Greek Civilization Midterm

Bronze Age

3000 BC - 1100 BC. mycenean and minoan civilizations. trojan war. grave circle A

Minoans

non-greek people that influenced the myceneans. Lived in Crete. Myth of the minotaur and the labyrinth

Cnossus

Principal kingdom on the island of Crete. believe in the "mother" goddess. had bull leaping. where the Minotaur was supposedly held.

Mycenaeans

First recorded real Greeks. Lived on the mainland. had linear B, used for transactions. takes its name from Maycenae, a palace in Peloponnesus

Mycenae

One of the main palaces/kingdoms of the Myceneans. This was used as a general trade center. Was fortified

Linear B

The script used by the Mycenaeans; an early form of Greek. used for mainly bureacratic transactions. only elite knew how to write linear B

Trojan War

(Greek mythology) a great war fought between Greece and Troy. It is possible that the Trojan War actually occurred but we have little evidence. Achillies, Paris, etc.

Dark Age

1100-800 BC. Loss of writing, this is the age we know the least about. colonization of Asia Minor. Modest buildings and communities

Homer

A Greek poet, author of the Iliad and the Odyssey. Unsure if Homer was just one person, or a group of people. 8th cen bc. Likely an oral poet

Homeric Question

the doubt and consequent debate over the identity of Homer, the authorship of the Iliad and Odyssey, and their historicity

Heinrich Schliemann

Discovered Troy in Turkey. discovered troy was destroyed 1200BC. Archeologist. Found grave circle A. lived in the 1800s. father of Mycenaean civilization archeology.

Milman Parry

Scholar of the early 20th century, an american classicist. Founder of the oralist theory. Noticed Homeric poetry was based around "formulas". widely believed that spoken word was the first form of Homer's poems.

Iliad

Homer's great epic that tells the story of the Trojan War

Achilles

Greatest Greek warrior

Agamemnon

(Greek mythology) the king who lead the Greeks against Troy in the Trojan War. king of mycenae

Hector

Prince of Troy, greatest warrior, killed by Achilles.

Odyssey

Homer's epic that tells the story of the Greek hero Odysseus on his way home from the Trojan War

Odysseus

Most clever Greek hero. Fought in the Trojan War

Penelope

Wife of Odysseus and mother of Telemachus. Penelope spends her days in the palace pining for the husband who left for Troy twenty years earlier and never returned. Homer portrays her as sometimes flighty and excitable but also clever and steadfastly true to her husband.

Ionians

A greek tribal identity. Believed to be decedents of Ion, son of Hellen, a mythical ancestor. This group revolted against Persia during the Persian War

Dorians

Greek tribal identity, believed to be the decedents of Hercules. Had its own dialect of Greek.

Panhellenic identity

"all Greeks" 3rd level of the greek identity. Panhellenic games is an example of how this idenity helped connect all Greeks.

polis

A city-state in ancient Greece.

oikos

House/household/family. part of the local identity. Included relatives, slaves and property. women and mens room

genos

Part of the greek local identity. primary level. means clan, families that shared ansestors.

pederasty

a same-sex sexual behavior between adult men and boys.

erastēs

older lover, dominant partner in a greek homosexual relationship

eromenos

the younger member of a same sex relationship in Ancient Greece.

olympian religion

belief involving supernatural beings.

Eleusinian Mysteries

Yearly initiations into the cult of Demeter and Persephone; it was the one of the oldest and most famous of Greek religious rites.

Dionysian Mysteries

were a ritual of ancient Greece and Rome which used intoxicants and other trance-inducing techniques (like dance and music) to remove inhibitions and social constraints, liberating the individual to return to a natural state.

Archaic Period

800-479 BC. when polis start. lyric poetry, sappho

Greek alphabet

based on Phoenician alphabet, added vowels. easily written and spoken, even to those non-elite

agathoi

"The Good People" aristocrats in a polis. however, the economic and military gaps between rich and poor was small.

kakoi

"The bad people". The poor in a polis. however, the economic and military gaps between rich and poor was small.

hoplite

a heavily armed foot soldier of ancient Greece. fought in phalanx, usually 8 deep. both rich and poor fought together.

Panhellenic games

-Comprise of the Olympic, Pythian, Isthmian, and Nemean

Games. 5 main athletic events. only free greek males could participate. honor and time for family and polis.

Olympic games

in ancient Greece, an athletic competition held every four years in honor of Zeus in olympia, NOT mt olympus

symposion

The carefully organized drinking party that was the center of Greek aristocratic social life. It featured games, songs, poetry, and even philosophical disputation. they diluted wine with water. lots of sex, used to show off

Lyric poetry

poetry that isn't epic, diactic, or dramatic. used to teach people. usually performed to music. wide variety of subjects

Sappho

Greek poet, she was one of the most famous lyric poets of Greece.

