Greece: Mycenaeans
The Arthur I Fleischman Gallery
3200 – 1100 BC
The Mycenaean period of the later Greek Bronze Age was viewed by
the Greeks as the 'age of heroes' and perhaps provides
the historical background to many of the stories told in later
Greek mythology, including Homer's epics. Objects and artworks from
this time are found throughout mainland Greece and the Greek
islands. Distinctive Mycenaean pottery was distributed widely
across the eastern Mediterranean. Following the collapse of this
civilisation in the twelfth century BC, Greece entered a 'Dark Age'
of relative poverty and isolation.
The displays in Room 12b
include a fine example of a krater (mixing bowl) and a number of
bronzes from the later Geometric period. These show the beginnings
of Greek mythology being used to decorate works of art.
They come from about the same time that the epics of
Homer were reaching the form in which we inherit them, as the
earliest Greek literature.
Image captions (clockwise from top
left):
Gold goblet, Mycenaean
Greek 1500 BC
Rhyton in the shape of a bull's head 1300-1200
BC
Vase decorated with bulls and birds
1300-1200 BC
Necklace of blue cast glass beads and their gold
covers 1400-1300 BC