Minoan Charioteer of Delphi

The " Charioteer of Delphi" is one of the best known ancient Greek staues and one of the best preserved items of classical bronze casts. It is considered a good examp;e of the " Serve" style. The sculpture shows the driver of the chariot race at the moment when he presents his chariot and horses to the spectators in his victory. The Charioteer of Delphi is one of the most important sculptures of ancient Greece because it clearly represents the passage from the Archaic conventions of the Classical ideals. It shows the balance between geometric representations and idealized realism, and capturing the moment in history when the western civilization leaped forward to show its own foundations that braced it for the new millennia. The facial expression of the statue shows none of the same that they would expect a victorious athlet to shows. Instead, the athletic youth stands and stares with a natural ease that allows him to levitate in a space between earthly and divine spaces.

Mycenaean Chariot Krater

The picture on both sides of the Krater follows the tradition of the Mycenaean chariot that represents from theb eginning of the 14th century B.C. Two tall figures that are wearing long, spotted robes stand in the chariot drawn by a pair of horses. Spots of paint on the box of the chariot may tell that it was covers with the hide of and ox. The horses follow the convention of Mycenaean vase painting: When two horses are meant to be represented, the painter, picks only one body, with two tails and two pairss of hindlegs and forelegs and two heads. High stemmed flowers decorate the background of the chariot. To the right, a female figure wearing a long robe stands with both arms raised and fingers out in a way that is a meaningful gesture. Her breasts are rendered as two spirals and the designs of her face are like those of the figures in the chairot. She is possibly saying goodbye to the warriors.

Zakros Palace

You can find the palace of Kato Zakros in the eastern end of Certe at the slopes of a low rocky hill that is surrunded by rugged moutains. A stone paved road took the people from the palace entrance to a nearby harbor which wasn't very far away. Zakros is the smallest of the Minoan palaces. It is about 5 times smaller then Knossos. Like the other Minoan palaces of Crete, Zakros was built around 1900 BC and most of the ruins go back to the Neopalatial period. Many of the buildings were more then one story with interior staircases and light wells. Since the palace of Zakro was built on very wet land, water was always something that had to be delt with. The palace has many features. Their is a number of drains, a old time bathroom, and a fountain. The palace's structure follows the typical Minoan outline. It has a large central court flanded by buildings for cult, storage, administration, and public events. If you went east of the main court you would find the chamers for the king and queen. The " Treasury of the Shrine" is the only room that was found untouched by robbers and held a bunch of precious artifacts. The wealth of imported items such as ivory, various metals, and semi- precious stones. A large amount of rare clay tablets in Linear A were also taken from the Archive room. Many of the tables that survived wre preserved because they were baked during the fire that destroyed the palace in 1450..