Sects and the city: factional ideologies in representations of performance from Bronze Age Crete

Abstract

Analyses of performance (and performance events) depicted in the iconography from Minoan Crete most often focus upon religious aspects of these activities. In this article, a performance approach is adopted; this alternative viewpoint emphasizes the significance of performances for materializing ideologies, reinforcing elements of the socio-political order and the negotiation of power relations. Using archaeological material from the Minoan period of Crete, the role of depictions of dances, bull leaping and boxing for the development of power relations and socio-political change are examined. It is concluded that both the representations of these activities and perhaps the activities themselves played significant roles in shaping competitive authority structures and a social order frequently influenced by competition among rival factions.