The following paper was written for what was quite possibly one of the most demanding courses I've ever been in. By the time I discovered I'd need this class, we were halfway through the quarter. It was an honors class, and since I'd not bothered to join the honors program, I should have been unable to take it, in spite of having a GPA that would ordinarily allow me to do so.

However, the professor was a friend of mine, so she allowed me to take the class (Anthropology 4: Prehistory) as independent study. I did this insane thing, in the middle of the quarter, because that way I'd have all the requirements for graduation with my A.A. in Social Sciences finished by the end of the quarter. Glarg! I made it too, she said weakly from the floor... :-)

I ended up doing the equivalent of six weeks of class-work and a midterm in one week, another six weeks of class-work followed by another midterm in the next week, and then a final term project -- squashed into a week and a half. Thank heavens both midterms were take-home. Needless to say, Mr. Cranky spent a lot of time at my house. :-)

In some ways, I was a bit unlucky in how the final project came down for me. Initially it was supposed to be done in teams, with about two months' preparation. Also, it was to be given orally, and the professor just wanted an outline of what was spoken. Unfortunately, there was no team for me, I only had two weeks to prepare, and there was no class time available for me to give it orally. Swearing internally, I took my outline back and put in some real scholarship. :-)

In other ways I was quite lucky in my professor's choice of final projects. She decided each of us, for our final projects, should:

[T]ake on the role of a member of that culture [the one chosen for the final project]. This will become [your] home culture, about which you each have an 'emic' [e.g. 'native-born'] understanding....

You ... now come to ... classical Athens (550 - 350 B.C.E.). Using the participant-observation of the anthropologist who is gaining an 'etic' [e.g. 'non-native'] viewpoint, you each meet with an Athenian historian....

By working with primary and secondary documents, essential parts of the historian's methodology, you develop an historical analysis which gives a cross-cultural comparison of [these two cultures] as [they have] developed in the two different cultures. (Remember, you will need to document your sources.)

...As your conclusion, and the basic point behind this whole project, analyze WHY this 'area of knowledge' has developed the way it has in each of the two cultures. In other words, why do the similarities and differences which you note exist? What has caused them?

(This will be the most difficult part of the entire assignment, but remember: you are now the cross-cultural expert.) [square bracketed commentary mine].

I chose to examine closely the "Minoan" culture of Crete. This gave me a few immediate problems.

Minoan writing is called by scholars "linear A," and it has yet to be successfully translated. There is a gentleman who claimed to have 'broken the code' in 1991, but I've yet to see anything on it (BTW, if anyone knows whether linear A has indeed been translated, please let me know!).

Therefore there really weren't any "primary" (written by members of that society) documents I could use. However, the professor let me take factual accounts of what has been discovered archaeologically, and use those as primary documents.

Also, there just aren't many scholars that have written extensively on Crete. Thus my "secondary" source books were limited in number; they either consisted of either part of a chapter or only a few lines of information, or included wild speculations written by authors whose credentials and objectivity I seriously doubted.

On the other hand, I found these two problems were also, in a sense, strengths for me. I could pretty much speculate freely on the causes of the cultural divergence between classical Athens and Minoan Crete, because I could read practically everything there was on Crete. Also, no one could say my speculations were wrong, because no one really knew what the Minoans themselves wrote and believed.

So here it is. It was written from the point of view of a Minoan initiate to the clergy, and she's obviously not completely objective. In places she is, dare I say it, almost preachy. I present this mostly because it might be mildly inspiring as source information to someone running a game or trying to think of a PC with a slightly different point of view. If you find this useful or interesting, drop me a line and let me know -- I'll be immensely gratified!

Required caveat: This paper has been written to as closely as possible match the requirement of being a spoken history by a member of Minoan society, who can also apparently travel selectively through time.

There are statements and beliefs in this paper that do not necessarily exactly match those of the paper's author, although she admits to considerable empathy. Mileage may vary.

I'm a novitiate in training for the Lady of the Serpents, but please don't worry -- I'm quite comfortable with your culture's mode of dress.

I'm here to give you a quick overview of my informal discussions with a very pleasant Athenian priest on how a culture's art, social organizations and general world view can be affected by its religion. We came to some interesting conclusions as we compared our respective cultures, and I'd like to briefly review them for you.

The most obvious difference between Minoan and Athenian culture can be seen in our respective art styles. Let us first examine the Minoan style of art.

Minoan Art

Everyone loves our art. Scholars say it is distinguished by a free, humanistic spirit the more remarkable in view of its antecedents -- somehow the Minoans escaped from the prevailing bondage to 'miracle, mystery, and authority' (Muller 77). Other scholars refer to it as "purely delightful (Hawkes 114)" "lively and joyful (Eisler 30)" unique in our "delight in beauty, grace, and movement" and our "enjoyment of life and closeness to nature (Platon 161)" as depicted by our artistic traditions.

Normally rather dour scholars have described our art as "the most inspired in the ancient world (Sir Leonard Woolley, as quoted by Hawkes 73)." From all over the world you can hear statements like "the enchantment of a fairy world" and "the most complete acceptance of the grace of life the world has ever known (Hawkes 73-4)."

So what is our artistic tradition like? Our frescoes in the royal palace directly manifest the humanistic quality of Minoan art. They depict the life of nature and civil society, freshly observed and joyously felt. They include scenes of handsome, slim-waisted youths and maidens engaged in bull-leaping, and groups of bare-breasted women holding animated conversation.

