The Influence Of Minoan In Ancient Greece

The Bronze Age, spanning from 3000-1050 B.C.E., was a time in Ancient Greece characterised by invention and innovation both artistically and architecturally. The Minoans formed the first Greek civilisation on the island of Crete, which is located just south of mainland Greece. The name Minoan stems from a series of Greek myths about the legendary King Minos of Crete who was said to rule a vast sea empire; the Minoans were sea-faring people themselves. Minoan civilisation thrived from approximately 2000-1050 B.C.E. before being succeeded by the Mycenaean’s. Minoan civilisation was very clearly influenced by its neighbours of the Near Eastern civilisations Mesopotamia and Egypt. This influence is visible in Minoan architecture and rendering of
An understanding of the geography surrounding Minoan civilisation is essential when studying its art and architecture. Being the first civilisation of ancient Greece, the Minoans were not given the privilege of local, antecedent design from which to base their own, and so they found a baseline elsewhere: the ancient Near Eastern civilisations of Egypt and Mesopotamia. The sudden emergence of representational painting on a large scale can be explained as a result of contact with these older cultures, each of which had wall paintings and carved stone reliefs at the time of attested Minoan contact in the early second millennium (Immerwahr, 1990). The civilisations often came into contact with one another for trading purposes. Civilised ideas were easily disseminated from these Near Eastern civilisations to the Minoans by way of the Cycladic Islands that provided natural stepping-stones between island of Crete and its Near Eastern neighbours (Butler,
It was during this period that the potter’s wheel was introduced, which allowed for efficient production of vessels characterised by thin walls and subtle, symmetrical shapes. From this innovation developed the Kamares ware, the most characteristic style of the Protopalatial Period. This pottery was characterised by very thin walls, robust swollen curves, elegant spouts and decoration. This early style of pottery, consisting of sweeping lines, spontaneity and fluidity would eventually be transformed into a more stylised manner of pottery in the Neopalatial Period; an aesthetic shift which reflects a shift in philosophical attitudes which became more interested in formalist abstraction and a dissociation with naturalism (Sakoulas, 2002). Although the Minoans themselves did not invent the potter’s wheel, whose origin can be attributed to the Near East, its adoption speaks volumes of the innovative nature of the Minoans. The use of the potter’s wheel was extremely practical in nature, allowing the efficient production of vessels that were both used daily and for decoration. Through this piece of technology the Minoans were able to develop a style specific to their civilisation and create vessels that were coveted for their beauty throughout Crete, as well as Egypt and Syria to where they were