So an archaeologist by the name of Arthur Evans becomes obsessed with the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. No, he doesn't think it's actually true, but he does believe that there's truth behind the story. And he wants to go looking for something that looks like King Minos'palace. Something that looks like the Palace of Knossos. He follows the clues in the story.
King Minos lives on a large island kingdom south of the peninsula of Greece. That sounds like Crete. And so Evans begins digging around on the peninsula of Crete.
or on the island of Crete, forgive me. So he begins digging and most people don't take his efforts seriously, but sure enough he finds something. He finds something amazing. He finds a huge structure and he calls it the Palace of Knossos, after the king from the story that inspired him to go looking for the building in the first place.
That structure is something phenomenal. Now was it originally called the Palace of Knossos? We have no clue.
Was there a dude there that actually was named King Minos? We don't know. We don't think so.
In fact, some scholars actually believe that Minos was a title for all the kings of Crete. Some believe that perhaps there was a real king named Minos. We don't honestly know.
What we do know is that the Palace of Knossos is a remarkable place, even though it is not as accurate as we would like. Arthur Evans, being a Victorian archaeologist, got a bit, um... let's call it enthusiastic, about reconstructing the building that he had found the ruins of.
Essentially, he constructed a lot of it based on what he thought the place would look like. So some of it is not perhaps as accurate as we would like in its reconstruction. We are working on correcting that. But nonetheless, the building itself is both beautiful and remarkable.
The building is also a bit of a litmus test. It's kind of one of those things where people see what they want to see. For example, what you're seeing on the screen right now is the room that is generally referred to as the throne room of the Palace of Nossos. Now, the reason it's called that is because there is the remains of a throne on your right-hand side. You can see the bottom of the chair is on it, the seat.
You can only sit there if you have a very small butt. It's very narrow. The other side has a series of benches or seats, perhaps, for other people to sit opposite that single chair. Now that single chair is backed as the walls behind it are decorated with beautiful patterns, paintings, frescoes.
Those are paintings on the walls done on the plaster before it had completely dried. A fresco is an incredibly long-lasting type of artwork because the color actually gets absorbed into the plaster of the wall, making it permanent. As long as the wall is there, the painting is also there. This room is actually one of the things that has gotten some scholars to believe that the culture, the civilization on the island of Crete may have actually been female dominated or matriarchal, simply because we cannot read their writing.
And in the pictures, the only person we see sitting on that chair, that single throne, is female. Now, does that actually mean that the ruler was always a queen? Maybe, maybe not.
We don't honestly know. A lot of it, again, is interpretation. not based on any hard evidence because we cannot read the writing of this culture.
Now Arthur Evans himself encourages this. He finds a number of sculptures that he believes support a strong role of women in society. One of the most famous is one that is commonly referred to as the snake goddess.
This sculpture depicts a female wearing typical clothes of Crete The typical clothes of this Minoan civilization were a tight bodice with a laced waist that left the breast exposed, and then the lower body was covered in a long layered or tiered skirt. Like Mesopotamia, we believe the more layers or tiers on the skirt, the higher status the individual being depicted had. By the way, my husband is a big fan of Minoan fashion. He says we should totally bring it back.
I'm not buying it. Now, this figure, because of all the tears on the skirt, Arthur Evans labeled it the snake goddess. And the snakes in the hands and the cat placed on the head were often presented as support.
Snakes are associated with wisdom and sometimes the feminine. Cats are also associated with fertility and the feminine. So the idea was that this was some sort of goddess in charge of fertility. and femininity given great power within the society and culture.
That's a great theory, but again, there's a theory. If you'll notice in the picture on the right-hand side, that's actually a picture of what Evans found as far as the snake goddess. You'll notice she actually only has one snake in her hand, her right hand.
The left arm is half missing. There's only the stump of the shoulder. The head was actually not found with the sculpture. The head is a mock-up, a replacement based on other sculptures found in the area. And the cat on the head, oh, I have issues.
That cat was a small carving found more than 30 feet away from the rest of the body of the sculpture. And Arthur Evans somehow decided, of course, it goes on her head. Because, well, why wouldn't a carving of a cat found 30 feet away go on her head?
Again, the interpretation is very, very questionable in many cases. So when they say, oh yes, look, this is proof that it's a female-dominated society, the answer is kind of maybe, maybe not. What do we know then? Well, we know that the society was very concerned with art and decoration, and the walls of almost every building, not just the Palace of Nassos, are beautifully decorated.
We also know that this culture was most likely not as peaceful as some... theorists would like us to believe. There are scholars and theorists who point to certain artifacts discovered on the island of Crete at the palace of Knossos and say, oh, it was a female dominated culture.
It was completely peaceful because women dominated cultures are always peaceful and cooperative. You're right. Anyway, we also still find double bladed axes and many images of bulls.
