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Knossos and the Prophets of Modernism Paperback – Illustrated, April 30, 2011

by Cathy Gere (Author)

3.9 28 ratings

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In the spring of 1900, British archaeologist Arthur Evans began to excavate the palace of Knossos on Crete, bringing ancient Greek legends to life just as a new century dawned amid far-reaching questions about human history, art, and culture. With Knossos and the Prophets of Modernism, Cathy Gere relates the fascinating story of Evans’s excavation and its long-term effects on Western culture. After the World War I left the Enlightenment dream in tatters, the lost paradise that Evans offered in the concrete labyrinth—pacifist and matriarchal, pagan and cosmic—seemed to offer a new way forward for writers, artists, and thinkers such as Sigmund Freud, James Joyce, Giorgio de Chirico, Robert Graves, and Hilda Doolittle.

Assembling a brilliant, talented, and eccentric cast at a moment of tremendous intellectual vitality and wrenching change, Cathy Gere paints an unforgettable portrait of the age of concrete and the birth of modernism.

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Editorial Reviews

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“This is a simply wonderful book, expertly researched, written with panache, and consistently eye-opening. It brilliantly uncovers how the high priests of modernism—from Freud to Robert Graves to H.D.—were deeply engaged not just with the new discoveries of archaeology but also with a fantasy of ancient Crete—pacifist, sexually free, matriarchal—inaugurated by Sir Arthur Evans’s dig at Knossos. This is cultural history at its very best.”
-- Simon Goldhill

"A stylish and original cultural history of Knossos."—Economist ― Economist

“Cathy Gere re-creates a century of bizarre misreadings of the nearly unknown ancient culture of Crete, and in doing so has produced that rarest of literary surprises: a genuinely hilarious work of Minoan historiography. . . . Gere tells some outlandish stories, but she never makes the protagonists themselves ridiculous.”
-- Benjamin Moser ― Harper's

“Fascinating and consistently entertaining. . . . It is a tribute to the wit and clarity of Gere’s style that she is able to explain all this without making the reader’s brain ache.”

-- Tom Holland ― Times Literary Supplement

"[A] brilliant study of the role of Knossos in twentieth-century culture. . . . Gere writes with clarity and wit, but she never sacrifices the fascinating complexity of her tale to a simple story line." -- Mary Beard ― New York Review of Books

“This is a wonderful, important, elegant, and well-written book. It constitutes a radical rereading of the archaeological process from the end of the nineteenth century to the middle of the twentieth, and it sheds new light both on the nature of archaeology at the time and on modernism as a philosophical and literary project. Different readers will be drawn to different aspects of Cathy Gere’s story but all will find it exciting and worthwhile.”
-- Yannis Hamilakis, author of The Nation and its Ruins: Antiquity, Archaeology, and National Imagination in Greece

“Cathy Gere writes with verve and clarity, and with Knossos and the Prophets of Modernism she offers a surprising juxtaposition of individual personalities and themes that gives us a new way of thinking about the cultural origins of some of the most interesting aspects of modern culture.”

-- Robert Nye, Oregon State University

"Gere develops a stunning study of the cultural impact of Evans’s interpretation of Minoan society as a pacifist haven inhabited by immigrants from Anatolia, Egypt, and Libya. . . . . Gere’s aim is not to criticize or defend them. Instead, she attempts to understand the archaeologists, architects, artists, classicists, writers, and poets who reconstructed Minoan Crete in our time. And she does so brilliantly."
― Library Journal

“This merger of past and present is at the heart of Cathy Gere’s richly textured and well-written cultural history. . . . The implications of this fascinating book extend far beyond the island that is its focus.”

― Science

"In this original, most readable, and at times mesmerizing book, Cathy Gere provides an historical and intellectual context for Arthur Evans's discovery and reconstruction of Knossos and Minoan civilization. . . . I think there is something of this wondrous quality in Gere's ability to discover links, connections, and underlying meanings in a dazzling array of archaeological, literary, and artistic works as well as between past, present, and future." -- Nicoletta Momigliano ― Bryn Mawr Classical Review

“Overall, this is an important contribution to our understanding of the role of archaeology and related fields in shaping the modern image of the past.” -- Yannis Galanakis ― Art Newspaper

"An excellent account. . . . Fascinating. . . . I am indebted." ― A. S. Byatt

About the Author

Cathy Gere is assistant professor at the University of California, San Diego, and the author of The Tomb of Agamemnon.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Chicago Press; Illustrated edition (April 30, 2011)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 287 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0226289540
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0226289540
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,796,703 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #200 in Modernism Literary Criticism (Books)
- #1,725 in Ancient & Classical Literary Criticism (Books)
- #48,132 in Philosophy (Books)

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3.9 28 ratings

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Carolyn P.

