The History of Minoan Crete and Hector from the Iliad

Minoan Crete was a complex ancient civilization from approximately 2000 BC. This civilization was located on the Island of Crete. This civilization was not discovered until the year 1899, when a man named Arthur Evans, a British archaeologist helped rediscover it after a few local inhabitants of Crete dug up some ancient storage rooms. Evan’s named this civilization after King Minos of Crete. From then on Evan devoted a lot of his time to discover and dig up some more ruins and artifacts from this civilization. Evan’s discovered that this civilization was from around 2000 BC, and that it was Island wide, after discovering some more cities and settlements on the Island.

Unfortunately we do not know much of this ancient civilization because of the fact that no one has been able to decipher the Minoan writing, also known as Linear A.  Even if scholars were able to decipher Linear A, we would still not be able to learn much about this culture. So the only thing that scholars know about Minoan Crete is the civilization’s art, architecture, and other findings from neighbouring civilizations that relate to Minoan Crete.

The artwork the Minoans made is very impressive and unique, and show’s excellent skill. Their artwork was mainly in the forms of Pottery and Frescos. These Fresco’s usually depicted flowers, animals, and even bull leaping. Thanks to their art being found in other locations other than the Island of Crete, we have discovered that the Minoans traded with other civilizations.

Also the Minoans built very impressive palace like buildings. At first people believed that those buildings were where royalty lived. But the evidence for Minoan king’s comes later. So scholars have come up with another theory, that these palaces may at first have been used as religious centers. Also all around the Island itself there were shrines and various other religious things. Unfortunately no one has been able to figure out what kind of religion the Minoans had. But we do know that the Minoans did human sacrifices, by the bones that were scattered by the “alters.” Sadly the Minoans may have engaged in sacrificing children, not just adults.

In 1600 BC evidence shows that these Minoan palaces were destroyed, but rebuilt again soon after. However that would not last for long. In 1425 BC these palaces were destroyed again, and archaeologists found another language on the Island. This language is known as Linear B, a language that the Mycenaeans used. From what we know with the evidence, it seemed that the Mycenaeans from mainland Greece, invaded the Island and took full control.

In conclusion, because the civilization Minoan Crete existed so long ago there is very little that we know about the civilization itself. Most of what we know about this culture other than what we know through the artifacts and ruins are just speculations, from many different scholarly opinions. So we can only imagine what the civilization was like.

Hector from the Iliad

The Iliad, by Homer(a man who lived in Ancient Greece), is an epic poem that takes place during the Trojan War. This epic poem revolves around the characters Achilles and Hector. Achilles loses his best friend in war, which causes him to go into a killing spree of sorts. After chasing Hector around the city for some time, Hector decides to stand his ground. Achilles kills Hector, and drags his body with a chariot. But things change when Hector’s father begs to Achilles, for the return of his son’s body, which then brings forth a very emotional scene of this book, in which Achilles in the end does everything that is necessary to allow the return of Hector’s body.

But who was Hector? What kind of man was he? Why did he choose to fight? Well what I have read and gathered, Hector seems very loyal and caring in character, to back this up; Hector tells Achilles that if he had a chance to kill him he wouldn’t. But when Achilles replies that he would rather fight to the death, Hector requests Achilles: that when he dies he would like him to bring his body to his father. Which shows that he cares about his father and that he wants his father to be aware of what had happened to him. Now why did he fight in this war? Well the answer is simple he is loyal to his home Troy, but also he wanted to avenge his brothers deaths.

Conclusion

Minoan Crete and Hector from the Iliad, are two pretty unrelated things. Minoan Crete is an ancient civilization, and Hector is a character from an epic poem. But both of these things are pretty important to be aware about in their own right, to better understand Western civilization. In conclusion this is my essay on Minoan Crete and Hector from the Iliad.