Alexa Bringhurst

Brooklyn Fernandez
P8

Women in the Aegean

1.The Minoan Snake goddess’ costume has many different elements, each depicting what
seems to be a common theme amongst the Minoan culture.
● The Goddess holds her arms above her head, snakes in each hand, in Minoan culture
snakes and serpents are seen as a symbol of fertility but were also viewed as a symbol
of sexual desire. It’s difficult to distinguish what snake means which, their meanings are
drastically different for being the same object. With the other artifact
● The Goddess wears a cat like creature on top of her head, felines were also seen as a
symbol for fertility and rebirth due to their having nine lives. Having the creature on her
head may be symbolic to how a woman might feel about herself, being able to create
live and in turn, be born again.
● Her breasts are hanging out of her dress and are very large, in early culture, large,
showing breasts in paintings often symbolized bountifulness and selflessness.
2. One can look to the Snake Goddess and feel empowered and delighted as a woman. The
strong willed, snake charming, life giving goddess can show a woman what they may be able to
accomplish in their time. A male may look to the goddess and see only the serpents she is
holding and relate it to something different.
3. Arthur Evans was a British archaeologist who was doing excavations in The Temple
Repositories; also known as the Palace of Knossos. Evans worked bore there for a report and
found the figurine now known as the Minoan Snake Goddess, he however, passed over it
believing it was just another treasure. He published a volume of The Palace of Minos and that
lead to the figurine taking its place as one of the most important pieces of art to help us
understand Minoan culture.
4. The snake goddess is a symbol for the fertility of the land, abundance of crops, and the
ability to create life and become new again
5. In minoan art women were alone or in groups and depicted as the leaders rather than the
dark-skinned men; Minoan women were also seen to be decorated and dressed as if they were
royalty while the men wore rags. This could be a symbol of as to how the women were treated
as queens and the men were peasants.