Now remember images of bulls? are often associated with masculine fertility and power, which does not seem to fit with this quote-unquote peaceful female-dominated civilization. Those images of bulls are actually one of the things that fits very nicely with the story of Theseus and the Minotaur and connects it to the culture on the island of Crete.
Now the other thing that connects this Minoan culture back to the story is actually the structure of the Palace of Knossos itself. Although Evans did some partially historically accurate rebuilding of the structure, we do have the complete floor plan of the structure and we understand exactly how complex it was. This is the layout of the Palace of Knossos.
This was a massive building, incredibly complex in its organization and structure. And in fact, we actually don't believe it was a palace at all. Now, I'll get back to that in a minute. This building, this structure, was probably one of the most advanced buildings in the world at its time. It was not a single-story building.
This was a structure between four and five stories high with complicated rooms inside. I mean, if you remember when we talked about Mesopotamian ziggurats, they did not have an interior. They were simply a solid structure with a temple on the top.
The Palace of Knossos was not like that in any way. Now, unfortunately, large areas of the building were actually made of wood, which means that they did not withstand time very well, and we've lost large areas, and then we do not have the upper levels or the upper stories of the building. However, because of what we do have, we have a very good idea of what the building would originally have looked like. We think it looks something like this.
Now, this is a massive structure with multiple floors, and it's remarkable because the people who built this thing, not only were they able to figure out the engineering to create a multi-story building with interior rooms on every single floor without it collapsing, but they also solved other problems, things that we don't even consider in modern construction because, well, we know how to do them. Whoever built the Palace of Nassos solved the problem of lighting and airflow. in a multi-story building.
Now today we don't even think about that like I said because well we have electric lights but if you're dealing with a four or five story building and the only way to light the lower rooms and hallways are candles and torches you're going to number one have a fire risk in a wooden building and number two you're going to have to worry about air quality the people who built the palace of nassos actually created the structure so that the internal areas the internal hallways had skylights at regular intervals those skylights actually had ridged edges that captured breezes and air flowing by the top of the building and directed it down into the structure allowing for airflow through the building. Not only that, this structure actually had terracotta pipes run through the walls that brought in fresh water from external clean water sources directly into the rooms of the building and had wastewater pipes to remove the used water out to safe sanitation districts. That kind of advanced internal plumbing and airflow is unlike what we see in other cultures.
It is phenomenal and fascinating that this culture was so advanced. Now, the building, as I said before, we don't actually think this building was just a palace. Yes, we call it the Palace of Knossos because that's what Arthur Evans called it. He discovered it, so he gets naming rights. But actually, we think that this was probably a combination government complex and marketplace.
If you'll notice on the left hand side of the building, there are a series of very long, narrow, horizontal rooms. We believe that those were actually storage for food, for other materials that were probably bought and sold at this location. So basically this is a shopping mall and that's warehouse space. We believe that this building was used as a central meeting place and marketplace. We've actually discovered several more of these around the island of Crete.
and we believe that they were local government centers and local trading posts. The area on the right-hand side of the central courtyard appears to have been a government or political structure. So instead of simply a palace, we believe that this is a combination government complex and marketplace, with a large central courtyard being used as an entertainment and possibly religious ritual space.
Now the other thing, and this is obvious but I'll say it anyway, the other thing is that the complicated floor plan of this building, and oh my gosh this is complicated, if you can imagine trying to find the bathroom in this in the middle of the night it would be terrifying. We believe that this really complicated structure may have been the inspiration for the Tales of the Labyrinth because the idea of a labyrinth located on the island of Crete that housed some sort of bull-headed creature fits in very well with this incredibly complex floor plan for their government structures, and we know, as I showed you earlier, that this culture does focus strongly on bulls. They seem to have worshipped or honored some sort of sacred bull deity, which again could have served to inspire the story of Theseus and the Minotaur.
Now, this culture also could have been an envy for Greece. It could have been something that was almost a competing culture for them. And it's understandable with the advancements in technology that the Minoan culture shows. For example, behold, bathtub.
Now, I'm sorry, bathtub may not be thrilling, but guys, this is a 3,000-year-old bathtub. Oh my gosh, that's amazing. This building actually had indoor plumbing.
It had technological comforts and advancements that other civilizations do not pick up on until far, far later. This puts the Minoan culture on the map and ahead of other concurrent cultures. Now, again, Evans and his fellow archaeologists did some reconstruction that may not have been accurate, but there are parts of the building still standing that are the original building that show us how the structure was created.
For example, this is actually one of those openings, one of those skylights that allowed air flow through the different levels of the building. Because its structure was actually constructed of stone rather than wood, we still are able to understand how the airflow was created in the building and how the light was allowed to come in through multiple layers of the structure. Amazingly enough, we also have some of the original wall decorations that have been preserved in this building.
