Handouts:
Hesiod, Theogony
Greek mythology: The Minotaur
Iliad and Odyssey (excerpts)
Greek poetry, drama, philosophy
When we think of Greece:
- City- states
- Olympics
- Socrates drinking hemlock
- Iliad and the Odyssey
- Mountainous
- Few rivers
- Little cultivatable farmland - colonies
· 1/3 of land is entirely unproductive
- Mountains lead to formation of city-states
- Indented seacoast leads to many natural harbors
Beginnings (Aegean Greece)
· First agricultural villages by 7000 B.C.
· Bronze by about 3000 B.C.
· Major exporter of raw materials to western Asia by about 2500 B.C.
· Civilization flourishes in Greece in the 2nd millennium
· Work of archaeolgists
· Two major civilizations
§ Minoans (Crete)
§ Myceneans (Greek mainland)
· First literate civilization in Greece c. 2000 B.C.
· “Linear A” language – not precursor to Greek
· Located on sea routes between Greek mainland, Egypt, and Anatolia (Turkey)
· Crete was destroyed by earthquake
· Rebuilt even better – palaces rebuilt on a grand scale
· Flourishes 1800-1550 B.C. – Minoan civilization
· Palaces not merely royal, but centers to administration, religion, politics, and economics
· Minoan palace bureaucrats supervise a large sector of the economy
§ As in most other ancient societies
· Largest palace is located at Knossos
§ Main building – 3 acres
§ Palace built around large central court that is 180 ft long by 82 ft wide
· Artisan workshops
· Large staterooms
· Bathrooms
· Connected with corridors, ramps, and stairways
· Brightly colored frescoes on the walls
· Widespread trading network that stretches from Asia Minor to Italy
· Seems that the Minoans live in relative peace
· Worship a variety of gods and goddesses – don’t know names or functions
· Minoan civilization ends
§ All palaces except Knossos were destroyed c. 1550 B.C.
§ Knossos falls c. 1375 B.C.
§ For reasons why, we need to look to the mainland
Mycenean Civilization (Mainland Greece)
· There was a flourishing Copper Age civilization until destroyed c. 2300 B.C.
· Relative poverty until c. 1700 B.C.
· Signs of power and prosperity reappear – land is just too centrally located
§ Pottery, weapons, stone vessels, death mask (combo. Gold and silver)
§ These are the Myceneans (Greek-speakers, unlike previous inhabitants)
· When did they get there?
o Different theories, but no consensus
· Myceneans adopt ideas from their neighbors in Crete, Egypt, Anatolia, and Syria-Palestine
· Ms also fight with their neighbors
· M society is dominated by warrior-kings who raided others
· 1550 B.C. – they conquer Crete
· Between 1400-1200 B.C., Mycenean civ is at its height
· Kings live in palaces stacked with treasures
· Traveled through kingdom on good roads
· My artists excel at pottery, among other things (Museum of Fine Arts in Boston)
· Palace officials supervise most economic acitivity
§ Thousands of clay tablets written by scribes c. 1200 – palace economy
· Mycenean merchants replace Minoans
§ Export wine and scented oils from Sicily
§ Bring back metals, ivory, and possibly slaves
· The glory days are coming to an end, despite fortified cities
§ Internal problems
§ “Sea Peoples” plague Mycenean civilization just as they did the Hittites and others
· Period from 1100-800 B.C. is becoming clearer, thanks to archeology
· Considerable depopulation during this time
· Dorians move into southern Greece at this time from northern Greece
§ Drive out Myceneans with iron swords and go into Crete as well
· Only Athens retains its independence and it refuge for Myceneans who are fleeing
§ Some refugees head for Anatolia (in Turkey), to places like Troy
· Despite the economic and social upheaval, they continue to produce pottery and preserve an oral tradition of poetry à epic poetry of Homer
§ Iliad and Odyssey are OT and NT of Greece, so to speak
§ Poems continue to move, inspire, and educate the ancient Greeks
· Schoolboys learn to recite Homer by heart
§ But is Homer history?
