Aegean I. Civilization: Minoans and Mycenaeans A. Trojan War, Theseus and the Minotaur, and Odysseus 1. Thought of as myths that reflected Greek imagination 2. Hienrich Schliemann, archaeologist, became convinced myths were true historical accounts a. Found citadels from Trojan War 3. Sir Arthur Evans found palace at Knossos on island of Crete B. The Minoan Thalassocracy 1. Minoan civilization flourished from 1900 to 1500 BCE a. Around time of Middle Kingdom Egypt and Hittite Old Kingdom b. Culture had developed a high degree of material and architectural sophistication c. Sometimes referred to as the Palace Age d. Production center for textiles, pottery, and metalwork 2. Minoan success depended on overseas trade a. Exchanged exotic goods w/ Egypt, southwest Anatolia, Cyprus b. Minoan-style paintings 3. Minoan life very peaceful 4. Minoans trade network suggested that they had a powerful navy 5. Human sacrifice was part of religious life 6. Written language a. Sir Arthur Evans called it Linear A 7. Mainland Greeks were famous as mercenaries 8. Greeks learned to write from Minoans C. The Mycenaeans 1. Linear B represented an ancient but unmistakably Greek dialect 2. Greek speaking Indo-Europeans entered Greece in several waves a. Early period of immigration may have coincided with the destruction of important Greek sites and appearance of new architecture and pottery 3. Mycenaean palace citadels developed into much more complex societies a. Served as centers of government and warehouses for the storage and redistribution of economic surpluses 4. Played an important role in the closing of the Bronze Age a. Subjugated island of Crete, taking over Knossos and using it as a center D. The Sea People and the End of the Bronze Age 1. When Mycenaean world fell, destruction swept Near East 2. Mycenaeans referred to as Sea People by Ramses III a. Ramses III made Medinet Hubu which tells us a lot about Mycenaeans b. Told us about what they wore and that they may have been Aegean II. The Dark Age of Greece (1150-800 BCE) A. Greece entered a Dark Age 1. Citadels were destroyed at the end of the Bronze Age
Athens population Inhabitants declined fled to southern Greece and across Cyprus Arrival of new people from north called Dorians Depopulation had huge effects on social organization, economy and material culture a. Settlements shrank in size and moved inland away from the sea 6. Religion and ritual were in Greek society a. Greeks suspicious of their gods b. Gods were capricious, possessing all the failings of human beings c. Gods never to be trusted fully 7. Developed the idea of Hubris B. Homer and the Heroic Traditions 1. 1000 BCE Greek society becoming gradually more complex a. Pottery more sophisticated 2. Trade=wealth increase a. Small group of aristocrats emerged b. Wealth came from trade, plunder, piracy c. Great man had to also be singer of songs, doer of deeds, winner of battles, favored by gods 3. Dark Age knowledge from Iliad and the Odyssey a. Epic poems b. Homer depicts a world in which competition and status are of great concern to warrior elite C. Foreign Contacts and the Rise of Polis 1. Ninth century saw dramatic changes throughout the Aegean basin a. Contacts between Greeks and Phoenicians intensified b. Greeks adopted Phoenician alphabet, improving it by converting unneeded consonantal symbols to vowels c. Phoenicians introduced many artistic and literary traditions 2. Phoenicians started Greek ins seafaring a. Copied Phoenicians merchant vessels b. Greeks started to move around a lot more again which would lead to colonial expansion 3. Greek population blossomed a. Economic and cultural developments b. Population growth caused higher demands on resources c. Each local community treasured its traditional autonomy and independence, celebrated its own religious cults, and honored its aristocratic luminaries 4. Greek Polis a. Unique blend of institutional and informal structures of organization b. Greeks thought less of the polis as a state, instead as a social collectivity 5. Poleis structured around political and social center a. Markets and important meetings were held
2. 3. 4. 5.
b. Vast majority of Athenian citizens were farmers and therefore may come to the markets to sell or but things