For example, this is actually a room decorated with elaborate patterns. and a picture of dolphins and other sea life. These cultures, the Minoan culture, was fascinated with decorating their structures.
They loved art, and because they lived in a location where food and survival was not a great strain, they had the time to be able to do this. Now, this is very silly, but if you ever want to get a sense of what Minoan culture or what Minoan decoration is actually like, go to SeaWorld and go to the aquarium at the end of Journey to Atlantis. Now, I know, SeaWorld or LandOut, like, really?
Yes, because the designers, the creators of that ride, the corporation that owned the park actually sent them to Crete to study and sketch the decorations at the Palace of Knossos and look at Minoan artwork. All of the artwork... is, I mean, it's fantastical.
It's not direct replicas, certainly. It's in a theme park. But all of the artwork there is actually inspired by these buildings from this mysterious ancient Minoan culture.
Now, as I said, we know that this Minoan culture was obsessed with bulls. Again, possibly the inspiration for Theseus and the Minotaur. We see this in some of their sculptures.
We also see it in their actual artwork. For example, this is actually a fresco, again one of those paintings on plaster before it had dried completely. It's called the Bull Dancer Fresco. You can see that only part of the original fresco is preserved. If you'll notice the fresco itself, the painting itself, looks splotchy.
Those splotches, the raised splotches, are actually original paint. That is a 3,000 year old plus fresco plaster on the wall. The area between those splotches is actually us connecting the dots, filling in the blank spaces on the fresco, in order to complete, recreate the image to make it more coherent and visible to people who are not professionals in archaeology and preservation.
Now this particular fresco shows an activity from Minoan culture. We believe that this is kind of an instruction manual in an activity or event. Now we call this the Bull Dancer Fresco because we think it's either an athletic activity or a religious activity. It is obviously not a sacrifice.
The bull is not the one that's going to get killed in this picture. Just saying. We believe it demonstrates three steps in a movement or activity that you're supposed to do.
You are supposed to, on your left, stand in front of a charging bull because that's a smart thing to do. Once the bull gets close enough, you tuck the bull's horns gracefully under your armpits and using the momentum of the charging bull, gracefully flip onto the bull's back like you do. You then do a stand stand on the bull, which is still charging, and then you flip gracefully off the back of the bull, landing neatly on your toes with your arms extended and not getting kicked by the giant bull that is continuing to run.
Good luck with that. I would not recommend trying this at home. Really? What the heck? People didn't really try this, did they?
Actually, we think they might have. We have actually found dead bodies, bones, on the island of Crete from the Minoan era with injuries consistent with trying this and not succeeding. So we think it's possible that this actually was a real activity, and this depicts the three parts of the activity.
Whatever this was, it was certainly not intended to kill the bull. Believe me, the people doing this were more likely to get killed than the animal was by far. This could have been some sort of religious ritual, worshipping a bull, again fitting in with the Theseus and the Minotaur story. This could also have been some sort of athletic competition. It could have been some sort of showpiece.
We also know the one other thing about it. We know that whatever this activity was, it was co-ed. If you'll notice, there are three figures.
Two of them are female and one of them is male. they all look the same. I mean, they're all wearing the same little loincloths, their hair all looks the same.
What's the difference? The way you tell the difference between the male and female figures in Minoan art and a little bit later in Greek art is skin color. Women in Aegean and Greek art, Cycladic, Minoan, and Helladic art, all of them picture women with this pure white skin. Men are usually tan, brown, healthier looking, so anytime you see a figure that has that pale, pasty, white skin, you're looking at a female figure.
Now, we find these beautiful pictures painted in the Palace of Knossos, but perhaps the most exciting thing about Minoan culture is we do not only find art in the palace. This culture, because of its geographical location, seems to have had time to create art absolutely everywhere, from palaces to fishermen's huts. For example, both of the pictures here, these are both pictures of smaller homes, huts, if you will, of fishermen, common working class people, as far as we can tell in Minoan culture.
I mean, the picture on the bottom right, that room is like the size of my walk-in closet. And yet, even in these tiny personal homes, the Minoan culture indulges in beautiful decoration. They have the time, they have the leisure, and so they decorate because they value that beauty. in their culture and it is shared throughout all levels of society. That time to create artwork allows the Minoan culture to make some truly beautiful and unique objects, from jewelry to pottery to wall paintings.
For example, both of these are examples of Minoan art. On the right, that's called either the wasp necklace or the bee necklace. It is a beautiful golden necklace that depicts a pair of interlaced wasps.
We believe actually the Minoans may have had a wasp or bee goddess of some sort, perhaps associated with fertility. Now the detail and craftsmanship on that necklace is breathtaking. Again, remembering everything has to be done by hand.
