In Search of the Labyrinth: The Cultural Legacy of Minoan Crete (New Directions in Classics)

Shortlisted for the European Association of Archaeologies 2023 book prize In Search of the Labyrinth explores the enduring cultural legacy of Minoan Crete by offering an overview of Minoan archaeology and modern responses to it in literature, the visual and performing arts, and other cultural practices. The focus is on the twentieth century, and on responses that involve a clear engagement with the material culture of Minoan Crete, not just with mythological narratives in Classical sources, as illustrated by the works of novelists, poets, avant-garde artists, couturiers, musicians, philosophers, architects, film directors, and even psychoanalysts – from Sigmund Freud and Marcel Proust to D.H. Lawrence, Cecil Day-Lewis, Oswald Spengler, Nikos Kazantzakis, Robert Graves, André Gide, Mary Renault, Christa Wolf, Don DeLillo, Rhea Galanaki, Léon Bakst, Marc Chagall, Mariano Fortuny, Robert Wise, Martin Heidegger, Karl Lagerfeld, and Harrison Birtwistle, among many others. The volume also explores the fascination with things Minoan in antiquity and in the present millennium: from Minoan-inspired motifs decorating pottery of the Greek Early Iron Age, to uses of the Minoans in twenty-first-century music, poetry, fashion, and other media. Cover page 1 Halftitle page 2 Series page 3 Title page 4 Copyright page 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 Illustrations 9 Preface and Acknowledgements 13 1 Introduction: Desperately Seeking Ariadne – the Cultural Legacy of Minoan Crete1 18 2 Sons of Europa: From Medical Remedies for Constipation to Bestiality, Sexually Transmitted Death, and the Dawn of the ‘Minoan Age’ (from Antiquity to the Mid-Nineteenth Century) 34 Ancient responses to Minoan Crete 35 From Arab to Ottoman: Responses to Minoan material culture c. 824–1860, and the dawn of the ‘Minoan Age’ 47 3 Rediscovering European Origins: Ariadne as the Great Mother Goddess (Mid-Nineteenth Century–First World War) 54 The Schliemann factor 55 From the tomb of Agamemnon to the palace of Minos 59 ‘Little Evans – son of John Evans the Great’ and the road to Knossos45 62 From the Palace of Minos to the Palace of Ariadne: Κρητική Πολιτεία (Cretan State) (1898–1913) and the Heroic Age of Cretan excavations 66 All aboard! The Minoans in the late Belle Époque 86 Cretomania in the late Belle Époque: The Minoans in modern cultural practices c. 1900–1918 – Neo-Minoans from Crete to Paris and beyond 91 Conclusions: The romance and triumph of Minoan Crete, the decadence of Mycenaean Greece 102 4 Minoans and the World Wars (c. 1915–49): The Aryan Revenge 104 Crete from the Kritiki Politeia to the Second World War and its aftermath 105 From pan-Minoan Aegean to ‘Minoans go home!’ – the return of the Aryans and the decline and fall of the Minoan Empire 107 Cretomania amidst World and Civil Wars: The Minoans in modern cultural practices c. 1918–1949 – from decadence to hope for the future 120 Conclusions: The Minoans in an age of extremes and catastrophes 151 5 The Minoans in the Cold War and Swinging Sixties: From the End of the Greek Civil War to the End of the Colonels’ Dictatorship (c. 1949–74) 154 Crete: From civil war to military junta and tourist boom 155 New discoveries: From the decipherment of Linear B to volcanic catastrophes 156 Minoan archaeological-historical narratives in a Cold War and post-colonial world: From culture-historical to processual approaches 165 Cretomania in the Cold War: The Minoans in modern cultural practices c. 1949–1974 – from ‘The mother strikes back’ to the Minoans as Trojans 171 Conclusions: The Minoans in the Cold War and swinging sixties 200 6 Minoan Paradises Lost and Regained: From Cannibalism to Postmodernism (c. 1975–99) 204 Greece and Crete from the fall of the Junta to the new millennium 205 