Chapter Three

1. Chapter Three Greece in the Heroic Age p. 96-127

3. The Earliest Civilizations in Europe: The Minoans • Minoans lived in Crete, an agriculturally good area • Minoans were very good navigators • Agriculture+navigation = first civilization in Europe • By 1900 BCE, had writing, palace-led social organization, advanced metal-working skills, and sophisticated artistic expression

4. Crete • 200 km long • Mountain ranges • Semi-tropical climate • Small villages • Grew grain • Raised sheep and goats • Hunt and fished • Traded with neighbouring islands

5. Innovations: The Introduction of Bronze • 9 parts copper + 1 part tin = bronze • Introduced to Crete during the early Minoan period (3000-2100 BCE) • Tin was rare and more expensive, probably coming fro Turkey • Bronze was a tough, but malleable metal with a reasonably low melting point, ideal for producing sharp knives and spear points, tough saws, hard chisels

6. Minoan Agriculture • Paid for bronze with surplus of food, linen, and wool clothing • Better use of agriculture • Plowing heavier soils • Making cheese from milk • Planting grape vines • Planted olive tree  olive oil • Brought about a society with more diverse skills and occupations

7. Cross-cultural Influences and the Minoans • Middle Minoan period 2100 – 1700 BCE • Population growth helped by immigration • Foreign trade with Near East increased

8. Advances in Civilization • New burial customs • Impressive buildings • Higher levels of artisanship • System of writing Sanctuaries = sacred grounds on hilltops had temples, sacrificial alters, and other buildings to honour the gods

9. Wealthy Minoans • Wealthy citizens had bigger homes (almost palaces) • Fine jewelry and clothing • Works of art • Imported luxury items • Developed record keeping systems to keep track of their property • First used hieroglyphics from Egypt and then eventually Linear A

10. Politics and the Palaces • Largest and most powerful palace on Crete was at Knossos • Also palaces at Phaestusand Mallia • Control over certain goods and products gave power • Large storerooms for agricultural produce and for luxury items • All destroyed around 1750 BCE, most likely because of an earthquake.

11. Architecture of Palaces • Dozens of interconnected rectangular rooms on many storeysaround a large open courtyard • Areas for administration, residences, religious purposes, etc • Finest rooms were decorated with frescoes • Walls reinforced with wooden beams to protect from earthquakes • Light wells • Plumbing

12. The Eruption of Thera • Volcanic eruption on Thera around 1628 BCE (now called Santorini) • Small town was buried by ash and was well preserved • Rediscovered in 1967 • Unlike Pompeii, most people were able to evacuate • Vibrant wall paintings all that are left • May have lead to the myth of the lost city of Atlantis

13. Thera’s Frescoes

14. External Forces • Palaces built almost immediately after their destruction in 1750 BCE, but were once again destroyed in 1490 BCE – except for Knossos • Probably due to the Mycenaean warriors who were arriving on Crete • Mycenaeans probably used Knossos as their administrative centre 1500 BCE • Use of new language, Linear B, for record keeping • Recorded the language of the early Greek-speaking Mycenaeans • Language deciphered in 1952 by Michael Ventris

15. External Forces continued • Knossos palace served as administrative centre for about 80 years • Many features of Minoan culture disappeared • Buildings with central courts • Art forms depicting scenes from nature • Finely carved stone vases • Knossos palace destroyed by a great fire and was not rebuilt

16. The Myth of the Minotaur

17. The Myth of the Minotaur • The wife King Minos of Knossos gave birth to a half-man, half-bull called the Minotaur • Was imprisoned in the Labyrinth, built by Daedalus, the court inventor

18. Ariadne • Minotaur’s diet included young unmarried men and women • King Minos forced the people of Athens to select 14 young people as a sacrifice every year • Theseus volunteered to go as a sacrifice • With the help of Ariadne, Minos’s daughter, Theseus killed the Minotaur, and emerged from the Labyrinth using a ball of string and a sword that Ariadne provided him

19. The Myth of the Minotaur continued • Myth seems out of character for the Minoans, who seemed to love peaceful scenes of nature • There are, however, pictures of young people leaping over the backs of bulls • Also, palace of Knossos could be compared to a maze

