Women in Minoan Crete

The Minoan Civilization in Crete (circa 2600–1100 BCE) was a Bronze Age civilization known for its art, architecture, and societal organization. Women in the Minoan society played prominent roles, as suggested by archaeological findings, pointing to significant female influence in religious, social, and economic spheres. Their high visibility in Minoan art indicates a society where women were an integral part of the cultural and spiritual life. Namely, Minoan frescoes depict women participating in ceremonies, dances, and sports like bull-leaping, showcasing their

active public lives.

According to existing descriptions from ancient Greek historians and philosophers like Plato and Thucydides as well as also from the archaeological findings, it is evident that men and women lived freely and peacefully participating equally in all daily activities. As Plato writes ‘in Minoan Crete the important part played by women is discernible in every sphere’.

In Minoan iconography, we witness images of women in various public contexts, outside of the domestic, interacting with each other in conversation and in dance, acting in religious ceremonies, either as individual worshippers or as officials involved in sacrificial rituals, and in prominent positions in processions.

Figure 1. The "Parisian" fresco, Archaeological Museum of Herakleion (Knossos, circa 1350 B.C.)

the "Lady of the Beasts". The female goddesses are also associated with the symbols of the double axe and the dove. Moreover, numerous idols depict feminine figures and pregnant women, and many frescoes portray symbols of nature and life, growth and fertility, gestation, and regeneration

In the end, frescoes and artefacts provide probably the fullest picture of Minoan life, and it is apparent that Cretan women enjoyed a high social status and figured prominently in the daily life of the Minoan civilization, in religious, social, and economic spheres.

Figure 2. Fresco fragment of a dancing woman, Archaeological Museum of Herakleion (Knossos, 1600-1450 B.C.)

Further reading

Grammatikakis, Ioannis Emm. “The woman in Minoic Crete”, The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine, 24:7, 2011.

Olsen, Barbara A. “Women, Children and the Family in the Late Aegean Bronze Age: Differences in Minoan and Mycenaean Constructions of Gender”, World Archaeology, Vol. 29, No. 3, Intimate Relations, Taylor & Francis, Ltd, Feb. 1998.

Dowing, Marymay. “Prehistoric Goddesses: The Cretan Challenge”, Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, Indiana University Press on behalf of FSR Inc, Vol. 1, No. 1, Spring 1985.

Thomas, C.G. “MATRIARCHY IN EARLY GREECE: THE BRONZE AND DARK AGES”, Arethusa, The Johns Hopkins University Press, Vol. 6, No. 2, Fall 1973.

Not only are Minoan women shown in commanding roles at religious ceremonies, but it also appears that the anthropomorphic religious imagery in the archaeological record is overwhelmingly female. Therefore, it is fairly certain that the Minoan religion was centered around the worship of a supreme mother-goddess, closely associated with nature.

Representations of female goddesses emerge in all kinds of artefacts, especially seals, rings and small statues, where the deity most frequently depicted is