1. Chapter 4
Art of the Aegean

2. Aegean Art The Cycladic islands are in the southern Aegean Sea
Akrotiri – Port; “Pompeii” of prehistoric Aegean; known for the well-preserved frescoes found in the homes.
Discovered in 1967; one of the most significant archaeological events of the 2nd half of the 20th century.

3. Aegean Art
< BCE
Primarily farmers and herders but infuenced by the sea; outstanding seafarers; linked the islands and the world beyond such as Egypt & Near East.
Hallmark of this society was the use of Bronze, an alloy superior to pure copper.
Used for making weapons & tools

4. Aegean Art The Aegean Bronze Age 3000-2000 BCE
Cycladic culture; BC; existed on the Clycladic Islands
Old Palace, Second Palace and late Minoan Culture, c BCE, on Crete and Thera
Mycenaean, or Helladic c BCE in the mainland Greece

5. Cycladic Art
White marble found on island became a popular sculpting medium.
Statues often found on graves & range in size from a few inches to 5 feet tall
Unique simplified sculptural figures
Tilted-back heads, folded arms and down-pointed toes suggest they were intended to lay on their backs as if asleep of dead.
Originally painted facial features in black, red and blue.
1. “The Cyclades, so named because they form a circle (from the Greek kuklos), are a group of islands in the southern part of the Aegean Sea. Typical of many island populations, the inhabitants of the Cyclades were accomplished sailors, fishermen, and traders. They also hunted and farmed, the latter requiring permanent village settlements. Cycladic culture is essentially prehistoric because of the absence of a writing system” (Adams, Art Across Time 114).

6. CYCLADIC ART Flashcards
2. “The most impressive examples of Cycladic art date from the early Bronze Age and are made of marble… Today they are called idols (from Greek eidolon, meaning ‘image’) because they are thought to have been objects of worship. Most were found lying down in graves” (114).
3. “Almost all of these are of a nude female figure with arms folded across the chest. They also share a distinctive form, which at first glance recalls the angular, abstract qualities of Paleolithic and Neolithic sculpture. Generally they have a flat, wedge-shaped body; strong columnar neck; tilted, oval shield of the face; and long, ridgelike nose. (Other features were painted in.) Within this narrowly defined and stable type, however, the Cycladic figures show wide variations in scale and form that lend them a surprising individuality” (Janson 82).
4. “The male Cycladic idols are composed mainly of cylindrical shapes and are often depicted playing musical instruments” (Adams, Art Across Time 115).

7. MINOAN ART

8. Crete & Minoan Civilization
Lived on Crete between BCE
Name comes from Minos, a king who ruled Knossos, the island’s ancient capital
Largest of the islands & economically self-sufficient.
Written records (hieroglyphic & Linear A) survived this period but have not been translated as of yet.
A later script, Linear B, a very early form of Greek, offers invaluable insight to the time

9. Crete & Minoan Civilization
Wealthy sea power; traded with mainland Greece, the Near East, Egypt and Anatolia
Minoans had 3 goddess that may have been the ancestors to later Greek goddesses: Demeter, Artemis and Athena.

