World Civ: Ancient Greece Lecture Notes

Minoans and Mycenaeans: 

 Is name given to civilizations in Bronze age Greece

- Minoans named after mythical King Minos, their civilization centered on the island of Crete

- Mycenaeans named after their famous city, Mycenae

Minoans: 

Centered around Crete, Greece is a peninsula jutting into Mediterranean Sea and Crete is an island in that sea

- The Natural harbors of the coast made the Minoans (Bronze age Greeks) natural sea people who engaged in long distance trade

- Minoan civilization focused on Mediterranean Sea

- This area of Greece has some natural resources and agricultural products (Wheat, barley, olives, grapes, wine) but trade makes other goods obtainable

Thera

 Also known as modern Santorini is a small island in the Aegean Sea

- A volcano in 1629 BC changed the geography of the island permanently; many former sites now submerged or covered by volcanic dust

- The recovered sites on There provide us with archeological information about the Minoans

- This view of the painting on a Theran wall shows antelopes from Africa, suggesting the Minoans engaged in long distance trade 

- These paintings are called Frescos 

- Another fresco on a Theran wall shows evidence of the Minoans as a sea-oriented people 

Minos

The most famous of the Minoans kings, built and lived in this palace

- The imposing and complicated floor plan of this palace gave us the term ¨labyrinth”  meaning maze

- Later Greeks added a mythological component to the ruins of the palace, claiming the labyrinth housed the Minotaur 

The palace of Knossos

Mycenaeans: 

The Minoans are overtaken by Mycenaeans (from southern Greece) in the late bronze age 

- The historical record of the Mycenaeans is more clear than the Minoans

- Mycenaeans show up in the tomb scenes ancient Egyptian pharaohs and in the records of the Hittites, showing the Mycenaeans more integrated in the larger world than the Minoans

- Very into war and military

Citadel of Mycenae 

The city the Mycenaeans are named after

- Has protective walls showing the emphasis on military matters unlike the Minoans

- Note the column imbedded between the two lions above the door 

- The column is also a feature of Minoan architecture, suggesting some continuity between the two civilizations

Linear B:

An adapted version of linear A, resembles but not identical to modern Greek and is decipherable by historians and linguists 

- Linear B is usually found in records containing inventories or lists

- Very little Linear B writing shows representations of daily life or the values/beliefs of the Mycenaeans

- Although not much is written in it, however it is unlike Linear A because we can translate it

Mycenaean Developments: 

Tholos tombs, Tombs where royal family members were buried; built into hillsides and shaped like a beehive

- It is a monumental tomb consisting in a round chamber with domed ceiling and in a passage that leads to the chamber 

- In Mycenae, 9 tholos were found and in whole Greece, about one hundred

- The Mycenaean tholos tombs are dated between 1520 BC and 1300 BC and 9 out of 6 belong to a period between 1520 and 1450 BC

- ¨Treasury of Atreus¨ belongs to the relatively recent period 

Treasury of Atreus: 

- Tomb of Atreus is the most prominent one and is still standing today, It is the best perserved

- This tholos tomb is the largest and the best preserved of the nine tholos tombs found in Mycenae it is dated about 1350-1330 BC

Mask Of Agamemnon

- Agamemnon was among the more famous of the Mycenand  kings 

- He shows up in mythologized form in later Greek literature

- The so called ¨Mask of Agamemnon¨ is from a Mycenaean tomb, however the dating of the tomb makes it too old to actually be the face of the historical agamemnon 

- The mask, however, does show that Mycenaean kings were buried with their gold and wealth

Mycenaean Hierarchy:

Mycenaean society had a distinct hierarchy

Wanac= generally refers to a king, the head of the society 

Lawagetas= ¨leader of the people¨ sometimes troops, served under the king 

Governors= Supervise territories under the control of the wanax and Lawagetas

Gwasilies = Similar to town of village Mayor, this title sruvives into later Greek eras, wher it will eventually refer those at the top of the hierarchy 

Mycenaean art:

Some Mycenaean art is in ivory, indicating trade with other regions as ivory is not native to Greece

- Possessing Ivory is a status symbol, suggesting wealth and trade with Africa

- The bullhead shows Minoan influence on Mycenaean culture and art (Bulls were important Minoan symbol)

Mycenaean architecture:

 Tends to be similar to the Minoans in character 

- However, Mycenaean art shows more interest in violence and aspects involved with a warrior society (Chariots, battle scenes, warriors) 

- This style of armor too clunky/heavy for infantry 

- Primarily worn by chariot warriors, this helmet on the the right is made of Boar tusks, showing the higher status of owner

- This artwork shows Mycenaeans engaged in war with ¨barbarians¨ (The term ¨barbarians¨ in this sense and as used later in this class represents the attitudes do the more sophisticated or settled societies towards more nomadic or less organized peoples

- The barbarians are dented by the wearing of animals skins, while Mycenaeans have helmets

- Conflicts with barbarian groups increased in later Mycenaeans periods, resulting in a weekend Mycenaean state

Bronze age Mythology:

The Bronze age Mycenaeans are the basis for later Greek myths considered the ¨Age of the Heros¨ 

- Some of the heroes of these legends are fictional, while others are loosely based on actual historical figures given mythological status

- Among the heroic figures linked to the myths of this era include Jason and the Argonauts, Hercules, King Oedipus of Thebes, and Agamemnon, in addition to the stories relating to the trojan wars

Collapse of Bronze Age Greece: 

- No ¨hero¨ stories are told of Mycenaeans after the Trojan war likely because the movement of various populations such as the sea people leads to collapse of Bronze Age political system 

- Greeks from the north invade the south, Mycenae and Crete, and Asia Minor 

- Scribes wrote in Linear B for the old city states, now that they dissolve, much off the literacy disappears 

- This beginning of a ¨Dark age¨