Minotaur:
Sir Arthur Evans and the Archaeology of the
Minoan Myth
by Joseph Alexander Macgillivray
available
only in hardback
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Description
Book
Description
The intrepid Englishman who shaped the way we
think about Europe and the Middle East.
Sir Arthur Evans was the diminutive, fiery archaeologist
who, at an excavation in Knossos in 1900, discovered
what he called the Palace of Minos and presented
to the world his stunning re-creation of Minoan
civilization. This is the first biography of
a flamboyant and very influential man--written
by a scholar with unparalleled expertise in
the archaeology of Crete.
When Evans went to Greece after a mediocre career
as a journalist in the Balkans, Heinrich Schliemann
had recently uncovered what he claimed were
Troy and Mycenae, famed cities of Homer; Evans,
too, wanted to verify the factual basis for
the myths that meant most to him. He found what
he was looking for in Crete: he believed he
located the origin of "tree and pillar
worship," at the heart of Teutonic mythology
in Europe but somehow linked to an early cult
of the Greek god Zeus.
Joseph Alexander MacGillivray shows that Evans
in fact anticipated what he found. Evans's Minoans
were perfect Victorians: a peaceful, literate,
aesthetic, just society where wise men held
political office and powerful women ruled the
people's hearts. Yet Knossos was not simply
a lucky find, and MacGillivray shows Evans was
a heroic figure struggling with many central
themes concerning the origins of civilization.
He concludes with his own assessment of our
current knowledge about ancient Crete.
About
the Author
About
the Author
Joseph Alexander MacGillivray was educated at
McGill and Edinburgh Universities. Since 1980,
he has worked on the Cretan sites supervised
by the British School of Archaeology in Athens,
of which he was assistant director for some
years. |
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Editorial
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From
Publishers Weekly
On the most obvious level, this splendid,
multilayered book is a biography of Sir
Arthur Evans, the archeologist most responsible
for the excavation of the palace at Knossos
on Crete, the center of Minoan civilization
in the second millennium B.C. Evans's
life and work provide a fascinating example
of the private and professional lives
of those Victorians whose superb education,
nonconformist brilliance, determination
and diligence resulted in major discoveries
that continue, even today, to define dialogue
concerning the origins of civilization
in Western Europe. But
this book by MacGillivray (an archeologist
who has worked on Crete) is much more
than a biography of the right man at the
right place at the right time.
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Arthur Evans |
It
was in the late 19th century that archeology
moved from being essentially an international
treasure hunt financed by wealthy individuals
(as was the case with Schliemann and Troy)
to a scholarly discipline with well-defined
expectations for the conduct of an excavation,
preservation of finds and publication
about ancient sites. Evans was among a
number of prominent archeologists who
recognized the need for change and helped
to make it possible, but only, it seems,
grudgingly. The book's appeal, however,
should reach far beyond readers interested
specifically in Minoan civilization or
in the process of archeological discovery.
This richly detailed and engrossing account
also illuminates the social, intellectual
and military/political history of the
give-and-take among the great European
powers and the Ottoman Empire. It will
also appeal to readers of travel literature
as Evans and those around him were always
on the move and insatiable sightseers.
24 pages b&w illus. not seen by PW
(June)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information,
Inc.
From
Library Journal
Archaeology in the late 19th and early
20th centuries mounted large excavations
that produced astounding discoveries.
In an age when archaeologists were often
larger than life, Sir Arthur Evans was
a towering figure. MacGillivray, who has
worked on Crete for 20 years, amply illustrates
the qualities that vaulted Evans into
the spotlight and kept him there following
his 1900 discovery of the "Palace
of Minos." Evans was arrogant, self-assured,
bigoted, single-minded, prone to hyperbole,
and quick to judgment. His opinions, once
formed, rarely wavered. But though Evans
originally scorned Schliemann's adherence
to Greek myth and narratives, he too adopted
their themes as a framework. Through his
excavations, Crete was validated as a
potent force in the ancient Aegean. MacGillivray's
engaging narrative nicely balances the
personal and professional sides of Evans,
an intense and driven man from the romanticized
past of archaeology. Strongly recommended
for public and academic libraries--Joyce
L. Ogburn, Univ. of Washington, Seattle
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information,
Inc.
Amazon.com
Arthur Evans leapt into the public imagination
with his 1900 discovery of Crete's Palace
of Knossos, interpreted as the lair of
the mythical Minotaur. Though his findings
were a crowning achievement of archaeology's
golden age, then, as now, questions have
been raised about Evans's excavations
and the conclusions he reached. In the
richly detailed Minotaur, Joseph Alexander
MacGillivray, who has himself excavated
Crete, suggests that the man who gave
us the very term Minoan provides a prime
example of "how archaeological discovery
occurs first in the mind." By examining
Evans's life and work through his actions
and correspondence, MacGillivray shows
that Evans's evidence was "fully,
even exaggeratedly exploited" but
rarely reviewed. Adventurous, energetic,
and highly observant, Evans also displayed
"single-minded arrogance," "pomposity
and manifest racism"--traits that
invited misinterpretation, MacGillivray
writes. The book also incorporates an
interesting history of war-torn Crete
and the Balkans as well as Evans's involvement
in the region's politics. It finally outlines
modern theories on Minoan civilization,
though the "Palace and surrounding
buildings are crumbling as fast as Evans's
intellectual reconstruction," so
that solid proof of any thesis is increasingly
problematic. Fascinating as a portrait
of the man who "gave the world a
new chapter in its ancient history"
and for its portrayal of the developing
discipline of archaeology, Minotaur also
poses some important questions about whether
archaeologists are ever impartial observers.
--Karen Tiley |
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