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Learn about the fascinating Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations in the Aegean Basin, their advanced cultures, religious practices, and influences on Greek civilization in the Archaic Age.
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Chapter 5: The Minoans, The Mycenaeans, and the Greeks of the Arcahic Age
The tradition of Greece is often the first in which Westerners feel they can recognize themselves. Greeks were the “first” to place human beings at the center of the universe. However, preceding the Greeks in the Aegean Basin were the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations.
Prelude: Minoan Civilization3000 – 1100 BC • This civilization was developing on the island of Crete while Egypt and Mesopotamia were flourishing • This civilization was named after legendary King Minos, whose father was said to be Zeus
As with Egyptians, the Minoans were organized into a complex caste system: Nobles, Merchants, Artisans, Bureaucrats, and Laborers • Life for Minoans was unusually peaceful…very few weapons found at archeological sites
Sophisticated Palace Architecture • A complete plumbing and drainage system • Multi-level structure with complex layout of rooms and passageways • Below ground storage of grains, oils, and wines • Beautiful friezes and frescoes • No walls protecting Minos palace
Langauge • Pictorial forms gave way to: • 1. Linear A script from 1800 BC to about 1400 BC. Undecipherable even to this day. • 2. Linear B from 1400 to decline in 1100. Was an early form of Greek and not used for political, social, and philosophical aspects of life; only commercial transactions
Religion • Most Minoan life revealed through its religious practices and art. • 1. Matriarchal society • 2. Center of worship was a mother goddess • 3. Earth goddesses portrayed in various forms.
Art • Bull a significant element of Minoan life; bull leaping, maybe a sport or ritual. • Males painted in red, sometimes in female clothing • Females in white
Decline of Civilization • Minoan trade dominated eastern Mediterranean until about 1380 BC • Something happened, maybe a volcanic eruption or other natural disaster • Culture was further weakened by Mycenaean attacks and influences between 1400 and 1100 BC
Cultural Beliefs & Influences • Crete is traditionally the place where Zeus was born • Minoans worshipped Zeus, and in their culture, he eventually died • Later, Greeks were incensed that Minoans believed that Zeus died. • Though Greece eventually dominated the area, Minoan beliefs largely influenced Greek thinking, language, social organization and economic pursuits
Mycenaeans • The civilization named by archeologists after the fortress city, Mycenae, in the lower rugged region of the Greek peninsula, Peloponnesus • Mycenaeans were war-like and may have come from Russia or parts of Mesopotamia. Arrived about 1900 BC and by 1500 ruled entire peninsula
Mycenae Data • Ruins of Mycenaean palaces reveals them to be mole like structures with massive double walls and narrow escape passages • Most well know Mycenaean monument is the massive Lion Gate constructed from four massive hewn stones (ashlars) • Bronze lion’s heads now gone, maybe stolen. Design likely to remind citizens who ruled and to intimidate visitors.
Mycenaean religion • Seems to have been a mixture of Minoan influences and local deities. There were two types of deities… • 1. Some were predecessors of Olympian gods and goddesses worshipped by later Greeks and bore the same names • 2. Others were nature divinities and spirits.
Mycenaean Data • It was Mycenaeans who tried to topple Troy. The long siege weakened the civilization and inspired Homer’s later Iliad and Odyssey • It was the Mycenaeans who gave the Greeks many of their ideals and inspired the age of heroes established by Homer
Dark Ages:1100—800 BC • After collapse of Mycenaean civilization, a 300 year period called Dark Ages • Life becomes more agrarian • Transitional time—changes happening behind the scenes • Power shifting from kings to families • Bronze gives way to iron • Mycenaeans flee to Asia Minor. Early Greeks establish life around Aegean and Mediterranean Seas
The Archaic Greek Age:800—479 BC • After the Dark Ages, the Greeks emerged with a common language, heroic stories, myths, religious practices and trading interests. • They claimed a common mythical parent, Hellen, who fathered three sons, the ancestors of the three major Greek tribes: Ionians, Aeolians, and Dorians.