20. The Earliest Greeks: The Mycenaeans • Neolithic farms were scattered in the narrow valleys of Greece from 6500 – 3000 BCE • Bronze started to be used commonly around 3000 BCE  Early Helladic Period (3000-2000 BCE) • By 2000 BCE, Early Helladic culture had been replaced by less wealthy farming-herding culture (Middle Helladic Period) • Greece was invaded at this time  invaders language + indigenous peoples’ language= ancient Greek • Mycenaeans spoke an early form of Greek

21. Characteristics of Mycenaean Culture • Powerful and wealthy chiefdoms sprang up and consolidated control of small farming villages • Chiefdoms transformed into well-defined states ruled by kings with administrative centres, with a writing system, and state institutions, including a state religion • Discovered by Heinrich Schliemann in 1876 • Thought he had discovered the burials of King Agamemnon and his family • Declared that the Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer were based in history

22. The Legend of the Trojan War • Excavations at Troy show that the city was destroyed in a battle 1240 BCE • Was really just a fortified town with a poor standard of living • War may have been a dispute over fishing rights or control over shipping • Homer claimed that Agamemnon of Mycenae, the leader of the Greek army at Troy, returned home from the war successfully, only to be murdered by his wife, Clytemnestra

23. Mycenaean Royals • Schliemann found graves belonging to the royal family of Mycenae, pre-dating the Trojan War by 300-400 years • Had objects of gold, silver, ivory, and faience • Each ruler governed his own wide area from a palace • All rulers probably owed allegiance to the king of Mycenae • Wealth probably came from trade, like gold or tin

24. Heinrich Schliemann: Hero or Fraud • Many irregularities in Schliemann’s writings – many outright lies • Was obsessed with Troy which lead to an interest in archaeology • Combined treasures from many sites to support his research • Today’s archaeologists feel he did find Troy, but his false claims cast a shadow over this discovery • Smuggled much of the treasure out of Turkey and donated it to Germany  after World War II, confiscated by Russians and not seen again until 1991

25. Minoan Influence on Mycenae • Very strongly influenced by Minoans • Wall painting • Dress • Vases • Seal carving • Religious ideas • Both practiced animal sacrifice • Both poured wine into the ground for religious purposes • Both kept cult areas within the palace • Names of many of the gods same as Classical Greek gods e.g. Zeus, Poseidon, Athena, Dionysos

26. End of Mycenaean World • Widespread destruction around 1250 BCE • Around 1200 BCE, more disasters brought an end to centralized administration and the use of writing • Palaces fell into disuse political and economic structure weakened. • Causes: • Natural disasters • Foreign attacks • Internal strife • Combination of three

27. The Dark Ages • For about 350 years, various groups of Greek-speaking people from the north settled in the Peloponnese • No written documents • Minstrels kept the Mycenaean past alive through oral storytelling

28. Geography and the Greek City-State • Mountains isolate one valley from another and reduce the habitable land in half • Kept the nation separated into small communities • Isolated communities developed into polis – city-states • The sea linked the communities and the other nations of the Mediterranean • Greek sailors brought home ideas and wealth from abroad

29. The Archaic Period • The end of the Dark Ages was marked by • Appearance of national literature e.g. Homer • Common view of their gods • Resurgence of trade past the Aegean Sea • Brought back skills in shipbuilding and metal-working techniques • Better knowledge of geography and navigation • Artistic and religious ideas • An alphabet -- only 27 letters

30. Archaic Period continued • Establishment of contacts and settlements in Italy • Access to iron and other metals in Northern Italy • Lead to colonization • Learned about rich agricultural land in Italy, Sicily, and along the coast of the Mediterranean 100s of new settlements • Establishment of the first Olympic Games to honour Zeus in 776 BCE • First firm date in Greek history • Olympics part of four Panhellenic (“all Greece”) games • Continued until 393 CE when a Christian Roman emperor, Theodosius I, ordered all pagan sanctuaries closed

31. Colonization

32. Colonization • Before new settlements were established, the oracle of Apollo at Delphi was usually consulted • After the oracle’s blessing, a group of several hundred men sailed away, along with everything they would need to start a colony • Once there, had to chose the best place for a harbour, divide the land, plant the crops, build houses, and deal with the native people they were displacing