10. Palace at Knossos Flashcard
B Palace of Knossos (Crete), c BCE Arthur Evans/King Minos and Pasiphae/ Theseus and the Minotaur/ Ariadne and the island of Naxos/ central court/ unfortified
1. “The modern Greek island of Crete, to the south of the Cyclades and northwest of the Nile delta, was the home of another important Bronze Age culture. It was destroyed twice, once in 1700 BC by an earthquake and again, two or three centuries later, by an invasion from the Greek mainland. The culture that flourished on Crete was all but forgotten until the early twentieth century, when the British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans ( ) decided to search for it. Inspired by his knowledge of later Greek myths about the pre-Greek Aegean, Evans initiated excavations that would establish a historical basis for the myths” (Adams, Art Across Time 115).
2. “In Greek mythology, Crete was the home of the tyrant King Minos, son of Zeus and the mortal woman Europa. Minos broke an oath to Poseidon, who had guaranteed his kingship. In revenge, the sea god caused Minos’ wife to fall in love with a bull. The offspring of their unnatural union was the Minotaur, a monstrous creature, part man and part bull, who lived at the center of the labyrinthine maze in the Palace of Minos at Knossos. Every year the Minotaur killed seven girls and seven boys sent as annual tribute from Athens on the Greek mainland to Minos. Eventually, the Athenian hero Theseus killed the Minotaur and was rescued by Minos’ daughter Ariadne from the labyrinth. They set sail from Crete and landed on the island of Naxos, where Theseus deserted Ariadne. The Greek wine god Dionysos found Ariadne and married her. Theseus, meanwhile, had sailed home to Athens, but he forgot the prearranged signal to his father, King Aegeus, indicating that he was returning safely. Believing his son dead, Aegeus threw himself into the sea and drowned. The Aegean Sea is named after the unfortunate king” (115).
3. “Sir Arthur Evans called the culture he discovered Minoan, after the legendary King Minos. ‘Minos’ may be either a generic term for a ruler, like the designations ‘king’ and ‘pharaoh,’ or the name of a particular ruler. The major Minoan site was Knossos, which had been inhabited since early Neolithic times. Its palace was the traditional residence of Minos, and the largest of several known palaces on Crete” (116).
4. “In Greek mythology the palace was called a ‘labyrinth,’ which Evans believed originally meant ‘house of the double axe.’ The latter was a cult object in the Minoan era, and is represented in paintings and reliefs throughout the palace at Knossos. Double axes may have been used to sacrifice bulls, which were sacred animals in ancient Crete. The later Greek meaning of ‘labyrinth,’ a complex, mazelike structure, may have been applied to the palace because of the asymmetrical, meandering arrangement of rooms, corridors, and staircases. Greek coins of Knossos which were minted in the historical period generally contained maze patterns” (116).
5. “The palace itself was not fortified, for the fact that Crete is an island was its primary protection against invasion. Like other Aegean and Near Eastern palaces, Knossos was more than a royal residence; it also served as a commercial and religious center. Industry, trade, and justice were administered from the palace, which had a well-organized system for receiving and distributing local agricultural products and imported luxury goods” (116).
6. “The palace at Knossos used post-and-lintel construction with low ceilings, stone masonry walls, and short, wooden columns that taper downward toward the base. Because their capitals appear inflated, or puffed up, they are called pillow capitals” (118).
7. “The only parts that can be identified as places of worship are small chapels, which suggests that religious ceremonies took place out of doors, or at outlying shrines. The many storerooms, workshops, and ‘offices’ at Knossos show that the palace was not only a royal residence but a center of administration and commerce. Shipping and trade were a major part of Minoan economic life, to judge from elaborate harbor constructions and from Cretan export articles found in Egypt and elsewhere. Perhaps, then, the king should be viewed as the head of a merchant aristocracy. Just how much power he had and how far it extended are still unclear” (Janson 85).
8. “The masonry construction is excellent, but the columns were always of wood. Although none has survived, their form is known from paintings and sculptures. They had a smooth shaft tapering downward and were topped by a wide, cushion-shaped capital. About the origins of this type of column (which in some contexts could also serve as a religious symbol),… we can say nothing at all” (85).
faculty.cva.edu/Stout/Egyptian/Egyptian.html

11. Palace at Knossos Occupied 2000-2375 BCE
Walls made of rubble, covered with mud bricks & cut stone – known as ‘dressed stone’
Major earthquake c BCE destroyed parts of the palace at Knossos and Phaistos.
Reconstructed rooms were enlarged, multilevel,and flat-roofed with many columns..

12. Palace at Knossos Old Palace Period c 1900-1700 BCE
Sir Arther Evans discovered the ruins in 1900 CE
Squarish plan built around a central courtyard.
Had a theater or performance area
Each suite consisted of a forecourt with light well, a hall with a stepped lustral basin, a room with a hearth, & a series of service rooms.