Similarly Minoan sculptors never strain for grandeur but confine themselves to small figures, making lovely statuettes in ivory and faience. Their subjects range from goddesses to naked little boys. Ornamental art displays the same fresh, lively fancy; pottery in particular has a variety and grace lacking in the Orient, where it has become a routine industry (Muller 77).

Our pottery shows a cheerful joie du vivre, with even the huge clay pithoi carrying etched-in dots and wavy lines in a variety of natural patterns, while ceramic vases swirl with multicolored, twisting patterns and multiple decorative spires. "Minoan artists were ... never so bound by convention as were Oriental artists, and they seem to have known much more joy in creating (Muller 77)."

Frescoes and painted murals are common in our buildings, from life size to miniature. In the frescoes, scenes from either nature or everyday life are most frequently shown. One of the most well-known frescoes is the famous bull- leaping scene at the great palace of Knossos.

It is beautiful. The border simulates variegated, multicolored stone (Hawkes 134-5). The bull dancers are graceful and athletic, with two women and a man shown. They take turns, working in teams, grasping the horns of the charging bull and vaulting over its back.

There are other famous paintings in the palace. One depicts a long haired youth, unarmed, naked to the waist, crowned with peacock plumes and walking among flowers and butterflies (Eisler 37). Elsewhere we can find a dramatic mural of a woman -- the Goddess manifest in her high priestess, the Cretan queen -- who stands at the center while two approaching processions of men bear tribute to her.

Everywhere one finds female figures, many of them with their arms raised in a gesture of blessing, some of them holding serpents or double axes as symbols of the Goddess (Eisler 31).

In fact, women are the most frequent and central subjects of our fresco and mural art, and the most frequently portrayed in the arts and crafts. Usually they are depicted in the public sphere (Rohrlich-Leavitt 46, 49).

Also, there are many frescoes with simple pastoral themes: multi-colored partridges amongst roses, griffins in fields of lilies, multicolored waves filled with sporting dolphins. Marine and land plants, religious ceremonies, the cheerful life of the court and the people -- all serve as subjects for the brilliant frescoes.

Furthermore, nowhere will you find the name of an author attached to a work of art -- we believe we should glorify the Lady with our works, not ourselves -- nor will you find our art used to record the deeds of a ruler (Eisler 36). There are no statues or reliefs of those who sit our thrones. Instead, the worship of nature pervades (Platon).

Careful examination will also show you there are few depictions of hunting, with 'heroes' and nobles painted larger-than-life. The frescoes don't show constant scenes of kings trampling their enemies underfoot in perennial warfare. Instead of depicting the awful 'majesty' of gods and god-kings, or commemorating royal triumphs, royalty and gods are the same size as everyone else in the paintings.

Our art is not dominated by oppressive religious themes or royal god-kings. Unlike the Egyptians, the Athenians, or other 'statist' societies, we have no need to build great temples or tombs, no colossal statues of gods or kings -- none of the monumental forms that are so impressive, and finally oppressive (Muller 77). Our only great building is the palace, and this is not designed primarily to awe.

Some scholars have described Minoan life as "perfectly expressive of the idea of homo ludens" -- of "man" expressing our higher human impulses through joyful and, at the same time, mythically meaningful ritual and artistic play. Others have tried to sum up Cretan culture with words and phrases like "sensitivity," "grace of life," and "love of beauty and nature (Hawkes 45; Platon 148, 161)."

We are a rich, technologically and culturally advanced civilization in which all the artistic media -- in fact, life in its totality as well as death -- are deeply entrenched in an all-pervasive, ubiquitous religion (Buchholtz & Karageorghis as quoted by Eisler 36). In marked contrast to other contemporary, 'high' civilizations, this religion -- centering on the worship of the Goddess -- both reflects and reinforces a social order in which the fear of death is almost obliterated by the ubiquitous joy of living (Hawkes 73).

Ours is a society in which the whole of life is pervaded by an ardent faith in the goddess and her Nature, the source of all creation and harmony (Platon 148). In Crete a spirit of harmony between women and men as joyful and equal participants in life pervades (Eisler 31).

Athenian Art

Athenian sculpture tends towards "statist" art: it is dominated by oppressive religious or royal themes; it tends to glorify heroes, gods, and/or kings; the themes depicted are usually warfare, combat, or hunting; it follows stylized forms (e.g. the "hero" is larger than others).

It is meant to make the common man feel both small, and yet also a part of something larger and more majestic; to justify the actions of those in power; and to prove the importance of the rulers of the land. It decorates great temples, tombs, and/or colossal statues of gods or kings -- all of the monumental forms that are (still) so impressive, and finally oppressive (Muller 76).

Pausanias describes some Athenian paintings in his Description of Greece. He mentions a temple to Aphrodite, in Athens, as being painted on the inside: "Of these screens the part opposite the doors is only covered with dark-blue paint; the other parts show pictures by Panaenus."

He describes the paintings' subject matter -- it shows exclusively 'heroes,' gods, and women who have been conquered by men (such as Achilles killing Penthisilea and Ajax raping Cassandra). Pausanias comments on Panaenus:

...a brother of Pheidias; he also painted the picture of the battle of Marathon in the painted portico at Athens.

