The Early Bronze AgeMinoan CreteMycenean GreeceVase FormsTerms for Greek myth and legend page 2Minoan, Mycenean and Geometric art 1 Terms Useful for the Understanding of Minoan and Mycenaean Art Early Helladic/Cycladic/Minoan period: ca. 3000-2000 BCE. People are mainly non-Greeks. Greeks arrive in Greece maybe in 2200 BCE. Middle Helladic/Cycladic/Minoan period: ca. 2000-1650/1550 BCE. Palaces first built on Crete, destroyed by an earthquake ca. 1650 or 1550 BCE and rebuilt. Late Helladic/Cycladic/Minoan period: ca. 1650/1550-1150 BCE. Santorini/Thera erupted c. 1630 BCE. All of the palaces save Knossos were destroyed ca. 1450 BCE. Knossos burned soon after 1400 BCE (at which time it was controlled by Mycenean Greeks). Mycenaean civilization arose at beginning of this period, collapsed at its end. The Early Bronze Age Cycladic Figures: marble statues and statuettes made during the Early Cycladic period (c. 2800-2200) and found in graves. These seem very abstract, because they have schematic bodies and oval, back-tilted heads with only, at times, a nose, and no other features. In fact, the other features appear to have been painted. The most common type is a nude female with her legs together and the arms folded across her chest. Male figures are rarer, but often represent musicians. Heads unattached to bodies are also known. The identity of these figures is unknown. They are usually fairly small, but examples up to five feet in height are known. Lerna: site in the Argolid in southern Greece which has a large, palatial like building (called the “House of the Tiles” from its roofing) dated to the Early Helladic Perod (destroyed c. 2200 BCE). The House included some clay seal impressions that are interesting. Minoan Crete Minos: legendary king of Crete in Greek myth. His son was the Minotaur, a bull-headed, man-bodied monster who ate human flesh. Labyrinth: the "House of the Double Axe," apparently the name of the palace at Knossos, the largest of the Cretan palaces. To the Greeks, the palace seemed like a maze, thus the modern meaning of the word. Minoan Religion: Little is truly known, although it seems likely that the main goddess was Mother Earth. Bull vaulting seems to have been a cultic ritual, and the double axe was sacred. The bull likely represented the masculine principle.Minoan, Mycenean and Geometric art 2 Knossos, Mallia, Phaistos, Kato Zakro: sites of Minoan palaces between ca. 2000-1450 BCE; Knossos alone survived to around 1380 BCE.. The relationships of the palaces, which are not far apart, is unknown; that is, we don’t know if they were ruled by the same or different people. All of the palaces had a complex series of rooms arranged around a large central court (all but Kato Zakro, where the court is smaller due to lack of space), with storerooms, shrines, workshops, and public rooms, as well as domestic quarters. They were built of plastered rubble on a stone foundation, with timber framing (the general appearance of Minoan houses is preserved in some faience or glass paste plaques of 2000-1550 BCE). The palaces had multiple floors, and used wooden columns that tapered downwards. Minoan Writing: there are two kinds of Minoan scripts. A hieroglyphic-like script similar to ancient Egyptian writing was used in the Middle Minoan period (to 1700). It was probably cumbersome and little used. Linear A, a script which was incised into clay tablets, looks more like Near Eastern cuneiform, and is the basis for Mycenean Linear B. It was probably a syllabic script. Neither Minoan script can be read. “Snake Goddesses:” faience figurines (Height c. 11-12 inches) used in a shrine at Knossos destroyed around 1550 BC. They show three women (goddesses or priestesses) in long flounced skirts and bodices that expose the breasts (Minoan female dress) and elaborate headgear holding snakes. Rhyton: generally a conical cup without a foot (and thus requiring a stand). Often carved in stone or made of metal, and plastic (i.e. sculptural), probably used exclusively in ritual. The Harvester Vase and the Bull’s-Head rhyton are the most famous Minoan examples, both made c. 1500, archaeologists think. Minoan Frescoes: painted on wet plaster in an impressionistic style, these are very fragmentary, but present glimpses of Minoan societal values; the best-preserved on Crete have been found at Knossos. The best preserved in general date to before 1630 and are on Thera. Some Minoan frescoes show signs of influence from Egypt (Bird and Monkey fresco) Toreador Fresco: Bull-vaulting ceremonies are depicted in a famous scene of c. 1450, which shows three male(?) athletes in action. Kamares Ware: a polychrome style of light-on-dark decoration seen on Middle Minoan pottery ca. 1900-1600 BCE. The motifs are generally pretty abstract, but based on the natural world. Marine Style: a style of Late Minoan IB pottery (probably ca. 1500-1450 BCE) which uses motifs taken from the sea in a free and impressionistic style. A similar style can be seen on contemporary frescoes in the palaces. Thera: an island (sometimes called Santorini) which exploded in a volcanic eruption ca. 1630 BCE. Thera had a Minoan outpost on it called (today) Akrotiri; it has the best-Minoan, Mycenean and Geometric art 3 preserved Minoan-style frescoes. These often depict rituals (Crocus Gathering), but also, at times, sagas (Miniature fresco). Akrotiri also preserves houses in the Cretan style (West House). Mycenean Greece Peloponnessos: "the island of Pelops." The near-island of southern Greece, connected to central Greece only by a narrow isthmus. Named after Pelops, the founder of the ruling dynasty at Mycenae according to Greek mythology. Pelops defeated (and killed) the king of the area around Olympia in a chariot race, then married the king’s daughter. Linear B: a syllabic script in early Greek used by the Mycenaean kings to inventory their possessions and keep records on clay tablets. Based on the undeciphered Minoan Linear A. Megaron: the significant unit in Mycenaean architecture. Entered on the short side, it has porch, a smaller foreroom and large rear room with a central hearth. Used for the throne rooms of Mycenaean palaces. Mycenae: a fortified citadel with a palace in southeastern Greece (the district later called the Argolid). In the Iliad , the King of Mycenae (Agamemnon) is the most important ruler, but was killed by his wife (Clytemnestra) and her lover when he