<<Sidebar: Homer and History>>
· Homer speaks on behalf of polytheistic religion of Greece
· Gods live on Mt. Olympus – 9500 ft mtn in northern Greece
§ Story is in Hesiod’s Theogony (bring in to class)
· Zeus
· Hera
· Poseidon
· Ares
· Aphrodite
· No all-powerful God, such as in the Bible
§ Less immediate
§ Less interested in intimate affairs of humans
§ Stirrings of Protagoras (5th century B.C.): “Man is the measure of all things”
· Gods are a lot like us
§ Freud: we want to have a comforting, loving father
§ Used against Bible, but really should be against anthropomorphic gods
· Homer’s heroes seek glory (divine approval?) through military conquest
· Above all else, the gods want justice, even though they can act childish at times
· Iliad: Mycenean king Agememnon (husband of Helen) vs. Trojan king Priam (oldest son: Hector)
§ Trojan War starts when Trojan prince named Paris abducts Helen
§ Troy a vassal state of Hitites?
§ Gods destroy Troy as a punishment for Paris’s deed
· Odyssey: Story of Odysseus returning victorious to Ithica – 20 yrs away: 10 at war and 10 wandering – wife Penelope keeps things going – nobles fight over her in his absence and he kills them all - maturing of son, Telemachus
· Archaeological evidence c. 1250-1200 that Troy is destroyed
§ The level of Troy is destroyed by fire (consistent with sack by Greece)
Times, They Are A Changin’
· Few in 9th century Athens would have predicted that this poor, illiterate society of small settlements and low-level trade
· Everything changes beginning in 8th century as peace returns and contributes to the population rise – economy shifts from herding to farming (more efficient source of food)
· Greek commerce is expanding
§ Trading posts established in Syria; Naples, Italy
§ Greek merchants seek iron and luxury goods
§ Greek export silver (rich deposits) and slaves
· With trade comes colonies
§ Spreads urban civilization into the Mediterranean world
§ Main motive is land hunger
§ Typical colonist was young
§ Typical colony is a few 100 settlers
§ Colonists needed to be prepared to fight because built on native land
§ Complex attitudes toward native peoples
§ After a time, Greek male colonists intermarry with native women
§ Between 750 to 500 B.C., colonies all over the Mediterranean
· Saguntum, Spain
· Massalia (Marseille), France
o one explorer from this city is Pytheas, who c. 300 B.C., goes through Pillars of Hercules (Gibraltar) up to circumnavigate England and even go up near Scandanavia [REFER TO MAP]
· Syracuse, Sicily
· Cyrene, Libya [Simon the Cyrene carries Jesus’ cross]
· Naucratis, Egypt
· Al-Mina, Syria
· Byzantium (modern Turkey)
· The needs of colonies and trading partners turn more and more Greeks into sailors
§ This is key
§ Historian Thucydides says sea powers tend to be more dynamic and innovative than land powers because they come into contact with new ideas and institutions
· Ships moved more quickly and efficiently than land transport
· They also get an alphabet from Phoenicia c. 750 B.C.
§ Literacy spreads rapidly
§ Underlays achievements in poetry, philosophy, and law
§ But still few people at the time could read or write well, so Greek culture remains a primarily oral culture
Golden Age of Greece (Polis), 750-350 B.C.
· Polis denotes the community as a whole – centrality
· Began as warriors who defended cities (typically full-time farmers who fought on the side) demanded a right in governing it
· Get words like citizen, constitution, govern, politics, and politician
· Aristotle: ideal polis is where everyone knows everyone
· Most were small (less than 100 sq. miles) and 5,000-10,000 people
Polis – Good and Bad Aspects
· Polis – “city-state” or “citizen-state”
§ Not every polis is a democracy
· Sparta – militarism, obedience, austerity
· Athens – freedom and cultural attainments
§ Every polis emphasized cooperative activities whose participants enjoyed at least a measure of equality
§ Sought a balance between the group and the individual
§ Balance not always struck
§ Fails to grant equal rights to women, immigrants, slaves
§ More war between city-states than war
à Greeks turn these tensions into great cultural achievements
o sculpture, painting, and architecture
· Key to the future of Western Civilization!
§ Religious heritage – Israel
§ Philosophical and political heritage – Greece
· Problem is that poleis didn’t like to help one another, so they are frequently at war with one another
· A lot of Greek history can be explained by asking whether city-states will join together or fight one another
§ Athens – 1000 sq. miles (Rhode Island)
· Has many formerly autonomous villages that come under its control c. 800 B.C.
· At its height (430 B.C.) has about 400,000 people
· Polis has two parts:
§ Tiny urban area – public space – defensible hill (with water supply) – “high city” (acropolis) – “gathering place” (agora) used as a marketplace and for meetings – usually at least one temple
· After 500 B.C., stone buildings such as theaters, gymnasia, and baths become increasingly common in urban centers
§ Large countryside, where most people live
· First polis was not a democracy, but a tyranny
§ Originally a tyrant was defined as a champion of the people because they overthrew a narrow and entrenched aristocracy
· Also found colonies on trade routes
· Encourage skilled craftsmen to come from other city-states
· Build temples
· Institute festivals
· Provide jobs and leisure-time activities
· Corinth becomes wealthiest city-state by exporting agricultural produce
§ Negative connotation by 3rd generation
§ Tyranny spreads to places like Corinth (Bible?) by 660 B.C.
