Minos and the Heroes of Homer:
The Art of the Prehistoric Aegean
The Prehistoric Aegean
Homer
The Iliad
Heinrich Schliemann
Troy
Mycenae
The prehistoric Aegean is divided into three geographic areas:
Cycladic Islands (so called because they circle around Delos)
Cycladic ArtEarly, Middle, Late
CreteMinoan Art
Early, Middle, Late
The Greek MainlandHelladic Art
Early, Middle, Late (Mycenaean)
Cycladic Art
Cycladic Figurine of a Woman
Syros, Greece
2500-2300 BC
Marble
1’ 6” high
Cycladic Male Lyre Player
Keros, Greece
2700-2500 BC
Marble
9” high
Minoan Art (Crete)
The Palace at Knossos, Crete, 1700-1400 BC
The Palace at Knossos, Crete, 1700-1400 BC
Plan of the Palace at Knossos, Crete, 1700-1400 BC
Stairwell in the Residential
Quarter of the Palace at Knossos
Knossos, Crete
1700-1400 BC
Stairwell in the
Residential Quarter of the Palace at Knossos
Knossos, Crete
1700-1400 BC
Bull-leapingThe Palace of Knossos, Crete
1450-1400 BC, Fresco, @ 2’ 8” high
Bull-leaping (detail)
Griffin Fresco in the “Throne Room” at Knossos
Boxing Fresco at
Knossos
Miniature Ships FrescoFrom Room 5, West House,
Akrotiri, Thera (Cycladic Islands)1650 BC
Fresco, @ 1’ 5” high
Miniature Ships Fresco from Room 5, West House,
Akrotiri, Thera (Cycladic Islands)1650 BC
Fresco, @ 1’ 5” high
Spring FrescoAkrotiri, Thera (Cycladic Islands)1650 BC, Fresco, @ 7’ 6” high
Spring FrescoAkrotiri, Thera (Cycladic Islands)1650 BC, Fresco, @ 7’ 6” high
Kamares ware
Kamares Ware (Jar)
From Phaistos, Crete
1800-1700 BC
@ 1’ 8” high
Minoan Vase
in the
Kamares Style
from
Phaestos
1800 BCE
Kamares Ware
from the
Palace
at Phaestos
1800 BCE
Minoan Krater with Plastic Decoration
1800 BCE
Minoan Krater with
Applied Floral Decoration
1800 BCE
Minoan Jar in the
Marine Style “Octopus Jar”
Palaikastro, Crete
1500 BC
@ 11” high
Minoan Vase in the
Marine Style
Crete
1500 BC
Harvester Vase
Hagia Triada, Crete
1500 BC
Steatite
Greatest Diameter@ 5”
Snake Goddess
Palace at Knossos
1600 BC
Faience
@ 1’ 1 1/2” high
Helladic Art
"The Greeks appear apt to regard with greater wonder foreign sights than sights at home. For whereas distinguished historians have described the Egyptian pyramids with the minutest detail, they have not made even the briefest mention of the treasury of Minyas and the walls of Tiryns, though these are no less marvellous."
[Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.36.5]
Citadel of Tiryns Greece
1400-1200 BC
Citadel of Tiryns Greece
1400-1200 BC
Citadel of Tiryns Greece
1400-1200 BC
Citadel of Tiryns Greece
1400-1200 BC
Corbeled passageway in the walls of the citadel at Tiryns
Three methods of spanning a passageway:a. post and lintel
b. corbeled arch
c. arch
Aerial View of Mycenae,
Greece
Mycenae, Greece
1300-1250 BC
Cyclopian Walls at the Lion’s Gate to Mycenae
Lion GateMycenae, Greece, 1300-1250 BC
Limestone, relief panel @ 9’ 6” high
Lion Gate
Mycenae, Greece,
1300-1250 BC
Limestone,
relief panel @ 9’ 6” high
Back of Lion Gate Mycenae, Greece, 1300-1250 BC
Limestone, relief panel @ 9’ 6” high
Treasury of AtreusMycenae, Greece
1300-1250 BC
Vault of the Tholos of the Treasury of
Atreus
Mycenae, Greece
1300-1250 BC
@ 43’ high
Funerary Mask
from Grave Circle A
Mycenae, Greece
1600-1500 BC
Beaten Gold
@ 1’ high
Repousse’ Technique
Warrior VaseMycenae, Greece
1200 BC@ 1’ 4” high
Mycenaean Pottery
14th to 13th Centuries BCE