Combat, Myths and Seals in the Griffin Warrior Times Cover Image

Combat, Myths and Seals in the Griffin Warrior Times
Combat, Myths and Seals in the Griffin Warrior Times

Author(s): Kazimierz Lewartowski
Subject(s): Archaeology, Ancient World
Published by: KSIĘGARNIA AKADEMICKA Sp. z o.o.
Keywords: Mycenae; Crete; Pylos; combat; seals; myths; Homer

Summary/Abstract: In 2015, an intaglio gem was discovered in Pylos (Messenia, Greece) from the beginning of the Late Bronze Age with a scene of two warriors in combat. This representation is part of a group of similar images on seals. The analysis of these objects allows the suggestion that the scenes depicted on them are based on the same story/myth. This story helped to build the ideology of the Mycenaean elites based on, among other things, the use of violence in social life and set patterns of behavior, while at the same time linking the Mycenaeans living in different parts of Greece, especially in Mycenae, Pylos and Vapheio. Perhaps it had an epic dimension similar to Homer’s much later work.

  • Issue Year: 2019
  • Issue No: 23
  • Page Range: 73-93
  • Page Count: 21
  • Language: English