Lecture 5 Minoan & Mycenaean
Cultures, Intro to Greek Architecture
Crete
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About the time of the Middle Kingdom in Egypt, the seafaring peoples of the Aegean Sea
(Eastern Mediterranean) had learned how to exploit natural resources such as timber, stone,
metallic ores, and clay for pottery to produce distinctive artifacts. With these and other
agricultural products they waged brisk trade with Egypt and other settlements in the Eastern
Mediterranean, where they constructed small fortified settlements and villages on islands
and the coastline. There was probably some contact with Mesopotamia also.
Early Cretans worshipped nature deities associated with mountains, trees and animals,
especially snakes. They also practiced bull-jumping, probably an off-shoot to the Sumerian
practice of bull biting, similar to bull fighting in Spain.
Lions associated with royalty in Egypt and Mesopotamia were appropriated by the Cretans,
though they had no lions on the island. Egyptian artifacts from 18th Dynasty have been
retrieved from the harbor at Kairatos, Crete and 1300 pieces of Aegean pottery dating from
1370 – 1350 BCE were found in the rubbish heaps of Akhnaten and wall paintings during
Hatshepsut’s reign depict envoys from Crete bearing characteristic pottery from the island.
These early peoples are called Minoans, from Minos, an early king or the title, similar to
Pharaoh. It was the later Greeks who created legends associated with King Minos of Crete.
Early People of the Aegean Sea: Minoans
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The Minoans established a brilliant
early civilization on the island of
Crete, sustained and protected by
the sea.
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The Minoans traded with Egypt and
Mesopotamia. They acquired
ideas and technology that they
adapted to their own culture.
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The Minoans helped to shape the
first Greek civilization.
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Palace built with wooden roof,
gypsum plaster walls gracefully and
colorfully painted. Large throne
room with light wells, family
apartments in palace.
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Culture disappears with some
natural disaster, earthquake?
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Artist’s Rendition of King Minos’ Palace of Knossos on
Crete (1700-1400BCE) excavated by Sir Arthur Evans in
early 20th c.
In Greek mythology, the labyrinth of
Crete was derived from the elaborate
floor plan of the Palace at Knossos.
Daedalus the Athenian craftsman, was
the architect and inventor who designed
for King Minos of Crete the labyrinth in
which was imprisoned the Minotaur, a
man-eating monster that was half man
and half bull.
The labyrinth was so skillfully designed
that no one could escape from the maze
or the Minotaur. Daedalus revealed the
secret of the labyrinth only to Ariadne,
daughter of Minos, and she aided her
lover, the Athenian hero Theseus, to slay
the monster and escape.
In anger at the escape, Minos imprisoned
Daedalus and his son Icarus in the
labyrinth. Although the prisoners could
not find the exit, Daedalus made
waxwings so that they could both fly out
of the maze. Icarus, however, flew too
near the sun; his wings melted, and he
fell into the sea. Daedalus flew to Sicily,
where he was welcomed by King
Cocalus. Minos later pursued Daedalus
but was killed by the daughters of
Cocalus.
Palace of
King Minos
Knossos, Crete,
ca. 1500 B.C.
Excavated by Sir
Arthur Evans in
the early part of
the century, the
elaborate palace
reminded the
excavator of the
legend of Theseus
and The Minotaur.
Built several stories high around a
central courtyard, the palace had light
wells to admit light into the lower
reaches of the palace. The palace is
also noted for columns that taper
downward instead of upward, and the
beautiful frescoes on the walls.
Lustral basin and light well in Throne Room
Early People of the Aegean Sea: The Mycenaeans
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The Mycenaeans evolved on
the Greek mainland and
eventually conquered the
Greek mainland and Crete.
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Mycenaean civilization (more
warriors than traders)
dominated the Aegean from
about 1400 B.C. to 1200 B.C.
though they traded with Sicily,
Italy, Egypt, and
Mesopotamia.
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Mycenaeans absorbed
Egyptian and Mesopotamian
influences and passed them
on to later Greeks.
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Fall of Mycenae ushered in
the Greek Dark Ages 1100 –
800 B.C.
Mycenae
Crete
Mycenae
Lion Gate at
Mycenae c.
1250 BCE
Progenitor of the Greek
temple front, the Lion Gate is
also important for its powerful
sense of structure and
sensitivity to the beauty of the
subject.
