans - Brtisih archeologist that worked on the excavation of the Palace of Knossos (1900-1905)

King Minos’s throne room, labrys

Labrys = Axe

• Tool Minoans used

• Not used as a weapon

• Stone making/carving

  • Construction

• "labrys" maybe equals "labyrinth"??

• On either side of the throne

  • Symmetry for the hero/rule

    • represents the opposite of chaos (controll)

(very basic)

Composite form: peacock/lion

• symbolize King Minos

What Arthur Evans thought it would've looked like

Queen’s chamber: “dolphin” fresco:

Arthur Evans figured based on the size of the room it must've been for the monarch or queen

• tail/fin

• One of many references found to the fact that Crete is an Island

• Realistically represented (swimming w/ other fish)

See how they went from swirls to flowers?

• stages of development overtime

“Toreador fresco,” Knossos, 1450-1400 BC:

• profile view

  • still a frontal eye

• multiple pieces put together

• showing the steps

• Gold coins of this

Screenshot 2026-09-28 at 11.07.59 AM.png

• Schema

  • entasis of Minoan Column

  • Archietecture in the human form

  • post and lintel

Snake goddess, Knossos, 1600 BC:

Many of these images

• Minoan Column entasis?

• Gold coins of this

• outstretched hands

• subduing of the snacks

“Cupbearers procession” fresco, Knossos, 1400 BC:

Arthur Evans found a little bit of detail and finished it

• Bringing an offering in

• walking forward

• profile view w/ frontal eye

• ritualized object to celebration

• Schema

  • entasis of Minoan Column

Minoan content in Art:

• Nature

• Seasons

• Celebrations

• "everyday life"

  • Safe, prosperous island life

“Springtime” fresco, Thera, 1650 BC:

Physical Attributes:

• Beautiful island life

  • Iris is growing

  • birds flying

“Fisherman” fresco, Thera, 1650 BC:

• not a consistent profile view

  • maybe to emphasize how good of a fishing session he's had

• Schema

  • Minoan Column

“Wrestlers” fresco, Thera, 1650 BC:

Physical Attributes:

• Still some general beauty

  • deers

• Overlapping (wrestlers)

• convincing realism

• Schema

  • yep the column again

Octopus vase, 1500 BC:

Physical Attributes:

• made of clay

• referencing their islands existance

  • their an island so octopus is fitting

• octopus conforms to the curves of the vase

  • not frightening

Harvester’s vase, 1500 BC:

Physical Attributes

• made of clay

  • clay is carved

  • sunken relief

• people going to the harvest

  • olive harvest

  • smiling

  • celebration

• More schema of columns

Citadel, Mycenae:

• Fortified

• only one entrance

• warrior culture

• walls 20ft thick

Heinrich Schliemann

• Archaelogist of Mycenae and Troy

• originally owned the Knossos site but Arthur bought it at his death

• career focus on finding Troy and proving Homer

• 1876-1878

shaft grave circle, 1400 –1200 BC:

inside the city

• fortified walls

  • Massive stones (took it very seriously)

• 90ft in diameter

• shaft graves

• burial w/ full sets of armor and weapons

  • Warrior culture

• The pathways and even ceilings had these massive stones

  • Corbeled gallery, 1300-1250 BC

  • Achieved this w/ corbel; corbelling

  • 190

  • 179

  • moving away from post and lintel

Lions Gate, 1300-1250 BC:

Lion is symbolic to protecting the city
- propagandistic

• Lion also representing the quality of the Mycenaen people (warrior)

  • Many lion references found throughout

• Another civilization tried to erase the lions a bit

• The column between the lions is a Minoan column

  • represents the defeat of the Minoan civilization

  • Arthur Evans used this as proof

Screenshot 2026-09-28 at 11.52.27 AM.png

• propagandistic

“Treasury of Atreus,” Mycenae, 1300-1250 BC:

• Named by Schliemann

• Atreus

  • a king of Mycenae

  • father of Agamemnon, Menelaus

• Sub-terrainian

• Corbelling

• Lintel stone above doorway (120 tons)

  • probably used leverage

410

• inside

• 48 ft diameter

• 50 ft highest point

• Beehive tomb

  • corbelled in the round

• Many artifacts buried inside (below)

Funeral Masks, 1600-1400 BC:

Zoomorphism
- lion/human
- mane of the lion

• Many found buried w/ people

• Found in the Grave Circle

Repousse:

• metal working technique

• sheet of gold hammered against a form (wooden)

• transfered over

  • clearly the gold is soft

Warrior vase, 1200 BC:

• composite view

• Handle is a lion's head

• Really focused in on their armor and weapons and shields, etc (because that was really important to them)

• avoided making it look Minoan and their schema

Dagger Blades, 1400 BC:

• Ceremonial

  • never sharpens and made of bronze

• Bronze w/ gold, silver inlay

• found in grave circles

• 2 different people worked on these

  • Lions represented differently

  • One Minoan gold worker(looked better)

  • Mycenaean gold worker

• Schema of the minoan human form

  • battle against Minoans

• Overlapping

• Motion

Vaphio cups, 1400 BC (found in Mycenae, crafted by Minoan metalworkers):

• "How to capture a bull"

  • to dance or to battle with the bull

  • one above it shows a human being trampled by the bull

  • Success: one brings in a cow to distract the bull

    • then the human ties the bull

• Repousse technique

Closing

Arthur Evans

• practice archaeology of restoring

  • trying to keep it as close to the original condition as possible

  • Criticized for it

Heinrich Schliemann

• **archaeology of preserving

  • maintaining the artifact in the condition it was found during excavation

Connoisseurship

• making judgments about quality, skill, or excellence