13. : www.uvm.edu/.../?Page=mainpagelinks/ambrose.html
Stairwell of Palace at Knossos
B Palace of Knossos (Crete), c BCE Arthur Evans/King Minos and Pasiphae/ Theseus and the Minotaur/ Ariadne and the island of Naxos/ central court/ unfortified
1. “The modern Greek island of Crete, to the south of the Cyclades and northwest of the Nile delta, was the home of another important Bronze Age culture. It was destroyed twice, once in 1700 BC by an earthquake and again, two or three centuries later, by an invasion from the Greek mainland. The culture that flourished on Crete was all but forgotten until the early twentieth century, when the British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans ( ) decided to search for it. Inspired by his knowledge of later Greek myths about the pre-Greek Aegean, Evans initiated excavations that would establish a historical basis for the myths” (Adams, Art Across Time 115).
2. “In Greek mythology, Crete was the home of the tyrant King Minos, son of Zeus and the mortal woman Europa. Minos broke an oath to Poseidon, who had guaranteed his kingship. In revenge, the sea god caused Minos’ wife to fall in love with a bull. The offspring of their unnatural union was the Minotaur, a monstrous creature, part man and part bull, who lived at the center of the labyrinthine maze in the Palace of Minos at Knossos. Every year the Minotaur killed seven girls and seven boys sent as annual tribute from Athens on the Greek mainland to Minos. Eventually, the Athenian hero Theseus killed the Minotaur and was rescued by Minos’ daughter Ariadne from the labyrinth. They set sail from Crete and landed on the island of Naxos, where Theseus deserted Ariadne. The Greek wine god Dionysos found Ariadne and married her. Theseus, meanwhile, had sailed home to Athens, but he forgot the prearranged signal to his father, King Aegeus, indicating that he was returning safely. Believing his son dead, Aegeus threw himself into the sea and drowned. The Aegean Sea is named after the unfortunate king” (115).
3. “Sir Arthur Evans called the culture he discovered Minoan, after the legendary King Minos. ‘Minos’ may be either a generic term for a ruler, like the designations ‘king’ and ‘pharaoh,’ or the name of a particular ruler. The major Minoan site was Knossos, which had been inhabited since early Neolithic times. Its palace was the traditional residence of Minos, and the largest of several known palaces on Crete” (116).
4. “In Greek mythology the palace was called a ‘labyrinth,’ which Evans believed originally meant ‘house of the double axe.’ The latter was a cult object in the Minoan era, and is represented in paintings and reliefs throughout the palace at Knossos. Double axes may have been used to sacrifice bulls, which were sacred animals in ancient Crete. The later Greek meaning of ‘labyrinth,’ a complex, mazelike structure, may have been applied to the palace because of the asymmetrical, meandering arrangement of rooms, corridors, and staircases. Greek coins of Knossos which were minted in the historical period generally contained maze patterns” (116).
5. “The palace itself was not fortified, for the fact that Crete is an island was its primary protection against invasion. Like other Aegean and Near Eastern palaces, Knossos was more than a royal residence; it also served as a commercial and religious center. Industry, trade, and justice were administered from the palace, which had a well-organized system for receiving and distributing local agricultural products and imported luxury goods” (116).
6. “The palace at Knossos used post-and-lintel construction with low ceilings, stone masonry walls, and short, wooden columns that taper downward toward the base. Because their capitals appear inflated, or puffed up, they are called pillow capitals” (118).
7. “The only parts that can be identified as places of worship are small chapels, which suggests that religious ceremonies took place out of doors, or at outlying shrines. The many storerooms, workshops, and ‘offices’ at Knossos show that the palace was not only a royal residence but a center of administration and commerce. Shipping and trade were a major part of Minoan economic life, to judge from elaborate harbor constructions and from Cretan export articles found in Egypt and elsewhere. Perhaps, then, the king should be viewed as the head of a merchant aristocracy. Just how much power he had and how far it extended are still unclear” (Janson 85).
8. “The masonry construction is excellent, but the columns were always of wood. Although none has survived, their form is known from paintings and sculptures. They had a smooth shaft tapering downward and were topped by a wide, cushion-shaped capital. About the origins of this type of column (which in some contexts could also serve as a religious symbol),… we can say nothing at all” (85).
Compare to
Doric column :

