VERY ANCIENT GREECE
MINOAN Civilization-Crete & other
islands
MYCENEAN Civilization – mainland
Greece
Geography
• Consists of the
mainland (southern
part of the Balkan
Peninsula) which
extends into the
Mediterranean Sea.
• Also includes
thousands of islands,
largest of which is
Crete.
• Jagged coastline;
all parts close to
the sea.
• The Aegean Sea is
to the east.
• The Ionian Sea is
to the west.
• The southern part,
called the
Peloponnesus.
• It is almost cut off
by the Gulf of
Corinth.
GREECE-GEOGRAPHY
• Greece has thin, rocky soil
• No major rivers
• Jagged coastline; all parts
close to the sea.
• Because of this many early
people of Greece became
fishermen, sailors or traders
•
•
•
•
Aegean Sea
Ionian Sea
Gulf of Corinth
Peloponesus
• Geography made it hard for
early Greeks to develop a
sense of unity:
– Covered with rugged mountains
that made land travel difficult,
and therefore separated
communities from each other
and made it hard to unite.
– Rivers were short and shallow,
so they were not useful for
navigation & travel between
communities.
MINOAN CIVILIZATION• The earliest civilization in
what is now Greece was on
the island of Crete, and
arose about 3000BC,
flourished until about
1400BC
• This civilization is called
Minoan Civilization
• Named for Minos, the
legendary king of Crete in
the story of Theseus
• Excavated by Sir Arthur
Evans
Legends have bits of truth:
of Theseus has bits of truth!
• Minoan Crete may be the origin
of the legend of Atlantis.
• Minoan Crete was the setting
for the famous story of Theseus
– Crete ruled by king Minos
– On Crete, there was a maze-like
building called the labyrinth,
where a monster-the Minotaurhalf man/half bull lived
• Athens was required to
send 7 youth & 7
maidens to be eaten by
the Minotaur
• Theseus, son of
Aegeus, king of Athens,
volunteered to go.
• His father told him to
change the black sail to
white on the way home,
if he survived.
• King Minos’s
daughter Ariadne
gave him a knife and
a ball of string
• Theseus tied the
string to the door &
hid the knife
• He killed the
Minotaur & used the
string to find his way
back
• Theseus, Ariadne & the other Athenians
sailed away
• Theseus left Ariadne on an island
• Theseus forgot to change the sail to white,
and his father jumped in the Aegean Sea.
• Bits of truth
– Great civilization on Crete
– Great maze-like building, may correspond to
the Palace of Knossos
– Bulls had great importance
• Arose about 3000BC, but didn’t reach its
height until about 2000BC
• This civilization entered around several
palace centers, the largest being the
Palace of Knossos.
• These palace centers were not just the
residence of the ruler, but the hub of the
society. Rooms for storage of trade goods,
rooms where craftsmen worked, and
religious shrines.
• These palace center had advanced
plumbing, including running water &
Artist’s rendition of the Palace of
Knossos
• Palace of Knossos (over 1500 rooms)
– rooms for the storage of goods to be traded
– rooms where craftsmen worked
– rooms that appear to be religious shrines
– Beautiful open staircases & beautiful frescoes
(paintings made on wet plaster)
– Advanced plumbing, including running water &
sewage drains
WRITING
• Minoan Civilization had
writing, called “Linear A”,
but it has not been
deciphered
• The language is unknown
• Sailing and trade were the basis of the
wealth of Minoan civilization. Crete set up
trading posts on other Aegean islands &
was a hub of Mediterranean trade
• Relatively peaceful – no fortification walls
around the palaces, and no large stashes
of weapons. Art does not show scenes of
war. However, Crete had a strong navy to
protect trade.
• Religion: bulls and a
mother goddess
played an important
role.
• We know this from
statues & images of
bulls and bull horn,
as well as statues of
what seems to be a
mother goddess.
MOTHER GODDESS
• Art
– Shows a joyful culture, appreciation of nature,
much time spent outside.
– Famous frescoes ( paintings on wet plaster)
include: bull jumping, elegant ladies; leaping
dolphins
• Women apparently had high status,
because they are represented in art more
often than men and appear to be moving
freely in society.
What happened to Minoan Civilization
• About 1628BC-powerful
volcanic eruption on the
nearby island of Thera (70
miles away) caused damage
on Crete.
• Minoan civilization was
weakened and the fleet
probably destroyed. Minoan
civilization declined but did
not collapse—the palaces
were repaired.
Fall of Minoan Civilization
• About 1450BC– Crete was invaded and conquered by mainland
Greeks - Mycenaean Greeks.
– We know this because in 1450 they abruptly changed
language/writing system; stopped using Linear A,
started using Linear B.
• Linear A – undeciphered writing system, unknown language,
native to Minoan Crete.
• Linear B – writing system deciphered in 1953 by Michael Ventris; the
language is an early form of Greek, native to mainland Greece.
• About 1400BC the palaces and cities were abandoned.
