HIST 1051 world of ancient greece
Sparta, "Spartan mirage", professional military?
"admired in peace and dreaded in war" -most powerful for much of Archaic and classical period -difficult to write about because so many ancient writings -"spartan mirage"- idealized image of sparta (egalitarian and orderly society characterized by patriotism, courage in battle and tolerance for deprivation) -professional military: unusual and advantageous, no walls and great success
government of Sparta
"mixed constitution"
What was Lefkandi?
(in a place that was once a Mycenaean town that revived after the collapse) -largest dark age building found** -two burial shafts (pair of horse, and remain of two humans) some say was a wealthy man with eastern contacts, others say he belonged to an elite "warrior class" -building buried after funeral, a lot of man power needed, cemetery sprang up
What is another thing that points to Homers heroic past?
- Hector, the Trojan leader, picks up a stone to use as a weapon "a stone which no two men, or the sort that live today, could move = "epic distancing"--> gives aura of a long-ago heroic society -he deliberately left out innovations like reintroduction of writing -(no writing, bronze weapons, chariot warfare*****)
Difference between the Mycenaean palaces and the Minoan palaces, describe the main difference. Similarities?
- Mycenaean palaces were fortified and had a Megaron instead of a central courtyard - megaron: large rectangular hall, focus of palace (would survive in the form of a chieftain's house during the long Dark Age that followed - not as extravagant as Cretan ones but offered Minoan amenities like indoor plumbing and wall paintings
End of Mycenaean civilization? centralized hierarchical states?
- almost all palace centers and towns were attacked and destroyed or abandoned, others recovered and had a brief resurgence but then more attacks - Mycenaeans probably part of attack on Egypt: Egyptian records called them the "sea-people" - centralized hierarchical state disappears from Greece forever
What was the extent of rule (government) in Homers societ
- council (Boule) made up of chiefs, met in megaron, got advice from council -presented to an assembly of the people -murder wasnt considered crime but it was custom of the family of the killer and victim should come to an agreement on a material penalty -foreign relations (xenia), hospitality, duties extended protection, diplomatic aid and even interventions to save guest friends life
Motivations and goals of colonization in archaic period
- huge success, attracted not only other Greeks but also Phoenicians -exploit iron deposits on other islands, -need for farmland -conflict with native inhabitants (but traded and made accommodations)
Minoan relationship with Mycenanaeans - Mycenaeans with HIttites?
- many influences on Mycenaean art - burning of Minoan palaces (c.1450) - types of writing found at Knossos- Linear B replaces linear A - mycenaeans closest contacts were the hittites
Evidence of warfare in the The End of the Bronze Age?
- new fortifications, concentration within walls, access to water sources - burning few corpses or treasures - Pylos tablets and Near-Eastern documents (over 800 waters of the coast, requisitions of temple bronze for spear and arrow points, human sacrifice, large tax in gold some of these may reflect normal practices but some seem like emergency measures)- inventories of precious goods, but none found in excavation -attack of the Sea People against Egypt (they defeat the sea people)
Describe Militarism in Homers world
- raiding is a way of lie - any chief can raise his own companions to raid other villages -heroes (raided livestock of others) -basileus is the leader, BUT **among the front-fighters**
Results in Greece after attack of the sea people
- regionalism, decline in social complexity, settlement changes and population loss, no markers of new culture, Basileus (chief becomes king
The archaic period, what formed? type of government?
- the city-state formed (Polis) - political unification of states= synoecism -landowning aristocracy: planner and architects of new centralized government - eliminate position of basileus and rule collectively (office of basileus was abolished or reduced, governing functions formerly exercised by the basileus were distributed among several offices, the importance of the council of aristocratic "elders" increased and that of the ASSEMBLY OF PEOPLE DECREASED -firm control from the center was necessary and good for polis but especiialy food for the large landowners (spartans maintained chiefdom the longest)
Economic growth in the Archaic period
-"internal colonization": agricultures (intensive farming of diverse crops; import labor and slaves and grain -trade: largely by sea, from luxuries to ag, grain supply from Black Sea
The Dark Age (kings? officials? scribes? palace staffs? states armies? system?)
--no more kings, officials, scribes, palace staffs or state armies; no more redistributive system
Eastern Influence and the Black Athena Controversy (bernal, lefkowitz)
-Bernal: aims to "lessen Western cultural arrogance," attacks Aryan theory of Greek culture -Lefkowitz: historical truth, but did not include chapter by Bernal in Black Athena Revisited (overall tendency in scholarship is clearly in Bernal's direction)
Three Possible periods of Eastern of Egyptian Influnce
-Bronze Age: -Early Archaic, "orientalizing" period -classical period
Minoan Idealizations - male or female dominance? - peaceful or not? - luxurious or laid back?
