Tag Archives: Ancient Crete

Hecate: was she a witch?

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Don’t forget! I’ll be at the Rensselaer Public Library this Saturday from 1 to 3. Six authors will discuss their works, answer questions and sign books.

Since it is Halloween, I thought I’d discuss Hecate. By Shakespeare’s time – in fact, long before, Hecate was a witch, a powerful dark force. The three Weird Sister answer to her calling on her for help and suffering from her wrath.

But in Ancient Greece, Hecate was not a witch. She was a Goddess, not a child of Zeus, but, like Dionysus, a divinity far older than even the Mycenaeans. She could slip easily between the world of the living and the world of the dead. When Hades took Persephone, Demeter asked Hecate to find her daughter, which Hecate did, locating Persephone in the Underworld.

Hecate, triple bodied, was the goddess of the crossroads, and, by extension, of boundaries. Her eyes could see into the souls of me and her torch was brighter than the moon. Since she was not a witch, she did not rely on magic or spells. (She evolved into a witch throughout the centuries.)

Hecate is usually represented holding torches, a key or snakes. That suggests to me that her roots go all the way back to Minoan times and the Priestess for whom snakes were divine. Her frequent companion was a large black dog. Together they were so fearsome that when she went to Hades, even the spirits of the dead stepped aside.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Minoan Crete

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I’ve been asked why I chose such a long ago era to write mysteries about. After all, it is the Victorian era that is so popular now.

Well, I am fascinated by the ancient past. In some ways, the past is all around us. A large Roman mosaic was just discovered in Eastern Turkey by a man gardening on his property. Roman ruins have been discovered in Italy, Greece, Great Britain, France and more.

In other ways, the ancient past is an undiscovered country. There is much we don’t know. Although they were human beings like us, so many aspects of ancient cultures are strange, odd, sometimes downright offensive to modern eyes.

Ancient Crete

Differences between Ancient Crete and our current culture go far deeper than clothing of technology. It is believed the Minoans were matrilineal, maybe even a matriarchy. Some of the archeologists I read had real problems with that. It is certainly true that women were powerful.

The Minoans worshipped a Supreme Goddess, although there were Gods in their pantheon.

And some of their sports/rituals seem absurdly dangerous to us. The bull leaping, in which teenagers run at a charging bull, grab the horns, and flip over, is something that would not be allowed today. I cannot imagine a parent nowadays who would allow this.

Some archaeologists have even suggested the Ancient Minoans practiced human sacrifice (of children no less) under certain exigent circumstances.

These differences are what make this society so fascinating. It shows the breadth of human culture and belief.

The other factor that I find captivating is the cultural line that stretches from Ancient Crete to Greece and then to the entire Western civilization. (Greece is commonly honored as the cradle of democracy.) Certainly, the mainland Greeks who became Classical Greece, adopted Minoan Gods, art, and language. Although Linear A has not been deciphered, Linear B has and it is an early form of Greek.

So here it is. This ancient culture, so very different from our own and with so much still unknown about it, influenced the course of Western Civilization right down to modern times.

Talk about a lasting impact.

The island of Delos

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According to Greek myth, this small, rocky island was the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis. (OK, how many knew Artemis is Apollo’s twin?)

Leto, the mother of the twins, was raped by Zeus in the form of a swan. Hera was so jealous that she decreed Leda could not find any solid ground on which to rest or to deliver her babies.

But Delos was a floating island so Leto was able to deliver her children there, under a palm tree. Since Artemis was born first, she helped her mother with Apollo’s birth and thus became a protector of women especally during childbirth. (Artemis must have been very precocious since she was, what?, ten minutes old at the most.)

Delos is home to the iconic Terrace of the Lions, a wide pathway lined on both sides by statues of lions. Originally, there were nine to twelve but now only five remain. This terrace was erected by the people of Naxos and dedicated to Apollo. It faces east, toward the Sacred Lake of Delos.