14. Flashcard
Queens megaron
True (Wet) Fresco
Reconstructed drawing of Knossos throne room

15. Bull-leaping Fresco Flashcard Stylized shapes
C Toreador Fresco from the palace at Knossos (Crete), c BCE, fresco
bull leaping/ elongation/ depiction of women
1. The rooms at Knossos “were arranged around a courtyard in the center of the palace. This is where the famous bull-leaping ceremony, shown on wall paintings, may have taken place. Young acrobats would grab the horns of a bull and turn a somersault over its back. This ritual may have had some religious purpose. The young men and women who performed the ‘dance’ were honored by the Minoans” (Wilkinson 7). “Among the private rooms of the palace is one thought to have belonged to the queen. It is decorated with paintings showing swimming dolphins. Dolphins were a symbol of freedom and happiness in the ancient world” (7).
2. “The so-called Toreador Fresco is perhaps the best-known wall painting from Knossos. It represents a charging bull, two girls, and one boy. The girl at the left grasps the bull’s horns, the boy somersaults over his back, and the girl at the right stands ready to catch him. Given the sacred character of the bull in the Minoan era and the myth of the Minotaur, it is believed that this fresco depicts a ritual sport, possibly involving the sacrifice of the bull, or the athletes, or both. As in Egyptian paintings, females are depicted with lighter skin color than males, and in each case a profile head is combined with a frontal eye. In other ways, however, the Minoan paintings differ from those of Egypt- for example, in the predominance of curvilinear form and the dynamic movements of figures in space. Although in the Toreador Fresco three different human figures are represented, their poses correspond to a sequence of movement that could be made by a single figure.
Such depictions of time and sequencing are more characteristic of Minoan that of Egyptian iconography. Bordering the fresco are rows of patterned designs simulating different colored marble” (Adams, Art Across Time 118).
3. “Whereas Egyptian wall paintings were fresco secco, Minoan wall paintings were buon (true) fresco- pigments were mixed with water and applied to damp lime (calcium-based) plaster. As the plaster dried, the coloring was absorbed into the fabric of the wall, making buon fresco more durable than fresco secco. Minoan artists used fresco secco for additional details painted over the true fresco, which had to be applied quickly before the plaster dried” (117).
Bull-leaping Fresco
Stylized shapes

16. Landscape with swallows (Spring Fresco)
E Discoveries at Thera
1. “In the 1960s the island now known as Santorini in the southern Cyclades yielded exciting new archaeological material. Called Thera by the ancient Greeks, Santorini is a volcanic island, parts of which are covered with thick layers of ash and pumice. The Greek archaeologist Spyridon Marinatos began to excavate near the modern town of Akrotiri, on the south coast of the island facing Crete” (Adams, Art Across Time 122).
2. “His excavations confirmed that an enormous volcanic eruption had buried a flourishing culture with a well-developed Aegean artistic tradition. The date of this disaster has been placed as late as 1500 BC, or as early as around 1628 BC- in either case it occurred during the heyday of Minoan civilization. Since no human remains have been found in the ashes, the inhabitants were evidently able to evacuate the island before the volcano erupted” (122).
3. “The frescoes at Akrotiri include the first pure landscape paintings we know of. Not even the most adventurous Egyptian artist of the Middle Kingdom would have devoted an entire composition to the out-of-doors” (Janson 87).
4. “The geographical location of Thera, north of Crete, places it squarely within the trading and seafaring routes between the Aegean, Egypt, Syria, and Palestine. To date, archaeologists have uncovered large portions of an ancient and affluent town. The paved, winding streets and houses of stone and mud-brick indicate a high standard of living. Homes had basements for storage, workroom space, and upper-story living quarters. Mills attached to houses reflect an active farming as well as seafaring economy… Interior baths and toilets were connected with clay pipes to an extensive drainage and sewage system under the streets” (Adams, Art Across Time 123).
Landscape with swallows (Spring Fresco)

17. 4-10 Kamares Ware jar Flashcard Polychromatic Curvilinear
D Kamares Ware jars (Phaistos, Crete) c BCE love of nature and the sea/zoomorphic motifs/ Barbotine decoration/ polychromatic
1. “The development of new types of clay wares was probably a result of the emergence of palace complexes in the early second millennium BCE, when the potter’s wheel was introduced and large-scale production was centralized in palace workshops. One of these new types is called Kamares Ware, after the cave overlooking the palace complex at Phaistos, in southern Crete, where it was first discovered. The hallmarks of this select ware- exported as far away as Egypt and Syria- were its delicacy, its use of color, and its energetically stylized painted decoration” (Stokstad, Art History 139).
2. “An example from about BCE has a globular body and a ‘beaked’ pouring spout. Decorated with black, brown, red, and creamy white pigments, the jug’s rounded contours are complemented by bold, curving forms derived from plants and animals” (139).
3. “Motifs, whether spirals, coils, petals, or leaves, are repeated around the pots, urging the eye to move. Human figures are excluded altogether. Raised designs of diagonal ridges and patterns of dots, bosses, or prickles- so-called ‘barbotine decoration’ – show that decorators explored texture as well as color” (Pedley 52).
4-10 Kamares Ware jar
Polychromatic
Curvilinear
Abstract patterns

