Download 5/07 - The Ohio State University

Sir Arthur Evans excavated the site of Knossos on
Crete in 1899
Homer’s description of Minoans in the Odyssey
(19.172-179)
There is a land called Crete . . .
ringed by the wine-dark sea with rolling whitecaps—
handsome country, fertile, thronged with people
well past counting—boasting ninety cities,
language mixing with language side-by-side.
First come the Achaeans, then the native Cretans,
hardy, gallant in action, then Cydonian clansmen,
Dorians living in three tribes, and proud Pelasgians last.
Central to all their cities is magnificent Cnossos,
the site where Minos ruled and each ninth year
conferred with almighty Zeus himself.
The “Throne Room” from the
palace at Knossos (late 15th c.
BCE)
Dolphin Frieze from the palace
at Knossos (c. 1500 BCE)
Blue Bird Fresco from the House of
Frescoes at Knossos (c. 1500
BCE)
Bull-jumping Fresco from the palace at Knossos
(c. 1500 BCE)
Bull at the Royal Gate (from the
palace at Knossos)
Bull Rhyton (libation vase), from the
Little Palace at Knossos (c.
1550-1500 BCE)
Plan of the Palace at
Knossos.
(Architecture built around
a Central Courtyard)
Pasiphae and Daedalus (wall
painting from Pompeii)
Heroes of Athens
• Herakles: popular under the Peisistratids (a clan
counting a number of tyrants who ruled Athens before
it became a democracy).
• Theseus: after the ousting of the Peisistratids in 510
BCE, Theseus becomes the central hero of the
Athenians.
Theseus’ Parents
Aegeus (and Poseidon) of Athens
Aethra of Trozen
The myth of Theseus has been called “the story of the Athenian
Ephebe System”
The death of the old king represents the destruction of the
past
Theseus has just defeated the Minotaur and is receiving
thanks from the youths he has saved
The Minotaur as self-portrait.
Picasso.
Minotauromachy (fight against the bull)