Dark AgesAiolians DoriansIonians
Homer (10th or 9th c. BC) ChiosSmyrna IliadOdyssey Earliest record of texts from 8th c. BC
Trojan War (c BC) ParisHelen MenelausTroy
Iliad AchillesAgamemnon HectorPatroclus
Odyssey Ithaca/Ithaka Odysseus
Dark Age society: Dominated by warrior aristocracy Kingdoms ruled by warlords Based at palaces Importance of hospitality bardkleos (fame)
psuché - soul thumos - impulse/spirit agathos - “good” (at job) areté - nobility/bravery timé - honour/public acclaim justice
c. 800 BC End of Dark Ages polis/poleis c. 600 BC Approx 1500 city-states turannos (tyrant) BC Period of tyrannies
Theseus, unifier of Attica and installer of city council at Athens
7th c. BC King has become but one of nine arkhontes (officers of state, sing. arkhon) Areopagus/Hill of Ares After 640 BC Failed coup in Athens by Kylon 621/620 BC Law code of Drakon recorded in Athens 594/593 BC Appointment of Solon as arkhon. Eases debts of peasants, divides society into four wealth groups, creates people’s council (boulé)
561/560 BC Peisistratos takes control of Athens as tyrant /527 BC Continuous reign of Peisistratos as tyrant 528/ BC Reign of Hippias as tyrant 508/507 BC Political reorganisation of Athens by Kleisthenes. Creates 10 phulai (tribes), comprising demoi (sing. demos, village units) of Athens and Attica. Supported by ekklesia (people’s assembly). Institution of ostracism (using ostraka)