YEAR 12 CLASSICAL STUDIES mythology schoolhistory.co.nz

What is a myth? Muthos means ‘utterance’ or something which is told. Often includes legends – which are based in fact Edges often blurred Many myths contain elements of folk tales

Some myths are strongly religious Passed on through the generations Explain the origins of the world Explain natural phenomena - day/night, seasons, storms etc May explain or support existing customs or rituals: birth, marriage, status of women, crop fertility etc

Reflect human dreams and wishes e.g do tales of heroes reflect men’s desire to be superhuman?

Where do myths come from? Usually found in most cultures From a time before writing generally used A time of genuine belief in the gods A time lacking in scientific explanation A time when people believed all events had a divine origin Verbal communication allowed myths to change

Greek Myths Earliest reference from Homer and Hesiod in the eighth century BC Originated between 2000-1000BC

Ancient Greece Thessaly and Macedonia Asia Minor Attica and Boetia Peloponnese Crete

Important places Coast of Asia Minor to the right Cycladic Islands Crete Mainland Greece: Peloponnese (south) Attica and Boetia (central) Thessaly and Macedonia

Background to Greece

Stone Age Aegean pre 3000BC Similar types of people in these areas Possibly from modern Iraq Farming and domesticated animals Worshipped fertility spirits – mainly female Placated male spirits - destructive

Early Bronze Age 3000-2000BC Bronze used over whole area Civilization flourished Worship of fertility goddesses (Mother/Earth) 2000BC upheaval on Asia mainland caused people to arrive These people brought wheel pottery

Greek mainland invaded by several waves of less cultured people from the north They were warlike Patriarchal Worshipped mainly male deities who lived on mountain tops and ruled the skies Homer called them Achaeans They looted and killed and eventually settled

Middle Bronze Age 2000-1450BC Crete appears to have escaped the invaders and their civilisation continued uninterrupted Around 2000BC it had a surge in trade and wealth Largest palace was Knossos May have had a powerful fleet It is called Minoan Civilisation after King Minos

Minoan Civilization

Crete: Minoan Civilization (Palace at Knossos)

Minoans worshipped a mother goddess The bull was an important symbol Crete was the most advanced civilisation in the area Minoans may have demanded ‘tribute’ from other areas

Knossos: Minoan Civilization

Achaeans They lived on mainland Greece Main centre was Mycenae This civilisation was called Mycenaeans Each state had a fort and a warrior king Endemic fighting Because of trade with Crete Mycenaeans began to worship earth goddess as well as sky god

Eventually civilisation on Crete collapsed May be linked to Thera – volcano Mycenaeans took opportunity to seize control of Crete around 1450BC They burned and looted and by 1380BC the Palace of Knossos was destroyed

Late Bronze Age 1450-1100BC Mycenaeans now dominated in the Mediterranean Peaked around 1300BC Had unstable parasitic nobility who survived by seizing the wealth of others in war Describing a Greek hero as a ‘sacker of cities’ (Homer) was a compliment

The Mycenaean Civilization

Troy May have been a battle to eliminate trade competition or to get scarce metals Troy fell 1250BC Within a century all major sites on the mainland Greece fell Except Athens

Plan of the City of Troy

Homer: The “Heroic Age”

Original Wall of the City of Troy

The Mask of Agamemnon

The Dark Ages 1100-800 BC General destruction had occurred which was disastrous for the Greek world Loss of centralised control led to lawlessness, population decline, simpler life ensued

Homer, the Blind Poet

Homer’s Great Epics

Homer’s View of the World

The Dorians The Dorians took advantage and moved south down through the Greek peninsula and settled in the Peloponnese and Crete Many Greeks moved to the coast of Asia Minor to escape The Dorians were even less ‘civilised’ and set progress back even further

Creation of Mythology At this time the art of writing was lost and oral tradition flourished Storytellers knitted together tales from a wide area In later Classical times Sparta and Athens changed details of myths to suit themselves

"Hellenic" (Classical) Greece: 700 BCE - 324 BCE

The Rise of the Greek Polis Eboea Syracuse Athens Larissa Naxos Corinth

ATHENS: Yesterday & Today

Archaic Period and Classical Age Between the end of the Dark Ages and the Persian Invasion which led to the Classical Age The Classical Age ends with the death of Alexander in 323BC Rome then dominated the Mediterranean area

Great Athenian Philosophers Socrates Know thyself! question everything only the pursuit of goodness brings happiness. Plato The Academy The world of the FORMS The Republic  philosopher-king

Great Athenian Philosophers Aristotle The Lyceum “Golden Mean” [everything in moderation]. Logic. Scientific method.

Athens: The Arts & Sciences DRAMA (tragedians): Aeschylus Sophocles Euripides THE SCIENCES: Pythagoras Democritus  all matter made up of small atoms. Hippocrates  “Father of Medicine”

Phidias’ Acropolis

The Acropolis Today

The Parthenon

The Agora

The Classical Greek “Ideal”

Olympia