History / Evolution of Civilization
07-INTRODUCTION TO GREEK HISTORY
Prof.Dr. Halit Hami ÖZ
Kafkas Üniversitesi/Kafkas University
Kars, Turkey
hamioz@yahoo.com
INTRODUCTION TO GREEK HISTORY
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The Greek dream begins with a pepole we call the Minoans, a people who lived, not in
Greece proper, but in an island of the Greek coast, Crete.
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The Minoans created the first great civilization in Europe, getting their start perhaps as
early as 3000 BC and reaching their height around 2000-1500 B.C.
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Unfortunately, we don't know as much about them as we would like: we can't read most
of what they wrote, and what little we can read is nothing more than business records.
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But archaeological discoveries (and Greek legend) suggest that they achieved a very
advanced civilization.
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The Minoans had indoor plumbing, and living standards higher than Europe would see
again for 3000 years.
It's natural enough that the memory of this civilization would make later peoples think
they had achieved a golden age and perhaps even exagerate their achievements.
The Minoans probably are the source of the Atlantis legend, a legend that still fascinates
people today.
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INTRODUCTION TO GREEK HISTORY
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Equally interesting is the next great phase of Greek civilization, Mycenaean Greece (15001200 B.C.).
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With the Mycenaeans, we are a little luckier: we can read their writing.
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Unfortunately, once again what we have is mostly business texts--and there's not much
fascinating in that!.
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But we also have another source for Mycenaeans: the poems of Homer, the Iliad and the
Odyssey.
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The heroes Homer writes about (Agamemnon, Achilles, Odysseus, etc.) lived during the
Mycenaen period. Just stories?
Historians once thought so, but Archaeology has tended to confirm things Homer says
about Mycenaean age.
And notice the dream: the characters in Homer's poems are still figures we feature in
movies and books from time to time--although moderns sometimes twist the stories in
rather odd ways--as does James Joyce in Ulysses.
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INTRODUCTION TO GREEK HISTORY
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The Trojan War was the last great adventure of the Mycenaean
period.
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Around 1200 BC or a bit later, the Mycenaeans were attacked by
new Greek speakers: the Dorians.
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With their iron weapons, the Dorians were able to dominate much
of Greece and, unfortunately, their invasion led first to a period of
decline.
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Among other losses, writing disappears, so we don't know much
directly about the Dorian period.
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It was in many senses a dark age--but a dark age gave rise to one of
the most impressive civilizations the world has ever seen.
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INTRODUCTION TO GREEK HISTORY

The Greek political system that emerged during the dark ages was
based around what the Greeks called the polis (the word which, by
the way, gives us our words political and politics).
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The polis was a city-state: not a kingdom or empire, but an
independent, self-governing community very similar to the Egyptian
nomes or the first Sumerian cities.

