An
Introduction
to
The Greek
World
Sources
Primary Sources: works produced within a culture:
•art and architecture
•literature and written records of other sorts (business lists
etc.)
Secondary Sources: Commentary by modern authors on the
ancient cultures:
•textbooks and other modern writings
Internet Resources:
•can be primary sources (if they reproduce texts or images
from the original culture)
•or secondary sources (if they are modern commentary)
Greece in the Mediterranean
The Greek Environment
The Greek Landscape
http://www.ancient-greece.org/map.html
Prehistoric Greece
First settlers: c. 50,000 BCE
Agriculture develops: c. 7000 BCE
Bronze appears: c. 3000 BCE
Abbreviations:
BCE= Before the common era
CE= common era
c. = circa (about)
Prehistoric Greece
The culture of
the Cyclades
(Cycladic
Islands)
The Bronze Age (c. 3000
BCE – c. 1200 BCE)
Three civilizations develop
in three different parts of
the Greek world:
Mycenaean
culture
develops in
the
mainland of
Greece
The
Minoans
lived on the
Island of
Crete
Cycladic Culture
The Cycladic culture is known for its
figurines (also called “idols”) which were
found in tombs and could be objects of
personal devotion (like icons in modern
Greece).
Cycladic
culture was
closely allied
with the
Minoan
civilization.
“Idol”: Vroma
Flying fish: R. Basic
Minoan Culture
Minoan culture was characterized by:
•palaces, built on an open plan, with a
great many rooms, but without
fortifications
Thera Freso, R. Basic
•an apparent focus on
the ocean, including
seafaring and trade
Minoan Culture
Fresco, R. Basic
Sacred images often
focused on the mysterious
labrys (double ax), and on
bulls, including the
enigmatic representations
of bull-leaping
There are many
images of
women, often
portrayed in
positions of
authority
Minoan civilization
may have been
more egalitarian
with worship
oriented toward
female deities
Priestess, Thera
fresco, R. Basic
Minoan Culture
Minoan figurine
•faience (quality
workmqnship, highly
specialized technique)
•what are the figure’s
attributes (iconography)?
•what did she represent
within her society?
Minoan Culture
Detail of a sacrifice from Minoan Crete, 1450- 1400 BCE.
Mycenae’s
Lion Gate,
R. Basic
In contrast, Mycenaean
palaces are fortified with
huge walls and built to
withstand siege.
Mycenaean Culture
Mycenaean art tends to emphasize
hunting and warfare, while other
indicators (i.e. grave goods) argue
for a warrior-dominated society.
“Mask of Agamemnon,” Artchive
Mycenaean Culture
Fresco fragment depicting Mycenaean woman; 13th century BCE
Upheavals ...
In about 1400 BCE,
the volcanic island of
Thera exploded in a
disaster whose
atmospheric effects
were felt around the
world.
Probably, ashfall
ruined agriculture for
years.
Possibly, a tidal wave
destroyed the Cretan
navy and led to the fall
of Minoan culture.
Thera fresco,
R Basic
Mycenaean Dominance
Warrior Vase, R.
Basic
Minoan civilization suffers a
major setback. Soon, the local
writing system, Linear A,
disappears. Linear B, a form
of Greek, used by the
Mycenaeans, appears in Crete.
Minoan civilization is dead, but Mycenae flourishes.
Linear B tablets reveal a complex economic and religious
world.
Many of the names of classical Greek gods appear on these
early bronze age tablets.
The “Dark Age”
By about 1200 BCE,
nearly all of the Bronze
Age power centers had
been destroyed or fallen
into disuse.
Greece entered a “dark
age” in which
monumental building
and art were not
practiced.
But the culture continued
to develop and expand.
Archaic Greece
Some cities lost prominence, others
became more important.
Greeks colonized the coast of Asia
Minor and Southern Italy.
By 750 BCE, national sanctuaries at
Delphi and Olympia were formed.
Agriculture intensified and population
grew.
The first poets whose works are
preserved in writing, Homer and
Hesiod, were composing their epic
works.
Classical Greece: The Polis
Individual city-states (polis,
pl. poleis) developed
Each had its own
governmental system, laws,
and religious festivals
All shared language, literature,
and the same divine pantheon
Most shared similar ideas
about gender roles, division
of labor, sexuality, education,
and family identity.
Polis and Community
Shared Government
Shared laws
Shared religious festivals
Shared myths
Agriculture
Family Groups
Men’s Social Roles
Social Roles varied from society to
society; some widespread
phenomena:
Farming work or overseeing
farming work on one’s own land
Service in the military
Participation in government to the
extent allowed by the state’s
constitution
Participation in rituals of one’s
state
Education of one’s children
Women’s Social Roles
To marry and bear citizen
children
To care for the household
resources
To spin and weave
To participate in the state’s
religious rituals
Daily Life
Drawing water at a
fountain – onerous
duty but also social
time
Daily Life
Spinning and Weaving
Daily Life
Woman at a laver
(wash basin) having
filled it with a water
jar
Daily Life
Woman
sacrificing
Daily Life
Caring for
children
Sexuality
Sexuality was not a matter of the
partner’s gender (male vs. female) but
concerned active vs. passive roles.
Active roles were appropriate for
grown men, whether the partner was
male or female
Passive roles were appropriate for
women and to some extent, teenaged
men, but not for adult males
How far did the reality match the
ideal? Public vs. private? Hard to say
…
The Greek Gods
The Greek gods were a family, led by
Zeus, whose authority commanded his
two brothers, three sisters and eight
children. In myth, the family
squabbled and fought, a macrocosm
of real families; the goddesses, while
under paternal authority, often
pursued their own agendas.
Zeus, a sky god, and was seen as a
moral and ethical force.
On the other hand, myth abounded
with stories of his seduction of mortal
women.
Zeus and Hera
Hera, Zeus’s sister, was
his wife and queen. Zeus
and Hera’s marriage was
portrayed as rocky and
contentious in myth, but
in cult and art it
represented the ultimate
divine marriage as a
model for humans.
Hera was a beautiful,
desirable bride, Zeus a
manly, welcoming
husband.
Poseidon and Hades
Zeus’s brother Poseidon was god of
the sea, while his brother Hades ruled
the underworld with his wife,
Persephone
Demeter and
Persephone
Demeter is the grain god,
and Persephone, her
daughter by Zeus, is the
queen of the underworld.
Their mother-daughter
relationship represents the
life-affirming process of
yearly cycles and crop
fertility, where death is
transformed into life.
Athena
Athena, born from her father Zeus’s head, was goddess of
warfare, but also of intelligence and women’s crafts, especially
weaving.
Artemis
Artemis, the huntress,
remained forever a
virgin, roaming the
wilderness, a liminal
and often threatening
figure
Yet her other aspect
was to promote the
fertility of animals,
aid in childbirth, and
oversee the transition
of virgins into brides
Apollo, Artemis’ twin
brother, was the beautiful,
unapproachable god of
music, poetry and prophecy
Apollo and
Hermes
Hermes, another
youthful god, was
both divine messenger
and trickster
Aphrodite
Aphrodite was the goddess of love,
symbolizing intoxicating sexuality and
beauty.
In myth she is often portrayed as a
willful “girly-girl,” but she is elsewhere
portrayed as a powerful, personallyaccessible goddess.
Hephaestus
and Ares
Hephaestus, the lame god of the forge
and craftsmanship, was married to
Aphrodite – the ugliest god married to
the most beautiful.
Ares, god of war, was Aphrodite’s lover.
Dionysus
Dionysus was the god of wine. His celebration could involve loss
of self and ecstasy, and was particularly appealing to women.
finis