-Feminist (female deity, fertility goddess) - peaceful: earlier forts, sea-power, weapons - luxurious (only palaces survive)
Egyptian influence in the Classical Period
-Herodotus, histories and Athens Egyptian Alliances -unconvincing arguments: greeks fought too many wars to have also produced much higher culture -continuity of Greek culture -inapplicability of Egyptian models for classical Greece
How was the Bronze age influence by Eastern Egyptian culture. history of it?
-Herodotus: "the names of nearly all the gods can to Greece from Egypt -Plutarch, Solon: studied philosophy with Egyptian priests -change away form ancient model (racism and growth of knowledge about Egypt; skepticism about ancient foundational legends) -history: near-eastern kingdoms were larger, older and more presitgious; Egypt and Crete "Hairstyles" -North wall of Gla: Mycenaeans might have asked for help from Egyptians
How did things go from belief to skepticism?
-Oral epic poetry: egregious inaccuracies possible (Homer's Iliad and Odyssey not all stories and info proven by history) - Homer's ignorance of Bronze-Age economy and politics -500 years of oral tradition??
Michael Ventris' Method of deciphering Linear B
-Syllabary: number of signs, about 90, CV and V - some symbols most common at start of words -V - Geographic names: specific to different sites, pre-greek names, key to filling chart
Possible explanations of what lead Greece into the Dark ages
-acts of nature (drought, cooling and earthquakes) -system collapse (trade and luxury good crucial for elite rule, market ag depends on trade, degradation of ag -events: conquests (Dorian?) and raiders, revolution or civil wars -changes in weaponry: the end of chariot warfare --end bronze age--
Athenian Democracy : Ancient Greece's Great Legacy
-after dark age, every settlement in Attica called themselves "Athenian" -"Direct democracy"
Eastern contacts of Mycenae? Palace of Nestor?
-archaeology points to the existence of Mycenaean colonies on a lot of Aegean islands - palace of nestor= confirmed that the Pylos of the legends had been an actual Bronze Age Center - * found large numbers of LInear B tablets, not intended to be permanent (baked in the fires that destroyed, only scribes of the final year of Pylos' existence)
Bernal criticisms on the Early Archaic/ "Orientalizing" Period
-art, alphabet, technology, religion and mythology from Eastern cultures -art close to Egyptian models (standing statues, eyes, styles and poses) -borrowing: alphabet from Phoenicia, construction related work, system of weights, myth of succession of sky gods
Spartas Militaristic Society
-as a model for the structure of the whole society, life like military camp -hazing of "tremblers" -mother tells son "come back with your shield or on it" (dead were brought back on their shields) - conquests of Laconia and Messenia made Sparta one of the largest of Greek states and richest -1st messenian war: resigned to helot status -2nd messenian war showed the risks of the helot system -economic system: designed to enable citizens to devote all time and energy to the defense and welfare of the polis
how can we find the 8th century in Homer
-depictions of everyday life -depictions of household (centered in local communities, lived clustered together, inside demos all shared name Ithacan or Megarians -not heroes, talking horses, gods -not in story of Trojan war
what political affect might the hoplites had?
-disparities between wealth and social status separated the fighters because only some could afford armor and horse to fight -became increasingly difficult for the nobles to claim that they alone were competent to wield political power and formulate policy for their poleis
Cultural changes in Archaic period
-eastern Egyptian Influence -panhellenic centers (olympics, sense of common culture, BUT competition and exclusion of outsiders) -need for ways to mobilize manpower and resources for warfare -religious was integral part of polis -women played important rule
How does Homer's poetry aim at a heroic past
-epics set in Age of Heroes (encompasses a generation or two before and one generation after the legendary Trojan war) -Tale of the Trojan war (simple folk saga) --Son of king of Troy seduced and brought back to Troy, Helen the wife of the ruler of the Spartans. To avenge the insult husbad and brother (agamemnon- wanax/king of Mycenae), gathered a huge army of Achaean warriors. They sailed to Troy, destroyed the city after a ten-year siege, and then dispersed, each contingent ot its own homeland.
problems with tyrant theory
-fighting does not always create rights -hoplites are not very organized (amateur armies) -theory is better as a partial explanation in combo with economic theories, BUT IDEAL OF MIDDLING CITIZEN IS IMPORTANT TO EVENTUAL DEMOCRACY
Craft production was dependent/supported by?
