Greek Spheres of operations

Note the feature –

Location!

Location!

Location!

First Great Aegean CultureMinoan

3100 BC – 1450 BC

Set like a jewel in the wine dark sea there lies a land called Crete, a rich and lovely land, washed by waves on every side… . -Homer, Odyssey, XIX

Palace at Knossos - Discovered 1900 by Sir Arthur Evans

Evans called the culture ‘Minoan’ after the mythic King of Crete and

son of Zeus (vide handout)

Palace at Knossos

• Beautiful frescos, pottery, sculpture, athletics – much with marine themes

• Intricate structures (including an indoor toilet) suggesting a labyrinth

• Bull imagery (suggesting the minotaur)

Minoan Sports

Knossos & Cretan culture• Wealthy people-many

storehouses• Educated-had a writing system,

particularly used for inventories of goods

• Sea dominance- no fortifications against invaders suggests naval supremacy

• High standard for women shown in art and religion – note goddess sculptures

• Goods from all around the Mediterranean

But around 1450 - Gone

• Invaders?

• Earthquake and zunami?

Mainland Mycenaeans moved in…flourished ca 1700-1200 BC

These are the people Homer describes and calls ‘Achaeans’

Mycenaeans were very different from Minoans

• Great cities located where Homer puts Pylos and Mycene

• Named from Homer’s description by Schliemann, the archeologist who uncovered the sites

• A feudal, warlike culture with power centering on kings and their henchmen

• Shaft and mound (tholos) graves

•Cities protected by Cyclopean walls

Even the art is different…

Mycenaean Map

Palaces – the great hall (megaron)

But around 1250-1200, Mycenaeans begin fortifying…

• Ca 1150 major cities burned but not rebuilt• Population level on mainland drops sharply• Levels of manufacture, art, writing drop• No sign of social organization• No sign of invaders• Internal feuds? Plague? Drought? Revolt of

peasants? Raiders who came and left?• What?? No conclusive answer. ‘Dark Ages’

begin.

But 300-400 years later…Greek (Hellenic) culture is starting up –

Archaic Age begins• Homer, 750 BC, represents the first literary work

of the new era and his tales harken back to Bronze Age life

• Rise of City-States or Poleis (πολεις) as independent governments.

• Continuity of political system of monarchy alongside oligarchy and development of democracy

• Rise of Hellenic art, writing, commerce, and common religious institutions

Note nearnessOf eastern Greek city-states to Persia