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After making astoundiding studies related to ancient Greece Heinrich Schlieman attempted a dig at Mycenae in August of 1876. The nature of his discoveries at Mycenae were so dramatic that Mycenaean became the name for the whole culture that spread across Greece. In 1952 Michael Ventris identified a decipherment of Linear B and new information became available about the nature of the Mycenaean culture. The texts turned out to be accounting lists rather than poetry or mythology. This writing system was probably confined to a minority of the population who were professional scribes. By correlating the information from clay tablet lists in linear B with archaeological information many facts about the Mycenaean culture are revealed.
One reason that Linear B was able to be deciphered is that the language of the Mycenaeans was an early form of Greek, while the language of the Minoans was not Greek. When the Mycenaean culture collapsed around 1000 BCE the Linear B writing was lost. The writing that then developed was based on the Phonaecian alphabet and included the unique feature of vowels. It probably was developed by Greek merchants who needed it to record transactions. But its usefelness quickly spread and the whole population became literate. By 800 BCE the myths had been recorded in the new script. The myths were based on the Mycenaean past but they had been preserved by itinerant story tellers who memorized the stories of their predecessors. It was common for them to use contemporary examples to make their stories more realistic. Thus the myths contain information about ancient Greece during a period of perhaps a thousand years before they were written down.
Until its conquest by the Mycenaeans the Minoan culture was dominant and many aspects of the Minoan culture were probably adopted by the Mycenaeans. This includes many names, crops, crafts, and even religion. The Greek language was in a formative period and when the Mycenaeans conquered the Minoans it was spread thoughout the Greek area. The Minoans were not interested in military lifestyles while the Mycenaeans were very interested in weapons and hunting. The Minoans focused on the sea while the Mycenaeans possessed a small horse which they rode on land. The Minoans developed a high culture which centered on their palaces while the Mycenaeans seem to have borrowed most of their culture from Crete. The Mycenaeans also developed a palace culture.
During ceremonies the dress of Minoans and Mycenaeans is similar but on other occaisions it differs. Clay figures are typically female and wear a polos, a tall headdress associated with divinities. Three female figures
The mycenaean economy was focused on wool. Many female slaves were acquired because of their ability to work wool.
Mycenaean goddess
To ask a question about this topic note the topic (Mycenaeans) and Click here
Question: Aegean culture
Answer: Aegean Culture generally includes Minoan, Cycladian, and Mycenaean cultures. Minoan was named after King Minos of Greek myth, but probably refers to a culture which was before his time. Mycenaean refers to a culture which included the entire mainland of Greece but is was named after the ancient Greek City of Mycenae, which Agamemnon ruled. The Cycladean culture refers to an early culture located mainly on the Cycladean islands in the Aegean.
Question: What was the role of women in the Mycenaean Age? What is the difference between the role of women in the Mycenaean Age and the Classical Period?
Answer: In Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus Prometheus says (line 461) that he provided Man with, '...the combining of letters, creative mother of the Muses' arts, with which to hold all things in memory' which suggests the ancient Greeks had a sense of history. Yet it is an early sense which gives us incomplete data. Furthermore the historians did not care much for the role of women in society. So the question that you ask can be answered only with great difficulty and with inaccuracy.
Homer's work would seem to be a good source for this information but it is based on poetic recollections from over 500 years of time. From the archaeological data it can be concluded that both the period before the Trojan War in Mycenae and the Classical period in Greece were times of prosperity. One challenge is to know the cause of this prosperity. Both times involved international trade using ships on the sea. Both times involved trade in wine. A trade in wool products is suggested for the Mycenaean period. During the classical period silver was discovered near Athens which contributed to its prosperity. In the Odyssey the craft of Penelope with her loom is well known. It seems that the skill of women weaving was so highly valued that even noble women were involved. In the Odyssey women are also involved with grinding grain and serving in the house. But in Classical Greece women were not involved in silver mining.
It would seem that the society was stratified into several levels but how is not clear. The tripling of goddesses suggests that three levels should be evident.
That the lowest level are slaves is easy to conclude. But the division in Sparta is a possibility with a landed, military class; a merchant and craft class; and a field worker class. But a priestly class, a military class, and a worker class is an order that is suggested. The suggestion that the ancient Mycenaean culture was stratified like Sparta is not hard to accept in view of the roles women take in the literature and myth that come down to us. In Classical Athens women were confined to their homes by custom where they performed work at that could be located there. But the stories of myth include women that are suprisingly free and self-actualized as the women of Sparta are described. The women of Athens were pampered as long as they bore children. Other tasks, such as hetarae and flute girl seem pretty humiliating. If the husband of a craftsperson in Athens had a craft in the home then the wife might participate. Unlike the men, the women of Athens were not required to be educated. But many women were educated by the men in their home. Hetaerae had special schools. In addition there were schools for girls for dancing, music, and choral work. During the Mycenaean period there was no educational institution for either sex.
As time went on in Ancient Greece it seems like women were more restricted. But they also had more educational opportunities. The result was that the women of classical times were some of the best educated of all times until recent times. A review of Mycenaean clothing suggests that clothing was more complicated and may have suggested that women were more restricted . But this may be an illusion depending how the clothing was made. The women in classical Greece benefited from the loom and the simplicity of the clothes that resulted.
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