-fully-dependent labor: supported by rations (many from Asia Minor) - "Royal" craftsmen: supported by land grants
What was Homeric Society like?
-geographically independent regions -Demos= territory+people in it -Basileus did not mean King but he meant it in a plural way
Describe the revival
-geometric style, new shapes and new decorative features, circles and semicircles gave way to linear angular motifs
what were some problems with the decipherment of Linear B tablets?
-havent been published, archaic -dominant and wrong theory about relations of Mycenaeans and Minoans -non susceptible to logical inference, rather probable guesses and then check that the consequences work -archaic greek: not everything fit
Significance of Egyptian influence on the early archaic period? Problems?
-influence vs colonization -*loan workds* difficulty in evidence, Bernal wants to find loan words from Egypt in Greece -problems: lack of continuity through Dark Age ("temporal isolation") -depend on authority
Pylos: tablets? distribution system? slaves? religion? War?
-large, highly organized - tablets give idea of Mycenaean social structures -centralized production and distribution systems (ensured luxurious standard of living for the highest officials) - palace supervised production (administrative reach was impressive) - slaves were opressed (references to "captives" and "bought"- aristocrats were in slave biz) - palace complex was hub of kingdom economy (specialized tasks, Wanax=king, wrote down count of raw materials) big exports were textiles and metalwork -religion: worships to a goddess (minoans performed in caves and Mycens in shrines and palace centers)
impact of written law in solon and plutarch and croesus
-literacy issues -status-based penalties -practice and theory:" laws are like spider webs; they only catch the weak" -lenient? NO -protection of property, violenve by aristrocrats; subjection to community -Solon is Democrat
what were the social values and ethics in homers society
-man is good if:exhibits bravery and skill in fighting and athletics -bad if: he is a coward or useless in battle -warriors compete with eachother in the art of killing (to preserve ones time, value, worth , respect and honor -highest good is to win and be called "best" -good looks
How could the tyrants be connected?
-most arose from the elite group -continual feuding among the major aristocratic factions certainly contributed to the emergence of the tyrants - no tyrant could have overthrown the oligarch without the tacit support of the citizens themselves
reforms of Solon
-provides nature for political and economic problems -tried to strengthen ag (poor soil, not enough food, got wheat from abroad and grew olives, vines, figs and barley) -over time divided Athenians into haves and have nots, provided privilege that contained something for everyone -wealth classes - 500 bushel men -officials selected from upper class by election by tribes and then by lot
How was linear B used?
-purely ADMINISTRATIVE, ECONOMIC, administrative, and economic text (no legal, literary, religious, or letters) - purely PALATIAL, TEMPORARY (exs: taxation, land-holding, labor recruitment, payment of rations
population growth in the Archaic period
-rapidly growing populations: needed a more complex system of organization and social control -demography: life-expectancy under 30, young population, many orphans **digression: the demographic revolution*** -six-fold increase in population in 8th c. based on the number of sites
Explain inconsistent practices or attitudes in Homers societ
-reflections of different times -**rye bread, raisin break or fruit cake** -heroic stories
Panhellenism and the Heroic Revival
-rise of religious sanctuaries and festivals that were not merely local but Panhellenic ("all") attracting worshippers from all over Greek world -Olympic games -began burying dead as warriors (resembled achilles in the Ilian and of the warrior Lefkandi; corpse cremated, weapons placed in graves)
The end of the dark age (750-700)
-rising of landowning aristocracy -colonization and the growth of trade (overseas, had broad economic effects throughout the towns, more work for people) -the alphabet and writing (increased contacts with the East led to the most significant cultural achievement of the late Dark Age: the Greek alphabet) -art/architecture: began adding scenes of battles, ship wrecks, chariot processions; appearance of large temples: people wanted to and were able to expend their wealth, time and labor
What did the colonization essentially do?
-spread over Mediterranean -reinvent and reconsider institutions -growing consciousness of Greekness -aristocratic power rested in landownings -Helots given some rights, but usually property
The nature of Homer's oral tradition
-texts reflect the endpoint of a long traditions of oral performaces that stretched back into the Bronze Age -he was blind from ionia -oral poet sand or chanted in front of audience -not memorized -improvised using traditional elements **can change over time** -he crafted them to perfection but allowed for audience incorporation (each performance was fresh and updated
What other event happened in the period during Egypt getting attacked (by maybe Mycenaeans)?