Treasury of Atreus, a tholos tomb
C. 1325 BCE Mycenaean
Treasury of Atreus and
Mask of King
Agamemnon
For more information go to: http://www.tronchin.com/Art1A/lecture%205.htm
Treasury of Atreus at Mycenae c.1250BCE
(400 years before the Trojan War, tallest and widest dome for 1000 years until the Pantheon)
Evidence suggests that a fire destroyed the palace at Mycenae. There is
also evidence of a siege. By 1200BCE the power of Mycenae was
declining; during the 12th century, Mycenaean dominance collapsed.
Within a short time around 1250 BC, all the palaces of southern Greece
were burned, including the one at Mycenae. This is traditionally
attributed to a Dorian invasion of Greeks from the north, although some
historians now doubt that such an invasion took place.
Wikipedia cites Rowbotham, William. "Mycenae and the Bronze Age." Odyssey Adventures,
Odyssey. as their source for this information.
Tiryns
Cyclopean wall at Tiryns, Greece. Completed end of 13th c. BCE.
• Up to 36 feet
thick, the walls
were lined with
galleries with
massive
corbelled
ceilings, serving
as a refuge for
the citizens in
times of war.
Tyrens is heavily
fortified, in
contrast to the
cities of the
Minoans, which
had no apparent
fortifications.
An almost single-file
passage between high
walls is required to
enter Tirens, making
would-be attackers
vulnerable well before
reaching the two gates
that guard the city
entrance. The gates
opened into a courtyard
bounded by porticoed
chambers corbelled into
the mass of the exterior
wall, which face the
narrow palace gate. It
also opens into a
courtyard and a
colonnaded court and
finally into the palace
magaron.
Origins of Greek Architecture and Greek City Planning
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After the collapse of the
Minoan-Mycenaean civilizations
beginning around 1200 to 1100
BCE, the Dorians invaded from •
the North about 1000 BCE and
settled with Sparta as their
capital. They were a militant
tribal people.
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The Ionians, from Asia Minor
and the Greek Islands, were a
trading society.
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By the 8th century (BCE) these
two groups merged and called
themselves Hellenes.
Everybody else was a
barbarian.
They formed city-states not
kingdoms.
Topography aided formation of small
self-sufficient towns with pockets of
farming and sea fishing as main
occupations. No city could dominate
another for very long, and most
cities grew to the point of sending
extra people out of town to found a
colony somewhere else along the
coast.
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Strong sense of common culture,
language, myths and gods.
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Last of the megalithic architects.
Urban Form Determinants
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Regional
Topography &
Climate
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Winter is severe in
the mountains;
elsewhere moderate
and sunny. The sun
rises early and is
hot. The heat is not
enervating for the
atmosphere is dry,
and the heat is
tempered with the
daily moderation of
land and sea
breezes.
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Rain in summer is
almost unknown,
late winter and
autumn are rainy
seasons.
Local building materials affect architectural forms.
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Chronology
Greek Dark Ages 1100 – 700
BCE
First Olympic Games 776 BCE Collapse of the Palace
economies/return to villages. No monumental architecture, but
beginning of development of the temple form – in perishable materials,
brick, wood, some rubble masonry. Greek myths and Trojan War, great
epic poems written.
Archaic Period 700 – 480 BCE
Persian Wars 497 -479 BCE
Classical Period 480 – 323 BCE
Peloponnesian War 421 – 404 BCE Archaic and Classical are Hellenic
periods. Rise of the city-state (polis). Temples (Doric in mainland and
Ionic in Ionia) evolve from megaron of Mycenaeans, intellectual
approach to architecture with emphasis on form.
Hellenistic Period 323 – 146 BCE (death of Alexander the Great 323
BCE)
Major centers no longer on mainland, but at Ephesos, Alexandria,
Antioch, Pergamon. Greater elaboration of decoration and
development of Corinthian order. More monumental civic buildings.
Greece taken over by the Romans, 146 BCE
Cultural Identity and Religion
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Town and city were closely •
knit—except in those more
remote parts, like Arcadia
and western Greece, where
there were no towns at all.
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On occasions, the Greek
city-states joined together
to face a common enemy,
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notably Persians, but they
were also intermittently in
conflict with each other.
In addition to grid-plan
towns, the major
contribution to architectural
history in the Archaic Greek •
era was the temple, which
originated as a home for
the gods and was based on
the design of the Greek’s
own houses.
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The Greek gods were seen as one
large, harmonious family, though they
did not always get along together. The
Greeks felt the gods inhabited every
rock, brook, and mountain or tree.
