Minoan Everyday Life Essay

It is easy to say, and prove, that Greek material culture reveals an immense amount about ancient Greek society. From vast studies and examinations of the great ancient Greek architecture, the immaculate fine art and literature and even the personal possessions and crafts of the societies own inhabitants, one can reason that these materials reflect much about ancient Greece and its people.

When people wonder about Ancient Greece the first thing that comes to their minds is Greek mythology; gods and goddesses that have helped shape many historical events. “In ancient Greece, stories about gods and goddesses and heroes and monsters were an important part of everyday life.” (“Greek Mythology.”) The civilization showed that numerous characters and stories helped shape Greeks. The beliefs the Greeks had with mythologies was they understood the meaning behind all the characters that are known today. However, to the Greeks, they were not just characters, these were their gods and goddesses who gave them meaning and understanding of the world around them. Worshiping the gods and goddesses helped them with their religious rituals and the temperament of the weather. A famous wine-jar that was made during this time period was “Achilles killing the Amazon Queen Penthesilea, 540-530 BCE, black-figured amphora”. (Khan Academy) The civilization that they lived in grew around their worship and achievements.

Have you ever thought about how another culture like the Greek culture lived? There’s many cultures out there and the Greek culture seems to be a really interesting culture due to their Ancient times and they still do some of the things now that they used to do back then. Theres many cultures but i’ve always have been thinking about how they do things. I did research on their foods, clothing, and also how they live. I’ll start off with how they eat their food.

Ancient Greece peoples were, for the most part, farmers, their diet it was mostly grains, or to use the Greek word, sistos. The fertile soil from the hillsides of the mountainous lands, surrounded by water, provided the perfect habitat for olive, fig, and grape trees to grow naturally. In the Island of Siphnos and the Mountains of Thrace, gold and silver were found. Additionally, silver could be found in Laurionin Attica. The mainland and Aegean Islands was the home to the abundance of iron ore. Lavish Greek forest located in the Highlands were regrettably depleted of wood resources quite rapidly. Devastated first by home and wagon production followed by goat and charcoal production. Wood, the most significant resource, soon had to be imported to keep up with the demand for the of building of ships (Roman).

Archaic Greece is responsible for so many different ways like agriculture, philosophy, mathematics, engineering, politics, art and architecture, and the sciences like Astronomy, Physics, and Medicine. Politics were influenced by the Greeks, democracy and republics were all early forms of Greek city-state politics and in the end applied by Rome, Europe, America and all over the world. With agriculture, certain foods were first made and created in

The Minoans were recognized for their symbolism relating nature and their culture. This was evident during the Prehistoric Aegean, where Minoan art was immense with motifs of nature present in their art. Some examples range from the snake goddess, the bull, the horns of consecration, and other animal associations of the like. The rhyta present in Minoan art were used in religious rituals consisting of liquid offerings being poured and were widely prominent with the elite and at the palace at Knossos. The “Terracotta vase in the form of a bull's head”, demonstrates the importance of the bull in relation to their culture and religious rituals that took place during the Late Minoan II period on Crete.

The Greeks created first democracy in the world. People voted for their leaders, and were involved in public life. Greeks philosopher provided the origin of western philosophy, medicine, and natural sciences. Greek architecture is evident in every court in the U.S. Greeks invented drama. Drama is the form of tragedy and comedy. Minoan culture around (2000 B.C.E. - 1400 B.C.E.) was earliest civilization in the Aegean region emerged on the large island of Crete. By 2800 B.C.E., to make weapons they used metals, especially bronze. Minoan had many trade networks. The peasant paid high taxes. Mycenaean culture around (1600 B.C.E- 1100 B.C.E.) was highly militaristic society. The king collected taxes and controlled bronze and wooden production. The

Two countries, located side by side in the Mediterranean sea. They share a similar climate, the Mediterranean sun, and many of the same landscapes. With overlapping histories, they both have a shared but unique heritage, which is reflected in their cuisine.

One day the Minotaur was out walking around the labyrinth. When he came across a room in a very far off passage that hasn’t been used. When the Minotaur went and checked it out he had found nothing but evidence that something was living in the room. So the minotaur decided he would come and check on the room every day to find out what was living in there. Each day he would come at a different time to try to catch it.

The Minoans were a civilization who flourished from 3000 BCE until 1100 BCE on the island of Crete, were greatly influenced by the Phoenicians, Egyptians, Syrians and the Anatolians (Britannica Encyclopedia). This civilization made major contributions to Western European development in the areas of language, architecture and art. It was the famous archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans who made the astounding discoveries at Knossos in the early 1900’s that introduced to the world the fascinating and wonderful sophistication of these early Greeks (Britannica Encyclopedia). The history of the island has been molded by its proximity to the Aegean Sea. Its geographical location gave it control over the sea and the lucrative trade routes. The Minoans traded with Egypt, the Levant, the Aegean, and beyond to Italy, and Sicily.

Mycenaean- emerged in Greece, rocky and arid climate, with small plains lying between ranges of hills meant it was only able to grow grains, grapevines and olive trees, transport came through the sea, most supplies had to be imported, as result the rise and fall of the society was closely tied to commercial and political situations with other regions, Greek culture is a blend of indigenous people and Indo-European language speakers, was a static nation living in the stone age till 1600 B.C.E., adopted Minoan ideas of palaces, centralized economy, administrative bureaucracy, writing, architecture, pottery and vase painting, it is believed piracy funded the nation, fortified palaces were built on hills surrounded by walls, graves were beehive shaped, great sailing abilities, evidence suggests that Minoans pioneered sea routes, then Mycenaean people used the same routes and eventually replaced them completely with trade

First, the Greeks had to base their diet on what was available to them. Roughly only 20 percent of their land was fertile enough to grow food (Cartwright). Therefore, they were resourceful, and frugal. Their diet was

Garments were typically made of materials extending from coarse to fine surface. Men as a rule wore a short skirt called a kilt. Ladies wore a straight fitting dress held up by straps. The well off men wore creased kilts, and the more established men wore a more drawn out kilt. While doing diligent work, men wore a loin fabric, and

Ever wondered what it would be like to leap through life, twirl right through, as if the world has completely stopped around you? To be able to pause everything in a silence that allows you to hear your own heartbeat? The silence on stage as you perform is a sense of peace within your inner body that is being channeled through a movement of effortless motion. In European history, dance was considered to be a way of celebration for many cultures. Although it was said that dance did require physical agility, dancers were never considered athletes because the movement was not taken seriously. Dance did not become popular in a more skillful way until later on. The debate of dance as a sport is very

In Ancient Rome men generally dressed in two garments, the tunic and the toga. The tunic consists of a short woolen undergarment with short sleeves. In contrast, to wear a long tunic with long sleeves was considered feminine and avoided by the society as a whole. The tunic worn by wealthy men was made from white wool or expensive linen, while the poor would wear any fabric they could get. Like the tunic, the toga was worn to signify one’s title. Women would wear a belt around the waist to hold the waist of the garment snug. A woman’s wardrobe was much like a man but with a long tunica. The more common tunic worn by women was similar to the Greek chiton. Married women were required