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EARLY GREECE

EARLY GREECE. Aegean World. Neolithic c. 3000 BCE Greeks arrive c. 2300 BCE called Achaeans or Danaans by Homer. Geography. Greece and surrounding islands are mountainous no major rivers little grassland much marble. Climate. Unpredictable supported olives and grapes

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EARLY GREECE

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  1. EARLY GREECE

  2. Aegean World • Neolithic c. 3000 BCE • Greeks arrive c. 2300 BCE • called Achaeans or Danaans by Homer.

  3. Geography • Greece and surrounding islands are mountainous • no major rivers • little grassland • much marble.

  4. Climate • Unpredictable • supported olives and grapes • lack of arable land necessitates trade for other food stuffs • seafood forms a major source of diet.

  5. Timeline • c. 2500-2000 Cycladic culture flourishes • c. 2000-1400 Minoan culture flourishes • c. 1580-1120 Mycenaean civilization flourishes • c. 1200 Trojan War • c. 1200-1000 emergence of Dorian Greeks • c. 1120-800 “Dark Ages”

  6. Cycladic Peoples • Cyclades islands in the Aegean sea (east of Greece) • cycladic idols: cults of the goddess, guides to the underworld • Musician figures: males, rituals.

  7. Minoan Culture • Peace and Prosperity • centered on islands of Crete and Santorini • attuned to nature and the sea • King Minos and the Minotaur • The Palace at Knossos • frescoes.

  8. Palaces • Kingdom filled with palaces • isolation and control of the seas precluded development of walled cities or palaces • filled with open spaces and natural art.

  9. Religion • Snake Goddess - the central figure in Minoan religion • source of all life • Goddess and her priestesses probably did not occupy a central role in society • women occupied a relatively high position in society.

  10. Sarcophagus Covering

  11. End of the Minoans • No real known cause of the end of the civilization • Explosion of Santorini 1626 BCE • Possibly a Mycenaean conquest c. 1475 BCE • Rise of sea borne competition from Phoenicians? • Fading away of Cretan culture after 1100 BCE - emerges as part of the Dorian Greek world in the classical period.

  12. Mycenaean Culture • Warlike and harsh environment • Mainland Greece, the Peloponnesus, rugged terrain • Homer: The Iliad and The Odyssey • Trojan Wars • Mycenae: “Treasury of Atreus” • Tiryns • Wealthy Warrior aristocracy.

  13. Activities of the Mycenaeans • Warrior people - most of the remains are in the form of castles and their remains • assimilation of Cretan/Minoan culture • their language was adapted from the Minoans it is called Linear B, to differentiate it from the Linear A of the Minoans • women’s clothes and hairstyles • 1475 BCE seize power in Knossos • replace Minoans as traders in the Eastern Mediterranean.

  14. The greatest constructions of the Mycenaeans were their castles built for the Tiryns

  15. Tombs and Treasuries

  16. Royal tombs were beehive shaped • sunken into mountains • filled with detailed interior stonework • treasure for the dead included gold, which meant trade with Egypt • triangle archways supported more weight and use for solar equinox.

  17. Mycenaean Art

  18. Detail of the harvester vase

  19. End of the Mycenaeans • 1120 BCE Mycenaean culture overthrown by Dorians • Dorians probably migrated into Greece during the previous 200 years • a culture completely separate from the Minoan/Mycenaean culture it replaced.

  20. Dark Ages • The period of Dorian supremacy was known as the Dark Ages of Greece - roughly concurrent with the decline of Hittites and the Egyptian New Kingdom • Greece becomes illiterate • rise of oral traditions, history • Homer.

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