On the uppermost parts of the throne Pheidias [sic] has made, above the head of the image, three Graces on one side and three Seasons on the other. These in epic poetry are included among the daughters of Zeus. ... The footstool of Zeus, called by the Athenians thranion, has golden lions and, in relief, the fight of Theseus against the Amazons, the first brave deed of the Athenians against foreigners.

There is no comment by Pausanias, of course, that Zeus raped the mothers of the Graces and Seasons. Nor does he comment that the Amazons came for their queen, who had received Theseus with honor and blessings, and was given in return theft, lies, murder, and abduction.

No, that shameful episode is referred to as "the first brave deed of the Athenians against foreigners." Thus here we have preserved for all to see, in a temple dedicated to a goddess of love (of all places), extensive treatments of warfare, hunting, the abuse of women, and the glorification of the people who do these things.

Pausanias writes later, extensively, on one painting in particular. It is in a building he refers to as the "Club Room," near a temple, where the men get together to drink and talk about life. They do so... in a room decorated with scenes from Hades and the sack of Troy. How depressing.

Athenian vase painting is also stylized, to the degree that it comes in two recognizable forms. There is the original black background vase painting, created due to the dyes used. Following that came an innovation: "red-figure" painting.

Vase painting I find noteworthy mostly because approximately 70% of the artwork concerns sex of one form or another -- with men always dominant. A large percentage of the rest of the subject matter concerns what I have referred to as "statist" art: scenes glorifying warfare and hunting (Perseus Encyclopedia: Amphorae).

To put it bluntly, Athenian art serves the city-state. However, to be fair I should point out, while it is a product that glorifies the state, it is nowhere as absolute in character and stylization as Egyptian art. There is still some freedom, some freshness in Athenian artwork -- it is not completely circumscribed by ritual.

Two examples should suffice to describe this. Firstly, in sculpture, weight is often depicted off-center, giving the statue a more naturalistic look. Secondly, Pausanias mentions a painting in Athens:

As you go to the portico which they call painted, because of its pictures.... This portico contains, first, the Athenians arrayed against the Lacedaemonians at Oenoe in the Argive territory. What is depicted is not the crisis of the battle nor when the action had advanced as far as the display of deeds of valor, but the beginning of the fight when the combatants were about to close.

As can be seen by the above quote, the painter chose not to portray the usual timing of such paintings, but rather one of his choosing. Thus we can see that while it was considered slightly odd, a slavish adherence to exact artistic standards was not required of the classical Athenian painters.

Minoan Women

Let's take a look at how Minoans treat women. Women and men share equally in the benefits of the society, and in comfort and status. Our social organization began with the matrilineal genos, or clan, and succession passes through the female line (Platon 177) -- as is only logical, since it is women who give birth.

Naturally, Crete is our motherland, not our "father" land. Indeed, 1500 years after the passing of our civilization, Cretans will still refer to her as such (Plutarch, as quoted by Muller 80).

However, it would be misleading to describe Crete as a matriarchy -- we are more a partnership of genders; we strive to appreciate everyone's abilities, rather than having one gender oppress the other.

You can see this by our lovely and comfortable clothing: women wear long dresses with flounced skirts, tight waists fitted to the figure, puffed sleeves, dainty shoes, complicated coiffures of curled ringlets, and golden jewelry. Men wear graceful and practical clothing that accentuates their forms -- and very nice forms they are.

In front of their ears, both men and women wear long ringlets separated from the rest of their hair, long side locks that sometime reach down to the waist. Athletes are quite distinctive: they are tall and lithe, with slender, flat bodies, very broad shoulders, long arms, tiny waists (certainly about 20" or less), and muscular thighs. They tend to wear snug, red-and-green loincloths (Eisler 35; Goodrich 90).

As our clothing shows, we are not ashamed of our bodies -- practicality and freedom of movement is as important as aesthetics. Both genders participate in physical exercise and sports, and why not, if we are enjoying ourselves? You may consider our frequently bare-to-the-waist style of dress odd -- but we often wonder why you cover yourselves up so much.

Don't be ashamed of your bodies! Don't you think that an enthusiasm for sports and dancing, a frank appreciation of the other gender, and a creative love of life might contribute to a more generally peaceful and harmonious spirit in your life? (Eisler 35) Wear clothing that you find comfortable!

Athenian Women

In classical Athens, women's lives are restricted, tied closely to the home and family, with little contact with the outside world -- and certainly no participation in Athens' much vaunted democracy. Respectable Athenian women almost never leave their homes, except to be a veiled audience to the male-run religious ceremonies.

Marriages are arranged by the girl's father and the prospective bridegroom, who is usually at least a decade or two older. A woman's path to honor is seen solely in her ability to bear children -- preferably sons.

For most of their lives women live in the back of the houses with the children, and their husbands live in the front. Frequently there is little to no communication between the spouses (Amos & Lang 146-7).

Indeed, women are classed with children as a category of person that must be cared for, rather than as self-reliant adults. When writing of the raising of children, Aristotle states,

The officials must therefore be careful that there may be no sculpture or painting that represents indecent actions, except in the temples of a certain class of gods to whom the law allows even scurrility; but in regard to these the law permits men still of suitable age to worship the gods both on their own behalf and on behalf of the children and women.

Thus we can see the Athenians believed women and children belonged in the same class: that of persons who cannot think critically.

There is, however, one class of women that is worth noting: the hetairai. A hetaira is a "trained and paid companion who accompanied upper-class men to the symposiums (Perseus Encyclopedia: Aspasia)."

