MINOAN CIVILIZATION

The Minoan civilization, a Bronze Age

civilization, arose on the island of Crete and
flourished from approximately the 27th
century BC to the 15th century BC. It was
rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th
century through the work of the British
archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans. Will Durant
referred to it as "the first link in the European
chain.
MYCENAEAN CIVILIZATION

Mycenaean Greece (c. 1600 BC – c. 1100 BC) is a cultural

period of Ancient Greece taking its name from the
archaeological site of Mycenae in northeastern Argolis, in
the Peloponnese of southern Greece. Athens, Pylos,
Thebes, and Tiryns are also important Mycenaean sites.
The last phase of the Bronze Age in Ancient Greece, it is the
historical setting of much ancient Greek literature and myth,
including the epics of Homer.
THE LEGEND OF THE
MINOTAUR
In Greek mythology, the
Minotaur. Minotaurus, as the
Greeks imagined him, was a
creature with the head of a bull
on the body of a man or, as
described by Ovid, "part man
and part bull."He dwelt at the
center of the Cretan Labyrinth,
which was an elaborate maze-
like construction built for King
Minos of Crete and designed by
the architect Daedalus and his
son Icarus who were ordered to
build it to hold the Minotaur.
The Minotaur was eventually
killed by Theseus. Theseus was
the son of Aethra, and fathered
by both Poseidon and Aegeus.