The Greek Dark Ages and Archaic Period, 1200 – 550 BCE

From Mycenae to Greece: A bumpy road• Widespread

destruction in the Aegean world between 1200 – 1100 BCE

• Perhaps weakened by Trojan War, invaders from the North swept into the Balkans

• Traditionally, the invasions have been associated with the Dorians

The four types of ancient Greeks

• Doric Greeks, from the Peloponnesus

• Ionic Greeks, from Anatolia

• Aeolic Greeks, from the north

• Attic Greeks, of Athens!

The Dark Ages

• Ushered in by Dorian invasions

• From around 1200 – 1100 BCE to 800 – 700 BCE

• Civilization ceased to exist; no cities and a loss of literacy

From Dark Age to Archaic Period

Transitional period• From between 800 – 700

BCE• The time of Homer• The first cities re-emerge in

the form of the polis• Tensions between

population increases and limited resources also re-emerge; too many people and not enough land

How do the Greeks respond to tensions from population increases and limited resources?

Three ways:

• Conquest – the Sparta way

• Colonization – the Corinth way

• Trade – the Athens way

From 750-550 BCE most Greek city-states followed the example of Corinth and got rid of that excess population by simply loading their people into boats and sending them out across the Mediterranean to establish new Greek colonies.

Spread of Greek culture • Commercial and colonial

activity have massive historical significance

• Greek language, culture, art, architecture, literature, and political institutions are spread all over the Mediterranean world

• BUT, they also borrowed and synthesized (e.g. the Phoenician alphabet)

Late Dark Ages and Archaic Period give evidence of the most familiar aspects of Greek

culture• What do scholars learn

about Greek culture from their pottery and sculpture?

Greek pottery

• Geometric designs show rationalism, but also a sense of order, balance, and harmony

• Everyday objects are abstracted, suggesting another realm or another kind of truth

Greek sculpture

• Owed much to Egyptian styles, but gave their statues “feeling”

• Scholars believe that the animated sense of statues reflects the Greeks quest to explore the human condition

Homer gives a view of Greek values and ideologies at the time

• Depicts intense competition, both verbal and physical

• Reflects on brains (Nestor) vs. brawn (Achilles)

• Examines the nature of authority: kings vs. the people

• Looks at obligations of the individual and the community

Brad Pitt portrayed Achilles, history’s greatest warrior, in Troy, the 2004 motion picture based on Homer’s Iliad.

Homer also hints at important changes in warfare taking place

• From single combat of the heroes to the hoplite phalanx

• No longer fighting in disorganized one-on-one duels within a battle, hoplite soldiers fought in disciplined and coordinated groups

Questions to consider

• What are the three ways that the Greeks responded to population pressure and competition for limited resources? Can you think of any other alternatives the Greeks could have used?

• Did anything surprise you about Greek values and culture? Does anything seem to be missing?