This group appears to be the only type of women that are treated as anything approaching equals to men; they are also possibly the only women with self respect and self reliance in the entire city. Aside from them, it appears that the intellectual capabilities of Athenian women are quite firmly stifled.

Aspasia, Pericles' hetaira, was the most famous of hetairai, and a woman whose advice he apparently often took. Sadly, this was later used against him. In Pericles' defense, Plutarch takes pains to point out that Pericles was not influenced by Aspasia, but rather that he simply loved her:

However, the affection which Pericles had for Aspasia seems to have been rather of an amatory sort. ... Twice a day, as they say, on going out and on coming in from the market-place, he would salute her with a loving kiss.

Thus it can be seen women were also considered unfit to give advice.

Minoan Buildings and Palaces

Despite recurring earthquakes, which completely destroyed the old palaces and twice interrupted the development of the new palace centers, our building styles at their most beautiful can be demonstrated by our palaces. These buildings are marvelous -- they're more like big households than imperial monuments.

Good stone and timber framing give the buildings a measure of resilience -- very valuable in an earthquake zone (Eisler 35). Local and imported materials are used in the buildings: gypsum and tufa pilasters and tiles, sturdy walls with well-made and -attached facades, light-wells and courtyards. Buildings are graceful, built with an eye to comfort, and beautifully decorated.

Partitions are decorated with plaster, murals, and sometimes even marble facings. Not only are the walls decorated, but often the ceilings and floors as well are covered with paintings, as we do in our villas, country houses and simple town dwellings (Platon 143). Everywhere frescoes are ablaze with color and shrines attest to our devotion to the goddess.

The great palace at Knossos is amazing. There are long lines of large storerooms with connecting corridors that are used for the orderly safekeeping of food reserves and treasures, and many tablets of records -- alas, I am not literate, so I cannot read them to you.

Hundreds of rooms are laid out in organized "labyrinths" -- storerooms, workrooms, and living rooms, including royal apartments, but structured so as to not isolate the royal family. There are also many other apartments covering several stories, at different heights, arranged around central courtyards and including special rooms for religious worship.

Courtiers and domestic staff have their own quarters in the palace or occupy attractive houses nearby. It's airy, bright, commodious, exuberant with color, open to the sky, with access to the surrounding countryside via wide terraces. Minoan architects are concerned chiefly with "livableness," not size or splendor.

Gardens are an essential feature of Minoan architecture (Eisler 34) -- the spacious inner gardens and courts allow for light and fresh air in the multiple-storied buildings. There is also a system to circulate water, so that flush toilets and bathtubs make life more comfortable.

We take pains with ventilation, sanitation, and especially drainage; our drains are a marvel of technical skill and ingenuity, unequaled in the world until your time-period. King Minos enjoys more comfort and ease than Louis XIV will ever knew at Versailles (Muller 77).

Public rooms are usually on the second floor. The grand stone staircase, the colonnaded verandas, and the splendid reception suite are typical of our culture -- we prefer aesthetic appreciation rather than a monumental emphasis. The throne room has a beautifully simple chair for its central ornament, with benches flanking it on either side. It is believed to be the oldest throne in the world.

Vast halls, with rows of elegant columns, are used for audiences, receptions, banquets, and council meetings (Eisler 34). Cretan palace architecture is a superb blend of life-enhancing and eye-pleasing features, rather than the monuments to authority and power characteristic of Sumer, Egypt, Rome, and other warlike (and male dominated) societies (Eisler 35).

Our rulers seem to have become collectively known as King Minos to the Greeks. The Athenians see (appropriately enough) in our rulers a symbol of justice; upon King Minos' death he carries on in Hades as a judge of the dead.

The Athenians are right in one respect: our rulers are not despotic, but assure us a cooperative law and order, a security so sure that our cities have no need of defensive walls (Muller 79).

Athenian Buildings and Palaces

The Athenians build no palaces. However, Pericles said he wanted Athenians to be "lovers of beauty without extravagance..." With that in mind, let us look at Athens' main buildings and statues.

In the Acropolis alone, there is the Parthenon, the enormous statue of Athena Promachos, another large statue of Athena inside the temple, the Propylaia (with its temple to Athena Nike), and the Erechtheion. Elsewhere there is the temple of Hephaistos, the Odeion, the Theater of Dionysos, the temple of Poseidon, and the hall for the celebration of the Mysteries at Eleusis.

I would hate to see what Pericles considered 'extravagant.'

These temples and sculptures are usually huge and raised up, making the viewer seem small and insignificant as a consequence. The monolithic columns that frame them are usually of one of three standard styles or 'orders.' These orders determine what style the temple will be. The frieze will be of oversized sculpture, usually of a religious theme associated with the temple's deity or some bit of warfare or hero the Athenians wish to glorify.

I could go on, but it becomes tedious -- and I have some specific quotes later in my speech, so I'll continue. Over time, one can see that Athenian sculpture develops an excessive emphasis on technical skill for its own sake -- and artists almost always sign their works.

Minoan Distribution of Wealth

One feature of Cretan society the Athenians seem to find remarkable, and that sharply distinguishes us from other "high" civilizations, is our rather equitable sharing of wealth. Here, centralization of government does not bring with it autocratic rule. Nor does it entail the use of advanced technology only for the benefit of a powerful few or the kind of exploitation and brutalization of the masses that is so striking in several of our neighbors.

