UNIT IV: AEGEAN ART



UNIT 3 AEGEAN ART

Part 2: Mycenaean Art

I. INTRODUCTION

A. Mycenae is a citadel (fortified city) located in the mountains of Greece

B. Location

C. Views of Mycenae

II. Homer’s Iliad

A. The basis for searching for Mycenae

B. Story of the Trojan War

1. Troy was a wealthy city in Asia Minor that was inhabited by settlers from Greece and known for its massive walls

2. Troy’s king was Priam and its princes were his sons Hector and Paris.

3. Judgment of Paris

a. At the wedding of Peleus and Thetis (parents of Achilles) the goddess of discord, Eris, angry at not being invited to the wedding, threw a golden apple (the apple of discord) in the middle of the party. The apple had an inscription: “to the fairest”

b. Three goddesses claimed the apple

i. Hera: wife of Zeus and goddess of marriage

ii. Athena: daughter of Zeus and goddess of wisdom and warfare

iii. Aphrodite: goddess of love and beauty

c. They asked Zeus to judge who was fairest. He passed on the deal and proclaimed Paris to be the judge (he was known for making fair decisions.

d. Each goddess attempted to bribe Paris to be judged the fairest

i. Hera offered Paris the position of both king of Europe and Asia

ii. Athena offered Paris wisdom and to make him a great warrior

iii. Aphrodite offered him the love of the world’s most beautiful woman – Helen of Sparta, wife of King Menelaus

e. If you were Paris, who would you judge to be the fairest?

f. Paris was overcome by the charms and bribe of Aphrodite and awarded her the golden apple. As a result, he was able to bring Helen of Sparta with him back to Troy. He took her with him after he and his brother were guests of King Menelaus.

4. The Achaeans (ancient name for the mainland Greeks) united to avenge this disgraceful act by Paris. They viewed Helen as their most beautiful woman and vowed to return her. This is the origin of the phrase “the face that launched 1000 ships.”

5. The commander in chief of the Achaean force was the brother of Menelaus, AGAMEMNON, king of Mycenae, a city “rich in gold”

a. Ships could not sail (winds didn’t blow and plague)

b. Agamemnon had disrespected Artemis, goddess of the hunt, by killing her sacred stag and claiming to be her equal in hunting

c. Agamemnon had to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia in order to appease Artemis to lift her curse on the ships --- Agamemnon’s wife Clytemnestra never forgave him.

6. Trojan War – a ten year war, most of the action described by Homer takes place during the last year

a. Heroic figures

i. Achilles “swift runner,” the greatest warrior of the Greeks, became angry at Agamemnon for taking his prized and beautiful slave girl Briseis. Achilles and his Myrmidons refused to fight for Agamemnon.

ii. Ajax – actually two different Ajaxes, big Ajax and small Ajax, both great warriors, big Ajax was the second greatest warrior after Achilles and was envious

iii. Odysseus – Brilliant general known for his strategies

iv. Prince Hector – a valiant Trojan warrior who helped turned the tide of the war in favor of the Trojans.

b. The Gods chose sides. Hera and Athena favored the Achaeans. Aphrodite and Apollo favored the Trojans. Zeus wanted to stay out of it and ordered the gods to do the same eventually. They did influence key events though.

c. The Achaeans realized that without Achilles, they would lose and have to return home unsuccessful. Agamemnon offered Achilles prized horses, one of his daughters as a wife, and another kingdom; Achilles was still so angry that he refused the deal.

d. A different event inspired Achilles to rejoin the fighting. Patroclus, his best friend, donned Achilles armor pretending to be Achilles and led the Myrmidons back into battle killing several significant Trojan warriors. This was against Achilles orders. Patroclus was then killed by Prince Hector.

e. Achilles avenged Patroclus by killing Hector and then tying him to his chariot, and desecrating his body by dragging it around the walls of Troy. In Greek culture, this was a terrible punishment because it meant you would enter Hades as deformed; Greeks were supposed to enter the afterlife after being cremated on a funeral pyre.

f. Prior to rejoining the battle, Achilles mother Thetis gave him an admonition and prophecy:

i. Return back to Greece and live a long life with a kingdom and children but eventually being forgotten

ii. Fighting gloriously but never returning to Greece (dying on the battlefield) and being remembered forever as the greatest warrior who ever lived.

iii. Achilles chose to fight and was killed by an arrow to the heel shot by Paris, who had been helped by Apollo, the god associated with archery.

g. End of the Trojan War

i. Odysseus came up with a brilliant scheme to final get past the walls of Troy

1. Leave a large wooden horse as an offering to the Trojans

2. The Achaean boats should completely pull away from the beaches to a different part of the coast making the Trojans think they’ve one

3. The Trojans take the horse, which contains a small number of elite Achaean soldiers, into the walls of the city.

4. In the middle of the night, the Achaean team opens the gates and allows the rest of the Achaean army, who returned back at night, to enter the city.

ii. Warnings

1. The prophetess Cassandra, daughter of King Priam, warned the Trojans not to accept the Trojan horse. The Trojans considered her insane and didn’t believe her.

