Greek Art circa 750-650 BCE ... Max Dashu
(the "Geometric Period," that is, the roots of classical Greece)
Women dancing on Boiotian pot, circa 640 BCE. Note the locked hair and the serpents rising up between the dancers.
More dancing women, again with profiles in the African style. They are holding plant sprigs in their clasped hands. Ten women dance around the vessel. Attica, circa 750 BCE.
These dancers with branchlets from Tiryns are older, dating to the Mycenean period. The water patterns may indicate that this was a rain-bringing ceremony.
Another example of women in the Libyan style, with locks. Their invocatory gesture indicates a ceremony, again appearing to call down waters from the heavens to fructify the earth.
This time the ritual gestures appear to be those of mourners, a common motif in this art, in keeping with the military themes of many vessels. Serpent panels also often appear on these amphorae which were placed at graves in memorial of the dead.
Another example of a snake pot, this time in sculptured form, in the Proto-Attic style. Athens, circa 650 BCE. A black panther is painted behind the woman in the center of the picture.
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