In Crete there is an affluent ruling class, but it is not enforced with massive armed might. Furthermore, the standard of living -- even of what you call "peasants" -- is high. This is not to say Crete is richer than, or even as rich as, Egypt or Babylon. But in view of the economic and social gulf between those on top and those on the bottom in other 'high' civilizations, it is important to note that the way we use and distribute our wealth is markedly different (Eisler 32). Indeed, we enjoy more personal liberty than any other civilized people (Muller 79).

We use writing to keep track of things, and there are people whose job it is to keep records in order. Governmental revenues from our island's increasing wealth are judiciously used to improve living conditions, which are (even by your Western standards) extraordinarily "modern."

All urban centers have perfect drainage systems, sanitary installations, and domestic conveniences. Extensive public works -- paid for out of the royal coffers -- are undertaken in Minoan Crete: viaducts, paved roads, look-out posts, roadside shelters, water pipes, fountains, reservoirs, and more.

We even have large-scale irrigation works with canals to carry and distribute water (Platon 15). Our royalty, instead of building huge, repetitious, oppressive monuments to their greater glorification, focuses time, money, and effort on public works -- which is why even our common people live quite comfortably.

Aside from our vast multi-storied palaces, we also have villas, farmsteads, harbor installations, networks of roads crossing the island from end to end, organized places of worship and planned burial grounds (Platon 15).

Knossos itself is connected to the south coast ports by a fine paved highway, the first of its kind in the world. Its streets, like those of other palace centers such as Mallia and Phaistos, are paved and drained, fronted with neat two or three floor houses that are flat-roofed, sometimes with a penthouse for use on hot summer nights (Hawkes 58).

The handsome vases and house furnishings of ordinary merchants in small provincial towns testify that our wealth and culture are widely diffused (Muller 80).

Crete is dotted with bustling towns -- according to Homer there are a hundred of them, swarming with multitudes -- in which small, private merchants thrive and adorn their homes with lovely works of art. Their personal seals can be seen everywhere -- we value both trade and tradespeople.

Technology and crafts are held in great esteem here. The ports are home to a large mercantile fleet that sails the entire Mediterranean, greatly contributing to the economic prosperity of the country.

The inner towns surrounding the palaces are well designed for civilized living (Hawkes 123), with a high degree of refinement and comfort. The houses are adapted to all practical needs of life, and an attractive environment is created around them. Minoans are very close to nature and, as I pointed out before, our architecture is designed to let us enjoy it constantly (Platon 15).

Athenian Distribution of Wealth

The classical Athenians do not take houses very seriously. They think public buildings -- temples, theaters, law-courts, fountains -- are more important than private houses. This seems a bit sad, considering the women spend all their lives in these makeshift houses.

The normal Greek house, in both town and country, is made of sun-baked bricks on a stone foundation and has very flimsy walls. Often it has a partial second story, and is roofed with tiles. There is usually a courtyard, and a number of not very large rooms off it. The courtyard sometimes contains a well, and if the man owning the house is rich there might be a bathroom.

Inside the rooms things are simple. Floors are beaten earth, and windows are high, small and unglazed. Wealthy houses might add a stone floor, sometimes with mosaic decorations, and tapestries on the walls.

This housing can be characterized as small, poorly furnished, and dirty. They are crowded together, separated by streets which are usually just stony alleys, winding, narrow and smelly, with a runnel of filthy water down the middle. Yet in the center of the city the civic buildings are impressive, large, well-built and expensively decorated.

Oddly enough, the irony of this dichotomy seems to have escaped most Greeks. In fact most of their cities, like Athens, just grew up haphazardly around their agora (Amos & Lang 148-9).

Minoan Religion

We worship "Our Lady of the Labyrinth," a lunar goddess (Chadwick 125), rather than a war-like, vengeful father god. Our women take an important part in religious ceremonies, actively participate in public festivals, and engage in sports together with men. Our reverence for our Mother Goddess explains why Minoan women enjoy much more freedom than women do in classical Greece (Platon 181-2).

Our calendar, like our goddess, is lunar. Our artists show the moon priestesses of Crete near the commonly understood symbols of the moon: the spiral, the pearl, the snail which draws in its horns, the frog croaking to announce rain, plants which die down and lie dormant until spring, and the serpent.

This is why you find most of the little statuettes holding a snake in each hand: She is represented not by being there in person, but via the icon. When you see a crescent moon in our art, represented as perhaps four days after new, you know we are thinking of her (Goodrich 94).

Our religion is closely bound up in our recreation, as the taurokatharpsia, or bull-leaping shows (Higgins 21). Most frequently bull dancing occurs in the large central courts of the palaces, and they combine excitement, skill, and religious fervor. They are designed not only for individual pleasure and salvation, but also to invoke the divine power to bring well-being to the entire society (Hawkes 124-5).

This is not the only way we intertwine our religion and entertainment -- music, singing, and dancing add to the pleasures of life. We have frequent public ceremonies, mostly religious, accompanied by processions, banquets, and acrobatic displays performed in theaters built for this purpose, or in wooden arenas (Platon 181-2). Religion for us is a happy affair, and we celebrate it in palace-shrines, in open-air sanctuaries on the tops of mountains, and in sacred caves. (Eisler 32).

Athenian Religion

The Athenians, of course, worship Athena, their special patron. However, even though they especially revere Athena, it is Zeus who is their Father of the Gods -- the leader and head of the family, so to speak.

