1. ANCIENT GREECE
Region of isolated valleys, hills, small plains, peninsulas, and islands
Sea formed its focal point
Nothing more than barbarous fringe area to older civilizations of the Middle East
Tiny, unimportant, and poor in natural resources

2. Greece also benefited from its position on the edge of the civilized world
Far enough away to escape domination by the various Middle Eastern Empires but close enough to absorb the rich culture of its eastern neighbors

3. FIRST GREEKS
Either were Neolithic farmers who migrated from Asia Minor around 3000 BC
Or were an Indo-European tribe from southern Russia who migrated into the region around 2300 BC
In either case, when people did arrive in the peninsula, they soon came into contact with an already civilized people who lived on the nearby island of Crete
The Minoans

4. MINOAN CIVILIZATION Neolithic settlements date back to 4000 BC
Early farmers probably came into contact with Middle Eastern civilization around 3000 BC
Had developed an advanced civilization of their own by 2000 BC
Expressed in the construction and decoration of huge palace complexes
Largest one at Knossos
The Palace at Knossos

5. MINOAN PALACE COMPLEXES
Complicated structures consisting of a honeycomb of various rooms surrounding a large courtyard
Huge
Knossos covered three acres
Well-built
Strong foundations meant to withstand earthquakes
Many rooms decorated with brightly colored frescoes that depicted various aspects of Minoan life
Know from them that men were clean shaven and generally wore short kilts
Women had elaborate hair-dos and wore dresses with wide sleeves and pinched-in waists

6. MINOAN COMMERCE
Palaces controlled the commercial, agricultural, and manufacturing activities of surrounding regions
Commerce was very important
Acted as trade intermediary between civilized and barbarian worlds
Exported wool, olive oil and timber in exchange for other raw materials and luxury items
Built large and technologically advanced merchant and military navy

7. MINOAN WOMEN Women played important role in society
Most of their gods were female
Headed by the so-called “Snake Goddess”
Women also portrayed at the head of processions and as participants in athletic events
Even bull-leaping
May not have been a matriarchy but women nonetheless enjoyed a prominent social position

8. BULL-LEAPING

9. END OF MINOAN CIVILIZATION
Civilization came to an end between 1450 and 1350 BC
All palaces destroyed and never rebuilt
Theory 1
Invaded by Mycenaeans in 1400 BC
Destroyed Crete to eliminate Minoans as trade rivals
Theory 2
Massive volcanic eruption on island of Thera showered Crete with debris, ash, and poison gas
Destroyed fleets with tidal waves
Mycenaeans arrived after catastrophe and destroyed what was left

10. MYCENEAN AGE BC
Had some contact with Minoan civilization by at least 1600 BC
Typical of the very warlike, semi-barbarian cultures that extended over most of Europe
Only difference was that contact with Minoans gradually ameliorated some of their barbarism and allowed them to develop a more sophisticated culture

11. MYCENEAN PALACES Palaces served as central meeting places
Home for the king and his administrators
Warehouse for agricultural and manufactured products
Marketplace
Communications center
Also served as religious centers
Crowded with priests and priestesses

12. RELIGION AND CULTURE Great Mother goddess was major god
Derived from Minoan Snake Goddess
But Myceneans also began to emphasize male gods
Zeus, Poseidon, Hermes, and Apollo
Borrowed heavily from Minoans
Wrote in Linear B on clay tablets
Painted frescoes on palace walls
Carved in ivory and stone
Made elaborate seals

13. DAWN OF THE “DARK AGE” All Mycenean palaces destroyed around 1250 BC
Except one at Athens
Survivors moved to Attica or moved overseas
Greece only contained 10% of its former population by 1200 BC
Trade network collapsed
Art and culture lost
Greece entered a period of severe economic, social, and technological backwardness
Dark Age ( BC)

14. CAUSES
Period in which Mycenean kingdoms fell was one of general unrest
Lybians and Sea Peoples attacked Egypt
Sea Peoples destroyed Hittite Empire
Pirates roamed the eastern Mediterranean
Mycenean palaces came under tremendous pressure
Palaces destroyed over a long period
Perhaps victims of different groups of invaders arriving at different times
Small, vicious groups of raiding parties brought about downfall of Mycenean civilization
Not a single, massive migration of new people

