Cathy Gere . Knossos and the Prophets of Modernism . Chicago : University of Chicago Press . 2009 . Pp. x, 277. $27.50.

Abstract

Cathy Gere has written a thought-provoking and worthy successor to her first book, The Tomb of Agamemnon (2006). Like that earlier work—a study of the excavations at Mycenae and their political and cultural impact—this book provides an incisive, illuminating analysis of the use and abuse of the past. Approaching ideas and images of Knossos as modern-day projections, Gere dissects intellectualized myths about the timeless, prophetic quality of the ancient past. In the process, she provides a sober meditation on the dilemmas of historical analysis and the nature of modernist consciousness. The book divides thematically into two parts: a history of archeology leading to the Knossos excavation, and a study of the literary revival and diffusion of the Knossos legend. The first part focuses on the archeological luminary Arthur Evans and his reconstruction of the ancient palace of Knossos. Few historical discoveries are as closely associated with one person as the palace on Crete is tied to Evans. Gere's discussion of Evans is one of the book's strengths and presents an example of Gere's skillful, balanced combination of biographical study and political and cultural analysis.