Ch9 Beginnings
9-2 The Mycenaean's
1. Mycenaeans
-grasslands of southern Russia
-kings built fortress-palaces on hilltops
-chief feature of palace was megaron
-land divided into estates
-slaves
-tenants
-large herds of cattle & hunting provided
meat
-first they were warriors
2. trading
-imitated Minoan gold & bronze work
-learned how to build ships & navigate
-grew olives & sold olive oil
-rich
-trading stations & settlements on
nearby islands
-rather war than trade
-fought one another
-civil war
-1400BC replaced Minoans as chief power
of the Aegean
3. Trojan War
-attacked major trading city of Troy in Asia
Minor(broke control of trading route)
-middle 1200BC
-500 yrs. After the attack, Homer writes
Iliad
-blind Greek poet (bard)
-may have come from Ionia
-war fought over women
-Helen of Troy
-fought for 10yrs
-archaeologists proved many of his
stories true
-Odysseus had soldiers build wooden
horse, best soldiers stayed inside,
soldiers killed king &burned city
-Homer wrote Odyssey
-about Odysseus hero
of Trojan War
4. Dark Ages
-civil wars & Dorian invaders led to
the Dark Age
-over seas trade stopped
-artistic skills disappeared
-no record were written
-Aegean cut off from Middle East
-people had to create new civilizations
on their own
-herding & farming main way of life
-local leaders chiefs/kings ruled small
communities
-people began calling themselves
Hellenes or Greeks
-rebuilding of the Aegean fell to the
Greeks