From the Dark Ages to Colonization

The Dark Ages (1100-800 BCE) Following the collapse of Mycenaean civilization, Greece entered period historians call the Dark Ages Lasted 300 years Period historians know very little about No written documents Greeks remembered their distant, Mycenaean past as an age of heroes and supermen Mainland Greece experienced a depopulation up to 90% in century following 1200 BCE

The End of the Dark Ages Appearance of new national literature Homer’s the Iliad and the Odyssey (800 BCE) Homer’s work provided the Greeks with a glorious past, whether real or imagined Gave Greeks a common view of their gods – national religion Resurgence of Trade Skills and ideas they learned including the alphabet (from Pheonicians) Colonization Hundreds of new Greek settlements established Colonies of new independent Greek city-states First Olympic Games (776 BCE) In honour of God Zeus Only Greeks permitted to participate All wars among Greeks were to cease while they took place Strengthen Greeks’ sense they shared a common culture despite political and linguistic differences First firm date we have in Greek history Starting point from which Greeks even mark their past

The Rise of the City-State Greeks gradually developed independent communties These communities form the basis of Greek city-state or polis (“community of people”) A polis rarely exceeded 20 000 people (more like a town or city) Athens and Sparta are exceptions

Age of Colonization By 8th century BCE, population growing, putting a strain on food supply Around Athens, the population may have quadrupled during 9th and early 8th centuries Heavy demands on resources of Greece, a mountainous country with limited agricultural land Needed to find land to grow more food and resettle people from overcrowded city-states Colonization became essential

Colonization 1st Greek colony 750 BCE on Bay of Naples Greek cities appeared in Sicily and sourthern Italy Eventually in Northern Africa, Spain, and France Syracuse in Sicily was the greatest (population grew to 100 000 people by 5th century BCE) More colonization around 650 BCE Cities around Black Sea