2. Laocoon – a Trojan priest attempted to warn the Trojans not to accept the gift. A pair of sea snakes sent by Athena and Poseidon came out of the water and killed Laocoon and his sons. The Trojans thought he was a false prophet, was punished by the gods, and didn’t believe him either.

iii. Odysseus’ plan worked and the Achaeans destroyed Troy leaving only a few survivors. Many of the Trojan women were taken as slaves and wives back to mainland Greece.

h. When Agamemnon, the winning commander and chief returned home to his kingdom of Mycenae, he brought as his prize Cassandra. His wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus later assassinated him with an axe and claimed to be the queen and king of Mycenae

i. Eight years later, Agamemnon’s son and daughter, Orestes and Electra, avenged their father’s death.

7. Was it all just a myth?

III. Heinrich Schliemann and the discoveries of Troy and Mycenae

A. Biography

1. Born in Germany, independent by his teenage years

2. Apprenticed to a merchant, through whom Schleimann gained great knowledge about business and traveled throughout Europe and across the North Sea. Schliemann eventually learned many languages (7 languages in 2 years) through his experiences as a young businessman.

3. With his accumulating wealth, he left for California in 1850 and struck gold during the California Gold Rush making more money and learning 9 more languages.

4. His favorite language was ancient Greek. He loved the Iliad and Odyssey and memorized both

5. His wife shared his passion for Homer. They named their son Agamemnon and their daughter Andromache (after the wife of Prince Hector of Troy).

6. With his substantial wealth, Schliemann devoted the rest of his life to his real passion --- archaeology. He was determined to discover Troy and Mycenae.

7. Schliemann defied the odds and his critics

a. Discovered treasures at Troy – 8,700 golden objects

b. Discovered treasures at Mycenae

B. Mycenae – Treasures and Wonders

1. Mycenae flourished from 1600 – 1200 BCE, after the eruption of Thera, an island in the Cyclades

a. Mycenae was a citadel, a walled city, situated in the mountains and had massive fortifications

b. How does this compare to the Minoan palaces?

2. Lion’s Gate

a. Famous, main entrance to Mycenae

b. Two 9’ lions positioned in the RELIEVING TRIANGLE guard the entrance (they may have had bronze heads which are now missing)

c. Huge stones that weigh 20 tons

d. Greeks thought that no human could have lifted the stones attributed the building of Mycenae’s walls to the Cyclops. To this day, art historians refer to the walls of Mycenae as CYCLOPEAN MASONRY.

e. The entrance is supported by POST AND LINTEL CONSTRUCTION

f. The relieving triangle was created through a technique developed by Mycenaean civilization called the CORBELLED ARCH.

3. THOLOI (tombs)

a. A THOLOS is a Mycenaean tomb that has a bee-hive dome shape

b. Under ground, the tomb is supported through corbelled stones and buried underground. The earth on top of the tomb reinforces its support

c. Mycenaean royal families and nobles were buried in tholoi

d. Larger than it looks – 43’ high

4. Megaron – royal audience hall

a. Probably covered with frescoes

b. Entered through a porch supported by two columns, passed the antechamber to the throne room which had a huge hearth surrounded by columns

5. Mycenaean painting – most famous surviving fresco is “Goddess”

a. Also on pottery – Famous Warrior Vase

b. Painted sculpture – Female head from Mycenae (painted plaster)

i. May be the head of a goddess or a sphinx

ii. Paint marks on her face may be tattoos

iii. Intense gaze would be appropriate for a guardian figure similar to small terracotta images of goddesses found in Mycenaean shrines

iv. Rare example of monumental sculpture from this period

6. Golden treasures

Homer’s Iliad describes Mycenae as “rich in gold.” Schliemann’s finds supported this.

a. Crown and Signet rings

b. Golden jewelry

c. Gold-handled sword

d. Inlaid dagger blade showing a lion hunt

e. Golden burial masks

i. An ecstatic Heinrich Schliemann upon discovering this mask telegraphed the following message to the King of Greece: “I have gazed on the face of Agamemnon!”

ii. Masks are sculpted repousse

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