The
important position of the bull in various manifestations of the
civilization of prehistoric Crete led the ancient Greek and then the
Roman writers to the written words of the mythical circle of Crete, in
which the figures of Europe, bull, Pasiphae, Minotaur, Theseus, Ariadne,
Daedalus, Icarus, Labyrinth and Dionysus dominated.
Until the beginning of the 20th century the figures of mythic
Crete inspired various important artists, who produced interesting
works with subjects that derived from their adventures. However, in the
beginning of the 20th century the excavation of the palace of Knossos by
Arthur Evans and various other reasons contributed in the overwhelming
influence of the myths of Crete in modern thought and in the significant
increase of their appearance in the artistic creation. This phenomenon
fited in and was connected closely with the birth of psychoanalysis by
Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung leading its specialists to the effort of the
access of the unconscious symbolism of the presence of the Minoan
figures in the works of the avant – garde artists.
The
first modern artist who presented many works inspired by the cretan
myths was Giorgio de Chirico, whose most important relative series of
works was the “Italian Squares”. However, the Minoan myths brought very
significant influence to the works of the surrealist artists, with most
important example this of André Masson and to the work of the unique
Pablo Picasso. Of course for the surrealists the Minoan figures in full
symbolized a utopian social vision and especially the Minotaur
symbolized a supernatural force, directed against the laws of nature and
insulting the gods. On the contrary, for Picasso the Minotaur, with
whom he often identified himself, symbolized human’s coexisting two
conflicting sides: that of animal instincts and the second of the desire
for conquest of harmony and balance. The most characteristic work of
Masson was the "Labyrinth" (1938) while “Vollard Suite” (1930 – 1937),
“Minotauromachia” (1935) and the famous “Guernica” (1937) belonged to
the most remarkable relative works of Picasso.
The
psychological interpretation of the emergence of mythical Crete in
modern art, which preoccupied the fathers of psychoanalysis, still
employs today relevant researchers, who sometimes attach to the stories a
male chauvinist character, sometimes relate them to the psychoanalytic
process itself, with which man seeks out and meets the Minotaur, who
lurks in the dark labyrinth of the inner world and sometimes associate
it with the same labyrinthine life of every man.
Triantafyllia Pineli, October 2012.
