Today’s adventures were a nice mix of language, culture, history, art, and religion. Though the morning started off rocky with there only being frigid cold water so I could not (would not) take the shower I so desperately wanted. But after breakfast, we began our next bit of crash course Greek reviewing the introductory phrases we have learned so far and then beginning to understand a Greek menu. I’m finding myself remembering more and more which makes me happy. After modern Greek, We received an overview of Linear A and B, which helped me to finally grasp what each one is and who used what.

Though, I was most interested in the story Cashman told us about a tablet that references Dionysus. I should preface this by stating that Dionysus is my favorite Greek God so I always latch on to something when he is mentioned. This fragmentary tablet, however, states that an amphora of honey (?) was dedicated to Zeus and two amphorae for Dionysus. One reason this is interesting is that scholars believed the Greek tradition that Dionysus was a god imported into Greek from the East relatively late, as described in the opening lines of Euripides’ Bacchae. Though he is clearly referenced in this material (and he is even getting more than Zeus!) that dates nearly 1000 years earlier so this assumption cannot be true. I’m curious to know why Dionysus was receiving more offerings than the king of the gods. Is it because the Minoans were completing this dedication for festival rites in honor of Dionysus or because they favored the wine god more?

In the museum there were a couple other objects depicting Dionysus. One included a beautiful Roman floor mosaic that showed Dionysus coming upon the sleeping Ariadne for the first time. This mosaic was likely to be the location of where the family would have had their meals. I cannot begin to imagine what it would be like to have such an ornate and beautiful floor as part of my dining room! There was another relief that depicted a Bacchic scene.

Fun fact: sarcophagus in Greek literally translates into flesh eater…things make so much sense now!

The Linear B tablet mentioning Dionysus

Floor mosaic

relief of a Bacchic Scene