Crete of the hundred palaces, human sacrifi ce, and cannibalism: Archaeological discoveries on Crete and elsewhere (c. 1975–1999) 207 Minoans in archaeological narratives of the last quarter of the twentieth century: From priest-kings to Buddhism and matriarchal theocracies 212 Cretomania in a postmodern world: The Minoans in modern cultural practices c. 1975–1999 – from New Age Minoans to postmodern critiques of Greek history 219 Conclusions: The Minoans in postmodern times – between paradises lost and regained 241 7 Minoan Cultural Legacies: Every Age Has the Minoans It Deserves and Desires 244 Every age has the Minoans it deserves and desires 245 Into the new millennium: Minoans inpost-post modern and post-humanist times4 250 Notes 260 Bibliography 324 Index 364 "In Search of the Labyrinth explores the enduring cultural legacy of Minoan Crete by offering an overview of Minoan archaeology and modern responses to it in literature, the visual and performing arts, and other cultural practices. The focus is on the twentieth century, and on responses that involve a clear engagement with the material culture of Minoan Crete, not just with mythological narratives in Classical sources, as illustrated by the works of novelists, poets, avant-garde artists, couturiers, musicians, philosophers, architects, film directors, and even psychoanalysts - from Sigmund Freud and Marcel Proust to D.H. Lawrence, Cecil Day-Lewis, Oswald Spengler, Nikos Kazantzakis, Robert Graves, André Gide, Mary Renault, Christa Wolf, Don DeLillo, Rhea Galanaki, Léon Bakst, Marc Chagall, Mariano Fortuny, Robert Wise, Martin Heidegger, Karl Lagerfeld, and Harrison Birtwistle, among many others. The volume also explores the fascination with things Minoan in antiquity and in the present millennium: from Minoan-inspired motifs decorating pottery of the Greek Early Iron Age, to uses of the Minoans in twenty-first-century music, poetry, fashion, and other media"-- Provided by publisher In Search of the Labyrinth explores the enduring cultural legacy of Minoan Crete by offering an overview of Minoan archaeology and modern responses to it in literature, the visual and performing arts, and other cultural practices. The focus is on the twentieth century, and on responses that involve a clear engagement with the material culture of Minoan Crete, not just with mythological narratives in Classical sources, as illustrated by the works of novelists, poets, avant-garde artists, couturiers, musicians, philosophers, architects, film directors, and even psychoanalysts - from Sigmund Freud and Marcel Proust to D.H. Lawrence, Cecil Day-Lewis, Oswald Spengler, Nikos Kazantzakis, Robert Graves, Andre Gide, Mary Renault, Christa Wolf, Don DeLillo, Rhea Galanaki, Leon Bakst, Marc Chagall, Mariano Fortuny, Robert Wise, Martin Heidegger, Karl Lagerfeld, and Harrison Birtwistle, among many others. The volume also explores the fascination with things Minoan in antiquity and in the present millennium: from Minoan-inspired motifs decorating pottery of the Greek Early Iron Age, to uses of the Minoans in twenty-first-century music, poetry, fashion, and other media Introduction: desperately seeking Ariadne- the cultural legacy of Minoan Crete -- Sons of Europa: from medical remedies for constipation to bestiality, sexually transmitted death, and the dawn of the Minoan Age (from antiquity to mid-19th c.) -- Rediscovering European origins: Ariadne as the Great Mother Goddess (mid-19th century-World War I) -- Minoans and World Wars (c. 1915-1949): the Aryan revenge -- The Minoans in the Cold War, swinging sixties, and natural disasters: from the end of the Greek civil war to the end of the Colonels' dictatorship (c. 1949-1974) -- Minoan paradises lost and regained: from cannibalism to postmodernism (c. 1975-1999) -- Minoan cultural legacies: every age has the Minoans it deserves and desires