-the fall of Troy , led to believe that the Mycenaeans were a part of the "sea people" who took them down - no way of knowing whether those who besieged and burned the city were really the Mycenaean Greeks as the legend of the Trojan War tells
What are some things that marked the end of the Bronze age?
-widespread destruction (around the Aegean- Pylos, Knossos and the rest of Crete, Troy, many other Greek sites) -Assyria and Egypt survived..."But in all other civilized lands, the Catastrophe was synonymous with the burning of rich palaces and famous cities"
Three Social reform
1) cancellation of debts 2)end of debt-bondage 3)sharecroppers get full ownership
the two phases of colonization in archaic period:
1) was directed to Italy and the western Mediterranean 2) started about a century later and was concentrated on the north Aegean and Black Sea
Linear B was script to write Mycenaean Greek, Three types of signs?
1. 89 syllabograms (used to write names, words, verbs, and so on) 2. >100 logograms (used to indicate commodities) 3. numeral (decimal system)
Problems in Pomeroy:
1."to be sure, the people received benefits in the form of protection from famine and from outside aggressors, but their compliance with the rigid hierarchy suggests something more -- a positive identification with the center, that is the kind" 2. "the pervasive reach of the palace, however, does not mean that the free masses were oppressed peasant toiling in misery on the estates of the rich"
Describe oligarchy
= number of officials who made up the collective leadership of city-state. powerful families divided up the spheres of authority (admin, military, religious, and judicial), creating MAGISTRACIES == "rule by the few" -positions of authority could not be inherited -term of office limited to single year (power of magistrate was checked, each state developed their own) -no hierarchy among major offices -Chief officer = archon -real center of power in the council of elders trifecta -megara= war leader
what is a hoplite? how rich?
=heavily armored foot soldier, polis armies were increasingly made of them - importance of new type of shield (hoplon) -only the very wealthiest citizens, poorest men were excluded because couldnt afford the armor
Homer's text mainly reflects what kind of world?
A contemporary world -priori= considerations- knowledge, engagement with audience -much less complex than Mycenaens but more complex than dark ages
Red Herring
Cypriot spells final s with sign for -se, thus many Greek words end in -se, there is no equivalent in Linear hence it cannot be greek?
Chronological requirements of possible Mycenaean sack of Troy
Fall of troy happened in same period that Hittite empire fell, and Egypt was attacked - Mycenaeans thought to be involved as the Egyptians referred to them as "sea people" in their records. Then the fall of Troy happened and they might have been a part of the people who sieged it but no way of really knowing (legend of the Trojan War says that is was the Mycenaean greeks who did it)
Did the Trojan War happen?
In the end, archaeology cannot prove that the Trojan War as Homer described it actually occurred, but the new discoveries make it increasingly possible that a conflict involcving Troy was the origin of the oral tradition that culminated in the Iliad and Odyssey
Other Mycenaean conquests?
Miletos and Crete
Minoan economic system - how does it work?
Palace economy: like better know older systems in near-East and Egypt - based on redistribution - limits to model: geography, reach - later adopted by the Mycenaeans - throne room
If you were an archaeologist in 1880 which of the following places would you excavate in hopes of finding evidence that Homer contains information about Bronze-Age Greece? - Athens, Thebes, Pylos, Sparta, or Tiryns?
Pylos (Mycenaean lands)
Understanding Plutach: story of Solon and Croesus
access to a lot of texts that were then lost -chronological problem of when they were alive -solon is an Athenian (athens dominated greek culture during career of herodotus, when the story got written down) -straightening of lineages (king lists and gealogies remembered, all father to son successions)
Hoplite reform and tyranny
battles between poleis were fought by men like Hesiod (ordinary)-- developments in military equipment and organization altered the nature of warfare - Polis ideology=citizen is the slave of the common good
written law of Draco
best know law= homicide law = family was entitled to avenge the deaths of their slain relatives, unless the kin could be persuaded to accept compensation -severe penalties for minor offenses -significance: role of developing the authoriy of the state at the expense of that of the family, and the magistrates too
what happened at Troy VIIa (c. 1200 BC)?
burning - **LM pottery found after burning in Pylos but, before burning at Troy**
Status in Homer's World
chieftain families -oikos= household (center of person existence - strengthen by bringing in daughters husband into home to fight and work) -social relationships: reciprocity- mutual and fair exchange governs -birth: inheritance into chieftain isnt enough, much be both a good warrior and a persuassive speaker; in battlefield introductions to see who dads and grandparents were -wealth: main economic resource was ancenstral plots of farmland called Kleros, without this a man could not mary -ability to speak eloquently
how was the reform more democratic
classes could change (people didnt like this) -established the notion of citizenship -intensified competition for political office = led to tyranny of Pisistratus
Greece did not adopt what from Egypt of the Near- East?
