Minoan culture, from our contemporary perspective, is often seen as carefree and peaceful. People lived in harmony with their environment. The Mycenaeans, on the other hand, seemed to constantly engage in conflict. While this is likely an oversimplified view, how do you see it either proven or disproven through their visual record?
In both Minoan culture and Mycenaean culture, I believe composed similar art such as the vessels. The vessels of the Minoan culture looked similar visually to those of the Mycenaean culture, however if you look closer you see very different images crafted on them. The Minoan culture painted and sculpted men and women going to what looked like a festivals with happy chanting and fun animals such as octopus. This says to me that this culture valued animals and peace throughout their intricate sculptures on these vessels. On the Mycenaeans vessel we see a similar vase like sculpture to those of Minoan culture, but the painting on the vessel paints a different image. The vessel shows warriors going off to war, all in similar armor as we see the image of the woman waving goodbye in grief. Giving us a look inside the culture of the Mycenaeans, as the men march off to war leaving the woman behind to watch after the children and village. This brings me to believe Mycenaeans were often off fighting for land or loyalty. The Minoan culture and Mycenaean culture inhabited different locations, which helps more understand their cultures. The Minoan culture was built on more flat ground and was destroyed several times because the location was susceptible to natural disasters. The Mycenaeans built their village higher up and use their high ground as an advantage to keep out enemies. The Minoans had fun colors and art work around their village, which was not seen in the Mycenaeans village, indicating the Minoans lived more free with less war in my opinion. Overall, these cultures showed similarities however I believe they were very different from each other.