Athena is Zeus' daughter -- an impossible immaculate birth -- and thus closely emulates her father in some ways. Both are aggressive and war-like. Both believe women are second class citizens. Both patronize the pursuit of knowledge but readily shed the gloss of civilized behavior when it suits them.

Zeus is a patricide, an adulterer, and a rapist: he exemplifies domination and conquest. He is a good example of a hierarchical god -- bullying, demanding, vengeful, and arrogant, with a thin patina of self-righteousness. He is the perfect justification and role model for Athenian men.

His daughter Athena is impossible for Athenian women to emulate (which is a useful thing for the Athenian men), and in fact is shown as basically a toady for the male gender, as well as a 'female' voice to justify the oppression of women.

These may seem rather brutal descriptions, so let us examine this more closely. I will use Aeschylus' Oresteia (a three part cycle of plays) to illustrate my words.

In the first of the plays, Agamemnon, our 'hero,' Agamemnon, tricks Clytemnestra, his wife, into sending him their youngest daughter Iphigenia. Once Iphigenia arrives, Agamemnon cuts her throat on an alter as a sacrifice.

Later, Clytemnestra's advice to respect the defeated Trojan temples and people is deliberately disregarded by Agamemnon, and the city is wildly looted in an orgy of destruction, then burned.

After the Trojan war, Agamemnon comes home with a new sexual favorite: a raped and captured Trojan priestess. Clytemnestra finally has had enough, so she kills Agamemnon.

The second play is The Choephoroe, or Libation Bearers. In retribution for his father's death and on Apollo's advice, Orestes kills his mother, Clytemnestra. She tries unsuccessfully to defend herself, and on her death he reviles and taunts her corpse.

He is pursued by the Furies, the spirits of death and avengers of hell, and flees to Delphi (Apollo's sanctuary) to escape them.

In The Eumenides, Apollo tells Orestes he cannot save Orestes from the Furies' rightful wrath. Thus Orestes must flee to Athens and plead his case before Athena (why Athena is chosen as final arbiter is never explained -- probably it is a salute to the city of Athens as the center of justice for the Greek world).

The Furies accuse Apollo of causing this whole sorry situation, and he huffily banishes them from his temple. The scene shifts to Athens.

Here Orestes is pleading his case before the altar of the goddess Athena. He is not remorseful, and he admits to murdering someone (in this case, his mother) within his clan -- blood kin.

Amusingly enough, he also tries to put some of the blame on Apollo, telling Athena that Apollo made him do it. The Furies correctly point out Orestes murdered blood kin (his mother) while Clytemnestra did not murder blood kin (her husband).

Apollo states Zeus told him to advise Orestes, and then asserts a mother is not the parent to a child, but rather only a nurse -- fathers alone are the blood kin of children. He uses Athena's birth from Zeus (sans mother) to prove his point. Then he and Athena vote that Orestes' matricide was justified, thus out-voting the Furies. Athena speaks:

For I did not have a mother who bore me;
No, all my heart praises the male,
May Orestes win over your tied vote
(Diner 36).

Here Athena shows where her true allegiance lies -- with the new patriarchal social system.

The Furies call upon Mother Night to see the injustice that has been done -- the law of the land has been set aside by the 'modern' gods, and justice itself has been scorned. Terrible retribution must follow.

In order to forestall this fate, Athena asks the Furies (or Erinyes) to abandon their former roles as hideous avengers from hell, and to become the "Eumenides," or the Sweet Old Ones. Metaphorically declawed, the new Eumenides accept Athena's offer, and the play ends.

In this three part play cycle, Agamemnon is depicted as a 'hero,' one who delights in war and conquest. He ignores the advice of his wife, cares nothing he has assassinated his own daughter, and takes a priestess (who was raped in the temple, desecrating the very altar!) as property, as part of his fair share of loot from the conquered city.

His actions are not seen as reprehensible. He is acting correctly for his status and his culture, and he is a representative in the play of all Greek men, Athenian included.

The devalued role of women, as shown by the Oresteia, can be seen in Agamemnon slitting his daughter Iphigenia's throat in order to appease the gods -- and no man there steps forward to prevent such a disgusting act; in Clytemnestra's helpless grief and rage at being tricked and deliberately, repeatedly flouted and ignored, leading to her murdering her daughter's assassin; and in Athena's aligning herself with the dominant, conquering gender and culture -- patriarchy.

It is significant Orestes confesses freely to his mother's murder, and also that he never shows any remorse -- it is his father, not his mother, that is of importance to him, that he finally claims as his sole parent.

I have taken the time to closely describe the Oresteia because I think it accurately captures the essence of the Athenian attitude towards both their religion and their culture. The gods are there to be placated; one comes to them as a supplicant. They are the cultural norms manifest, and they glorify that which both they and the culture most appreciate.

Men are dominant because the gods have made it so; women are second class citizens because that is the correct way of things in the world. All men are equal, due to the democratic vote, but obviously some are more equal than others, and so hierarchies spring up.

Warfare and killing become expressions of obedience to the gods' desires, and makes those conquered somehow less than human. To penetrate (an inherently male act) becomes a symbol of conquering, of establishing dominance -- and thus women are by definition never able to be anything but submissive (Torjesen 182).

Needless to say, in such a culture the need to dominate breeds rampant fear and uncertainty: today's prosperous citizen is tomorrow's war casualty -- or worse, merely a slave.

