Realien: Materialien von Anton Hafner (KZU Bülach)
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THE SUNDAY TIMES July 23 2000
Legend of the Minoans 'is a racist myth'
By Adam Luck
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Sir Arthur Evans, accused of racism and 'interpretation' in his work |
THE father of modern archeology was allegedly a closet homosexual whose racism helped to shape and perpetuate the myth of the Minotaur, one of the ancient world's most enduring legends.
This is the startling theory at the heart of a new book about Sir Arthur Evans, the Victorian scholar, and his discovery of the palace of King Minos during his landmark excavations at Knossos, in Crete.
In his book Minotaur: Sir Arthur Evans and the Archeology of the Minoan Myth, Sandy MacGillivray, an established Canadian archeologist, argues that millions of tourists - as well as his fellow diggers - have been wrongly held in the thrall of Evans for too long.
MacGillivray claims that the Minoans, the Bronze Age Cretans uncovered by Evans's excavations, are largely the creation of his Victorian mind.
The colourful Greek story of the Minotaur - the monstrous half-man, half-bull offspring of Pasiphae, the wife of King Minos, and the Greek god Zeus, - has been told for centuries. According to legend, the Minotaur was kept in a labyrinth, where he was fed on an annual tribute of seven Athenian youths and maidens. When Ariadne, the Cretan princess, had the clever idea of leaving a trail of twine, Theseus managed to slay the beast.
The maze was designed by Daedalus who, with his son Icarus, we credit with the earliest recorded air flight as they escaped the wrath of Minos on wings of beeswax and feathers.
However, when Evans claimed that his excavations, uncovered exactly 100 years ago, were the palace of Minos, the myth began to take on the shape of historical reality.
Evans, who said he went to Crete to find "the truth behind the legend", believed that Minos was a real historical figure and propagated his theory of a peace-loving Minoan civilisation that dominated the Aegean in the second millennium BC.
These beliefs have helped to make Crete one of Europe's key archeological sites.
MacGillivray argues that the ruins, which attract 1m visitors a year, represent only Evans's "interpretation" of the Minoan culture. He argues that the labyrinth and palace, which Evans "rebuilt", are fanciful reconstructions to support his vision of the Minoans.
MacGillivray, whose book will be published next month, said: "We should look at the site as an early 20th-century interpretation of Minoan culture rather than historical fact."
"He took apart the existing walls and built them up. It was a very Victorian theme; he wanted to rebuild it but in so doing make it even better."
Evans allegedly doctored the evidence to fit his theories and either ignored or suppressed contradictory material. For example, MacGillivray believes that the Minoans were a significant civilisation who held sway over the Aegean but existed in the shadow of the Syrian, Egyptian and Anatolian empires. He says Evans ignored proof of the Minoans' military achievements because it did not tally with his concept of a pacific matriarchal society: "Evans spotted the fortresses but then forgot about those after he went to Knossos in 1900."
Convinced that Crete provided the foundations of European civilisation, Evans also dismissed other races as inferior and worthy of "extermination".
MacGillivray said: "Evans found what he wanted to find. He wanted to link ancient Crete with modern Greece and modern Europe and that is why he ignored links with other non- European cultures. It was the Aryan myth. Evans was one of its greatest exponents."
Evans, who had arrived in Crete when the islanders were struggling to become free from Turkish imperialism, wrote his own version of Minoan history, expunging outside influences.
MacGillivray also contends that Evans's creative drive stemmed from his suppressed homosexuality. Later in life Evans was convicted of gross indecency. "People with closet tendencies, things to hide, would often go abroad to satisfy themselves. It gave them their energy," said MacGallivray.
His assault has provoked the ire of the archeological establishment. Peter Warren, professor of ancient history and classical archeology at Bristol University, labelled his claims as "absurd". "The points are simply not there to substantiate his arguments," he said. "Evans was a man of his times but that did not mean that he shaped the evidence to fit his theories. Nor does it mean he was racist. Quite the opposite; a lot of people believe he overplayed the influence of the Egyptians."
Yannis Tzedakis, the former director-general of antiquities in Greece, said: "One must not forget that the Palace of King Minos is magnificent in its own right and rightly still attracts the interest of both archeologists and tourists alike."
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