| Unit name | The Minoans |
|---|---|
| Unit code | CLASM0026 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Professor. Momigliano |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of Classics & Ancient History |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
The historian C.G Starr once famously remarked that 'Minoan civilisation is the only great civilisation created in the twentieth century' (1984). This unit examines the rediscovery, interpretation, and reception of this 'civilisation', which flourished in Crete during the 3rd-2nd millennia BC, and formed the background of many Greek myths and legends (such as Theseus and the Minotaur, and the labyrinth of King Minos). The unit starts with an analysis of the political and intellectual environment of late 19th-early20th Europe, in which Minoan Crete was rediscovered, and how this affected the still dominant interpretations and representations of this civilisation. The unit will also examine how the 'Minoans' have been appropriated and portrayed in other fields, from Freudian psychoanalysis to modern literature, architecture, and painting.
