MGFN+Art,+literature+and+Music

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 ·  In the Early Minoan period ceramics were characterised by linear patterns of spirals, triangles, curved lines, crosses, fishbone motifs and such.  ·  In the Middle Minoan period naturalistic designs such as fish, squid, birds and lilies were common.  ·  In the Late Minoan period, flowers and animals were still the most characteristic, but the variability had increased.  ·  The 'palace style' of the region around Knossos is characterised by a strong geometric simplification of naturalistic shapes and monochromatic paintings.  ·  Very noteworthy are the similarities between Late Minoan and Mycenaean art.
 * What remains of Minoan culture, is a half understood mystery. The language of the Minoans, known as 'Linear A', has never been deciphered.
 * The lack of a decipherable language has made attempts at a definite description of Minoan life and culture nearly impossible.
 * However, what archeologists have learned about Minoan life comes from the exceptional art, architecture, and tool artifacts of the Minoans.
 * Minoan life was ruled by a King and nobles who governed all aspects of Minoan life, including trade, art, and religion.
 * The government of the Minoan was theocratic, and the religion of Minoan was matriarchal and centered around the worship of several goddess and high priestesses. Accordingly the Minoans took part in many ritual acts, including "bull leaping".
 * Bull leaping involved mid-air leaping, onto the back of a charging bull.
 * Stratification in Minoan Culture consisted mostly between Nobel, Citizen, and Slave.
 * However, the stratification of the Minoan appears to have been minimal. Slaves were said to have been treated fairly by their masters and in the religious spectrum the only act slaves could not partake in was bull leaping.
 * Additionally, there were no acts which were restricted from women (that we know of).
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">As seen on many of the beautiful fresco's often times the women worked along side the men.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Similarly, archaeologists surmise that due to a lack of elaborate burials, (like those seen in Ancient Egypt) the king and nobles were not kept in the highly structured position often kept by state civilizations of its type. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">The Minoans were a sport-centered society; while all sports ultimately derive from religious rituals, by the time the Cretans were enjoying their palace civilization, sport seemed to have passed over into a recreational activity. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">This is a new pheneomenon in the ancient world: sport for sport's sake, and parallels a number of other aspects of Minoan culture. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">We know a great deal about Cretan sports because they are a common subject of wall paintings and vase sculptures. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">The most popular sport subjects in Minoan painting and sculpture are two sports in particular: boxing and bull-jumping. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Bull-jumping did not involve killing the bull, rather it was a test of both courage and agility. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">A bull would run at a jumper or line of jumpers; when it was close enough, the jumper would grab the bull's horns and either vault onto the bull's back or vault over the bull in a somersault and land on his or her feet on the other side of the bull. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">The difficulty of this vaulting is eloquently demonstrated in a Minoan vase: when you grab hold of a charging bull's horns, it jerks its head up violently—that's how it attacks with its horns. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">So the vaulter must get his or her momentum from this incredibly violent head jerk and use it to gracefully mount or vault the bull (we're not sure which). <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">The Minoan depictions of this event show a remarkably graceful and gymnastic sport that seems less about bravery and strength and more about grace and fluidity. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Since the bull provides most of the momentum in the vault, it seems likely that the activity has more in common with gymnastics than bull-fighting. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">In keeping with the singular gender equality of Minoan culture, both young men and young women participated in the sport, although the young women dressed in male clothes. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">The Minoans were a sport-centered society; while all sports ultimately derive from religious rituals, by the time the Cretans were enjoying their palace civilization, sport seemed to have passed over into a recreational activity. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">This is a new pheneomenon in the ancient world: sport for sport's sake, and parallels a number of other aspects of Minoan culture. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">We know a great deal about Cretan sports because they are a common subject of wall paintings and vase sculptures. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">The most popular sport subjects in Minoan painting and sculpture are two sports in particular: boxing and bull-jumping. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Bull-jumping did not involve killing the bull, rather it was a test of both courage and agility. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">A bull would run at a jumper or line of jumpers; when it was close enough, the jumper would grab the bull's horns and either vault onto the bull's back or vault over the bull in a somersault and land on his or her feet on the other side of the bull. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">The difficulty of this vaulting is eloquently demonstrated in a Minoan vase: when you grab hold of a charging bull's horns, it jerks its head up violently—that's how it attacks with its horns. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">So the vaulter must get his or her momentum from this incredibly violent head jerk and use it to gracefully mount or vault the bull (we're not sure which). <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">The Minoan depictions of this event show a remarkably graceful and gymnastic sport that seems less about bravery and strength and more about grace and fluidity. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Since the bull provides most of the momentum in the vault, it seems likely that the activity has more in common with gymnastics than bull-fighting. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">In keeping with the singular gender equality of Minoan culture, both young men and young women participated in the sport, although the young women dressed in male clothes. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Did not use their art in most cases to promote religion and/or government
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Created most their art for its beauty alone and nothing more
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Used most often naturalistic scenes such as dolphins and trees, or trivial things such as the mundane details of everyday life or a cat hunting a heath cock.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Starting around 1700bc covered the walls and floors of their palaces, temples, and homes with wall-sized and floor-sized frescoes
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-ansi-language: EN;">In Minoan art, women vastly outnumber men (see archaeologists Goodison and Morris, 1998, p. 115).
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Women are shown seated on thrones, and in commanding positions. Women are often saluted by people and/or animals.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Whereas depictions exist of men showing deference to women, not one shows women deferring to men. Unlike their contemporaries, who possessed obvious “strong-man” male rulers, the Minoans show almost no trace of male rule at all.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The great collection of Minoan art is in the museum at Heraklion, near Knossos on the north shore of Crete. <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-ansi-language: EN;">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Since wood and textiles have vanished, the most important surviving Minoan art are Minoan pottery, the palace architecture with its frescos that include landscapes, stone carvings, and intricately carved seal stones.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Minoan art is related with the exquisiteness of nature, such as trees, dolphins, water (Hooker, 1996).
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">The true meaning of the artwork has never been fully understood (Hooker, 1996).
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">The Minoan civilization used Linear A as their form of language (Hooker, 1996).
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> To this day it has never been deciphered (Hooker, 1996).
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">The artwork of the Minoans are found on wall paintings known as frescoes and vase sculptures where the most popular sport subject is boxing and bull jumping (Chadwick, 2009).
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Minoan women outnumber men on Minoan art (Chadwick, 2009).
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Women are shown seated on thrones in commanding positions (Chadwick, 2009).
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Men are depicted as honouring women (Chadwick, 2009).

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Chadwick, John. "Minoan Civilization." //Encyclopedia Americana//. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: FR-CA;">2009. Grolier Online. 18 Apr. 2009 <http://ea.grolier.com/cgi-bin/article?assetid=0272080-00>. <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-ansi-language: FR-CA;">Hooker, Richard. <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Ancient Greek Civilizations. 1996. 14 April 2009 <http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/aegean/pre-greece/minoan/minoan.html>. <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Hooker, Richard. Bull jumping. 1996. 15 April 2009 <http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/MINOA/BULLJUMP.HTM>. <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">Hooker, Richard. The Land. 1996. 14 April 2009 < [] >. __<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">Minoan Civilization __<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">. Phantis. 14 April 2009 < [] >. <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">The Minoans of Crete. <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"> 14 April 2009 < [] >.



Stephan, Andree. __Wikipedia.__ 10 May 2009 [].

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