Polises ranged from a few thousand, as many as 200,000.
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But whether big or small, each polis has its own facinating story to
tell.
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There's Corinth: the San Franisco of the ancient world, a wealthy
trading city, full of the finest in Greek culture, but also a city of
thousands of prostitutes.
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INTRODUCTION TO GREEK HISTORY
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If you wanted to go out partying in the ancient world, you said you
were going on "Corinthing"--behaving as they did in Corinth.
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And then there's Thebes, a city that suffered military defeat after
military defeat--until they put together an army dominated by
homosexuals and became, for a short time, the dominant power in
Greece.
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And speaking of homosexuals, there's Lesbos--an island polis.
Lesbos is the island where the great Greek poetess Sappho taught.
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Sappho's poems expressed such warm emotion for her female
students that passionate love of one woman for another has gone
ever since by the name of her island, lesbian. I tell you, the Greeks
name everything.
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INTRODUCTION TO GREEK HISTORY
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But the most fascinating of all the polises, and the most important, were Sparta and Athens.
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Some of you are familiar with part of the Spartan story from the move "300."
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If you saw the older movie, Three Hundred Spartans, you'd have a far more accurate picture.
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But note here: the Spartans are a people whose story we still tell, who still make us dream.
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Now Sparta at first was little different than other city states.
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But the city began to change after a series of wars with neighboring Messenia.
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The Spartans acquired thousands of slaves (helots) and lots of good agricultural land.
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Nice! But to maintain the upper hand, the Spartans had to turn themselves into a military machine:
every aspect of Spartan life was devoted to military succes.
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INTRODUCTION TO GREEK HISTORY
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Sparta's precarious position created a need for a cautious,
conservative governmental system.
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They adopted for themselves a mixed constitution with plenty of
checks and balances.
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Sparta had an unusual dual monarchy: two kings! The also had a
council of older men (the Gerousia) composed of 28 men plus the
two kings to guide Spartan policy.
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Most interesting was the democratic aspect of the Spartan
system. All arms-bearing men over 30 served in the Apella, a kind
of assembly, that had the ultimate say in all issues.
But their was never any debate in the Apella: it was all straight up
or straight down voting. And the voting was done by acclamation:
whichever side shouted the loudest got its way!
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INTRODUCTION TO GREEK HISTORY
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The lifestyle of Spartan men was designed to produce warriors. And if you didn't have the
aptitude to be a warrior, there was no need to worry: you didn't make it.
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Any baby boy who didn't pass the initial health inspection by the Spartan ephors was
simply killed.
Spartan boys left home at the age of 7, and, for the next years of their lives, they trained
constantly in all of those skills useful to good soldiers.
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They were taught to read and write--and sing! And they were taught discipline and selfdenial.
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They lived what we still call a "Spartan" lifestyle: no frills at all.
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A visiting Athenian said that one taste of Spartan food and you knew why Spartans didn't
care whether they lived or died in battle.
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INTRODUCTION TO GREEK HISTORY
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Spartan boys were taught to steal--but that it was a disgrace to be caught.
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Once, so the story goes, a Spartan boy had stolen a fox.
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He was about to be caught, so he hid it under his robe. The fox began to bite. He didn't
utter a sound. It continued to bite.
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Only when he dropped dead of his bites was the fox discovered. That's discipline!
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In general in military societies, the status of women goes down. This was not true in
Sparta.
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Women tended to run things--so much so that other Greeks disapproved.
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"Why is it that Spartan women are the only women in Greece who rule men?" asked a
disparaging Athenian woman.
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The Spartan queen Gorgo replied, "Because Spartan women are the only ones who give
birth to men
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INTRODUCTION TO GREEK HISTORY
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It is a beautiful thing when a good man falls and dies fighting for his country.
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The worst pain is leaving one's city and fertile fields for the life of a beggar,
wandering with mother, old father, little children, and wedded wife.
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The man beaten by need and odious poverty is detested everywhere he goes,
a disgrace to his family and noble appearance, trailed by dishonor and evil.
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If no one takes care of the wanderer or gives him honor, respect, or pity,
we must fight to the death for our land and children, giving no thought to lengthening life.
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Fight in a stubborn, close array, my boys! Never waver or retreat!
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Feel your anger swell. There is no place in combat for love of life.
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Older soldiers, whose knees are not so light, need you to stand and protect them.
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An aging warrior cut down in the vanguard of battle disgraces the young. His head
is white, his beard is grey, and now he is spilling his powerful spirit in dust,
naked, clutching his bloody groin: a sight for shame and anger.
But youthful warriors always look good, until the blossom withers.
Men gape at them and women sigh, and dying in combat they are handsome still.
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Now is the time for a man to stand, planting his feet and biting his lip.
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INTRODUCTION TO GREEK HISTORY
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Even Spartan poetry was designed for a warrior society.
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The Spartans also left us some famous "laconic" phrases
(Laconia is the region around Sparta). A laconic phrase is
short and to the point. Examples:
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1. When Spartan men went to battle, they'd be handed a
shielf and with it two words from their mom or wife: "with it
or on it."
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Come back with your shield victorious or on your shield
dead!
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INTRODUCTION TO GREEK HISTORY
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2. After a famine, one of Sparta's allies needed relief. They made a long speech to the
Spartans explaining what they wanted.
The Spartans told them the speech was so long that, by the time they got to the end, the
Spartans had forgotten what they wanted in the first place.
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The allies got the idea and tried again. They held up a sack and said, "The sack needs
grain."
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Much better, said the Spartans. But you could have shortened it more. Just hold up the
sack and say, "needs grain«
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Clever, but but these sayings are not all that important. Sparta's real importance, their
contribution to the Greek dream, the example of what a superbly disciplined
lifestyle can do.
And its Spartan discipline that makes them remembered. We think it perfectly
appropriate to nick-name athletic teams Spartans. We've got the Michigan State Spartans,
the Spearfish Spartans, the San Juan Spartans, the Wessington Springs Spartans and lots
more.
You don't hear of athletic teams called "The Athenians," "The Thebans," or "The
Corinthians." And, of course, Lesbians wouldn't do at all.
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INTRODUCTION TO GREEK HISTORY

At the same time as Sparta began to grow, the Athenians were
developing a very different type of polis.
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The Athenians were far more interested in trade and, as a result, far
more cosmopolitan.
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The Athens were also more democratic than Sparta. Leaders like
Solon, Cleisthenes, and Pericles made the city increasingly
democratic so that, eventually, Athens was the most democratic
society in all history--except for the fact that women, resident
aliens, and slaves were excluding from politics.
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All Athenian men participated in the ecclesia, the assembly that had
ultimate authority in all affairs. And, unlike Spartans, Athenians
were free to debate legislation.
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INTRODUCTION TO GREEK HISTORY
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If you were a persuasive enough speaker, no matter what your rank in
society, you could get the Athenians to adopt your ideas.
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Most official positions went to people who were chosen by lot--so that
there was a good chance that Athenian man, at least sometime in his life,
would serve in an important leadership position.
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The law courts too were democratic: with 600 jurers, there was no chance
of bribery or of anything but a representative cross section of society.
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Also, there were no lawyers--and the rule was that a case started at sun up
and had to be finished by sun down.
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The Athenians and Spartans tended to be rivals in Greek affairs, but they
could cooperate on occassion as they did during the Persian War.
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