So what has caused us to be so different from the Athenians? Where did we and they diverge, that we ended up so different? There's no way to know for sure, but after our discussions, my compatriot and I have come to some tentative conclusions.

Conclusions

We Minoans are not without influence in the world. Egyptian records call us the "Keftiu." We are sea traders, and any that follow in our boat wakes will be learning from our experiences and traditions. At Ugarit, in the land of Canaan, they know "Caphtor" as the great center of arts and crafts.

Because of them, the Hebrews, who are deeply indebted to the literature of Canaan, will hear of Crete. Homer mentions the "Iardanos" in Crete in his writings -- there is speculation that the name of the Hebrews' Jordan River probably comes from the Cretan word for river. The Hebrews will be more directly influenced by the Philistines, who will dominate Palestine for a long time, and whom ancient tradition will trace to Crete -- "the remnant of the island of Caphtor," according to Jeremiah.

Athens may seem to be the cradle of your civilization... but remember it was we who influenced them, and even they are conquered in the end by the Spartans.

The Spartans themselves, while conquerors, cannot approach us for high-spirited free-living -- we are much more enterprising than the Spartans ever become; we who with our love of art and sport have yet the energy, skill, and valor to build and maintain a greater empire than Sparta ever wins; and who leave memories of a gracious way of life that other Greeks cherish, whether or not they are directly stimulated by knowledge of it (Muller 80).

When you see our art, remember our more egalitarian way of life, our appreciation of both genders. Yes, we are different from Athens in that respect, and I think it is quite significant. In a society like the Athenians, where there occurs a total domination of women by men, women end up being treated with contempt. As one of your own anthropologists said,

[T]o the extent that either sex is disadvantaged, the whole culture is poorer, and the sex that, superficially, inherits the earth, inherits only a very partial legacy (Mead 272-3).

Or to quote Carl Schurz, one of your philosophers, "...you cannot subvert your neighbor's rights without striking a dangerous blow at your own."

So if anyone tells you your city-state or your nation requires warfare, or the subjugation of some class of people in order to exist -- remember us, and tell them they're wrong.

What we have created can exist again. Our city-states in Crete are legendary for wealth, superb arts and crafts, and flourishing trade. We have developed new technologies and a larger and more complex scale of social organization, including increased specialization, and we have done it in a more complete, less brutal fashion than any other civilization on Earth.

If you feel your cities are in a destructive downward spiral, if your natural resources dwindle and your gods are extinguished one by one with the slow death of your dreams and your spirits, remember us -- and try a new way of living. Try our way.

Aeschylus, The 'Oresteia' Trilogy and 'Prometheus Bound,' trans. Michael Townsend, introduction by Lionel Casson, San Francisco, 1966.

Amos, H. D. and A. G. P. Lang, These Were the Greeks, Dufour Editions, Inc., 1979.

Buchholtz, Hans-Gunther and Vassos Karageorghis, Prehistoric Greece and Cyprus: An Archaeological Handbook, Phaidon, London, 1973.

Chadwick, John, The Decipherment of Linear B, Cambridge, 1958.

Diner, Helen (Berta Ekstein-Diner), Mothers and Amazons: The First Feminine History, trans., ed. John Phillip Lundin, introduction by Joseph Campbell. New York, 1965.

Documents in Mycenaean Greek, ed. Michael Ventris and John Chadwick, Cambridge, 1956.

Eisler, Riane, The Chalice and the Blade: Our History, Our Future, Harper & Row, San Francisco, 1987.

Evans, Sir Arthur, 'The Mycenaean Tree and Pillar Cult,' Journal of Hellenic Studies, vol. XXI (1901) 99-204.

--------. The Palace of Minos at Knossos. 3 vols. London, 1921-30; reprint, New York, 1964.

Goodrich, Norma Lorre, Priestesses, HarperPerennial, NY, 1990.

Hawkes, Jacquetta, The Atlas of Early Man, St. Martin's Press, NY, 1976.

--------. Dawn of the Gods: Minoan and Mycenaean Origins of Greece, Random House, NY, 1968.

Higgins, Reynold, An Archaeology of Minoan Crete, The Bodley Head, London, 1973.

Larousse World Mythology, Pierre Grimal, gen. ed., Prometheus Press, NY, 1965.

Mead, Margaret, Male and Female, NY, 1955.

Muller, Herbert J., Freedom in the Ancient World, Harper & Bros., NY, 1961.

Pausanias, "Description of Greece," The Perseus Project.

"Perseus Encyclopedia," 'The Perseus Project,' The Perseus Project.

Platon, Nicolas, Crete, Nagel Publishers, Geneva, 1966.

Plutarch, "Pericles," 'The Perseus Project,' The Perseus Project.

Rohrlich-Leavitt, Ruby, 'Women in Transition: Crete and Sumer,' Becoming Visible, Renate Bridenthal and Claudia Koonz, eds., Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1977.

Stone, Merlin, When God Was a Woman, Harvest/HBJ, San Diego, 1976.

Thomson, George D., Studies in Ancient Greek Society: The Prehistoric Aegean, New York, 1965.

Torjesen, Karen Jo, When Women Were Priests, HarperSanFrancisco, 1993.

This section describes the notes and black & white xeroxes of artwork I inserted in the paper for illustration of my points. Since they weren't good quality I've searched on-line for better graphics, which you see here.

