Divine Dialogues | The Roots of Rituals: Greek Mythology's Bronze Age Origins

For many years the Greek Bronze Age (3000–1100 BCE) could only be spotted in tantalising glimpses: names without Greek etymologies, strange details in Homeric poems, and myths describing palaces that couldn’t be found. However, modern archaeology has uncovered a faraway Greek past that is at once unfamiliar, and yet intrinsically connected to the later periods of Archaic and Classical Greece. The lives of the inhabitants of this period of Greek history—now known to us as the ‘Mycenaeans’ and ‘Minoans’—were not forgotten, but were instead incorporated into the myths, legends and stories that still inspire the modern world today.

Join Hellenic Museum presenter Natasha Marinopoulos for a guided tour exploring the Mycenaean and Minoan practices and beliefs that persisted beyond the collapse of Bronze Age Greece, as observed through the precious artefacts of Rituals: Gifts for the Gods.

Rituals: Gifts for the Gods is proudly presented by the Hellenic Museum in partnership with the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, and is now showing until late 2025. Generously supported by the Australian Government International Exhibitions Insurance Program and the Victorian State Government.