“The Sons of the Achaeans”Early Greek Civilization

Hellas and the HellensLandscape of the Prehistoric Peoples of Greece

Physical Features: (Un)Forgiving Terrain Aegean, Black, Mediterranean Sea Access TRADE

Natural Resources Bronze and Wood

Agriculture Mediterranean Triad:

Wheat & Barley Grapes Olives

Hellas and the HellensLandscape of the Prehistoric Peoples of Greece

Impact of the Sea: Aristotle: The sea created a climate that was in “a middle position and correspondingly Greeks enjoy both energy and intelligence… for this reason they retain freedom and have the best political institutions… and they could rule the world (if they wanted to).” Plato: the sea “is, in very truth, a briny and bitter neighbor. It fills a city with wholesale traffic and retail huckstering…”

Greek Myth: The Minotaur

Greek Myth: Hercules’ 12 Labors

Myths and RealitiesWhat value do myths play in reconstructing history? What are the strengths and weaknesses of using myths? What can we say about Bronze Age Greece based on these myths? What statements do these myths make about Greeks’ perceptions of mankind, the gods, heroism, and the human character/condition? What kind of moral and philosophical questions arise from these myths?

MycenaeansTrojan War — Fact or Fiction? Heinrich Schliemann

MycenaeansContact with Minoans of Crete Shaft graves and tholos tombs

Artifacts of great wealth Linear B writing

Early Greek script Palace administration and record keeping

Bronze Age Social Structure

City-State of Pylos State Structure:

Wanax (lord) Lawgetas Basileus

Administration 1400 sq miles, 200 villages

Military Chariots and hired mercenaries

Religion Centered on Palace Olympic gods begin to appear

mycenaean collapseWhat is a societal “collapse”? How can we tell if there is a “collapse”?

mycenaean collapseMycenaean palaces burned one by one ca. 1200 BCE

General instability Writing disappeared Trade drops off

Population decline and resettlement

0

100

200

300

400

1200 BC 1150 BC

1100 BC 1050 BC

1000 BC

Number of Mycenean of Settlements

mycenaean collapseTheories:

Invasion Dorian Sea Peoples

Systems Theory Climate Change Peer Polity Military Changes Trojan War?

Results: Mass Migration Population Decline (75%) “Dark Age” (1200-800 BCE)