The Bull of Minos [antikvár]

preface to the second editionThis book was planned in 1951, written in 1952 and 1953 and published at the end of that year. While it was in the press, there were several remarkable developments in Aegean archaeology which it was not possible to include in the former edition except in the form of a brief Appendix. These were the discovery at Mycenae of an entirely "new" Grave Circle containing rich treasures of Mycenaean art; other noteworthy finds by the late Professor Wace in the area beyond the walls of the Citadel; and last, but not least, the partial decipherment of the Minoan/Mycenaean "Linear B" script by Michael Ventris.I have taken the opportunity of bringing the book up to date by the addition of two Appendices, and making sundry revisions in the rest of the text. At the same time the body of the book remains much the same, based as it was on a visit I made to Greece and Crete in the Spring of 1951. The new discoveries, though they have opened up new and exciting vistas, do not affect the historical part of the narrative; in fact it is impossible properly to appreciate the significance of the new developments until one has studied the conclusions reached by Schliemann and Evans.It remains for me to express my gratitude to the authors whose works form the principal basis of this book.Any author attempting to write a book on the rise of the Minoan civilization must inevitably draw deeply from Sir Arthur Evans's great work, The Palace of Minos. My chief debt of gratitude is, therefore, to Sir Arthur's literary executors, to the Clarendon Press and to Messrs. Macmillan, for allowing me not only to quote from the book, but also to reproduce some of the unique illustrations of Minoan culture in which it is so rich.I am also grateful to the British Broadcasting Corporation, who made it possible for me to visit Greece and Crete in connection with my radio documentary programs on Heinrich Schliemann and Sir Arthur Evans.I would also like to express my gratitude for the help given by the late Professor Alan Wace, who kindly read my manuscript,ix