democracy
Pisistratus
distant relative of Solon, successfully carried out a coup- wounded himself and appeared in the agora demanding a bodyguard to protect himself from his alleged enemies, assembly voted pisistratus a body guard and then he seized the Acropolis and the reins of the government
century later, what did he do
dressed a tall woman in armor and put out the rumor that athena was escorting him to athens
What happened at Troy VI (c. 1300 BC)?
earthquake
problems that were causing unrest in athens were both:
economic and politica
What was an ancietn Greek tyrant>
first serious challenge to oligarich rule, from within the elite group itself = a person from within the group, challenging in the form of a new political phenomenon - a dictator or strongman, a single ruler who lacked legitimacy of the old paramount basileus
Ideal of equality "homoioi" but chariots and half-castels, hierarchy
goal for men: economic equality - homoioi - system of helotry distinguished Sparta sharply from other Greek states - social engineering ***labor or lower class was essential to survival***
What did metal workers master in the dark age?
iron
Mycenaeans centers sacked before c. 1200, by who?
it was previously thought that the Dorians were responsible for destroying and looting the Mycenaean palaces -"Dorian Invasion" hypothesis was based on the legends of later Doric speakers (Doric was one of the three main dialects of ancient Greek)- claimed they were from Hercules
Troy (hittite Taruisa), what did hittite texts reveal about Troy
it was the capital of a kingdon named Wilusa (aka Troy)
During his exile,
landed at Marathon and defeated Athens and governed them for over 10 years until he died
Minoan Civilization (2000-1450) (language, origins)
language unknown but probably not greek origins unknown blank canvas
What were some uses of Homer?
literary value society and values of the early archaid period "Catch 22" on Homer's value as bronze-age source ("West side story" example)
A mycenaean sack of Troy?
no definitive answer: nothing in archaeology says that this place sacked other places
Was there a Trojan war?
no way of knowing for sure
internal theory of decline in sparta
oppression -lifestyle exacerbated the population decline:male infanticide, deaths explained by soldiers obligation to stand his ground and not surrender -peer pressure by women (quote from mother to son about shielf)
5 years after pisistratus seize acropolis
parties of the plain and the coast united against him and drove him out
Colonization in the Archaic period (750-500)
primary causes: 1) search for sources of metal to satisfy the Greeks growing need 2) the hope of acquiring the land required to live the life of a citizen in the new poleis as opportunities for land at home dwindled -"mother" polis = metropolis
What kinds of graves did the Mycenaeans have?
rich grave goods
growth of Athenian democracy
rule by powerful elected archons -governed Athens in concert with the council -household into (tribes, phratries, and clans)
In the dark age, What did the discovery of the rich graves indicate?
that by the mid-ninth century, the society had become statified, with basileus and his supporters enjoying access to exotic luxuries and able to mobilize the labor for large projects
What was the cradle of the cite-state society?
the dark age
what did tablets reveal about the hierarchy?
they indicate basileus (king) - also Chieftains houses
The view from the Hittite Archives
thousands of tablets in several languages found in Hittite capital of Hattusas - included diplomatic records (letters between kings) -Taruwisa= Troy or Wilusa -Achijawa= Achaians on the attack (context for the war) -Homer's ignorance of the Bronze age -dispute between Hittite king and Achiyawa over Wilusa
The Helots: subjugated in 7th c, liberated in 369
to ensure control of Laconia, inhabitants were reduced to "helots" (hereditary subjects of the Sparan state, basically slaves) -greater number of helots than Spartans -constant danger and revolts especially in Messenia -**provided food and thus leisure for Spartans but also a contant threat***
Cylon
took advantage of his marriage connection with the tyrant Megara, to seize the Acropolis and attempt to become tyrant of Athens (was besieged by Athenians)
The tyrant theory:
tyrants curb aristocratic dominance and feuding; middling hoplites support them
Where, what and when: Linear B Tablets
where: mainland Mycenaean center, later on Crete what: clay tablet, not baked but burnt in fires, lists and repetitive when: mainly around 1200, destruction of palaces
what was the Hesiod: The view from Below
works and day is set in the present (unlike Homer) and tells about ordinary people and their ordinary lives
Can you figure out the Mycenaean hierarchy from Linear B tablets?
yes