As Described

Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2024

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Quick shipping, accurate description. Very pleased.

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Art of Fact

Evans is just the canary in the coal mine.

Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2013

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In spite of a few minor factual errors, this should be required reading for any archaeologist or social scientist who makes use of archaeological data. Regardless of whether one accepts is premise, it raises important questions regarding the effect our individual experiences and the zeitgeist in intellectual circles has on our interpretation of ancient material. Although a large part of the story is widely known, the original insights that Gere brings to the more obscure relationships demonstrate just how deep the well goes. I suppose one can read it with a bemused expression at how quickly interpretations were tailored to fit ideological currency at the turn of the century, but I suggest one see a cautionary tale here. Those of us beginning the following century are not suddenly immune to being too quick to see our contemporary agendas corroborated in our research.

13 people found this helpful

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Voltaire

Who really were the Minoans?

Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2018

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The fundamental precept of this book is that archaeologists view/interpret what they see through their own psychology. The Minoan culture is a prime example to build this case on. Fundamentally, due to nearly a complete lack of any written record of Minoan culture nor any real artifacts, we know little of them yet there is a current picture of their society as a trade based, peaceful matriarchal, wealthy society. No evidence supports this. On the other hand, nothing contradicts it either.

The author takes major issue with the belief that the Minoans were relatively peaceful. Towards the end, the case is made that archeological records show early during the creation of the state various families/tribes fought. While this may be true, it is not proof that for the next 2000 years the Minoans lived on war and conquest of which no evidence exists to back thus assumption. Also, it's believed Crete may have never been totally unified as a single government during the Minoan era.

5 people found this helpful

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Some Good Advice

Its Too Bad The Minoans Were European

Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2020

Modernism is now over a century old. It was a rejection of the outdated modes of the Enlightenment. This book is continuing the tradition, but without adding anything new.

To be fair, the archaeological work of Sir Arthur Evans was very amateur compared to the more scientific methodologies adopted decades later. However, its easy to pass judgment when he was a product of the times.

This book was written with the conformist, modern prejudices that plagues our society. Snarky put downs with unwritten innuendos are the modus operandi here. It is implied that you are a racist if you enjoy European history without bashing it at every step. If you see any good in European civilization without balancing it out with accepted anti-Western talking points then it is implied that you are a fascist... Etc...

Even embracing feminist and pacifist values won't be enough for the shallow thinkers of today. Assigning those beliefs to Europeans is heretical. If the Minoans were not European then you would be considered racist or fascist not to assign feminist and pacifist values to them. This is our modern prejudice.

One person found this helpful

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Duchiffre

Disappointment - for me, that is

Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2013

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This book was a disappointment, as it did not teach me much about archeology or the Minoan civilization. Too bad Amazon does not provide an equal alternative to browsing in a book shop, because I missed the introduction which would have warned me. Instead, I learned much about how the author thinks Evans, Graves, H.D(oolittle), and some other distinguished scholars "must have felt". As if she knows, and I care...
Gere seems to base her judgement and understanding of Evans's opinions not on his argumentation but on his biography, which seems disastrous for two reasons. First, when dealing with someone's position in a discussion, one needs to probe the reliability and veracity rationally on the evidence we have, regardless from what might have influenced the person to such a view; second, biography is too dull a means to probe the origin of ideas, as many of the influences in someone's life remain concealed to the biographer. How do we know that it was the war experiences (which might have led another soul to fascism and militarism) that shaped Graves preference for an archaic matriarchy rather than the spirit of the post-war era, with its upcoming realization that the sexes are indeed equal? Besides, I got a strong suspicion of suggestive rather than rational persuasion to be the main means used in this book.
I did find some interesting biographical insights though, about some of the scholars discussed as well as their times.