I imagine it was quite scary walking past these lions, with their mouths open as though roaring.


Creator: Mark Cartwright | Credit: Mark Cartwright / World History Encyclopedia
Copyright: Mark Cartwright – CC BY-NC-SA – 

Delos is covered with excavations, including the Terrace of Lions. But now, with rising seas, Delos is in danger of being swamped.

Ancient medicine

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We know the Ancient Greeks had medicine. Examples of the diseases that afflict us now, such as cancer and TB, and diseases we have managed to conquer such as smallpox, are found in their writings.

What do we know of medicine in Bronze Age Crete? Not very much. We know they used herbal remedies. An examination of Egyptian dynasties contemporary with Crete suggest other possible medical treatments. Papyri and scenes inscribed on walls depict medical instruments. The purpose of some of them, however, are still a mystery. Instruments from later dynasties have been found as well.

Papyri, and clay tablets from Mesopotamia, show that a huge feature in medicine was divine intervention. Prayer and animal sacrifice, which we know were also employed in Bronze Age Crete, were important features. Amulets, to keep demons and bad outcomes at bay, were commonly used. Astral medicine, i.e. using the stars to predict the best time for the best outcomes, was also very important. The zodiacal calendar was used to predict the most propitious times for medical treatments.

I want to add that seers were used to predict the best times for all important activities. The flights of birds was one method. The sacrifice of a sheep and the reading of the organs was another.

Our current medical system certainly has flaws. I am very glad, though, that a surgery appointment does not depend on how a flock of birds fly through the sky!

Albany Book Festival and More

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Last Saturday I attended the Albany Book Festival at the Albany University Upper Campus. This is always one of my favorite events as it gives me a chance to talk to both other writers and of course many readers.

Jacqueline Boulden, Carol Pouliot, Chris Keefer, Amy Patricia Meade, Syr Lazlo, Catherine Bruns, Eleanor Kuhns – some of the Mavens of Mayhem.

My contest on Fresh Fiction has been extended through October. Follow this link: https://gleam.io/Jghrh/eleanor-kuhns-september to join and possibly win a copy of my new book, In the Shadow of the Bull, as well as A Simple Murder and a $10.00 Amazon gift card.

Very excited to announce I will be speaking at Newburgh Free Library next Wednesday, October 4 at 6:30. The event is free.

Knossos, major city of Bronze Age Crete

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Arthur Evans, who excavated Knossos, estimated the original Neolithic settlements on Crete stretch back to 8000 B.C.E. By 2000, the civilization had transitioned from wattle and daub huts to an affluent society marked by mis-named palaces. Misnamed because it is thought they were not simply the abode of the rulers but also governmental, religious and craftsmen centers. The remains of storage rooms were also discovered on this site.

Below are the large storage vessels known as pithy.

Knossos was destroyed several times. Crete is prone to earthquakes and there is a nearby volcano. Until about 1400 B.C.E. Knossos was always rebuilt.

Since the ruins were excavated Knossos has become a major tourist attraction. Some of it has been repainted in what is thought to be the original colors.

Here is one example: the so-called throne room. The lustral basin in the foreground and the griffins (a symbol of the Goddess) indicated that this chamber was probably used for religious purposes.

The above is one of the many frescoes in Knossos (with me goofing around in front of it.). It is called the cup Bearer and is, I think, an example of male Minoan fashions. Both men and women wore their hair with the three tresses over the shoulders and the remainder loose down the back. Headdresses and jewelry was also common to both sexes. and the wasp waist was high fashion.

I based my character Tinos on this piece of art.

Knossos was not the only city found. The ruins of others such as Gournia, to the east, were also excavated. Akrotiri, a Minoan colony, on another island, is currently being dug out from many feet of hardened volcanic ash.

Willies

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What are willies?

In Ancient Greece, Willies, sometimes described as nymphs or magical maidens, were the spirits of girls who died before their time (before marriage and motherhood) and returned as spirit beings, or ghosts, to our world.

