Niobid Painter, Niobid Krater, Attic red-figure calyx-krater, c. 460-450 B.C.E., 54 x 56 cm (Musée du Louvre) Useful for scholars “Pottery is virtually indestructible. Though it may break into smaller pieces (called sherds), these would have to be manually ground into dust in order to be removed from the archaeological record. As such, there is…
Month: September 2022
Bull-Leaping Fresco from the Palace of Knossos
Bull-leaping fresco from the east wing of the palace of Knossos (reconstructed), c. 1400 B.C.E., fresco, 78 cm high (Archaeological Museum of Heraklion, photo: Jebulon, CC0) Taking the bull by the horns “Bull sports—including leaping over them, fighting them, running from them, or riding them—have been practiced all around the globe for millennia. Perhaps the…
Minoan Art
“The Bronze Age culture of Crete, called Minoan, after King Minos of Crete from Greek mythology, is one of the most vibrant and admired in all of European prehistory. Coastline of Crete in 2017 (photo: belpo, CC BY-NC 2.0) “The island itself is no doubt part of the story; at the watery intersection of Asia,…
Knossos – An Ancient Greek Palace
“The Aegean world is a very beautiful one. The Islands rise out of the sea like jewels sparkling in the sunshine. It is a world associated with spring, of “fresh new grass and dewey lotus, and crocus and hyacinth,”[1] a land where the gods were born, one rich in legend and myth and fairy tale,…
The Snake Goddess from Knossos
An enticing mystery “It has been said that the image of the Snake Goddess, discovered by Sir Arthur Evans at Knossos on Crete, is one of the most frequently reproduced sculptures from antiquity. Whether or not this is true, it is certainly the case that she is a powerful and evocative image. What she meant to the…
The Book of the Ancient Greeks
Dorothy Mills – 1925 Mills, Dorothy. The Book of the Ancient Greeks. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1925. CRETE AND THE CIVILIZATION OF THE EARLY AEGEAN WORLD CHAPTER I THE MEDITERRANEAN WORLD To the people of the ancient world the Mediterranean was “The Sea”; they knew almost nothing of the great ocean that lay beyond the…
Persephone and the Great God Pan
THE GREAT GOD PAN by Mary MacGregor MacGregor, Mary. The Story of Greece. London, T. C. and E. C. JACK, Ltd., 1914. The supreme god of the Hellenes was Zeus. He dwelt in the sky, yet on earth, too, he had a sanctuary amid the oak-woods of Dodona. When the oak-leaves stirred, his voice was heard,…
Pomegranate Seeds – by Nathaniel Hawthorne – A Greek Myth about Persephone and Hades
Note: In Ancient Greek Mythology, Demeter was the goddess who was called Ceres in Ancient Rome. Persephone was the Ancient Greek goddess who was called Ceres in Ancient Rome. The Pomegranate Seeds By Nathaniel Hawthorne Mother Ceres was exceedingly fond of her daughter Proserpina, and seldom let her go alone into the fields. But, just…
Cupid and Psyche – Old Greek Story Told Anew
CUPID AND PSYCHE. by Josephine Preston Peabody Once upon a time, through that Destiny that overrules the gods, Love himself gave up his immortal heart to a mortal maiden. And thus it came to pass. There was a certain king who had three beautiful daughters. The two elder married princes of great renown; but…
Treasury of Greek Mythology by Donna Napoli Illustrated by Christina Balit
Napoli, Donna, and Christina Balit. Treasury of Greek Mythology: Classic Stories of Gods, Goddesses, Heroes and Monsters. Reinforced Library ed., National Geographic Kids, 2011. (Treasury of Greek Mythology: Classic Stories of Gods, Goddesses, Heroes and Monsters) Gaia [Gaea} (Treasury of Greek Mythology: Classic Stories of Gods, Goddesses, Heroes and Monsters) (Treasury of Greek Mythology: Classic Stories…