18. Marine style octopus jar
Flashcard
Marine style octopus jar
D Kamares Ware jars (Phaistos, Crete) c BCE love of nature and the sea/zoomorphic motifs/ Barbotine decoration/ polychromatic
1. “The development of new types of clay wares was probably a result of the emergence of palace complexes in the early second millennium BCE, when the potter’s wheel was introduced and large-scale production was centralized in palace workshops. One of these new types is called Kamares Ware, after the cave overlooking the palace complex at Phaistos, in southern Crete, where it was first discovered. The hallmarks of this select ware- exported as far away as Egypt and Syria- were its delicacy, its use of color, and its energetically stylized painted decoration” (Stokstad, Art History 139).
2. “An example from about BCE has a globular body and a ‘beaked’ pouring spout. Decorated with black, brown, red, and creamy white pigments, the jug’s rounded contours are complemented by bold, curving forms derived from plants and animals” (139).
3. “Motifs, whether spirals, coils, petals, or leaves, are repeated around the pots, urging the eye to move. Human figures are excluded altogether. Raised designs of diagonal ridges and patterns of dots, bosses, or prickles- so-called ‘barbotine decoration’ – show that decorators explored texture as well as color” (Pedley 52).

19. Snake Goddess Flashcard Faience Other Snake Goddesses
G Snake Goddess from the palace at Knossos (Crete), c BCE, faience faience/ exposure of breasts/ use of snakes
1. “Faience is a technique for glazing earthenware and other ceramic vessels by using a glass paste which, after firing, produces bright colors and a lustrous sheen” (Adams, Art Across Time 121).
2. “Surviving Minoan sculpture consists mainly of small, finely executed works, largely on religious subjects, in wood, ivory, precious metals, stone, and faience. The Woman of Goddess with Snakes from the palace of Knossos is intriguing both as a ritual object and as a work of art. Female figurines incorporating serpents were fashioned on Crete as far back as 6,000 BCE and may have been associated- as they were elsewhere- with water, regenerative power, and protection of the home. Some early Minoan Bronze Age examples have tall, flaring headdresses with circles on the front and a writing mass of intertwining snakes on the back” (Stokstad, Art History 134).
3. “The nearly foot-tall faience figurine from Knossos was found with other ceremonial objects in a pit in one of the palace’s temple storerooms. Bare-breasted, arms extended, and brandishing a snake in each hand, the woman is a commanding presence. A wild cat is perched on her crown, which is ornamented with circles resembling those on the headdresses of earlier such statues. This shapely figure is dressed in a fitted, open bodice with an apron over a typically Minoan long tiered skirt. A wide belt cinches the waist. The red, blue, and green geometric patterning on her clothing looks rather like snakeskin. In other pieces of this type, snakes sometimes wind around the woman’s waist and arms” ( ).
4. “Realistic elements and formal, stylized ones are so skillfully combined in this figure and others of its kind that they have both liveliness and power. In part because of this blending of elements, there is disagreement over whether these statues represent deities or their human attendants. These figures hare certain stylistic and thematic features with Near Eastern sculpture, but both the style and the subject can be traced back to older Cretan examples as well” (135).
5. “The motif of a male or female deity dominating animals, referred to as the ‘Master’ or ‘Mistress of the Beasts,’ occurs earlier in the ancient Near East and later in Greek art. As creatures of the earth, snakes were associated with fertility and agriculture, and did not have the evil connotations with which they later became endowed in the West” (Adams, Art Across Time ).
Other Snake Goddesses
Faience