The civilization came to an end. Maybe the Minoans
rebelled against the Greeks and there was a conflict that
destroyed the civilization.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jz3d5x-MUT4
MYCENAEAN CIVILIZATION-on
mainland Greece
• About 2000BC, another
Greek civilization arose
on the mainland of
Greece. They reached
their height around
1600BC
• It is called Mycenaean
civilization. The largest
city was Mycenae
• The Mycenaeans were the
early Greeks who lived on
and controlled the
mainland of Greece, from
about 2000BC-1200BC.
Mycenaeans/Minoans
• The Myceneans were
more warlike than
the Minoans.
• About 1450BC, the
Mycenaeas invaded
and took control of
Crete
• This led to the
downfall and
disappearance of
Minoan civilization in
about 1400BC.
Archeological Excavations
• Both the city of Troy
and the city of
Mycenae were
excavated by
Heinrich Schliemann
• The island of Crete
with its beautiful
palace of Knossos was
excavated by Sir
Arthur Evans
Mycenaeans - warlike
• The Mycenaeans were apparently very war-like,
much more so than the Minoans.
• We can tell this from the fact that their cities
were surrounded by thick walls, and many
weapons have been found in them.
• Also, the most famous story about them, the
story of the Trojan War, is about warfare.
• They lived by trading and by raiding other
people around the Mediterranean
Mycenae – Lion Gate
• They were a wealthy
culture, with large
amounts of gold in
their tombs.
• Homer repeatedly
called the city of
Mycenae, “Mycenae
rich in gold”.
Social/Polical organization
• * Mycenaean society had
family groups, clans and
tribes.
• At the basis of society was the
family group. Several family
groups made up a clan
(several related families),
which was led by a warrior.
• Several clans made up a
tribe. Each tribe (several
clans) was led by a War Chief
or Warrior King.
• The King of Mycenae
was called the “High
King”, who had
authority over the
lower kings who led
each tribe.
• The Mycenaeans did have a writing system. It is
called Linear B.
• It was translated in the 1950s by Michael Ventris.
• Michael Ventris found that Linear B was an earlier
form of written Greek, with basically the same
language (although an older version) but entirely
different written symbols from the ones later used
by the Greeks.
• Remember, Linear A was the Minoan written
language, and it has not been decifered.
What we know about the Mycenaeans
• In about 1450BC, the
Mycenaeans invaded &
conquered Crete and the
Minoan Civilization. This led
to the downfall and
disappearance of Minoan
civilization in about 1400BC.
• As you already know, the
Minoan civilization
disappeared about 1400BC,
about 50 years after the
Mycenaeans conquered it.
• About 1250BC, the
Mycenaeans launched
an attack & destroyed
the city of Troy, on the
coast of Asia Minor. This
was the great “Trojan
War”.
• The Trojan War was almost certainly a real war.
• However, the story of the Trojan War was told orally for
about 500 years, and the details greatly embellished. It
was written down by Homer in about 750BC, in his
great epics:
•
“The Iliad” – epic about the “wrath of Achilles”, an
incident involving the Greek hero Achilles in the 9th year
of the Trojan War.
•
“The Odyssey” – epic about the homeward journey
of the Greek hero Odysseus after the Greeks took Troy.
• These epics were read and revered by later
Greeks: What we learn about the Greeks and
their values:
– High value placed on personal excellence
(arete) , including courage and skill in
warfare, as well as cleverness.
– The were very competitive.
– Friendships & camaraderie among men were
of the greatest importance
– They had many gods, and these gods had
personalities much like humans. They were
often less moral than humans. They were
often vain, selfish and vengeful.
• Mycenean civilization declined sharply
around 1200BC. By 1100BC, Mycenaean
Civilization was extinguished.
• The palaces, including Mycenae, were
abandoned. Writing was forgotten. There
was a decline in population and wealth.
The Greek Dark Age began.
THE DARK AGE OF GREECE: About
1100BC-800BC
• By 1200BC, Mycenaean Civilization was
declining.
• By 1100BC Mycenaean Civilization has
disappeared, and Greece had entered a “dark
age”. It lasted 1100BC-800BC
• Population declined, most trade stopped,
wealth declined.
• Over several generations, people even forgot
the skill of writing. Linear B was never used
again.
Dark Age of Greece-Reasons for the
decline of Mycenaean Civilization
• Possible reasons?
• Attacks from the north by a people called
the Dorians.
• Attacks around the coasts by the Sea
People (Around 1200BC, areas all around
the Eastern Mediterranean were being
attached by pirates called the Sea
People.)
REVIVAL OF GREECE AFTER
THE DARK AGE:
• By 800BC, the population was increasing
again and trade was reviving.
• About 800BC, the Greeks rediscovered the
skill of writing. They adopted a modified
version of the Phoenician alphabet.
• About 750BC, Homer wrote the Iliad and
Odyssey.
Revival of Greece after the Dark
Age
• Also, about 750BC, because the
population had increased, many citystates sent men out to form colonies in
other lands around the eastern
Mediterranean.
• Greek civilization spilled out to the lands
around them, the islands of the Aegean
and Ionian Seas, the coast of Asia Minor,
the island of Sicily.
Political Organization - Polis
• Mountains divided the communities from
each other. Communities did not unite!
The formed city-states.
• Greek city state was called a polis. A polis
included a city & the farmland & farming
villages around it that supplied it with
food. It was a small independent country.