They were apt to appear anywhere, and
at any time.
All potential building sites, even the site
of a new city, were checked by
ceremonial means before any building
was begun. There was a ritual for
every daily undertaking; the Greeks
were very religious.
Because each god has his or her area
of expertise, several would be
consulted and temples built to ensure
the success of the new colony.
Hellenic and Hellenistic
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Hellenic: Greek civilization prior
to the Macedonian conquest
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Hellenistic - Type of culture
resulting from Alexander the
Great’s conquests; a blend of
Greek, Persian, Egyptian, and
Indian cultures and art styles
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During the Hellenistic era, a
cultural interaction with Persians,
Egyptian, Indian and other
cultures resulting in and a
mixture of cultures, art and
architecture.
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Men were gods who lacked
perfect beauty, immortality and
power. Gods had these and
human traits. Men could go
against the gods and win, but not
often.
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Winged Victory of Samothrace,
c. 190BCE, now at the
Louvre, Paris, France
Greek altars of Classical times were always under the open sky.
Hera may have been the first to whom an enclosed roofed temple
sanctuary was dedicated, at Samos about 800 BCE. (It was replaced
later by the Heraion, one of the largest Greek temples anywhere.)
There were many temples built on this site so evidence is somewhat
confusing and archaeological dates are confused. We know that the
temple from the architect Rhoechus was destroyed between 570- 60
BC. This was replaced by the Polycratean temple 540-530BC. In one
of these temples we see a forest of 155 columns. There is also no
evidence of tiles on this temple suggesting either the temple was
never finished or that the temple was open to the sky.
Samos excavations have revealed votive offerings, many of them late
8th and 7th century, which reveal that Hera at Samos was not merely
a local Greek goddess of the Aegean: the museum there contains
figures of gods and suppliants and other votive offerings from
Armenia, Babylon, Persia, Assyria, Egypt, testimony to the reputation
which this sanctuary of Hera enjoyed and to the large influx of
pilgrims. This mighty goddess also possessed the earliest temple at
Olympia and two of the great fifth and sixth century temples of
Paestum.
wikipedia
First Temples of Hera at
Samos, Greece
Early Temple early 7th c.
BCE
Rebuilt in mid 7th c. BCE
Second Temple of Hera at Samos
Beginning of the
Temple Form
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Temple of Hera at Paestum,
South of Naples, Italy, c. 530
BCE
Unusual enneastyle plan
(meaning it has an odd
number of columns across
the front) with central line of
columns in the naos.
Refinements include the:
1) abacus block
2) echinus molding
3) fluted column shaft
4) entasis
Gate in the city wall at Paestum
Greek Temple
Styles
Number of columns
across front is
usually an even
number:
2 – Distyle
4- Tetrastyle
6 – Hexastyle (most
common)
8 – Octastyle
9 Enneastyle (rare)
10 decastyle (rare)
Elements of the Naos
Naos
Pronaos
Cella
Adyton
Opisthodomos
Number of columns along the temple’s sides is
calculated by this formula:
Number across the front X 2 plus 1
So an octastyle has 8 X 2 = 16 + 1 = 17 columns along each side.
Intercolumnation is the spacing between columns.
Pycnostyle = 1 ½ diameter
Systyle = 2 diameters
Eustyle = 2 ¼ diameters
Diastyle = 3 diameters
Aracostyle = 3 ½ diameters
The majority of Greek Temples were Hexastyle Peripteral,
but the Parthenon was Octastyle Peripteral.
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The first temples were mudbrick structures on stone
foundations.
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The columns and superstructure were wooden, door openings
and antae were protected with wooden planks. The mudbrick
walls were often reinforced by wooden posts, in a type of halftimbered technique.
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Near the end of the 7th c BCE, the dimensions of these simple
structures were increased considerably.
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Since it was not technically possible to roof broad spaces at
that time, these temples remained very narrow, at 6 to 10 m
width.
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To stress the importance of the cult statue and the building
holding it, the naos was equipped with a canopy, supported by
columns.
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As time went on mudbrick and wooden temples were replaced
with stone as a building material. Many features of the wooden
construction were carried over into the stone.
Temple of Poseidon, Paestum
Temple of
Poseidon
or Zeus at
Paestum
triglyphs
Mutules
with
guttae
The
Orders
Elevation of the Temple of Concordia at Agrigentum.