Reply To: Myth Becomes History

[ckocsis]

There are several examples of how Sir Arthur Evans’ and Heinrich Schliemann’s perceptions and claims of their discoveries have altered how we still view things today. I think their main goal with their discoveries seem to have been for fame, not preserving culture. Schliemann may have altered the Mask of Agamemnon to make it more appealing to 19th century tastes, so that people would be more impressed and interested with his findings. Arthur Evans claimed that the palace of Knossos was a palace because discovering a palace would have been much more impressive than a home for aristocrats. Evans claimed that the figurine of a woman holding a snake that he discovered was a goddess, once again to make it much more exciting and interesting to the general population than just a figurine of a woman.
Unfortunately, what these two had done just to make their discoveries more interesting the public is still affecting how we see these things today. The complex in Knossos is still widely known as the palace of Knossos (I’ve been there, and I never once heard as it referred to as anything but a palace), and the Snake Goddess is still referred to as the Snake Goddess, even though we have no idea what it was actually a depiction of.