• Most poleis (plural of polis) were small in
area of land, as well as in population.
Polis – Features and Layout
• Most poleis (plural of
polis) were small in area
of land, as well as in
population.
• Usually had a hill in the
middle called acropolis
“high city” with temples
on it.
• Usually had a market,
called an agora, at the
bottom of the hill.
Polis
• The citizens of a polis felt intense loyalty to their own
polis and intense rivalry with the others!
• Each polis was politically independent of the other, and
the Greeks placed great value on the independence of
their polis.
• The polis was the center of a Greek man’s identity.
• Rarely would a man say, “I am a Greek”.
– He would say, “I am an Athenian.” or “I am a Spartan”, etc.
What Greeks had in common
• Despite the fact that each polis was
independent, all Greeks had some things in
common:
– They spoke the same language (and
considered those who did not speak Greek to
be barbarians);
– they shared many religious ideas (Greek gods
& mythology);
– they share many cultural characteristics;
– they shared many festivals, which brought all
the Greeks together, such as the Olympics.
Religion
• Did not emphasize morality
• Did not emphasize life after death. Greeks
believed all people went to Hades, a
gloomy place: no reward, no punishment.
• Religion did:
– explain nature,
– explain human emotions,
– provide a way to try to get the gods to give
you benefits in this life.
• The very early Greeks
viewed the afterlife as
existence in a
shadowy place called
Hades, with no
punishment or reward
• It was gloomy and
without pleasure. To
get to it, you crossed
a series of rivers,
including the Styx
• A bit later they added
that a few very great
sinners would receive
punishment, and a
few great heroes,
went to the “Elysian
Fields”. But most
people received
neither punishment or
reward
• Myths stories about
the gods &
goddesses, who had
personalities & faults
• Gods & Goddesses
such as Zeus (king),
Hera (queen),
Poseidon (sea);
Athena (wisdom);
Apollo (light and
reason); Dionysus
(wine); lived on Mount
Olympus
Oracles
• Oracles: special
places (also the term
is used for the
person) where a god
spoke through a
priest or priestess and
foretold the future:
most famous: Oracle
of Apollo at Delphi
Sacrifices
• The Greeks sacrificed
animals to the gods
OLYMPIC GAMES
• Held every 4 years in
honor of Zeus
• Held in Olympia
• Held for the first time in
776BC – this became the
Greek “year 1”. They
counted years by the
Olympic games.
• Foot races, boxing,
javelin and discus
throwing, wrestling
• Only men watched
(women had their own,
less important, games)
Stages in the development of
the government of a polis
• A typical polis went through a series of
changes in its type of government from
about 800BC until about 500BC.
• All started out as small monarchies. Some
eventually developed into democracies.
• This is how it happened:
Stages in the development of the
government of a polis
• 1) MONARCHY- “rule by one”.
• Around 800BC, most poleis were small
monarchies ruled by chieftains
Stages in the development of a polis
(2)ARISTOCRACY-rule by the aristocrats (nobles)
who inherited their position
* By 700BC, in most poleis, the aristocrats (nobles) had
overthrown their kings or chieftains and shared power
among themselves.
* This happened because over time, the aristocrats
(wealthy land-owners who inherited their wealth) took on
more and more power, partly because they could afford
horses and weapons needed to defend the polis
Stages in the development of
the government of a polis
(3) Oligarchy-rule by a few rich men.
* An oligarchy is almost the same thing as an aristocracy
• Literally means: rule by a few.
• An oligarchy is rule by a few wealthy people who may or
may not have inherited their wealth.
• Between 700BC and 600BC, many poleis changed from
aristocracies to oligarchies
Stages in the development of
the government of a polis
(4)TYRANNY-Rule by a leader who took power illegally but
favored the common people.
In about 600BC,in many Greek poleis, a leader
popular with the common people took power, usually
illegally. These leaders enacted reforms demanded by
the common people. Some were very good leaders,
while some were bad leaders. Whether good or bad,
they were called “tyrants”.
Stages in the development of
the government of a polis
5) DEMOCRACY – rule by all the (male)
citizens.
* By about 500BC, some of the Greek city states
had thrown out their “tyrants” and started a
democracy, in which decisions were made in an
assembly of all male citizens, regardless of
wealth.
* Athens – most famous democracy.
* Women, slaves and metics (resident noncitizens) were not included.
Developments in the military
• About 600BC, Greeks
started to use iron.
• Use of iron made
weapons more affordable
• More men could afford to
own weapons and
participate in the military.
• The term for a Greek
armed foot soldier was a
hoplite
• Armies of hoplites, who
were ordinary citizens,
replaced the old
aristocratic cavalry.
Developments in the military
• Greeks invented a new
military formation-the
phalanx-a formation of
many of hoplites who
stood shoulder to
shoulder.
• Each man had a shield
and spear. Each man’s
shield covered himself
and the person to his left.
• Trust was essential to a
phalanx. If one man
broke and ran, it
endangered all the
others.
How the military contributed
to the changes in government
• As common men
became more
important in
defense of their
polis, they
demanded a
government
more responsive
to their needs