The Minoans The Minoans were some of earliest people to build an advanced civilization. They lived on the island of Crete sometime around 2700 to 1420 B.C. They developed an early form of writing called Linear A.

The focal point of Minoan Civilization Crete The focal point of Minoan Civilization

Linear A Linear A is an old language that historians and cryptologists have not been able to decipher. As a result of this, any history written down by the Minoans is useless to us. All of our history, then, comes from other, later sources and from archaeology.

The Myceneans Around 1420 B.C. the Mycenean culture appeared on the island of Crete. They used a type of writing called Linear B. This script uses many of the same symbols as Linear A, but modern scholars have learned to translate it. It is the earliest known form of the Greek language.

Myth Most of the history we have of the Island of Crete during the time of the Minoans and the Myceneans is mythology. Mythology is “a collection of myths, especially one belonging to a particular religious or cultural tradition.” Myth does not necessarily tell us what actually happened, but it is very helpful in telling us what the people of the time believed and how they thought.

King Minos Some of the myths of Crete include King Minos and his minotaur. According to legend, the Athenians killed Minos’s son Androgeus, so Minos waged war against Athens and won. To pay for their crime, Athens had to send 14 youths every 7 years to be sacrificed to the Minotaur. Theseus, the prince of Athens, volunteered and killed the minotaur, but failed to send the correct message to his father, who then killed himself.