§ By sixth centuries B.C., all city-states except Sparta are tyrannies
· Most tyrannies don’t last past 3rd generation
· By 500 B.C., almost all tyrannies are replaced by oligarchies (most common) and democracies (less common)
Located in fertile valley
Surrounded by rugged, isolating mountains
· Closed, military society – boys taught from youth (after 7, in barracks) to be soldiers
§ Those babies deemed defective are abandoned to die, be sold into slavery, or secretly adopted
· Not much for book learning
· Discourages consumption (issues no coins)
· Currency was heavy iron skewers
· Suspicious of foreigners
· Really simple diet
· Secretive toward the outside world, which was considered corrupt, so little trade
· Spartan society begins c. 650 B.C. as three groups emerge
§ Highest level: Similars
§ Middle level: neighbors (free and semi-autonomous)
§ Lowest level: helots (unfree laborers who work the land) – vastly outnumber others
à Similars monopolize gov’t power and only full citizens
à At age 30, each Similar had right to hold office and attend a legislative and deliberative assembly – also gets a minimum land allotment – as name implies, they were similar but not equal (some own more land than others
· This idea of rule by a group of Similars was radical at the time
§ Other city-states ruled by a king or tyrant
§ But Sparta is not a democracy (more “Mixed” gov’t) because elites – 2 kings, Council of Elders, etc. – hold real powers à really an oligarchy
· Sparta becomes a militaristic state for one reason: security against the helots, Messenian Greeks whose land the Spartans took and who were in the overwhelming majority
§ Revolted at times, almost defeating the Spartans
· By 550 B.C. Sparta takes leadership role in a network of alliances called Peloponnesian League – defense league, not imperialistic (sort of like NATO)
§ PL is the dominant land power in Greece for over 100 years
· Around 650 B.C., kings rule Athens, nine administrators (one-year elected terms) ran the administration
· Each administrator is a life member of Areopagus (aristocratic council of elders), which holds lion’s share of power [Acts 17 – Paul in Athens speaks there] – it also serves as a court – rarely challenged by the people’s assembly, called the demos
· By 632 B.C., aristocrats face trouble
§ Corruption
§ Economic change – poor harvests hurt small farmers
§ Assertive hoplites (farmers and merchants)
· Cylon attempts to establish a tyranny, which failed
· In 621 B.C., establish a code of laws – Code of Draco (draconian)
· Elite group of hoplite farmers, which had grown wealthy importing olive oil, press for political power
· Enter Solon, a peacemaker between rich and poor
§ Moderate
§ Economic and political reforms – gave poor more say in gov’t – votes by a show of hands and not shouting
· Solon’s reforms ultimately fail to satisy rich or poor, conflict continues, and so a tyranny was established c. 560 B.C. that last for 50 years
· Sparta, long a hater of tyranny, deposes the tyrant in 510 B.C.
à What would come next: oligarchy or democracy?
· Elites try to establish an oligarchy, but massive popular displeasure
· Elite named Cleisthenes (c. 500) leads popular revolution
§ Tried oligarchy, but winds against it
§ Then turns to the demos, whose leader he became
§ From this base, the people head on to rule Athens
· Not a democracy in the way we’d think of it
§ Owners of medium-sized farms, artisans, merchants
§ Still establishes principle of rule by the people in popular assembly (House of Representatives), sort of directed by Council of 500 (Senate) – Areopagus continues on until it is stripped of political power under Pericles in mid-400s
· Principle of ostracism – prevents factionalism from developing
· Democracy expands to poorest Athenians by 450s, as war veterans (mainly poor) gain political rights – over time, Athenian democracy becomes more egalitarian (just like in U.S., as Senate is popularly elected after 1917 and almost everyone can vote now)
· Pericles comes to power in 460 B.C. – an aristocrat who liked the common people, an excellent orator, educated in philosophy, a war leader, an honest and tireless worker –
§ really entrenches democracy in Athens for the next 150 years
§ people very involved in their gov’t
§ Large numbers of people attend the assembly from time to time, hold public office
§ Military service for men 18 to 59 was universal
§ Two roads from Athens to sea ports are protected by walls
SKETCH ON BOARD THE ATHENIAN GOVERNMENT:
à Only citizens can participate in gov’t
à 40,000 adult males out of 400,000 population
à girls never officially citizens
JUDICIAL BRANCH: Courts – open to almost all citizens – large juries (100s of men chosen by lottery so not easily bribed) – decisions in one day
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH: Assembly – open to all male citizens over 20 – hears great debates of the day – generals and orators lead assembly debates
EXECUTIVE BRANCH: Council of 500 (plus 700 public officials) – all citizens over 30 are eligible – chosen by lottery
“State” level
Counties have locally elected executives and assemblies of all citizens
THURSDAY
Persian Wars, 499-479 B.C.