20. Flashcard
Young god(?)

21. Harvester Vase Flashcard
F Harvesters Vase from Hagia Triada (Crete), c BCE, steatite rhyton/ winnowing fans/ sistrum/ static repetition shunned/ interest in muscular and skeletal structures
1. “A number of stone ritual vases (rhyta, sing. Rhyton) were decorated with relief scenes. Some have been found with flakes of gold leaf still attached, so that it is probably that all were originally gilt… The Harvester Vase is a rhyton made of steatite and in the shape of an ostrich egg, but only the upper part is preserved. The sculpted scene shows an elderly man with long hair, ceremonial dress, and staff, leading a procession of workmen. They carry winnowing fans for the harvest. At the back of the vase, a figure shakes a ‘sistrum’ (a musical instrument) with his right hand, keeping time with his left, while behind him a trio join him in song, mouths wide open” (Pedley 74).
2. “Twenty-seven figures appear in all. Aside from the main ones, they are grouped in pairs, one figure slightly in advance of another, as if distanced from the viewer in spatial recession. The general hilarity and sense of movement disguise the fact that figures in the further plane are no smaller in size” (74).
3. “The vivid relief on the so-called Harvester Vase (the lower part is lost) depicts a procession of slim, muscular men, nude to the waist, carrying long-handled tools that look like a combination of scythe and rake. A harvest festival? Probably, although here again the lively rhythm of the composition takes precedence over descriptive clarity. Our view of the scene includes three singers led by a fourth who is swinging a sistrum (a rattle of Egyptian origin). They are bellowing with all their might, especially the ‘choirmaster,’ whose chest is so distended that the ribs press through the skin. What makes the relief so remarkable- in fact, unique- is its emphasis on physical strain, its energetic, raucous gaiety” (Janson 89).
4. “The uneven arrangement of elements reinforce the boisterousness of the scene. The men have large, coarse features and sinewy bodies so thin that their ribs stick out. Perhaps they have suffered a lean time, which gives them all the more reason to celebrate a good harvest” (Stokstad, Art History 136).
Harvester Vase

22. MYCENAEAN ART

23. Citadel at Tiryns, Greece
Flashcards
Citadel at Tiryns, Greece
Corbeled gallery
in walls
B The Legend of Agamemnon
1. “Mycenae was the legendary home of King Agamemnon, who led the Greek army against King Priam of Troy in the Trojan War. Agamemnon’s brother, King Menelaus of Sparta, had married Helen, known to history as the beautiful and notorious Helen of Troy. Priam’s son Paris abducted Helen, and Agamemnon was pledged to avenge the offense against this family. But as soon as the Greek fleet was ready to sail, the winds refused to blow, because Agamemnon had killed a stag sacred to the moon goddess Artemis. As recompense for the stag, and in return for allowing the winds to blow. Artemis exacted the sacrifice of Agamemnon’s daughter Iphigenia” (Adams, Art Across Time 127).
2. “Ten years later the war ended and Agamemnon returned to Mycenae, bringing with him the Trojan seeress Kassandra. He was murdered by his wife Klytemnestra, who had not forgiven him for Iphigenia’s death, and her lover Aegisthos. Agememnon’s children, Orestes and Elecktra, killed Klytemnestra and Aegisthos to avenge their father’s death” (127).
3. “These tales were well known to the historical Greeks: the Trojan War form the Illiad, written in the eighth century BC, and attributed to Homer; and the tragedy of Agamemnon’s family from plays of Aeschylos and Euripdies (fifth century BC). Like the myths of Theseus and the Minotaur, however, the account of Agamemnon’s family was considered to belong to the realms of imagination and legend until the archaeological discoveries of Schliemann at the end of the nineteenth century” (127).
Three methods of spanning a passageway
Post and Lintel Corbeled Arch Arch

