Transcript Chapter 5: Ancient Greece

Chapter 5: Ancient Greece
Section 1: Early People of the
Aegean
Minoan Civilization
(2700-1400 BC)
Crete --- cradle of early Greek civilization
Height/greatest success (1750-1500)
British archaeologist Arthur Evans called the
people of this civilization Minoans –named
after legendary King Minos Legend of the
Minotaur
Evans led the excavation at Knossos in the
late 1800s/early 1900s AD
Minoan success was based on trade…not
conquest; had contact with Mesopotamia &
Egypt
Island of Crete
Palace at Knossos
Home of royal family
Religious shrines honored gods/goddesses
(mother goddess & bull)
Palace wall covered with frescoes --watercolor paintings on wet plaster
Paintings showed imp. of the sea (dolphins),
religion and games such as bull jumping (&
boxing)
Women and men seen as equals in society
Arthur John Evans (1851-1941)
British archaeologist
Inspired by
Schliemann’s discovery
of Troy in 1870 AD
Excavated Knossos in
1900 AD
Worked to transcribe
over 3,000 clay tablets
Found a civilization
earlier than the
Mycenaeans…Minoans
Knighted in 1911
Bulls and Bull Jumping
“Minoan wall-paintings usually seem to follow the convention (familiar from Egyptian art)
where male flesh is brown and female white, and this has led to the conclusion that some of the
bull-jumping acrobats are female, though they wear masculine dress.” (British Museum)
End of Minoan Civilization
(1400 BC)
Why did it vanish???
Possible reasons include: volcanic eruption
on nearby island, earthquake, tidal wave –
1st approx. 1600 BC (the Cretans rebuilt), 2nd
approx. 1500 BC: massive volcanic eruption
on Thera (Knossos was a weakened city)
Invaders known as the Mycenaeans
conquered the Greek mainland and then
invaded Crete (approx. 1400 BC)
Mycenaean Civilization (1600-1100 BC)
First Greek speaking people
on record
Sea traders like the
Minoans; warriors unlike the
Minoans
Borrowed art of writing from
the Minoans (Linear A Minoan/Linear B –
Mycenaean)
Photo shows Linear B tablet
– register of amount of wool
to be dyed
Lived in separate citystates on the mainland
The Trojan War (1250 -1240 BC? –
dates given by Herodotus)
Origin 1: Economic
rivalry btw. Mycenaean
Greece and Troy (a rich
trading city in Asia
Minor)
Origin 2: Trojan prince
Paris captured Helen
(the face that launched
a thousand ships), wife
of King Menalaus of
Sparta
1870s: German
archaeologist Heinrich
Schliemann led
excavation of Troy and
found evidence of the
war…believed by many
to be legendary
The Troy of Homer’s
Iliad was possibly level
VII of IX unearthed
cities.
Trojan War (1250-1240 BC???)
The Apple of Discord
The Trojan War has its roots in the marriage between Peleus and Thetis, a sea-goddess.
Peleus and Thetis had not invited Eris, the goddess of discord, to their marriage and the
outraged goddess stormed into the wedding banquet and threw a golden apple onto the
table. The apple belonged to, Eris said, whomever was the fairest.
Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite each reached for the apple. Zeus proclaimed that Paris,
prince of Troy and thought to be the most beautiful man alive, would act as the judge.
Hermes went to Paris, and Paris agreed to act as the judge. Hera promised him power,
Athena promised him wealth, and Aphrodite promised the most beautiful woman in the
world.
Paris chose Aphrodite, and she promised him that Helen, wife of Menelaus, would be his
wife. Paris then prepared to set off for Sparta to capture Helen. Twin prophets
Cassandra and Helenus tried to persuade him against such action, as did his mother,
Hecuba. But Paris would not listen and he set off for Sparta.
In Sparta, Menelaus, husband of Helen, treated Paris as a royal guest. However, when
Menelaus left Sparta to go to a funeral, Paris abducted Helen (who perhaps went
willingly) and also carried off much of Menelaus' wealth.
In Troy, Helen and Paris were married. This occurred around 1200 B.C. (Eratosthenes
dates the war from 1194-1184 BC)
The Judgement of Paris – Peter Paul Rubens
Archaeologist or Treasure Hunter?
Schliemann smuggled most of the artifacts off the site
at Troy. He dismissed all of his workers and
excavated alone.
Some items found: copper shield, cauldron, and vase,
two golden cups, a silver goblet, seven double-edged
daggers & lance-heads;
Some of King Priam’s Treasure was acquired
(1880) by the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, where it
remained until 1945, when it was removed by the
Soviet Red Army to Moscow from a protective bunker
beneath the Berlin Zoo. Russia has not returned the
treasure to Germany.
Schliemann died December 26th in Naples, Italy of a
severe ear infection.
He is buried in Athens in a mausoleum.
Heinrich Schliemann (1822-1890)
“For the Hero Schliemann”
Trojan War Legacy
One of the only times that Greek citystates united to fight a common enemy
Result: Greeks seized Troy and burned the
city to the ground
Accepting the gift of the Trojan horse (idea
of Odysseus & Athena) led to Troy’s downfall
(Why???)
Trojans accepted the horse as a sign of
surrender; celebrated; were attacked at
nightfall when they slept
The Trojan Horse
The Age of Homer/Dark Age
(1100 – 800 BC)
Greek-speaking Dorians invaded the
mainland
Mycenaeans abandoned cities, trade &
culture declined (art of writing was lost, etc.)
Civilization took a step backward
Two epics, Homer’s Iliad (Troy= Ilium)
(15,000 lines) and Odyssey (12,000 lines),
give hints of life during this time period
Time of Homer
Lived sometime between
850-750 BC???
Blind poet (according to
tradition) who traveled
from village to village
singing heroic tales
Tales passed on orally
(by word of mouth)
before being written down
Homer’s Iliad = chief
source of info. about the
Trojan War (fought ???)
Homer continued…
Iliad covers last 50 days of the 10th year of the war
Odyssey tells of the struggles of Greek hero
Odysseus on his return (20 year journey!) home to
faithful wife Penelope after the fall of Troy
Iliad and Odyssey tell us about Greek values through
the heroes, gods, goddesses, etc.
King Menalaus (Sparta), King Agamemnon
(Mycenae), Achilles & Odysseus (Greek heroes), King
Priam (Troy), Paris & Hector (Trojan heroes)
Both epics are a great source of national pride
for Greeks.
Riddle posed to Homer
According to the legend, Homer himself did not
know where he was born.
He went to Delphi to consult the oracle.He was
told – “The isle of Ios is your mother’s country and it shall
receive you dead; but beware the riddles of young children.”
As an old man, he visited Ios and met children of local
fishermen coming back from the sea. He asked them
what they had caught.
What we caught we threw away;
what we didn't catch, we kept.
He couldn’t answer; slipped…bumped his head & died!
Lice!
Looking Ahead
After Dorian invasions --- Greeks lived
in small, isolated villages
Had no writing and few outside contacts
Eventually Greece develops a strong
civilization that will impact Western
Europe and the rest of the world.