Dark age and rise of 8th century

Ancient Greece

Dark age

• >1100bc – 700bc<• Devastation at fall of Bronze Age reduced the

Mycenaean civilization and its palatial economy

• The terminus ad quem for the dark age is the Archaic period, marked by the rise of the city-state (polis)

Dark age

• Some locations continued (e.g. Athens)• Communities on Aegean recover within a

couple generations• Technological innovation: ~1050– Pottery (protogeometric period 1050-900)– IRON

• Population shifts to the east; Aegean is the “Greek sea”

Dark age

• Iron age reflection on the Bronze: an age of heroes– Basileus: the chieftain of a house or village (cf.

Wanax)– Chieftain’s house (Lefkandi)

Dark age

• Protogeo-metric period (1150-900) gives way to …

• Geometric period (900-700)

Dark age

• Poetry– Oral: Homer and the cycles– Instrumental accompaniment– 16000 lines of Iliad; 12000 lines of Odyssey• Details of poetics: formulaic orality• Advent of writing fossilizes formulae• Plots and major themes

– What the epics can tell us about Bronze Age Greece– What the epics can tell us about Dark Age Greece

Dark age

• “Homeric” society– Demos: space and people• Basileus• Farm and village• Demos and polis (=main town of demos)• Oikos (household): smallest unit of Dark Age society

– Men and women and oikos• Marriage and paternal anxieties• Labor

– Thetes

Dark age

• “Homeric” society– Governmental institutions

• Boule (council that met in megaron)• Ecclesia (assembly that met in agora)• Basileus’ role confirmed by Zeus

– Foreign relations• Xenia

– Social values• Agathos vs. Kakos• Time• Aristos (cf. Hesiod’s Eris – Strife)

Dark age

• “Homeric” society– Women

• Strong women in Homeric epic• Nevertheless dependent on males• Contributed to public opinion, but no political rights• Enjoy protection as members of oikos

– Gods and mortals• Pantheon set by Homer and Hesiod• Theogony; Naturism; Anthropomorphism• Divine attributes; Belief; Sin and punishment; afterlife• Cultus

Dark age

• End of the Dark age: 8th century– A Greek “renaissance”:• Rise of landowning aristocracy• Colonization• Alphabet and writing• Art and architecture• Panhellenism

Dark age

• End of the Dark age: 8th century– Rise of landowning aristocracy

• Population growth affects relative size of kleros• Another option is colonization

– Colonization• Accompanied by growth of trade abroad

– Alphabet and writing• Contact with the east: the (Phoenician) phonetic alphabet• Α Β Γ Δ Ε Ζ Η Θ Ι Κ Λ Μ Ν Ξ Ο Π Ρ Σ Τ Υ Φ Χ Ψ Ω

α β γ δ ε ζ η θ ι κ λ μ ν ξ ο π ρ σ τ υ φ χ ψ ω

Dark age

• End of the Dark age: 8th century– Art and

architecture• Late geometric

period (750-700)• Images burst

onto the scene• Orientalizing

elements• Monumental

temples

Dark age

• Panhellenism– Religious sanctuaries = festivals = athletics

– Zeus & Hera at Olympia– Apollo & Artemis at Delos– Zeus at Dodona– Apollo at Delphi

• 776: first Olympic Games• Greek sense of identity: heritage, language, religion• Cult heroes

Dark age

• Panhellenic Games– Olympic: near Elis (Zeus: olive)– Pythian: near Delphi (Apollo: laurel)– Nemean: near Nemea (Zeus: celery)– Isthmian: near Corinth (Poseidon: pine)

• Events-- Glory for the competitor; glory for the polis

Dark age

• Legacy of the Dark age– A literature that starts a tradition– A population that grows a polis– A world around the Aegean that is common in

language and religion– A civilization about to grow into the Archaic Period