2: Mythical Histoy Flashcards
Bronze Age and Mycenaean Age
3 Major Periods of Bronze Age and how they are labeled
Early
Middle
Late
* labeled according to geographical areas
Bronze Age and their Label in 3 Areas
Crete, Greece: Minoan → from the tradition of King Minos)
Islands: Cycladic
Mainland Greece: Helladic → Hellas is country in Greek
Heinrich Schlieman
- Pioneering archaeologist: first to excavate at Mycenae
- Went to Troy, Mycenae, and Tiryns and confirmed the reality of the wealth and power of the Minoan-Mycanean Saga
Chronology of the Bronze Age
3000-2000 BCE - Early Bronze Age
Early Minoan
Early Cycladic
Early Helladic
2000-1600 BCE - Middle Bronze Age
Middle Minoan
Middle Cycladic
Middle Helladic
1600-1100 BCE- Late Bronze Age
Late Minoan
Late Cycladic
Late Helladic a.k.a. THe Mycenaean Age due to its dominance
When did the Minoan Civilization peak
Late Bronze Age
Where was the Minoan Civilization and capital of what
Cnossus in Crete, Greece was the capital of a great thalassocracy and the Minoan power extended to Aegen and mainland Greece
What is a thalassocracy
sea power
Who was the Cnossus King and historical basis of what
- King Minos
- Historical basis for the legend of the labyrinth and slaying of the Minotaur by Theseus
Sir Arthur Evans
- Excavated Cnossus on Island of Crete
- Unearthed the palace of Minos at Cnossus
Labyrinth meaning
Labrys: means home of the double ax
King Minos
- made a labyrinth to hold the Minotaur slain by Theseus
- Worship of a fetility mother goddess whic was basic in Minoan religion
Island of Thera
- modern Santorini (northwest of Crete)
- volcanic eruption that resulted in earthquakes and tsunamis, cause of Minoan downfall?
- Cause of lost city of Plato’s Myth of Atlantis from his Critias and Timaeus?
What year was the end of the Minoan Dominance
Ca. 1400 BCE
When and what was the Mycenaean Age and what does Mycenae mean
- Late Helladic
- Mycenae means: “rich in gold”
- Indo-European invasion ca. Middle Helladic/Middle Bronze Age
- First Greeks to enter the peninsula and brought with them the worship of a supreme god of the sky, Zeus
Cyclopean walls
- type of stonework found in Mycenean architecture
- walls so big they were thought to be built by the giant Cyclopes
Heinrich Schliemann
established a link between traditional tales of Greek saga in the Homeric poems and actual placed named in them. Ex: Mycenae and Troy II
Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey- Mycenae and Cnossus rulers
- about heroes and locales
- Agamemenon was the king of Mycenae who commanded the Achaeans (Greeks) during the Trojan War
- Menelaus, brother of Agamemenon, led the Spartan contingent in the Trojan war
- In the ** Odyssey **, it was said that Minos, a friend of Zeus, ruled Cnossus for 9 years
Carl Blegen and Pylos
excavated Pylos and found:
* megaron: central room with an open hearth and concluded that it was the palace of the family of Nestor
* Linear B Tablets
How did Linear B tablets get deciphered
- Carl Blegen unearthed them in Pylos
- Alice Kober published the first 3 papers on the evidence of inflection
- Michael Ventris deciphered them based off her work. His work was called It’s All Greek to Me!
- Emmett bennett Jr. is the founding father of the study of Mycenaean scripts
What are Linear B tablets and syllabary
- clay tablets inscribed with writing found on mainland Greece, lots in Pylos
- each symbol is a syllable, Cf. Japanese syllabary like Katakana or Hiragana
- Linear B was used for administrative purposes
What was the Trojan War and who were the commanders of Greek side
Greek trying to take the city of Priam from Trojans (people of Troy)
* Agamemenon commanded the greeks
* Menelaus commanded the Spartan contingent
How many settlements on the site of Troy and alternate name for Troy and what age was this
Alternate:* Ilios*
* During the Bronze Age
* 9 layers of settlement: Troy I-VI and VII/VIIa were of significance
Settlements of Troy and their Significance
Troy I - Early Bronze Age
Troy II - Early Bronze Age
* Schliemann’s wife wearing jewelry from treasure he found called “The Gold of Troy” or “Priam’s Treasure”
* Schliemann incorrectly believed it to be the city of Priam
Troy III-V Early and Middle Bronze Ages
Troy VI Middle Bronze Age
* Troia or Ilios
Troy VII/VIIa Late Bronze Age - Early Iron Age
*Fall of Troy early iron age (1150) vs original traditional date of 1184
* Scene of the Trojan War
* This was Homer’s Troy (from Iliad & Odyssey)
Hittite Texts
- “Willusa” = Ilios/Troy? from text called Alaksandu treaty
- Deity “Appaliunas” = Apollo? who took the side of the Trojans
What were the possible causes of the end of Mycenean Age
- evidence of siege and fire
Possible causes: - Dorian invasion: now discounted
- Invasion of “Sea-Peoples”: sea-borne and land invaders. From Egyptian Inscription
- Transition to the “Dark Age” a.k.a. the Iron Age
How was Homer’s Iliad & Odyssey transmitted and its content
Stories of earlier periods were through oral tradition transmitted by Bards or Singers
* Homeric poems was an amalgam (mixture) of Bronze and Iron Ages. Ex: Bronze weapons and “Iron-hearted Achilles”
Meaning of Homer and Singer
“Homer”: Bard or Singer
Singer: Aoidos in Greek
How and when was the Greek Alphabet invented
Invented Mid 8th Century
* Speculation that someone invented the Greek alphabet to transcribe Homeric poems
* The Greeks borrow the symbols of Phoenician (mdoern Lebanon) script and used them to create a true alphabet distinguished by each vowel and consonant unlike syllabic nature of Linear B tablets
Significance of Archaic Period
- Greek culture began to develop and grow
- first poets emerget
- Solon developed the first idea of democracy, making Athens the first democracy in history
- when the Greek alphabet was invented
