Stylin and Wildin with the Minoans
While talking to some friends about what my first blog post will be about, I brought up the Minoan Civilization and my interests with them. Surprising to me, no one really knew anything about them or even recognized the name. Admittedly, outside the archaeology circles I involve myself in, I have never heard anyone bring up the Minoans, not even in passing. That further proved why I should write about them.
Today, I plan to take you on a deep dive into the Minoans as a people and civilization. My initial interest in them stems from a video essay analyzing the gender norms and clothing worn at the time by YouTuber, Trey the Explainer (source at the bottom). I will take a more broad look at their society and then focus on material and structural culture as mentioned above.
Who were the Minoans?
The best way to answer this question is to begin with the name, Minoan. The name is derived from the myth of King Minos of Knossos, known for the creation of his labyrinth to contain the infamous minotaur. The civilization wasn’t rediscovered until the early 20th century when excavations were done on Crete by Sir Arthur Evans. Not much is known about the Minoans as the people primarily wrote in an unknown language, given the name Linear A. Everything we know about them is derived from archaeological finds, paintings, frescos, and any writing in Linear B (a cousin to Linear A and the earliest form of Greek).
Rise to Power
The Minoans lasted for roughly 2000 years, getting their rise around 3000 BCE and fading away by about 1100 BCE. That’s roughly 8 or 9 times longer than America has existed. And this was so long ago that by the time Homer was around, the Minoans were nothing but a distant memory. For context, the Minoans were about as distant to the Greeks as Genghis Khan would be to us.
The Minoans first popped up as neolithic fishing villagers along the coasts of Crete. In the early period of Minoan history, we see cities such as Knossos, Malia, and Phaistos start to grow in both size and power. Their central location in the Eastern Mediterranean, along with their seafaring abilities, allowed for trade to blossom in the fast-growing civilization. Among the exports were pottery, wine, and saffron, which were traded all across the ancient world.
As their power and wealth grew, so did their cities. Large palaces and temples were quickly constructed all across bronze-age Crete. Colorful and elaborate, Minoan architecture consisted of columns, multiple stories, courtyards and gardens, skylights, and even plumbing! Their walls depicted the ocean, nature, animals, cultural and sporting events, and the human figure. While these palace complexes display the excessive luxury of the Minoan elite, this golden age didn’t look favorably on everyone; the peasants and slaves lived in dense urban housing akin to that of other neighboring civilizations. While they definitely benefited from the growth in trade, the lower classes never enjoyed anything similar to the palaces that have been excavated.
Minoan Culture
The culture is what truly intrigues me about the Minoans. I find it so interesting how drastically different they were from other civilizations in antiquity. While other societies were strict and violent, the Minoans appear to be more open-minded and peaceful. I’d say the best adjectives to best characterize them would be colorful, vibrant, easy-going, and lively. Their interests lay mostly with “the human figure, nature, the sea and had a knack for elegance and complexity.”
We can see many of these attitudes reflected in their clothing. Men wore their hair long and curly, with a mere loin-cloth to dress them. This left the rest of their body bare with the exceptions of headdresses and jewelry. Women, on the other hand, were almost completely covered from head to toe. Their clothing consisted of a plethora of different colors and textiles all coming together as a dress. Interestingly, while their clothes might cover most of their body, they fail to cover the breast. While this might shock many modern readers, the idea of keeping the breasts exposed appears to be a common and expected custom in Minoan culture. Men and women both emphasized a small waist by wearing what is believed to be metal belts. They also bathed daily and spent lots of energy in an attempt to look and smell good. As Greek influence spread to Minoan society, both men and women began to dress more modestly, wearing tunics that covered their full bodies.
Gender Roles in Society
Similar to their clothing, Minoan society was very structured along gender lines. We see many divisions between men and women in their art, both in depiction and action. Men were painted as dark brown while women were given a much fairer complexion. Much of this is attributed to men having more labor roles while women more domestic. Interestingly, we see lots of depictions of women in roles of authority. We have many examples of men aiding to women sitting down, but not one depiction of a man sitting down. There are also many frescos showing women engaging in hunting and sporting events (all primarily masculine activities). Additionally, it is believed that women were priests, leading many of the religious rites with depictions of this in Minoan art. Much of this evidence suggests the Minoans could have been a partial, if not full, matriarchal society.
Societal Decline
It is unknown what happened to the Minoans. A lot of this stems from, as mentioned before, their indecipherable language. The leading theory put forth by Greek archaeologist Spyridon Marinatos is that a volcanic eruption (with a measure of 7, is one of the largest eruptions in human history) on a nearby island wiped out the Minoans. This evidence is debated as there are findings of Minoan pottery along with volcanic ash existing during the same period of the archaeological record. This would mean that their civilization continued forward, past the eruption. While the eruption might not have been the catalyst, it definitely contributed to the slow and eventual demise of the Minoans. Many of their people assimilated into the surrounding cultures, abandoning the identity of Minoans, only to be redicovered 3000 years later.
Final Thoughts
The Minoans are a perfect case study into how relative culture can be in the grand scheme of things. We often attribute culture as a linear graph with conservativeness slowly liberalizing as time progresses. However, with the Minoans, we observe quite the opposite. With the progressive flamboyancy slowly being absorbed into the more rigid cultures of the ancient world. I love exploring the art and architecture of the Minoans as it provides a blissful and carefree escape to an otherwise more serious time in history.
I hope you enjoyed this little deep dive into the civilization of the Minoans. If any of this sparked your interest, I highly recommend you do some more research on your own. Archaeologists and historians are discovering more and more about the Minoans each day, so the more interest in the topic, the better. Let me know if you enjoyed this and I will gladly revisit the topic. But until then, thank you all and I will see you next time!
Sources
“The Fabulous Fashion of the Minoan Civilization.” YouTube. YouTube, June 22, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcrV5hc5k3U&t=1415s. **my primary inspiration for this post**
“Greece: Minoans and Mycenaeans.” The British Museum. Accessed March 2, 2023. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/galleries/greece-minoans-and-mycenaeans.
Karl-Wilhelm Welwei: Die Griechische Frühzeit, C.H. Beck, München, 2002. ISBN 3406479855. pp. 12–18
“Thera and the Aegean World III”. Archived from the originalon 2010–04–25.
Women in Antiquity. Budin, Stephanie Lynn (2016–08–12). Budin, Stephanie Lynn; Turfa, Jean Macintosh (eds.).
“9. Deciphering Gender in Minoan Dress”, in Rautman, Alison E (ed.), Reading the Body, University of Pennsylvania Press, pp. 111–123, Lee, Mireille M. (2000).
“Art, religious artifacts support idea of Minoan matriarchy on ancient Crete, researcher says”. The University of Kansas. 2017–06–09.
“Modelling the Climatic Effects of the LBA Eruption of Thera: New Calculations of Tephra Volumes May Suggest a Significantly Larger Eruption than Previously Reported” McCoy, FW; Dunn, SE. Chapman Conference on Volcanism and the Earth’s Atmosphere. Thera, Greece: American Geographical Union
