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Escaping the Labyrinth 2

Escaping the Labyrinth 2. Greek Mythology Fri 10-31-08. Labyrinth / Minotaur. Mycenaean tablet from Pylos / Minotaur, John Fred Watts 1885. Crete and the bull. The insistent bull motif in Cretan myths reflects the ancient importance of bulls in Cretan religion

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Escaping the Labyrinth 2

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  1. Escaping the Labyrinth 2 Greek Mythology Fri 10-31-08

  2. Labyrinth / Minotaur Mycenaean tablet from Pylos / Minotaur, John Fred Watts 1885

  3. Crete and the bull • The insistent bull motif in Cretan myths reflects the ancient importance of bulls in Cretan religion • The sacred / religious importance of bulls on Crete goes back to Bronze Age civilization (“Minoan”) 2700-1500 BC • The preeminence and power of Crete in Greek myth also no doubt reflects the early power and importance of Minoan Crete

  4. Minos’ Crete • Early Greeks called Crete “hundred-citied” (hekatompolis) • Believed Minos to be early king, lawgiver, with great naval power • Baby Zeus was hidden and nursed in a cave on Crete’s Mt. Ida

  5. Crete

  6. Crete

  7. Crete

  8. Minoan Crete • Bronze Age civilization flourished 2700-1500s B.C. • Sir Arthur Evans purchased land and began excavations of palace at Knossos in 1900 • Palace seemed maze-like, so he named culture after Minos • Found written tablets : Linear A and B • Linear B is early form of Greek • Linear A is still undeciphered

  9. Minoan Crete • Sea-faring mercantile culture – trade networks with Greece, Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, Spain • Minoan culture unique but influenced by Egypt and other civilizations to east • Trivia: saffron crocus appears to come from Crete, cultivated and harvested for trade by Minoans

  10. Minoan Crete • Minoans were not Greek • Spoke and wrote a different, unknown language (we call it Minoan or Eteocretan) • Cretan palaces were sacked and destroyed by Mycenaeans from Greece in 1500s B.C. • Mycenaean culture dominated thereafter until its rapid decline in 1200s B.C.

  11. Minoan Crete religion • Mountains and caves were divine cult sites • No temples • Nearly all figurines are feminine • Sacred symbols : double-headed axe (labrys), bulls, pillars, serpents, sun-disk, trees • Bull-jumping for sport / religious ritual (?)

  12. Knossos

  13. Knossos

  14. “Snake goddess” of Knossos 1500 BC

  15. Bronze labrys2nd millennium B.C.

  16. Stone Rhyton (libation vessel) Knossos 1500 BC

  17. Knossos : Bull leaping (1500 BC)

  18. Bustling Port : Fresco, Thera

  19. Knossos throne room

  20. Minoan ladies

  21. Scene Change : Athens • Medea fled Corinth to Athens, married King Aigeus, father of Theseus • Aigeus was son of Pandion II (an early king of Athens) • Erichthonius – Pandion – Erechtheus – Cecrops – Pandion - Aigeus • [Pandion II had warred with Labdacus of Thebes] • Long before, he had gone to Delphi to find out how he could have children

  22. Aigeus • The oracle had said: • “Don’t untie the mouth of the wineskin until you reach Athens’ peaks again” • Baffled by this oracle, Aigeus traveled • Reaching Troizen he stayed with Pittheus, son of Pelops • Pittheus, a wise man, figured out the oracle (with it’s blatant sexual meaning) • Got Aigeus drunk and put him to bed with his daughter Aithra

  23. Aigeus • When he left Troizen, he placed his sandals and a sword under a stone, with instructions to send him their son when he could remove the stone and retrieve them • Aithra has a son, Theseus • A variant provides Theseus with divine paternity: • Aigeus was too drunk to perform, but that same night Poseidon slept with Aithra

  24. Theseus • Theseus is the hero of Attica and Athens, just as Jason is hero of Iolcos, and Heracles of Tiryns and Thebes • When he is old enough his mother shows him the rock and tells him to lift it up • Under it he finds the sword and sandals of Aigeus • Then he sets out for Athens on foot

  25. Theseus examining father’s sword (Greco-Roman gem)

  26. Theseus’ Labors • On the way to Athens Theseus happens into six “labor”-like adventures in which he defeats no-goods (then at some point a seventh) • He “clears the roads, which had been beset by evildoers” (Apollodorus ACM p. 55) • 1) Periphetes in Epidaurus • 2) Sinis at the Corinthian Isthmus • 3) Crommyon the man-eating sow • 4) Sciron in Megara • 5) Cercyon in Eleusis • 6) Procrustes (or Damastes) • 7) The Bull of Marathon

  27. Marathon / Cretan Bull Eleusis / Cercyon Sciron / Megara

  28. Theseus’ Labors • Periphetes used a club to kill travelers with; Theseus killed him and took the club • Sinis was the “Pine-bender” : he made passers-by bend trees down, then they would rebound and kill them; Theseus killed him the same way • Then there was a sow (that was nasty in one way or another) and Theseus killed it

  29. Theseus’ Labors • Sciron would compel travelers to wash his feet then throw them over the cliff to feed a giant turtle; Theseus threw him over the cliff • Cercyon of Eleusis would compel people to wrestle and kill them; Theseus body-slammed him • Procrustes (or Damastes) would hammer and saw his guests to fit in beds that were too small or big for them; Theseus gave him the same treatment • Later he also dispatched the annoying Marathonian (formerly Cretan) Bull

  30. ????

  31. Skiron

  32. Cercyon / Bull

  33. Sinis

  34. Sinis

  35. Sow / Sinis

  36. Sow of Commyon

  37. Bull / Procrustes / Cercyon

  38. Theseus & Procrustes

  39. Procrustes

  40. Theseus & Bull of Marathon (Jan van Loo, 1732)

  41. Theseus reaches Athens • Finally Theseus reaches Athens, where his father Aegeus is married to Medea • Aegeus doesn’t know him (but knows his reputation from his recent exploits) but Medea does know who he is • She convinces Aegeus that he is a threat and that he should poison his guest • In the nick of time Aegeus recognizes his sword in Theseus’ possession • Medea flees with her son Medon to the east

  42. Theseus, Aegeus, Medea

  43. Aigeus & war with Minos • From Troizen Aigeus had returned to Athens, and held Panathenaic Games • Minos’ son Androgeos was the hero of the games, beating everyone • Aigeus sent him against the Marathonian Bull and it defeated him • Formerly the Cretan Bull, but it wandered to Marathon and ravaged the countryside after Heracles had brought it from Crete

  44. Aigeus & war with Minos • Minos waged war on Athens, and a plague broke out • Beleaguered by war and plague the Athenians settle • Minos imposes a tribute on them: send seven young men and seven young women every year to feed to the Minotaur in the labyrinth

  45. Theseus & Minotaur • Aegeus accepts Theseus as his son and heir • Theseus learns of the recent war with Minos—on account of the death of Androgeos—and about the 7 boy / 7 girl tribute to feed the Minotaur • Theseus agrees to go as one of the offered children, with the plan of defeating the Minotaur

  46. Theseus / Ariadne / Minotaur • They arrange a sign : if he defeats the Minotaur the ship will fly white sails as it returns; if Theseus dies, black sails • When he gets to Crete, Ariadne daughter of Minos falls in love with Theseus • She decides to help him defeat the Minotaur in the labyrinth • She gives him a thread by which to find his way out

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