At origins of greek civilization are related to the occupation of the region around the Aegean Sea (mainland Greece, Peloponnese Peninsula, Asia Minor and a multitude of islands) and also to the influence received from the cretan civilization, a social formation that emerged in the island of crete, the largest in the Aegean Sea, between 2000 a. Ç. and 1400 a. Ç. This period of Greek history is also known as pre-homeric period.
How the Greeks created various mythologies in order to explain their origins, we find in Minotaur legend a possible form of manifestation of the beginning of this civilization.
The Minotaur was a creature consisting of a bull's head and a man's body, who lived in a labyrinth, in the Knossos palace, on the island of Crete. The labyrinth had been built at the behest of the legendary king minos. As the Cretans dominated the Greeks, every year the Greeks were obliged to send young girls and boys to the Minotaur to satiate the creature. theseus, son of the Greek king Aegean, would have gone to the labyrinth to defeat the Minotaur and end the sending of young people. Arriving at the palace of Knossos he was aided by Ariadne, daughter of King Minos, who instructed him to use the thread of a ball of yarn in order to find his way back. Theseus defeated the Minotaur and managed to get out of the maze, following the thread of the skein. Excited about the victory, he returned to Greece in his boat, but he forgot what he had agreed with his father. In case of victory, Theseus should change the ship's sails by removing the black sail and putting the white one in, as a sign of victory. Theseus kept the black sail and when his father saw the vessel in the distance he believed that his son had died, throwing himself into the sea. The sea was called Aegean in honor of Theseus' father.
This legend would explain the liberation of the Greeks from the domain of the Cretans, symbolized in the figure of King Minos and the Minotaur (whose name would derive from the king who created him). But how did the Cretans over the Greeks come about?
Palace of Knossos on the island of Crete. The main palace of the island that in mythology was above the labyrinth of the Minotaur
Not much is known about Cretan civilization. The knowledge acquired is due to archaeological excavations, since few written sources have remained since that time, and even those found have not yet been fully deciphered. On the other hand, it is known that they developed an important maritime trade in the Aegean region, which generated prosperity to the Cretan elite and also brought it into contact with different peoples from other regions, such as the Middle East and Egypt. The Phoenicians were possibly one of these peoples, they may have influenced the development of the Cretans' as yet undeciphered writing.
Archaeological excavations also show that the Cretans built grandiose palaces and that these they didn't have fortifications, suggesting that there weren't many dangers to be faced from others. peoples. They also developed a varied and rich artisanal production, which can be seen in the vases, amphorae, fabrics and metal objects found in the excavations. Archeologists and anthropologists who study Cretan civilization still believe that they worshiped a deity represented as the mother goddess, which would be a remnant of the matriarchal organization of primitive peoples. Because the main deity is female, it is believed that women in Crete were more valued and had more freedom than in other ancient civilizations.
But what about the Greeks?
It is also believed that Cretan culture profoundly influenced the Greek peoples of the time. You achaeans were the first of these peoples who arrived in the Peloponnese Peninsula, around the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. Ç. The main city built by the Achaeans was Mycenae, which became an important commercial city that expanded its domains to other areas of the region. Also known for being great warriors, the Achaeans probably conquered the island of Crete and defeated the city of troy, in a war immortalized in the poem Iliad, written by homer. The conquest of Crete by the Achaeans led historians to treat this period as that of the creto-Mycenaean civilization, indicating the cultural union between the two distinct peoples. Possibly the mythology of the Minotaur was used to represent this process of formation of the Creto-Mycenaean society.
After the Achaeans, the Ionians and the aeolian, who settled in different places. These peoples used weapons made of bronze in their war actions, which probably would have facilitated the domination of the dorians. These arrived in the region around the year 1200 BC. Ç. and, due to the use of iron weapons, more resistant than bronze, they would have conquered other peoples and put an end to the Creto-Mycenaean civilization.
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*Image Credit: Lefteris Papaulakis and Shutterstock.com
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