15. THE DARK AGE
Although generally isolated and backward, the Dark Age did see some technological and cultural innovations that would create foundation for future Greek civilization
People who fled Greece settled on Aegean Islands, coast of Asia Minor, and elsewhere, forming base for prosperous city-states that would develop there
Iron, for example, came into general use for weapons and agricultural implements

16. ORAL LITERARY TRADITION
Dark Age was the firm establishment of an oral tradition that recounted a glorious and heroic past
Thanks to wandering minstrels
Tradition would culminate with the magnificent epic poems of Homer
Iliad and Odyssey
Composed at the end of the Dark Age

17. EPIC POEMS All epic poems have common theme
Recounting the deeds of superhuman heroes of earlier times
Served function of providing a legendary history which explained how people got where they were and why
Greek epic poems had developed the plots of the siege of Troy and various Heracles legends in centuries before Homer
Wandering poets used these basic plots but embellished them in order to appeal to their particular audience
Heracles

18. WORLD OF THE ILIAD AND ODYSSEY
In terms of values and attitudes, Homer was describing the late Dark Age
Imposed values, attitudes, and motivations of his own age on historical characters
World he described was made up of tiny, autonomous political units
Each self-sufficient and inward-looking
Each ruled by a chieftain
Main job was to protect his people from constant outside aggression
Mask of Agamemnon, king of Argos

19. VALUES Chieftains were military men par excellence
The values they prized most highly were military virtues
Physical strength, endurance, bravery, selflessness
Any sign of weakness opened the door to his neighbors to take advantage of him
Explains almost childish sensitivity of Homer’s heroes to insults and their continual bellicosity

20. EXPLANATION
Obsessive concern with “face” supplied motive power to Homer’s plots
Later Greeks amazed at juvenile behavior of Homer’s heroes
Given the precarious nature of life in Greece during the Dark Age
And given the fact that a community’s survival depended on the unblemished reputation of their chieftain
The actions of the Greeks against the Trojans becomes understandable
Trojan War Shipwreck

21. END OF THE DARK AGE
Greece broke out of its narrow isolation due to influence of Phoenician merchants around 800 BC
Related to Canaanites
Renewed Greek contacts with Middle East through trade
Evidence is extensive
Greeks adopted Phoenician/Canaanite alphabet
Established trade contacts with Phoenician city-states in Syria

22. Population of Greek world began to grow rapidly around 800 BC
Stimulated another wave of migration and Greek migrants from the peninsula and other settlements founded hundreds of new sites along Black Sea, the Adriatic, and western Mediterranean
Population of Greek world began to grow rapidly around 800 BC

23. REPERCUSSIONS
Phoenicians and migration into new areas stimulated Greeks intellectually and culturally
Formation of colonies caused them to think seriously about the character of their cities and the way they operated
Required the conscious formulation of laws and institutions
Renewal of trade broke down isolation and self-sufficiency of Dark Age
Greeks now governed by demands of the marketplace, not by tradition and custom
Facilitated contacts with varied types of governments and social systems
Forced them to reflect on that form of government and social organization was best
Laid foundation for philosophy and political theory

24. HOPLITES
Dark Age military chieftain and his cronies based their power on their military prowess and ownership of land
With rise of wealth based on commerce new men from outside the landowning clique began to demand military participation
Began to arm themselves and found that when they worked together as a team, nothing could stand in their way

25. PHALANX New form of warfare
Units of armed infantry working together as a block
Replaced old dependence on the military chieftain
Security of community no longer depended on power and skill of chieftain but on the massed strength of the hoplites
What counted now was the willingness of citizens to cooperate together in battle for the greater good of their city
Numbers and community spirit became more important than individual bravado
Phalanx in 300

26. ATHENS AND SPARTA
Influence of trade-generated wealth, stimulation provided by renewal of contacts with outside world, and the challenge of hoplites to aristocratic dominance acted together to dissolve Dark Age society
Ultimately resulted in a new kind of society in Greece
Athens and Sparta illustrate process
Both their solutions to changes and challenges associated with end of the Dark Age were radical but also very different