Greek History Final

Archaic Period

650-500 BCE

material culture, “period of growing egalitarianism”- making things more equal'; wrong- rich were getting richer

Classical Period

500-300 BCE

Hellenistic

300-100BCE

panhellenism

idea of unification of greek city states/hellenes

Herodotus

earliest Greek historian, “father of lies”, laconophile, from Halikarnassos

tells the story of the Persian Wars, best source about the Persian Empire

wrote a philosophical text/history, not opinionated in his texts

Thucydides

philosopher and historian that discussed the Peloponnesian Wars, the end is missing though

Xenophon

true blue historian, his text was used to learn basic Ancient greek by aristocrats

took up Thucydides’ history where he left off

wrote Anabasis- story of Cyrus the Great and the expedition of the 10,000

Athenian general

Alexander the Great

spread the ideas of Aristotle

famous conqueror by the age of 23

pastoralism

primary way ancient greeks produced food

way of life where people raise domesticated animals on natural pastures, often involving nomadic or semi-nomadic lifetsyles

agro-pastoralism

what greek economy depended on

a farming system that combines crop cultivation with livestock raising as the primary means of economic activity

often includes transhumant pastoralism

Minoans

linear A greek speakers from the bronze age in the island of Crete; a material culture

cycladic culture with an obsession with the female form

pre-greek society

obsidian trade

main minoan economic drive in 3000BCE

sharper than any steel

Early Minoan

peak sanctuaries- important spots in the topography where you can see a lot (sea, valleys); not livable, isolated; popular for herding/agro-pastoralism

cave sanctuaries- filled with thousands of years of objects thrown for the gods, thought to be entries into the underworld

Minoans were polytheistic and believed in creatures and spirits

Middle Minoan

start making minoan palaces- open air palace oriented around a courtyard, held an agora (marketplace)

Malia, Crete

where the sword was invented in Middle Minoan period 2

Akrotitri settlement/Thera island

holds beautiful frescoes, got volcanoed on, most frescoes are reimagined/made up, on current island of Santorini

Late Minoan

Knossos is only palace to survive

knoseans were obsessed with bulls and bull leaping

octopud jugs become the symbol of Crete

Mycenaeans

were warriors and wealthy civilization, material culture

perfume and textile manufacturing

linear B speakers

Mycenean palace

extremely internalized and centralized around the Megaron

gave weapons to warriors who collect combatants to fight for them

Megara/Megaron

type of throne room organized into 3 parts

base for the structure of greek temples

floor pattern influences you to move left to find the throne

tholos

Mycenean circular tomb used in the late Helladic period

reused over generations

architectural “relief triangle”

later changed into chamber tombs around 3200-2000 BCE

Oemos

appears in linear B

people in political power

Lawagetas

the second most important person in a Mycenean kingdom and likely the leader of the army

Caulking

phenomenon of drying out your boat by using specific types of wood

sea peoples

accusation of “sea peoples” coming in and destroying the empire

also mightve come from Ramses III saying he was attacked by sea peoples (fake it was internal conflict)

sea peoples would be outsiders who immigrate

Poleis

communities of the greek world with political organization

have mixed constitutions and are slave societies

10% of the population was free, (1 free out of 10)

Hesiod

wrote an aiteology about the ancient world, Theogony

one of the earliest primary poetry writers we have

explains the order of the world and gods and how they came to be

Aieteology

an explanation about the world; a story, a myth

Hesiod’s Theogony

in the beginning there is chaos and then comes Gaia and then Uranous; from them come the Titans

Homeric Cycle

8 epic poems about the Trojan War, we only have 2

The Iliad

an aiteology written by many different sources, used to frame the Greek world

Dactylic hexameter

way of writing a poem: long short short long short short…

divided in 6

sets a tone in which to memorize and recite/sing the lines

Francois Vase

dated 560BCE, names gods at the wedding that started the Trojan War as well as the death of Ajax and Achilles

nedus or nithis

the space above the pubis and below the stomach

where Gaia kept her children

Archaic Period

characterized by large scale migration across the Meditarranean, used to be called Greek colonization period

Dreros Constitution

law restricting the power and reelection of the kosmos (leader)

apsidal building

aristocratic burial focused around the big man; built below temples\largest is from Lefkandi

conspicuous consumption

idea that to be an elite/prove your status you have to show that you are consuming things

synoikismos

act of combining groups (into poleis)

agora

marketplace and centralized place where people trade, center of the community

cartelization

formed the poleis, agreeing to set prices high to strengthen the poleis and continue economic warfare between oligarchs

consolidation of social power

oikos

property/house

oikonomikos

oiko-household + nomiko-laws

Cretan Law system

gortyn code, preserved and known

boys get all the enslaved, girls get half of everything, mother has her own inherited ownership

Athenian System

women got nothing and weren’t allowed to own property

if no male heir, it goes to closest male relative; if no male relative: auctioned

to be an athenian system both parents had to be athenian

women had no agency, woman spaces are limited and guarded

Spartan System

everything split 50/50 between men and women

gift giving- father would choose his favorite and give most enslaved to him, everything else split evenly

women could own property and be athletic but not vote

women were temporary holders of wealth for the next generation (her sons)

Olympics

athletic competitions in temples for rewards

people from all Mediterranean come, huge wealth behind it

composed of sons of free men who were’’t succeeding and wanted to make a name for themselves

around 776 BCE, met at the temple of Zeus in Olympia, Northwestern Peloponnese

Symposium

drinking party with cultural drinking games

crater

big drinking bowl everyone takes from

greek alphabet spreads on the drinking cup

Origins of Love

dialogue

Aristophanes- important character who’s asked the origin of love

said Zeus made human beings and made three balls each having two heads, 8 arms, and 8 legs; one male male, one female female, one female male

cuts them in half and search for their other half

assumes 2/3 of the population is homosexual

coins

earliest come from Lydia and were made of electrum

Dekate- you could dedicate 1/tenth (10%) of what you earned to a god; donations became custom and funded temples and Olympics

money was borrowed from the God with interest

hoplite

warrior that provided weapons- swords javelins, spears, bows and arrows, and slings

their military tech came from Urartu and Assyria in northern Mesopotamia

The Hoplite Debate

two camps of thought: sudden change theory: hoplite military tech came and triggered democratic political revolutions

gradualist theory: hoplite tech gradually became more common as democracy became more common