Minoan Frescoes and the Greek Poetic Cosmos: Visual Imagery in Early Greek Thought
Provider: Grantová agentura ČR
Programme: Standardní projekty
Implementation period: 01.01.26 - 31.12.28
Workplace:
Fakulta filozofická - Oddělení religionistiky
Investigator: Valentinová LucieTeam member: Václavík Radek František
Description:
Could Minoan visual culture have shaped Homer’s cosmological imagination and contributed to the formation of early Greek thought? While scholarship foregrounds Near Eastern influences, this project integrates religious studies, classical philosophy, and visual archaeology to explore overlooked links between Minoan visual-spatial conventions and early Greek cosmology. Analyzing non-narrative strategies (vertical perspective, suppressed focalization, map-like composition) it identifies continuities between Minoan frescoes and Homeric perception of space, especially as manifested in the ekphrastic description of the Shield of Achilles—continuities that have been largely overlooked by narrative-centered approaches. Through visual documentation, comparative inquiry into ancient color perception, and close philosophical-textual analysis, the project aims to reconstruct conceptual bridges linking Minoan artistic practices with foundational Greek cosmological terms such as kosmos and physis. In doing so, it offers a new perspective on the intellectual history of the ancient Mediterranean.
Could Minoan visual culture have shaped Homer’s cosmological imagination and contributed to the formation of early Greek thought? While scholarship foregrounds Near Eastern influences, this project integrates religious studies, classical philosophy, and visual archaeology to explore overlooked links between Minoan visual-spatial conventions and early Greek cosmology. Analyzing non-narrative strategies (vertical perspective, suppressed focalization, map-like composition) it identifies continuities between Minoan frescoes and Homeric perception of space, especially as manifested in the ekphrastic description of the Shield of Achilles—continuities that have been largely overlooked by narrative-centered approaches. Through visual documentation, comparative inquiry into ancient color perception, and close philosophical-textual analysis, the project aims to reconstruct conceptual bridges linking Minoan artistic practices with foundational Greek cosmological terms such as kosmos and physis. In doing so, it offers a new perspective on the intellectual history of the ancient Mediterranean.
