Powerpoint slide presentation

1. The Pre-History of Greek Culture

2. Three major civilizations emerged in the Aegean during the bronze age, which lasted from about
3,000 BCE to 1100 BCE

3. Cycladic civilization,
which was centered
on the islands of the
Cyclades
Cycladic Civilization

4. Minoan civilization,
with its center on the
island of Crete Minoan Civilization

5. And Mycenaean
civilization, which
developed on the
Greek mainland, with
its center at Mycenae
Mycenean
Civilization

6. The early settlers of the Cycladic Islands cultivated barley and
wheat, fished the Aegean sea, and exported their rich mineral
resources to the Greek mainland, Minoan Crete, and the coast of
Asia Minor
Cycladic Civilization

7. Cycladic figurines
Image source: https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2016/03/cycladica-around-urla-peninsula-izmir.html#6r7JDitFACbISg6c.97
One of the distinctive features of this culture is the large number of carved stone figurines that
have been found – most of them found in graves

8. Cycladic figurines, National Archaelogical Museum, Greece
Image source: http://www.fcs.uga.edu/news/story/greece-blog-national-archaeological-museum1
The figures come in all shapes and sizes, and mostly represent women

9. Cycladic female figure, c. 2300-2200 BCE
Metropolitan Museum
The emphasis on female figures recalls the so-called Venus figures of the Paleolithic period

10. Female Figure, Early Aegean, Cycladic, c. 2300-2000 BCE
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Figurine of a Woman, from Syros (Cyclades), Greece, c.
2500-2300 BCE. National Archaeological Museum, Athens
But what is so distinctive about the figures is their abstraction

11. Cycladic Female Figurine, c. 2500-2400 BCE
Walters Art Museum
Standing Female Figure, c. 2600-2400 BCE
Metropolitan Museum
The body is rendered schematically, with body parts reduced to simple geometric shapes, and
simple incisions to indicate joints and the pubic region

12. Head from the Figure of a Woman, c. 2700-2500 BCE
Metropolitan Museum
The head is a flat plane, with a simple wedge to indicate the nose

13. Head from the Figure of a Woman, c. 2700-2500 BCE
Metropolitan Museum
Traces of paint on this head indicate that other facial features (such as the eyes) would have
originally be rendered in paint

14. The figures are also slender when seen from the side, and their feet were not made to stand, so
they were probably intended to lie down

15. Marble seated harp player, c. 2800-2700 BCE
Metropolitan Museum
There are also a small number of small statues representing harp players, such as this one in the
Metropolitan Museum

16. Marble seated harp player, c. 2800-2700 BCE
Metropolitan Museum
Experts know nothing about their original function because they were excavated at a time when
modern scientific protocols were not being used; the objects were taken from their original
location without any documentation that might provide clues to their meaning

17. Minoan civilization
flourished on the Island
of Crete between about
2600-1100 BCE Minoan Civilization

18. Reconstruction of the palace at Knossos
Image source: https://classconnection.s3.amazonaws.com/446/flashcards/4907446/png/knossos-14456EBFFFE2F24F956.png
The Minoans built impressive palace centers, the largest of which was the palace of Knossos

19. Sir Arthur Evans and his team reconstructing the Grand Staircase at Knossos, probably 1905
Image source: http://arthistoryresources.net/greek-art-archaeology-2016/evans-knossos.html
The site was first excavated by Sir Arthur Evans at the beginning of the 20th century, and his
team began the project of restoring the buildings and their decorations

20. Reconstruction of the palace at Knossos
Image source: http://exploracation.blogspot.com/2013/05/stepping-on-history-cretes-knossos.html
The accuracy of these restorations has been questioned by modern experts

21. Reconstruction of the palace at Knossos
Image source: https://classconnection.s3.amazonaws.com/446/flashcards/4907446/png/knossos-14456EBFFFE2F24F956.png
The palace was built in three main phases (at one point in its history it was destroyed by an
earthquake), and was a multi-story structure, impressively large in scale

22. Reconstruction of the palace at Knossos
Image source: https://classconnection.s3.amazonaws.com/446/flashcards/4907446/png/knossos-14456EBFFFE2F24F956.png
There were multiple entrances to the building, with the focal point being a large central
courtyard, likely the site of public rituals of some sort
Courtyard

23. Stairwells were open to the sky to allow for light, and were punctuated with columns

24. Minoan columns are distinctive in shape, with tapering shafts, cushion capitals, and black and
red coloring

25. The Greeks are credited with inventing the “orders” which became the basis of much western
architecture, but the origins of the column goes all the way back to the Egyptians and the
Minoans

