MYTH AND ARCHAEOLOGY: MINOANS, MYCENEANS, AND ETRUSCANS

Themes

• migration and creation of cultural identity:
• historical evidence:
• examples: Minoans and Myceneans (Aegean); Etruscans and Romans (Italy)

Minoans and Myceneans

• Who were the early Greeks?
• Stories
  • Homer (c. 725 B.C.E.), Illiad, Troy, Odyssey
  • Ovid (43 BCE-Ce 17), King Minos, Cnossos (Crete), the Minotaur, Theseus
• Archaeology
  • Henrich Schliemann (1822-1890): Troy [Alt Troy]
  • Sir Arthur Evans (1851-1941)
  • Minoans:
  • Michael Ventris (1922-56): Linear A and Linear B
  • Mycenae (Pelopponesus):
  • ?
• Environment
  • Aegean, Crete, Pelopponesus, Asia Minor
  • Minos, Knossos; Mycenae, Troy
• Development
  • Minoans c. 2200-1100 BCE
  • Myceneans c. 1600-1100 BCE
  • "chaos" c. 1100-750 BCE
• Culture
  • Minoan
  • Mycenean

Etruscans and Romans

• Are the Romans who they say they are?
• Stories
  • Aeneas, c 1250 BCE (Livy and Vergil, 1st century BCE-1st century CE)
  • Romulus and Remus, AUC 1/759 B.C.E., Wolf [Alt Wolf]
  • Sabine women; king Numa
  • Tarquin the Proud and Lucretia; Brutus
• Archaeology
  • c. 2000-1200 B.C.E.
  • c. 700-550 B.C.E.
  • c. 550-475 B.C.E.
  • 474 B.C.E. b. of Cumae
  • after 475 B.C.E.
  • ?
  • Etruscan artifacts
• Environment: Italy, Tiber River, Rome
• Development
  • c. 2000 B.C.E.-- migrations
  • c. 900-500 Etruscans
  • 509 BCE-- Roman Republic
• Culture

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  Conclusions

  • matrix comparisons:

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  Explore!

  • Go to Syllabus Lecture Outline
  • Perseus
  • Dakota State Art History
  • Etruscan Network
  • Bowdoin College Etruscan Art and Archaeology
  kjolly@hawaii.edu 8/26/98