Early Aegean Civilization October 3, 2007

Minoans  Ca B.C.  Based on Crete  Palace at Knossos  Discovered by Arthur Evans

Minoans (2)  Seafaring Culture  Commercial economy  Trade with Egypt  Relatively peaceful  King and bureaucracy

Minoans (3)  Minoans in Greek myth  King Minos and Labyrinth  Theseus myth  Sudden collapse  Thera?  Mycenaeans?

Mycenaeans  Ca B.C.  Inhabited the Greek mainland  Numerous monarchies based in hill fortresses, palace complexes

Heinrich Schliemann  Amateur archeologist  Was convinced Greek epics were grounded in fact  Excavations  Mycenae  Troy

Mycenaean Culture  Violent—frequent warfare  Art (pottery, weapons)  Trojan War (12 th c.?)  Peak –  Collapse around 1100

Homer: The Poet  The importance of the poet in the city  Was Homer a real person?  Head of the literary tradition for Western civilization  Iliad and Odyssey: the Greeks’ “Bible”

Iliad: Plot  Background  Judgment of Paris  Seduction of Helen  Achaean invasion of Troy  Achilles and Agamemnon quarrel  Achilles leaves the fighting

Iliad: Plot (2)  Desperation of Achaeans  Patroclus rallies Achaeans but is killed  Achilles reenters fight, kills Hector, desecrates body  Priam begs for Hector’s body, Achilles gives in  Aftermath: Trojan Horse, Death of Achilles

Characters of the Iliad  Achilles  Hector  Agamemnon

Themes in The Iliad  Warfare  Honor and Glory  “Immortality”  Fate  The gods  Achilles Shield