24. Lion Gate, Mycenae Flashcard Relieving Triangle Corbeled Arch
A Lion Gate from Mycenae (Greece) c BCE, limestone
Cyclopean structures/ megaron/ relieving triangle/ influence of the Hittites
1. “In the 1860s, Heinrich Schliemann, a successful young German businessman, became an archaeologist. Like Evans, Schliemann was convinced that certain Greek myths were based on historical events. He focused his search on the legends of the Trojan War, and its heroes described by Homer. In 1870, Schliemann first excavated the site of Troy on the west coast of Turkey. Years later he excavated Mycenae, the legendary city of Agamemnon, in the northeast of the Peloponnese, on the Greek mainland. The subsequent excavations of other similar Greek sites have revealed that a Mycenaean culture flourished between 1600 and 1200 BCE. After the eruption of Thera, the Aegean was dominated by the Mycenaeans, who began by conquering Crete and ruling the island from Knossos” (Adams, Art Across Time 126).
2. “Also called Late Helladic after ‘Hellas,’ the historical Greek name for Greece (‘Greece’ was the name used by the Romans), Mycenaean culture takes its name from its first excavated and foremost site of Mycenae. Here, as elsewhere, the citadel was built on a hilltop and fortified with massive stone walls. The palace, or megaron (literally ‘large room’ in Greek), was rectangular. One entered the megaron through a front porch supported by two columns and continued through an antechamber into the throne room, in which four columns surrounded by a circular hearth. The king’s throne was centered, facing the hearth. This arrangement had pre-Mycenaean antecedents on the Greek mainland, and would be elaborated in later Greek temple architecture” (126).
3. “Like the Minoans, the Mycenaeans apparently had no temples separate from their palaces. Shrines have been found within the palaces, which were lavishly decorated and furnished with precious objects and painted pottery” (126). “Unlike the nobility, most of the citizens lived in small stone and mud-brick houses below the citadel. In times of siege, they sought refuge within its walls. The defensive fortifications of the Mycenaean cities reflect a society more involved in war than were the Minoans, and thus more concerned with protection from invaders. These considerations led to building the thick, monumental walls that surround most Mycenaean citadels. They were constructed of large, rough-cut-, irregular blocks of stone… Because of the enormous weight of such stones, the later Greek called the walls Cyclopaean” (128).
4. “The Lion Gate crowned the entrance to the citadel of Mycenae. Its opening is framed by a post-and-lintel structure, and the triangular section over the lintel consists of a relieving triangle. This was formed by corbelling, or arranging layers, called courses, of stones so that each level projects beyond the lower one. When the stones meet at the top they create an arch. Filling in the triangle is a relief of two lions placing their paws on a concave Minoan altar. They flank a Minoan-style column, which is a symbol of the Nature Goddess. The relief is thus an image showing the lions obedient to the goddess as ‘Mistress of the Beasts,’ and the power immanent in her symbol. The heads of the lions are missing. Originally they were carved separately to project frontally and fulfill their traditional role as guardians of an entrance” ( ).
5. “Their missing heads were sculpted separately- of bronze or gold- then fastened into holes in the stone. The two animals, one on each side of a Minoan-style column, stand facing each other, their forepaws resting on stone altars. From this gate, a long, stone passageway led into the citadel proper, at the center of which stood the king’s palace” (Stokstad ).
Gardner’s

25. Treasury of Atreus Flashcard Dromos Tholos Tomb
C Linear A and Linear B
1. “Both Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations were literate societies. Two linear systems of writing, called Linear A and Linear B, were developed and were used to serve the administrative needs of the palaces. Linear A, which was of Cretan origin, was developed around 1650 BC and later spread to the Greek mainland. Linear A has never been deciphered” (Wren 1: 55).
2. “Linear B was developed around 1400 BC. Thousands of clay tablets written in Linear B have been found at the sties of Pylos, Mycenae, and Thebes on the Greek mainland and at the site of Knossos of Crete. Although approximately two thirds of the signs n Linear B are similar to Linear A, the two scripts appear to record different languages. In 1952, Michael Ventris deciphered Linear B and demonstrated that this script recorded the Greek language. Linear B inscriptions consist almost entirely of short lists or inventories. No evidence of a written literary tradition or of historical accounts has survived” (55)
D The Treasury of Atreus
1. “The most dramatic surviving structure at Mycenae exemplifies the culmination of Mycenaean royal tomb architecture in the thirteenth century BCE. This tomb, or tholos (Greek for ‘round building’), has been called both the Treasury of Atreus and the tomb of Agamemnon, who was Atreus’ son. It is not known who was buried there, but because of its enormous size, it was doubtless intended for royalty” (Adams, Art Across Time 130).
2. “Most likely the construction of such large tombs had been influenced by the design of smaller tholoi used earlier for communal burials on Crete. There is also some connection between the tholoi and earlier Mycenaean shaft graves, which were set within circular walls” (130).
3. “The tholos was entered through a dromos, or roadway, 118 feet long, whose walls were faced with rectangular stone blocks. Above the rectangular entrance to the tholos was an enormous lintel weighing over 100 tons. It separates the doorway from a triangle that relieves the weight borne by the lintel… Like the triangle above the Lion Gate, this one was originally filled in with carved stone blocks” (130).
4. “Once the dead body had been placed inside the tholos, the door was closed and the entrance walled up with stones until such time as it had to be reopened for later burials. All that would have been visible from the exterior was the mound of earth covering the tomb and the dromos. Unfortunately, both of the royal tombs discussed above were plundered before their modern excavation. However, excavations of unplundered graves, especially the earlier shaft graves at Mycenae, have yielded remarkable objects” (132).
5. “Against the façade stood engaged columns in red and green marble, the half-columns appearing to project from the wall- pair in red above a larger pair in green. Those below were caved with Minoan chevron and spiral motifs and supported capitals, which were also of Minoan type with similar decoration… the functional, heavy Mycenaean stone architecture contrasts strikingly with the ornamentalism of the Minoan decorated columns, designed originally for spacious courts and hall, and here slapped unceremoniously onto the exterior of the Mycenaean tomb as a decorative counterweight” (Pedley 93).
Treasury of Atreus

