The Aegean --> Art history

exam 1

The ancient Aegean cultures of the Minoans and the Myceneans are the true-life source material for some of western literature’s earliest works, including Homer’s Illiad and the Odyssey. Which one of these works of epic poetry is about the Trojan War?

The Iliad

Which of the three Aegean cultures was prehistoric?

Cycladic

Why did the British archaeologist Sir Walter Evans name the civilization he found on the island of Crete after King Minos?

1. here were many bulls in the art he was uncovering, thus recalling to Evans’ mind the story of King Minos (the bull he didn’t sacrifice to Poseidon that then fathered his step-son, the Minotaur)

2. the labyrinthine architecture he was uncovering at Knossos reminded him of the Minotaur’s cage

Frescoes are more durable than ordinary paintings because they are painted onto the wall while the wall’s plaster is still wet. As such, the paint binds with the surface rather than sitting on top of it.

True

Which of the following types of art did the Minoans NOT have?

Large - scale sculpture and steles

Heinrich Schliemann was a highly respected archaeologist, even more so than Sir Arthur Evans.

FALSE!

Who was Agamemnon?

• commander of Greek troops who went after Helen in the Trojan War

• a figure in Homer’s epic poem, The Illiad

• King of Mycenae

• brother-in-law to helen (woman) whose disappearance led to the Trojan War)

What culture is known for making amazing frescos?

Minoan

What culture made masks out of gold?

Mycenean