The Rise And Fall Of Ancient Heroes: Greece 2500-500 B.C.

The Geography

The Minoans

The Mycenae

The Downfall Of Mycenae

The Greek Peninsula

The Greek Peninsula was made of mountain ranges which lacked rivers and floodplains

Greeks lived in scattered communities among mountains and numerous bodies of water like the Aegean Sea and Ionian

Turned to the sea because of their location and accessibility to it

Climate average 50’s in winter and 80’s in summer

The Minoans: 2000-1450 B.C.

High point of Minoan history associated with King Minos

Island of Crete had a population of 250,000 and 40,000 lived in capital called Kronos

Economy was based on trade of bronze tools and weapons

Owned sea bearing ships unlike Phoenician ships

Minoan Art And Architecture

Built huge multi-roomed palaces that contained rooms of shapes and sizes

No sense of design for these palaces led them to them being called labyrinths

Produced colorful bright frescoes influenced by the Egyptians

Created statuettes of female goddesses

Minoan Religion

Religion seems to have centered around a fertility goddess

Had a religious rituals that required males and females to vault over a charging bull

Feast followed ritual where bull was then sacrificed

King then wore head of bull (The Minotaur )

The Minoan Mystery

Disappearance a mystery

Believed that a volcano caused a tidal wave that destroyed Minoans

Greeks possibly invaded and ravaged Minoan civilization

Mycenaean's: The First Greeks 2000-1100 B.C.

Adopted cultural high points of Minoans like

Artwork Language Trade networks

Increased wealth holdings by continuing Minoan trade routes and links

Lacked arable farm land and were forced to trade extensively for wheat and barley

The Mycenaean's: Social Structure

A war like civilization with a class system that reinforced culture

Kings, nobles, soldiers and slaves formed social class

Burials were accompanied with vast number of arms

Cities were built with great protective walls and palaces were small forts

The Mycenaean's: An Economy Of Trade

Mycenaean’s could not support themselves had to purchase copper and tin to make bronze unlike Egypt, Indus and Mesopotamia

Relied on trade routes established by Minoans for food and resources

The Greek Mycenaean's traded pottery, olive oil as far as Egypt, Syria and Palestine (outskirts of Mesopotamian region)

The Mycenaean's: Invasion And Violence 1250-1200 B.C.

Economic conditions (trade competition) and expansion created a time of war

Mycenaeans embark on war in the Mediterranean region believed they laid siege and eventually destroyed the mythical city of Troy

Iliad, written by blind poet Homer, considered father of Greek literature, created myth of Trojan War

Iliad, defined heroic behavior and human weakness

The Mycenaean's: Invasion And Violence 1250-1200 B.C.

1200 B.C. saw the downfall of Mycenaean civilization Devastating droughts Invasion from Northern

Greeks called Dorians Absence from Trojan

War caused internal problems

All Mycenae writing was lost with its downfall this causes a lost period