Dawn of the gods

Hawkes, Jacquetta. Dawn of the Gods: Minoan and Mycenaean Origins of Greece. With photographs by Dimitrios Harissiadis. London, Chatto & Windus, 1968. 19.5 x 26cm. Frontispiece, 303 pages, with text illustrations and 45 plates. Original clothbound hardcover with decorated endpapers and gilt top edges, with original dustjacket. Excellent condition with only very slight signs of external wear. Minor text markings. In this dramatic study of the beginnings of European history, Jacqueline Hawkes considers the culture of Minoan Crete and Mycenaean Greece, finding in their union the source of Classical Greek culture. The essentially feminine character of Minoan Crete, with its palaces and gardens and its exquisite paintings, sculptures, and ceramics, joins with the essentially masculine vigour of the Mycenaean kingdoms in the splendour of Bronze Age Greece. The poetry of Homer is seen as an element of continuity between this legendary period, which saw the dawn of the gods of Greece, and the golden age of Classical Greece which witnessed the dawn of our own era. [From jacket notes]