9 people found this helpful

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j a haverstick

Interesting Tour Guide

Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2009

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To my luck, this book was released shortly before my planned vacation in Crete, site-not-to-be-missed being Knossos. The archeological museum was being renovated with only highlights on display. To my relief, the site was not as "restored" as the book might suggest. And most of the artifacts are not distorted either. (I do restoration for a living.) Given the overlays of interpretation of the Minoan remains (often contradictory), it was fascinating to hear the various licensed experts giving very often the same discredited spiel the author describes.

I thought this was a very good book on cultural history in the 20th cent, and the myth-making we often do with our archeology and ancient history. You can generalize this to most of the human sciences.

23 people found this helpful

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Garry lochard

Verry thoughtfully written

Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2013

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The author has taken great care to put the archaeological topic in its proper context, by bringing clarity in its prophetic relationship to other fields of knowledge such as visual arts, literature, philosophy, psychology etc. The author has opened a door unto the philosophy of nietzche in an enlightening way in this modernist context where clarity was lacking before. Clarity has been shed upon picasso's employment of the Minotaur as a symbol in his art. The author has made use of different views and angles from diverse disciplines to get the points across and has done a magnificent job in separating the fake from the genuine.

3 people found this helpful

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dan w carmichael

Great book – read it

Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2015

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This still is one of the best books I've read in years. I've given away a dozen copies, plus. I've given it to laborers, archaeologists, psychiatrists you get the idea. It's approachable by anyone and the message is clear. We contaminate our observations.

3 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Val McGuigan

Super informative book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 28, 2021

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Bought for my husband as we were visiting Crete. He’s glued to it all holiday

Frances Bryant-Scott

The Guide to Knossos You Need

Reviewed in Canada on January 15, 2019

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After visiting Knossos in Greece and seeing Sir Arthur Evans's reconstruction I was curious about the thinking and evidence behind it. Knossos is an ancient site on the island of Crete that Evans excavated from 1900 to the 1930s. He noted stages in construction and cultural artifacts that spanned almost a thousand years in the 2nd Millennium BCE. He knew that at some point the Myceneans - Greek speaking peoples from the mainland - came at some point towards the end of that time and most likely ended the rule of the previous population. He called this older civilization "Minoan", and from bits and pieces deduced that it was a Goddess worshipping peaceful society, excelling in art, dance, and enlightened rum, all of which was ended with the arrival of the warlike Myceneans, who took over the buildings but could only be a poor echo of the Minoan glories.
Professor Cathy Gere deconstructs this in this book. Evans suppressed evidence of the martial activities of the Minoan and commissioned modern artists to complete murals that existed only in fragments. Not surprisingly, the reconstructed art matched what he thought the culture would produce, and Evans was subsequently taken in by several masterful forgeries. Here runs through all the evidence and then shows how his reconstructions influenced such diverse people as Freud, Hilda Doolittle, and Robert Graves. The final chapter summarises the current state of archaeological knowledge about the Minoan culture, which has rejected many of his conclusions. This is the book that helps to tell what is Evans's version of Knossos, and what the evidence actually says and does not say.

Julian

Outstanding expose of the Knossos frauds.

Reviewed in Spain on March 6, 2013

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When I visited Knossos, I was really angry at the frauds Sir Arthur Evans did that destroyed the antiquities. I knew that his reinforced concrete fabrications were just his fantasy and was destroying the ruins so that later, more competent scholars, no longer have access to the archaeological record. But I had no idea of the virile interaction between Evans and other intellectual fads and architectural movements at the same time.

Gere's treatment of these connections are fantastic--a tour de force.

Dr. Richard Rathbone

Another stimulating book from Cathy Gere.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 9, 2013

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Cathy Gere's work continues to enthrall me. She has here, as she did with her fine book on Agemmenon, managed to contextualise exciting archaeology within its contemporary world-view whilst analysing the role that archaeological discovery has played in constructing world-views. All this is done without pretentiousness, neologisms or technicality. Gere writes accessibly and frequently with wit. Highly recommended.

One person found this helpful

M L Anderson

Subjective

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 10, 2024

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Purports to be a scholarly work yet appears to be cloyingly subjective and one might almost describe it as an agenda driven study in denigration. In this I agree with the customer who describes it as "prejudiced". A single (there are many) example is the way Gere insinuates, in her potted biography of the renowned classicist Jane Harrison, that her competence in her subject was perhaps not what it could have been. She also seems to take great delight in denigrating the poet Robert Graves. This is not what I would expect from a first rate and dispassionate scholarly study. There are plenty of those around. This is not one.

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