On the right, there is a piece of pottery. Again, archaeologists are so not creative when they name things. The piece of pottery is called the octopus vase, for obvious reasons, because it's an octopus.
The neat thing about it, though, is actually the depiction of the octopus. Whoever actually created the painting on the surface of the vase used the tentacles of the octopus to emphasize the curve. It almost looks as if the octopus is hugging the vase. Its tentacles are wrapped around the surface in a dynamic way that shows an understanding not only of what the thing looks like, but of how it interacts with an object.
There's a sense of lifelikeness and observation that we do not see in other cultures and in earlier artwork. That sense of observation also brings us our first known optical image of a human being. Now remember the difference between optical and conceptual.
The optical or artistic perspective shows what something truly looks like. The conceptual perspective is that really weird, sideways shoulders, head turned in profile that was common in both Mesopotamian and Egyptian art. Here, something called the harvest vase gives us our very, very first example or first known example of optical or artistic perspective. It's dated somewhere between 1950 and 1450 BCE. It's very small.
It's only around four and a half inches around in diameter. It's carved with a very hard stone. Even having been carved with a hard stone, we only have the top of the vase.
If you'll notice in the picture on the left, the top of it is very beautifully carved while the bottom looks completely plain. That's because the bottom of it is a reproduction. That's not the real vase. We do not have the bottom of the vase.
We only have the top half. Now on that vase, there are a number of figures who appear to be in procession. There are a variety of different theories about what they're doing.
Some people say they're warriors. Some people say that they are celebrating harvests and those are grain pieces they're carrying. We honestly have not determined that yet for sure. Most of the figures are actually shown using conceptual perspective with shoulders to the side, heads in full profile, eyes facing forward and so on as we've seen in earlier artwork. But there is one guy, that guy right there on the front of the picture on your right, who is actually shown in full optical perspective.
He is shown in full profile. His head is in profile, his mouth is open as if he's singing, but the exciting part is his torso. Instead of his shoulders facing toward you as the other images on the vase are, he is shown in full profile with his torso turned to the side and his shoulders actually shown in profile.
Truly the way he would look, so optical rather than conceptual. Now while this Minoan culture with its advanced artwork and advanced architecture is thriving. It is actively involved with trade with the cultures on the peninsula of Greece.
Now those cultures, the Mycenaean and Helaetic cultures, coexist with the Minoan culture. We actually have evidence of intermarriage and cultural cross-pollination between the two, but the cultures appear to have been very, very different from one another. The Minoan culture, again, we can't read their writing, but it appears to have had large government centers. It seems to have a unified governmental system. On the peninsula of Greece, both the Mycenaean and Hellenic cultures appear to have been ruled by local warring warlords who build large fortresses or castles, if you will.
This is actually a picture of one of those castles or palaces. built on the top of a hill to make it more defensible. You will notice here even in the ruins in the floor plan, the walls are incredibly thick stone walls, allowing for it to be easily defended in battle against other local warlords. These hilltop fortresses are designed for defense, even down to their access points.
Consistently, these large stone structures with their thick walls have a winding path up the side of the hill to approach the actual palace structure. Now the cool thing about that winding path is that the path always goes clockwise around the hillside. There's a reason for that. Most of the warriors that would have been approaching or attacking these buildings would have been armed with a sword and shield based on depictions based on what we know of this culture. The majority of them would have been right-handed, so they would have had the sword in their right hand and the shield on their left arm.
By creating a winding pathway up the hillside clockwise, clockwise, That meant that the sword arm would be facing the hillside and the shield arm would be facing away. That meant that the defenders of the palace on top of the hill would be shooting down at this side that was undefended. In other words, they would not be shooting at the shield. They would be shooting at the sword side with arrows and spears, making it much easier to kill any kind of attacking enemy. This is all about defense.
These. Pathways are designed specifically to be defensible and to make these palaces more secure. Even when you reach the top of the hill, the passageways and access points are narrow.
For example, you can see this is actually a corbelled opening that creates that narrow entrance, again, making it easier to defend, making it more defensible. Now, these structures are designed for warring. chieftains or warlords who would fight against one another.
These buildings, this time period, we believe is actually the time period that gives us the stories of the Iliad and the Odyssey. This is where the stories of Agamemnon and Achilles actually come into play. Of course, again, they're fictional. We don't think that those people were necessarily real historical people.
They might have been. We don't know. But we believe that this is where the stories of these warring kings...
This is why we call the culture Mycenaean, because, of course, Agamemnon was a Mycenaean king, and we give him credit for that. We believe that this is the culture that they're talking about, and this is where those stories actually emerge. Which brings us to the culture of the Peninsula of Greece. That very early Bronze Age warrior culture is going to begin evolving into something vital, something that gives us the beginning of our ideas. our views of beauty, and our ideas of philosophy.