* Michael Ventris and John Chadwick, decipherers of the Linear B

The idea of a relation between the language of the Aegean Linear scripts was taken into consideration as the main hypothesis by Michael Ventris before discovering that in fact the language behind the more modern Linear B script was Mycenean, a Greek dialect.

It is basically a syllabary, that was finally deciphered by Michael Ventris and John Chadwick in the 1950s.

The decipherment of Linear B in the 1950s by Michael Ventris ( and others ) convinced many of a linguistic continuity between 13th century BC Mycenaean writings and the poems attributed to Homer.

* Ventris and Chadwick: Gods found in Mycenaean Greece: a table drawn up from Michael Ventris and John Chadwick, Documents in Mycenaean Greek second edition ( Cambridge 1973 )

In 1952, Michael Ventris discovered that Linear B was being used to write the early form of Greek known as Mycenaean.

Michael Ventris who, along with John Chadwick, successfully deciphered Linear B, also believed in a link between Minoan and Etruscan.

The grid developed during decipherment by Michael Ventris and John Chadwick of phonetic values for syllabic signs is shown below.

Michael George Francis Ventris, OBE ( 12 July 1922 – 6 September 1956 ) was an English architect who, along with John Chadwick and Alice Kober, deciphered Linear B, a previously unknown ancient script discovered at Knossos by Arthur Evans.

ca: Michael Ventris

cs: Michael Ventris

da: Michael Ventris

de: Michael Ventris

es: Michael Ventris

eo: Michael Ventris

fr: Michael Ventris

gl: Michael Ventris

is: Michael Ventris

it: Michael Ventris

la: Michael Ventris

nl: Michael Ventris

no: Michael Ventris

pl: Michael Ventris

He married Edith Jenkins, daughter of John Ventris Jenkins, in Brisbane on 28 May 1891.

John Chadwick ( 21 May 1920 – 24 November 1998 ) was an English linguist and classical scholar who, with Michael Ventris, was most notable for the decipherment of Linear B.

* Ventris, Michael ; Chadwick, John ( 1953 ) " Evidence for Greek Dialect in the Mycenaean Archives ", The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol.

* Mark Mothersbaugh, Laura Räty, Mona Lia Ventris, Andrew Todd, John C. Volaitis, Jim Goodwin, Bill Mumy, David Kendrick, Patricia Friedman, Denis M. Hannigan and Michael Alemania ( Adventures in Wonderland )

* Documents in Mycenaean Greek by Michael Ventris and John Chadwick ; documenting decipherment of Linear B writing.

A fragmentary Linear B tablet from Knossos ( tablet Xd 146 ) bears the name i-ja-wo-ne, interpreted by Ventris and Chadwick as possibly the dative or nominative plural case of * Iāwones, an ethnic name.

In 1956 Ventris and Chadwick committed to publication an idea that they had been considering previously :" Nor is there any evidence in the tablets of anything approaching currency.

Like the other archaeologists of the time, he never envisioned the palace economy as anything more than the day-to-day economics of the palace, although Ventris and Chadwick did remark on the " similarities in the size and organization of the royal palaces " of Nuzi, Alalakh and Ugarit.

Chadwick, who inherited the work and tradition of Ventris, in The Mycenaean World ( 1976 ), notably does not refer to a palace economy.

Wiener Staatsoper added it to its repertoire in January 2012 in a production by Jérome Deschamps conducted by Ingo Metzmacher starring Christopher Ventris as Jimmy and Angelika Kirchschlager as Jenny, notably casting young mezzo-soprano Elisabeth Kulman as Begbick, breaking the tradition of having a veteran soprano ( like Varnay or Jones ) or musical theater singer ( like Patti LuPone ) perform the role.

A prodigy in languages, Ventris had pursued the decipherment as an avocation since his teen-age years.

After creating a new field of study, Ventris was tragically killed in an automobile accident a few weeks before publication of its first definitive work, Documents in Mycenaean Greek.

Ventris was born into a traditional army family then coming to an end.

His grandfather and father, both named Edward Francis Vereka Ventris, reached the ranks of Major General and Lieutenant Colonel, respectively.

Her social background was similar to what Ventris ' had been: her family was well-to-do, she had travelled in Europe, and she was interested in architecture, in addition to which she was popular and was considered very beautiful.

No one, not even Ventris, suspected that it is the earliest known form of Greek.

Ventris was awarded an OBE in 1955 for " services to Mycenaean paleography.

" A few years after deciphering Linear B in 1951-1953, Ventris, who lived in Hampstead, died instantly in a late-night collision with a parked truck while driving home, aged 34.

Boys from Stowe school were in attendance at one lecture and tour conducted by Evans himself at age 85, walking with a stick, remembered by Ventris, who was present.

Ventris was 14.

During the interview period following the lecture Ventris confirmed that Linear B was as yet undeciphered, and determined to decipher it.

Ventris ' initial theory was that Etruscan and Linear B were related and that this might provide a key to decipherment.

Using this clue, Ventris constructed a series of grids associating the symbols on the tablets with consonants and vowels.

While which were these consonants and vowels remained mysterious, Ventris learned enough about the structure of the underlying language to begin guessing.

Noting that certain names appeared only in the Cretan texts, Ventris made the inspired guess that those names applied to cities on the island.

Armed with the symbols he could decipher from this, Ventris soon unlocked much text and determined that the underlying language of Linear B was in fact Greek.