à Combination of Spartan land power and Athenian sea power
· Persians have control of Greek city-states
· City-states rebel and are crushed by Persia c. 499 B.C. after Athens wimps out and withdraws troops send to help
· Persians under Darius send a fleet to Athens in 492 B.C. – entire fleet destroyed in a storm!
à another ‘what if?’ of history
à would have been no advancement of democracy and Classical Period of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, plays, poetry, etc.
· In 490, Darius tries again: 26,000+ troops to Marathon, 26 miles east of Athens
· Athens dispatches 10,000 troops to Marathon, charging shoulder-to-shoulder, singing as they ran
· Great battle ensues: when dust settles, 6400 Persians and 192 Athenians dead
· That’s all well and good, but now Athens is defenseless, so Persians ships sail to Athens
· Someone needs to race to Athens to tell of results of battle so citizens don’t surrender Athens w/o a fight
· Young runner named Pheidippides (fye-dip-uh-deez) runs 26 miles over rough territory from Marathon to Athens
§ Last words “Rejoice, we conquer,” then he dies!!!
· Persian ships arrive, see the situation is hopeless, and sailed away
Round II:
· Persia invades Greece in 480 B.C.
· Spartans meet them, but are routed
· Persians march on Athens and sack the abandoned city
· Greeks lure Persian fleet into shallow water between Athens and island of Salamis and routs Persian fleet
· Next year, Greeks crush Persian forces and liberate Greek city-states in western Turkey (Ionia)
· After Persian Wars, Athens and Sparta unquestioned leaders of Greece
· In 477 B.C., Athens heads up Delian League security organization
§ 2 purposes: plunder Persian territory and protect Greek lands
§ Starts at 150 allies (250 by 431 B.C.)
· Allies begin to rebel, but Athens crushes each rebellion
· Spartans grow jealous of Athenian power and Athens grows cocky of its power and turns Delian League into a network of puppets – a clash becomes inevitable
Peloponnesian Wars, 431-404 B.C.
à Contemporary (Athenian) account: Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War
· Bitter and bloody conflict between Athens and Sparta
· 431 B.C. Sparta marches into Athenian territory, destroying crops by fire
· Athens doesn’t try to defeat Sparta on land, but plans to attack Spartan territory by sea
· Problems for Athens: (1) Plague hits Athens in 430 B.C. (kills 1/3 of population as citizens cower behind city walls); and (2) Force of 27,000 Athenian soldiers wiped out in land battle at Spartan ally of Syracuse in 413 B.C.
· Athens hangs on until 405 B.C., when Athenian fleet is defeated
· Walls of Athens were torn down in 404 B.C. and their power declines
§ Lose their self-confidence, not to mention their fleet, empire, and power
· Sparta can’t unite Greece either
§ Warriors, not diplomats
· Thebes, to NW of Athens, defeats Spartans in 371 B.C., killing the king.
· But Thebes was to fall in the wake of the rising power of Macedon
· Macdeon is in NE Greece and rises through military conquest
· Under King Philip II (r. 359-336 B.C.), it becomes leader of Greece
· Under Philip’s son, Alexander the Great (r. 336-323 B.C.), Greek language and culture and spread all over the Mediterranean world, into the Middle East, and into Asia (Greece to Egypt to Pakistan/India)
· Greeks replace Persians as ruling people of Egypt and western Asia
· Large numbers of Greek-speaking colonists move South (to places like Egypt) and East (Middle East, South Asia)
· Founds cities like Alexandria in Egypt
· After death of Alexander, his kingdom is divided up among his top three generals
· Over the next hundred years, the Mediterranean world is carved up among small monarchies, empires, and kingdoms (SEE MAP)
· By 200 A.D., a new world power was emerging in Italy. They were the Romans.