26. Funerary mask Flashcard Repousse
E Funerary mask from Grave Circle A (Mycenae), c BCE, beaten gold Henrich Schliemann/ repousse/ life-size proportions
1. This mask “is a good example of the goldwork found in royal Mycenaean graves, although the gold itself was imported. The mask may have covered the face of a ruler once thought to have been Agamemnon, but in fact his identity is unknown. Despite stylizations such as the scroll-shaped ears, the more distinctive features- the thin lips and curved mustache- are those of a particular person, indicating that this was a death mask” (Adams, Art Across Time 133).
2. “Schliemann dubbed this gold mask from one of the graves the ‘Mask of Agamemnon’ – a name it still carries in many of his books. Schliemann’s discoveries at Mycenae and Troy have led scholars to conclude that the Homeric tales may have been rooted in historical fact, but Schliemann himself was unaware that the graves at Mycenae predate the possible siege of Troy by about three centuries, so that the funeral mask could not have been Agamemnon’s even if he was an actual person” (Stokstad, Art History 148).
3. “Also found in one of the shaft graves at Mycenae were three bronze dagger blades decorated with inlaid scenes. The Mycenaean artist cut shapes out of different-colored metals- copper, silver, and gold- then set them into the bronze blades. Silver and gold inlays had to be first backed with copper. The fine details were added in niello. In the Illiad,… Agamemnon’s armor and Achilles’s shield are described as having similar decorations. The decorations of the two larger blades- depicting men with shields battling three lions, and three lions racing across a rocky landscape- are typically Aegean in the animated and naturalistic treatment of the figures. Interestingly, the scene on the shortest blade, showing a leopard attacking ducks in a papyrus swamp, clearly reflects Egyptian influence” ( ). “Around 1200 BCE, the Mycenaeans attacked Troy (‘Ilion’ in Greek), a commercial stronghold on the northwest coast of Asia Minor. The ten-year-long war between Mycenae and Troy would provide the historical context for the two great epic poems of the ancient Greeks: the Iliad and the Odyssey” (Fiero, First Civilzations 73).
Repousse

27. Warrior Vase, from Mycenae
Flashcard
G Warrior Vase (Mycenae), c BCE krater/ same pattern repeated without variety and detail
1. The pottery produced by the Mycenaeans was technically “sophisticated, if aesthetically humdrum. It was exported all over the Mediterranean and enjoyed a wide vogue. Shapes became uniform and were endlessly repeated: tall-stemmed drinking cups (kylikes), tankards, stirrup jars, so-called from the stirruplike handle next to the spout, kraters (mixing bowls), and alabastra (ointment containers) were popular. Decoration became repetitive: the naturalistic motifs… became more and more rigid, until they were reduced to severe abstractions. Horizontal bands of paint began to dominate the surfaces” (Pedley ).
2. “By contrast, some potters plucked up enough courage to decorate kraters with schematic scenes of chariots, horse, and charioteers, though these were often seriously impeded by linear ornaments crowding the space around them. Others painted dappled bulls, angry geese, and mythological beasts on deep open bowls. This is called the Pictorial Style” (101). The Warrior Vase, a Pictorial Style krater from Mycenae, “is a unique example from this era of narrative decoration of a vase. It shows a line of armed warriors marching in single file and in somber mood to the right, while a
woman at the left bids them farewell. The standardization of shapes and decoration of the two preceding centuries now breaks down” (101). “By contrast with the Minoans, the Mycenaeans were a militant and aggressive people: Their warships challenged other traders for control of the eastern Mediterranean” (Fiero, First Civilizations 72).
Warrior Vase, from Mycenae
Krater

28. SUMMARY Minoan: island Art: palaces – not fortified, nurturing, loved life Vases: invented potter’s wheel Wet Fresco Stylistic Characteristics: movement - use of curved line, nature (organic), polychrome Intent : reflection of life, no concern with afterlife Mycenaean: mainland Greece, warfare Art: megaron. Beehive tomb – 1st dome and arch (corbelled), relieving triangle Metal workers: gold, mask, sword, cups Intent of Art: protection, utilitarian objects, funerary