Sparta

A powerful Greek miliary polis that was often at war with Athens. Used slaves known as helots to provide agricultural labor.

Spartan mirage

An idealized but unreliable version of Sparta - a vision of stability, hierarchy, and order in which all knew their place

Lycurgus

legendary law giver of Sparta. established many key elemits of spartan society. mixed constitution,

Messenian Wars

Conflicts between the neighbors Sparta and Messenia that resulted in Messenia's conquest by Sparta. this war made spartan way of life possible.

Peloponnesian League

Alliance between Sparta and other poleis. Sparta was the leader, military support/protection, held votes on going to war

Spartiates

Male Spartan citizens

perioikoi

dwellers round about. Not slaves, free, but not citizens. similar to a green card. lived in towns around sparta. farmers, craftsmen, merchants in times of peace, army during wartime.

helots

Spartan slaves

agōgē

The training school that all Spartan boys attended from the age of seven.

Ephors

5 supervisory magistrates to gov. Monitored conduct of kings and gerousia. conduct meetings of apella. 1 year terms, no reelection. forced to submit review of tenure upon leaving.

Gerousia

Spartan council of elders. settling lawsuits, present proposals to apella, interpret traditions. oligarchic element of gov

Apella

- The Spartan citizen's assembly

- Made up of Spartiates age 30+

- Met once a month to vote on proposals from the Council of Elders

-met outdoors every month on the day of the full moon

Athens

A democratic Greek polis. best known and documented.

metics

Free resident aliens of athens. limited rights/responsibilites. had to pay tax to live in Athens. mostly of greek origin, however some weren't (Egyptians). Business and trade, weaving, tanning, pottery, etc.

Solon

Athenian statesman and lawmaker. 630-560BC. wanted to solve the crisis of the 7th century. gave political rights to all 4 classes. abolish debt bondage. redistribution of land.

Pisistratus

early 6th cen athenian aristocrat who ruled as a tyrant. took power 3 seperate times usually by using trickery. funded public buildings and sponsored art and culture.

Cleisthenes

579-508 BC founder of athenian democracy. created boule. reorganized athenian citzenry to support the gov. each tribe was now represented in gov.

Athenian democracy

A type of government used in Athens which is sort of a combine of majority rule and democracy. 1st democracy in the western world. only open to male ath citizens. 3 bodies of gov. boule, ekklesia, dikasteria

Boulē

council, open to all 30+ yo. convined every day (not holidays) 500 members. 50 from each of the 10 tribes. set agenda of meetings for the ekklesia.

Ekklēsia

assembly. responsible for voting on matters presented by boule. electing military and financial magistrates. appoint judges to hold political trials. open to 20+ yo. convened 40 times per year

Dikastēria

courts. trying public and private cases. conviened ~200 times per year. 30+ yo. attended by citizens, metics, and slaves.

ostracism

annual practice of voting to exile a fellow citizen for 10 years. Votes cast on pot shards. many famous politians were ostricized. aimed to safeguard democracy from threat of tyrany.

Herodotus

Father of history. wrote "the histories" was born in greek polis under persian control. was ostrirzied, traveled the Mediterranean.

Persian Empire

near eastern empire founded by cyrus the great. monarchy. multiculturalism, cultural tolerance.

Darius I

Persian king who was in charge during the first persian invasion. During the battle of marathon where Athens won.

Xerxes

Persian king in charge during second persian invasion. he didn't actually fight in any of the battles according to the "histories" viewed as childish

Ionian Revolt

499-493, Ionian cities revolted against Persian Rule, helped by Athens. At first it was a success, then crushed by Persians

Persian Wars

Conflicts between Greek city-states and the Persian Empire, ranging from the Ionian Revolt (499-494 B.C.E.) through Darius's punitive expedition that failed at Marathon. Chronicled by Herodotus.

Battle of Marathon

490 BC sole battle of 1st persian invasion. marathon was a plain in NE attica. athenian army delays fighting for a week. ath. defeats persiausing a special formation with strong flanks and a weak center.

Battle of Thermopylae

480 BC 1st battel of the second persian invasion. in a small pass in greece, Greeks hold out for 6 days against all odds. G. army was betrayed, persian immortals found away around thermopylae to surround greed army. Leonidas fought to death after dismissing most Spartan soldiers.

Leonidas

king of Sparta and hero of the battle of Thermopylae where he was killed by the Persians (died in 480 BC)

Battle of Salamis

480 B.C.E. The battle that effectively ended the Persian war. The Greek fleet, although vastly outnumbered, defeated the Persian fleet. This helped end the Persian war it was a turning point.

Themistocles

Athenian admeral, hes the one who tricked persia into the battle of salamis. they took advantage of the narrowness of the canal

Battle of Plataea

2nd land battle of the second persian invasion. the battle lasted for 7 days. Persians cut off Greek water supply. Spartans and Athenians previal, winning against persia. resulted in mainland greeks maintaining their freedom.