The development of Greek culture lasted three centuries, and by the end of it they had laid the foundation of a new world…ours!!!
Important Words • Archaic: Greek for ancient or beginning • Polis: where people began to migrate from the farms. Small, well-defined city state. • Acropolis: fortified hilltop from which rulers governed • Agora: open area where some temples were built, and where people gathered for business and to socialize. It was the center of the polis
Sparta & Athens: Contrasting Ways Of Life • Sparta: • The principle symbol of the Dorian civilization • Developed an ever vigilant hierarchical society with rigid policies and well trained men, women, and children • Harsh laws were passed to ensure stability • Sparta contributed little to the artistic enrichment of Greece.
Athens: • In contrast it reached far greater achievements in art, intellect, and literature. • Athens was a much more open society • Through aristocrat, Solon, lower class men were given the right to participate in government, and by 508 BC nearly full democracy established
Interesting Differences • Sparta needed healthy male warriors, so childbearing women were given more freedoms • Spartan womanAthenian women Choral singing No Dancing No Nude athletics w/men No • Athenian women pursued respectability as an ideal.
Emergence of Greek Genius • Archaic Greeks developed literary, philosophical, and artistic forms to probe the meaning of the universe as well as celebrate their joyous sense of life
The Muses of Artistic Inspiration • Calliope Epic Poetry • Clio History • Erato Erotic poetry and mine • Euterpe Lyric poetry and music • Melpomene Tragedy • Polyhymnia Sacred hymn • Terpsichore Dance and song • Thalia Comedy • Urania Astronomy
Religion • Deities derived from early settlers evolved into two major categories: • 1. Olympian deities dwelled in the sky or on mountains…associated with Homeric heroes • 2. chthonian deities lived under ground and were associated with the seasons and cycles of nature and fertility.
Greek endowed their gods and goddesses with physical bodies and personalities. They were a blend of charm, cruelty, childishness, love, justice, and caprice • They fought with one another, played with their worshippers and had favorites
Olympian Deities • Zeus: chief deity and Olympus order keeper • Hera: Mother goddess—protector of women • Poseidon: Ruler of waters • Hades: Keeper of the underworld • Hesta: Keeper of the hearth • Apollo: God of wisdom and moderation • Artemis: Virgin goddess who aided women • Ares: Amoral god of violence and war • Aphrodite: Goddess of passion, love, and beauty • Hephaestus: Patron of crafts people • Athena: Goddess of wisdom and warfare • Hermes: God of merchants; messenger for the deities
Chthonian, underground, gods and goddesses were probably derived from ancient earth and harvest deities. • Two cults around most important crops—grain and grapes.
1. Persephone, niece of Zeus, tricked by Hades to return underground part of every year…hence…winter, ground is barren….spring, ground rich in crops. • 2. Dionysus, noted for dancing and wine became associated with the irrational, emotional, uncontrollable aspects of human life. Contrast is Apollo…representing rational, conscious, and controlled human aspects.
Epic Poetry • Homer • Originator of the epic poem • Appeal lies in his well crafted plots filled with dramatic episodes and finely drawn characters • Iliad describes the battle of Ilium, another name for Troy • Odyssey recounts the Greeks defeat of the Trojans and Odysseus’ ten year journey to return home
Natural Philosophy • Simply thinkers who questioned the power and existence of gods • Natural philosophers conceived a world where natural causes and effects operated • The Romans later called this “natural philosophy”. That encompassed what we would call “science” and “philosophy
Philosophers • Three Primary Philosophers of the Archaic Age were: • Thales: 585 BC. Believed everything was made from matter • Pythagoras: 580-507 BC. Believed everything was made of numbers • Heraclitus: 545-485 BC Most modern by our standards…truth ion constant change…struggle necessary for progres
Architecture • The supreme architectural achievement of the Greeks was the temple • Parts included: Architrave…horizontal members resting on columns
Entablature…all of the building between the columns and pediment
