Category Archives: Knossos

Minoan Myths In and Around Knossos

It’s easy to say that most people who think of archaeology and Crete think of the site of Knossos. Knossos is the most publicized and well-trafficked of the Cretan sides.

It’s only 5 km outside of the bustling city of Heraklion (a bus even runs there from the city) and the site has been well publicized by it’s discovery and recreation by Sir Arthur Evans. The site unlike others on the island is partially reconstructed to more closely resemble its appearance in Minoan times. But what’s of interest to me is the strong cycle of myths associated with the area. King Minos, his family, and the myths involving him are strongly associated with the site of Knossos and the surrounding area.

The origin story of Minos starts with his mother, Europa. The story goes that Zeus came upon her, gathered with her friends in a field and was struck by her beauty. He turned himself into a bull that moved amongst the girls, until Europa climbed on his back. Then he took off, carrying her across the sea to the island of Crete. He convinced her to lie with him then, promising her that a continent would be named for her and her children would be kings. Eventually, she gave birth to Rhadamanthys, Sarpedon, and Minos.

Minos went on to become king of Knossos, marrying Pasiphae a daughter of the sun (Helios). Poseidon sent a bull from the sea many years later as a sign of auspicious rite and for it to be sacrificed in turn to him. Minos was so caught by the bull’s beauty that he didn’t sacrifice it and instead replaced it with another bull, not as shiny and white. In order to punish him, Pasiphae was cursed with an unnatural lust for the bull and she convinced the palatial architect to create a decoy bull so that she could mate with him. This union brought forth the Minotaur – half man, half bull – then concealed within the Labyrinth of Knossos. He remained there until killed by the Athenian Theseus with the help of Minos’ daughter Ariadne.

Walking around Heraklion, there was plenty of evidence of this mythological past. Streets named after Pasiphae and Ariadne lead the way to the Heraklion Archaeological museum, and the image of the bull is present in everything from t-shirts to graffiti. The art we saw at the Heraklion museum supported this connection to the past: images of women exotically “Cretan” and sexually vibrant, and bulls everywhere. You could feel the old stories as you walked the halls and streets, echoing the people currently walking them.

17Jan-Knossos7-column&pillar2-MatthewHaysomSmYet this feeling wasn’t as present in Knossos. Perhaps this is partly Arthur Evans’ reconstructions. Here and there, bright red painted walls climb upwards mixed with Minoan ruins. The mix of old and reimagining tried to harken those times. The mythological past wasn’t part of Evans’ attempt to recreate the experience of being in the palace, nor did it seem evident in the more “untouched” areas of the ruins. Even the frescoes placed only harkened to a rare bull sighted. Where was the Labyrinth, even of myth? One sign was to look at the layers of ruins built on top of each other and the marks of the double headed axes about labrys. Perhaps it’s easier to imagine the mythological presence further away from these sites, rather than right on top of them.

The Spirit of Greece

We spent the afternoon of January 17th in a potter’s workshop located outside of the Knossos archaeological site. The Spirit of Greece is run by Vassilis Politakis, who has officially been in this business since 1990, but comes from a family of ceramic artists. Vassilis specializes in recreating the pottery of the Aegean and Cypriot Bronze Age, focusing his talents mainly on the shapes and decorative techniques of the time of the Minoan palaces.

Our session with Vassilis started out with a brief chemistry lesson, during which he explained how clay is created, and how combining different metal oxides and organic matter into the original form can result in various colors and provide the clay with plasticity. The resulting clay is then kneaded and set upon a wheel to be thrown into the desired shape. The potter’s wheel was ‘revolutionized’ in ancient Greece around 1950 BC, and it consisted of a large ceramic disc that rotates atop a vertical wooden. The wheel was kept in motion entirely by the potter’s assistant, unless fitted with a piece for the potter to kick it into motion.

After explaining the process of creating the base of the pottery, Vassilis theatrically demonstrated how painted designs take a black or red color, using the same pigment material. Vassilis has a background in puppetry and theater, and he created five main characters to explain the three basic steps of firing. First off, red dirt containing traces of iron is mixed in with the ashes of wood and water to create a red paste that is consequently used to the draw figures on the pottery. The decorated pottery is then placed into a kiln, and is exposed to air that passes through the vent, changing the color of the base clay from its original grey to the red we see in its final form. This is the first step of firing, also known as oxidization. The second step, the reducing phase, consists of depriving the kiln of oxygen, forcing the production of carbon monoxide in place of carbon dioxide. This reaction changes the color of the entire pottery to black. The thirds and final step is re-oxidizing, allowing oxygen to flow back inside the kiln. The pottery absorbs this oxygen, allowing it to revert back to its red color, and the areas that are decorated stay black because the sintered surface was no longer able to absorb oxygen on account of the presences of the ashes.

Below are the characters that Vassilis used to theatrically explain to us the process of firing described above.

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(From left to right: Mr. Fumes, Black-Iron Man, Ms. Ashes, Red-Iron Man, and Mr. Wind)

Clay can only exhibit permanent physical and chemical changes when fired in a kiln, after which it converts to its final ceramic form. The firing of the clay can reach temperatures of approximately 1150 degrees Celsius. Interestingly, the entire black figure process is reversible, if the pottery is inserted into a kiln that is hotter than 1150 degrees.

Creating pottery is a fascinating process, and I find it extremely interesting to note that the potters of the past did not have a the same knowledge of chemistry that we do now, nor any tools which measure and control temperature. Their entire work was basically trial and error, and one must appreciate their ability to create the beautiful pieces that we have recovered today.

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(Image of Vassilis working)