Figure 1: A panther-shaped ax head from Mallia. Middle Minoan III (c. 1650-1450 B.C.] (Grimal, ed. 101). This is a good example of Minoan attitudes: the designs are fanciful and naturalistic, it was found in a palace/temple rather than at a battle site, and close examination of the ax-head will reveal it is a ceremonial tool rather than a weapon. See Figure 4: Minoan labrys.

Figure 2: "Descent of the Goddess," three priestesses dancing in a field of lilies, that flower being especially sacred to the Moon Goddess Britomartis of Crete (Thomson and [separately] Evans quoted by Goodrich 93).

Figure 3: Clay pithos, or storage jar, Knossos, Crete (Hawkes 126).
& from this site; from this site.

Figure 4: Minoan double bladed axes, or labrys (Amos & Lang 16)

This is not the original picture used, but it illustrates well enough how the double-headed axe looks.

The Minoan merchant fleet was well-armed and quite capable of defending itself, to the extent that it dominated the Mediterranean of the time. However, this does not seem to have led to a need to conquer ever-larger territories, nor a glorification of war, but rather simply increased trade and better technology.
from this site:

Figure 5: A frieze of Alexander, who is a little late for "classical" Athens.

He is nevertheless a good example of "statist" art -- the "hero's" enemies are being trampled underfoot by the horse, and Alexander and the horse are in stylized, "heroic" poses (Hawkes 168).

Again, not the original picture I used, but properly illustrative nonetheless.
from the excellent Perseus Project.

Figure 6: "Dying Warrior," marble, 490 B.C. (Grimal 173). A good example of both the growing Athenian disillusionment with the Peloponnesian war, and non-rigid art styles.
from this site.

Figure 7: Minoan seal, showing goddess with attendants (Grimal, ed. 102).

Figure 8: "Pericles was to make democratic election (if only by free males) a reality in Athens, and by working with men of genius (such as the sculptor Phidias) to make it indeed "an education for Greece."

Yet for all their achievement and their pursuit of the four virtues of courage, temperance, justice and wisdom, they could not hold back from man's terrible urge to warfare.

Pericles wanted Athens to be the center of power as well as culture and so he alarmed Sparta and her allies, ... and then ensued the tragedy of the Peloponnesian war and the final defeat of Athens by 404 (Hawkes 168)."
from this site.

Figure 9: Store-rooms at Knossos (Amos & Lang 14). Note the decorated pithoi.
from this site; from this site.

Figure 10: The throne-room at Knossos, with what is believed to be the oldest throne in Europe. The fresco is a reconstruction (Amos & Lang 14).
from this site:

Figure 11: A view of the Acropolis of Athens. It was initially a fortress, and became the center of religious life of the city-state.

It contains a multitude of large, impressive temples: the Parthenon (dedicated to Athena), the Erechtheum (named for Erechtheus, legendary founder of the city), the Propylaea, and the temple of Athena Nike. The defensive walls still stand (Grimal, ed. 170).
from the Perseus Project;

& from this site (which is unfortunately no longer a live link).

Figure 12: The Phaistos Disc, Crete, has inscriptions stamped on its 6" clay surface (Hawkes 114). Perhaps a 'translation' or 'dictionary' of Linear A?
from this site. (which is unfortunately no longer a live link)

Figure 13: Late Minoan pitcher in the "Palace" style found at Knossos, Crete (Hawkes 114).
from this site

Figure 14: "Still known to the Cretans as The Little Goddess of the Serpents, this [faience statuette] of the Goddess or one of her priestesses was discovered in the Palace of Knossos on Crete (Stone plate 5)."
from this site:

Figure 15: Two gold serpents coil about the arms and extend from the hands of this delicately carved ivory and gold goddess or priestess (Stone plate 6B).
from the slide lectures found at this site.

Figure 16: Achilles fights Hector outside the walls of Troy: on vase paintings the victor was shown on the left (Amos & Lang 33). The stylization of the poses is apparent, and as in most "statist" art, warfare is a favored subject of art.

Figure 17: Phoenician ivory plaque showing a goddess flanked by two goats; Ugarit, Syria (Hawkes 114). Note the resemblance to Minoan clothing styles.

Figure 18: "Dance of Priestesses at a Sacred Tree," as depicted on a gold ring. Although the ring was found at Mycenae, it closely resembles a Minoan religious scene. Note the "lamenter" (?), the dancer, the male acolyte pulling the branches of a fruit laden tree downwards, and the ubiquitous crescent moon. Are they in a plowed field? (Goodrich 89).

Figure 19: "Three priestesses as elaborately gowned as possible, wearing what appear to be wrapped skirts or wide pajamas that fall in tiers and are made of stiff brocaded fabrics like taffeta or heavy, gnarled wools. Again their torsos are bare, as are their feet.

They bear gifts of long-stemmed water plants. ...under a tree heavy with fruit... [I]n her raised left hand the [priestess holds] the instruments of the ritual, and in her right hand two stems of another water lily in bud. Ripe figs on small leafy branches decorate the scene on the left.

The central object is the sacred labrys or double ax of Minoan Crete. This symbol remains unclear in its meaning... [It] may be an aniconic representation of the absent Mother Goddess herself.

The long stem of the sacred lotus reaches far down into the earth and through the water, like an umbilical cord. ... Above them all shine the full-rayed sun of summer and the moon in her last quarter. They are separated from earth and the elegant priestesses by a wavy band of cloud (Goodrich 86-95)."
from the slide lectures found at this site.