26. The walls of Minoan palaces were decorated with frescoes that are delightful to modern eyes
for their fanciful evocations of the natural world

27. In this fresco, found in the so-called Queen’s megaron, dolphins swim in a sea of fish

28. The so-called throne room has stone benches lining the walls, and a carved throne located in
the center

29. The walls are painted bright red, with fantastical griffins reclining in a stylized landscape

30. There has been much debate about whether Knossos was a palace for a “king” or if it was a
large communal community center

31. A huge amount of space at the palace is allocated to food storage, suggesting that it might have
served as a place for the collection, storage, and redistribution of community food

32. Reconstruction of the palace at Knossos
Image source: https://classconnection.s3.amazonaws.com/446/flashcards/4907446/png/knossos-14456EBFFFE2F24F956.png
The openness of the design is also unusual – there are multiple entrances, and no evidence of
fortifications, which is rare in ancient societies

33. Grandstand fresco, after a wall painting at Knossos, Crete
Harvard Art Museum
Women also appear to have played a prominent role in Minoan society, as evidenced by this
wall painting from Knossos

34. The painting seems to represent some kind of event in the courtyard at Knossos, as can be seen
in the distinctive tapered columns, and the stylized bull horn decorations on the roof

35. Bull horn decorations have been found throughout the palace complex, recalling the
bucrania at Catal Höyük

36. And by the way, if the bull horns look familiar its because it is the source for the Honda logo

37. Surrounding the architecture are what appears to be people seated in grandstands; the men are
depicted as heads against a red ground, using a one-size-fits all formula – but the women are
rendered in great detail

38. They are shown in animated poses, with elaborately styled hair, and fine dresses and jewelry

39. Snake Goddess, from the Palace at Knossos, Crete, faience,
c. 1600 BCE
There is also evidence to suggest that a female deity played a prominent role at Knossos

40. Snake Goddess, from the Palace at Knossos, Crete, faience,
c. 1600 BCE
Small figurines such as this one depicting a “snake goddess” were found in the temple
repositories at Knossos

41. Snake Goddess, from the Palace at Knossos, Crete, faience,
c. 1600 BCE
She is dressed in Minoan fashion with a flounced skirt, embroidered apron, cinched waist, and
open bodice

42. Snake Goddess, from the Palace at Knossos, Crete, faience,
c. 1600 BCE
She has been called a “snake goddess” because of the two snakes she wields in either hand

43. We know very little about Minoan culture because their system of writing (called Linear A) has
yet to be deciphered

44. We do know, however, that Minoan society came to an abrupt end in about 1450 BCE – either
because of a devastating earthquake, or invasion by their Mycenaean neighbors

45. Which brings us to the third civilization that preceded the Greeks
– the Myceneans who inhabited the Greek mainland
Mycenean
Civilization

46. The Myceneans were the exact opposite of Minoans; while the Minoans built open palaces,
with decorations that seemed to celebrate women and the natural world, the Myceneans built
massive fortified palaces that reflected their warlike character

47. Their citadels were erected on high hilltops, to maximize their defensive advantage, and they
were surrounded by massive stone fortifications

48. The lion gate at Mycenae provided an impressive entrance to the citadel, with cyclopean stone
walls, and a carved image of two lions flanking a Minoan-style column

49. The heart of the palace complex was the megaron where the king received visitors

50. The layout of the megaron, with its porch, vestibule, and throne room would actually become
the basis of Greek temple design – in fact many Greek temples were built on the site of old
Mycenaean palaces

51. When Mycenae was first excavated by Heinrich Schliemann in the late 19th century, he
discovered a circular enclosure which appears to have served as a royal burial ground

52. The burials yielded an abundance of riches – much of it made of gold

53. Schliemann’s goal in excavating the site was to find the ancient site of the legendary city of Troy,
so vividly described in the epics of the Greek poet Homer

54. Funerary Mask from the Grave Circle A, Mycenae, Greece
c. 1600-1500 BCE
Schliemann believed that Mycenae was the legendary city of Troy, and his interpretation of the
objects he found were made to fit that theory

55. Funerary Mask from the Grave Circle A, Mycenae, Greece
c. 1600-1500 BCE
This mask, for example, was found in one of the grave circles at Mycenae; Schliemann called it
the “Mask of Agamemnon,” referring to the legendary king in one of Homer’s epics

56. Myceneaen civilization came to an end, for reasons that remain unclear – but at this point in
time Greece entered into a “dark age” when all evidence of civilization seemed to have
disappeared

57. Then, in the 8th century BCE Greek city states began to take shape on the Greek mainland, and
this is where our story will begin in the next section

58. Thanks for listening!