33. Government in Greece

34. The Age of Tyrants • Greeks were first people to invent a formal democratic system in which citizens governed themselves through voting • Early Greek states were governed by a king, who acted as the chief judge, leading administrator, military leader, and sometimes priest of the state cult • Did not have absolute power nor was their power automatically hereditary

35. Age of Tyrants continued • During the Dark Ages, many of the kings lost some or all of their power to the aristocracy • This arbitrary power and the lack of voice in government by wealthy non-aristrocrats lead to dissent • Poor Greeks suffered loss of land, debts, and possibly even debt enslavement • Aristocrats could keep power as long as they held onto military power also

36. Military • Only wealthy aristocrats could afford to have heavily armed warriors backed up by their lightly armed supporters • From 675-650 BCE, warfare changed • Depended on unified movement of large number of warriors - hoplites

37. Hoplites • Heavily armed men with large round shields, shin protectors, helmets, body armour, and spears • Stood side by side 6-10 lines deep • Needed large numbers of warriors to not be surrounded • Because there was not enough aristocrats to do this, anyone who could afford the armour could join the army

38. Tyrants • In Corinth, a man of noble blood was excluded from the ruling of the city by the nobles • Cypselus gathered a military force of discontented citizens and took control of the government of Corinth in 657 BCE • A person who takes power unconstitutionally tyrant

39. Foundations of Democratic Rule

40. Solon and Peisistratus • Athens avoided tyranny by having a written code of law and by appointing a magistrate called an archonto try to solve the problems between aristocrats and common citizens • Draco`s law code of 620 BCE recognized that once laws were written down, they could be changed

41. Solon • Appointed archon in 594 BCE • Helped relieve the debt and land problems of the poor • Abolished the practice of selling debtors into slavery • All wealthy men could run for the highest government offices • Created the Council of 400 • 100 citizens from each of the four traditional tribes were elected annually and met regularly to prepare legislation to be voted on by the entire Citizen Assembly

42. Who didn`t have political power • Women • Citizenship was given to those who could fight in the army • Slaves • No personal rights at all • Foreigners • Citizenship was hardly ever given to people not born in the city

43. Peisistratus • Eventually became Tyrant of Athens in 546 BCE and ruled until 527 BCE • Tried three times before he succeeded • Famous for his generalship • Very ambitious • Power handed over to son, Hippias

44. Cleisthenes Establishes Democracy • Hippias ruled until 510 BCE until the army of Sparta overthrew him • Cleisthenes created the Council of 500 with 50 members elected from 10 new tribes, equitably distributed amongst the citizens • For one-tenth of the year, teach tribe acted as executive committee of the Council

45. Democracy continued • Each tribe also elected a general – strategos – who would lead the city in all its military affairs • All other government positions were filled by drawing lots each year • Introduced ostracism –the city could vote to send any citizen and his family into exile for a period of ten years • Needed a minimum of 6000 votes • First started in 487 BCE and used for 70 years

46. Slaves in Greek Society • Slaves were considered property of their owners • Household slaves of wealthy owners were best off • Working in state mines, the worst off • At master`s discretion, could marry, have a home, and keep their children • Employed in every occupation, except military and government

47. Slaves continued • Athens was a major slave-owning state • About one-third of the population of Attica (greater Athens) were probably slaves (60 000-80 000) • Majority worked in manufacturing • During the Peloponnesian War (412-404 BCE), over 20 000 slaves deserted Athens

48. Lycurgus and Spartan Society • Two most powerful city-states were Athens and Sparta • Spartans were known as warriors, and with only 5000, Sparta had a position of leadership in Greece • Did not send out colonists, but extended their influence by defeating its western neighbours

49. Lycurgus • Political, social, and military systems of Sparta attributed to Lycurgus • May have lived in early seventh century BCE • Created military program which trained the best warriors in Greece • Constitution that guaranteed all citizens (adult males born to citizen parents) a minimum level of political equality • Could vote in the Assembly, have a share of land, and use the enslaved helots (state slaves)

50. Spartan Military • Spartan boys began military training at 7 • Learned to withstand pain without complaint • Obedient to leaders • Cunning • Never admit defeat • Only became a full citizen at 30, when they could vote, hold political office, marry, have a house, and receive an estate worked by helots