As described in some of the folklore, if they died disappointed or abused and were not put to rest with the proper rituals, they would return and haunt their families, usually for nine generations. (The number nine appears to be sacred to the Minoans.)

Arge, Martis’s sister, would be considered a willie. Martis relies on her to help solve the mystery of Arge’s death. Would we consider Arte a ghost? Not exactly. She is a spirit but there is a mystical component to her in accordance with Minoan beliefs.

Is this where the phrase Gave me the willies came from. I don’t know.willies

The Bull

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The date for the release of In the Shadow of the Bull is now July 4 for the UK. No word on the release date in the US yet.

In an attempt to reveal what we know of this ancient culture, I thought I would begin with the bull. Bulls were sacred. I’ve read varying explanations. Is it because the Bull represented the male principle, even in a society with a Supreme Goddess? Is it because of the connection with Poseidon. also a God in this culture. (I have mentioned previously how much the Classical Greeks borrowed from the Minoans).

Whatever the reason, the mosaics, the statuary, the rites practiced were all centered around the Bull.

One of the practices was bull dancing or bull leaping. This is a feature of the Theseus myth. Since it was written by the occupying Greeks, it has a negative spin. In the myth, Minos, the ruler of Knossos, requires tribute from the mainland: 7 young women and 7 young men, to face the fearsome Minotaur in the labyrinth. (The creation of the Minotaur is another myth, a rather creepy one.) Theseus volunteers to be one of the tributes. Minos’ daughter Ariadne gives Theseus a ball of string and he is able to kill the Minotaur and lead the other tributes to safety.

Frescoes from Knossos show young men and women (probably teenagers) leaping over a charging bull. The bull dancer grasped the horns and flipped over the bull’s back. Another member of the team caught and steadied him as he landed. There seems to be no doubt that these performances occurred.

Remnants of mazes pictured in mosaics have also been found. But labyrinth, a synonym for a maze, is actually from the word labyrs, a sacred two headed axe used in religious rituals.

A stylized version of the bull’s horns, called the Horns of Consecration, were used everywhere. Examples have survived in Knossos.

In the Shadow of the Bull Cover

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So excited to show the cover for the first book of the new series of mysteries .

It really conveys the ancient era I think. And the bull, which was sacred to this culture, is as important as the people.

The Amazing Horse

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Although horses are not as important to our civilization as they once were – Will Rees of my Historical murder mystery series – could not have functioned without his horses, they bear a weight of history and myth that is probably greater than a dog’s. And dogs have had a long history as special partners to humans.

When I first began my research for my Bronze Age series, I was astonished to find that horses did not arrive on Crete until sometime in the Middle Bronze Age. There is a picture of a man in one of the one-sailed Cretan ships with a horse in the bow. No one knows if that is actually how horses reached Crete of if the artist was employing creative license. I mean, who doesn’t visualize the amazing chariot race in Ben-Hur (set many hundreds of years later) or even the importance of horses in the Iliad (again later). The giant wooden horse represented a creature so familiar to everyone no even questioned it.

But I digress.

Here’s what I recall from my childhood dinosaur phase. First, the proto horses certainly did not foretell their importance in later millennia. They were small, about the size of a rabbit. But they survived when the mastodons and other enormous mammals did not. Fossils from these early horses have been found in Wyoming. (And in Eurasia where they became extinct.) But how can that be when there were no horses here until they were brought by Europeans? Well, as the climate changed, changing from forest to grasslands, the proto horse changed with it. Four toes evolved into into a large central toe and then into hooves.

Then what happened? They passed over the land bridge from what is now Alaska back to Eurasia – which turned out to be a good thing for these early horses. In North America, the change in climate and fauna brought woodland. Now the land bridge was submerged and they could not escape. So they died out on this continent. But they thrived in Eurasia.

Now fascinated with  this amazing animal, I began researching them, not how they interacted with humans – although I couldn’t really avoid us – and discovered they have a pretty astonishing  history of their own.