How Greek Myths Can Hint at Historical Reality:
Minoan and Mycenaean Edition.
D. B. Levine. January 20, 20210
Greek Alphabet from Phoenician Alphabet (cultural innovations, east to west)
Myth:
Zeus in guise of bull abducts Europa from Tyre (Phoenicia) and takes her to Crete. Birth of Minos and his brothers. Beginnings of “European” civilization. [Historicized in Herodotus 1.2: “Greeks landed at Tyre in Phoenicia and abducted the king’s daughter, Europa.”]
Cadmus comes to Greece to find his sister Europa, whom Zeus had abducted, and brings the “Cadmean” alphabet (Phoenician Alphabet that the Greeks adapted to write Greek). Herodotus speaks of Cadmus the Phoenician coming to Boeotia in Greece, but does not mention the myth that he came to find his daughter Europa (5.57-58): “The Phoenicians who came to Greece with Cadmus, lll ended up living in this land and introducing the Greeks to a number of accomplishments, most notably the alphabet, which, as far as I can tell, the Greeks did not have before then. At first the letters they used were the same as those of all Phoenicians everywhere, but as time went by, along with the sound, they changed the way they wrote the letters as well.” [In fact, Greek letters are similar to many of the Phoenician exemplars, but they used some of the consonants to use as vowels (a, e, i, o u), and reversed the direction of the script to left-to-right, from the original right-to-left direction of other Semitic scripts like Hebrew and Arabic.]
When Cadmus came to Greece , he taught to Melampus the Dionysian Rites (Herodotus 2.49, but no mention of Europa)
“Minoan Thalassocracy” and Later Occupation by Mainland Greeks (Mycenaean, “Helladic”)
Myths:
Myth of Talos, the bronze giant who protected Crete. Perhaps this is a reflection of the sea-power that only allowed friendly ships to approach the island.
Minos forced the artisan Daedalus and son Icarus to stay on Crete. They could not sail away because Minos controled the sea.
Minos requires Athens to send human tribute, but Athenian prince Theseus kills minotaur in labyrinth, and escapes with Minos’ daughter Ariadne. Perhaps a memory of Mycenaeans overthrowing Minoan hegemony and then taking over Knossos.
History:
Herodotus 1.171: The Carians were subject to Minos and “would man ships for him on demand.”
Thucydides 1. 4: “Minos was the earliest known in our tradition to acquire a navy, and he controlled most of the sea now called Hellenic, ruled the Cyclades, and in most cases was also their fist colonizer, driving out the Karians and installing his sons as governors. He also naturally cleared the seas of piracy as far as possible to direct revenues to war himself instead.”
Thucydides 1.7: “When the navy of Minos was established, communication by sea improved, since his colonization of most of the islands involved expelling the lawless elements, and coastal populations now increasingly proceeded to acquire wealth and live more securely, some even building city walls as a reflection of their new prosperity.”
Other Greek Mythical Details That Might Reflect Historical Reality About Crete.
Myths:
The “labyrinth” with its intricate and confusing passages plan may show some knowledge of the floor plans of Minoan “palaces”.
The Bull of Minos and Minotaur legend may be a later Greek memory of Minoan art or actual use of “bull games” and “horns of consecration.”
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