CLCIV 101 Midterm

Bronze Age Dates

3000-1150 BC

Dark Ages Dates

1150-700 BC

Archaic Period Dates

700-480 BC

Classical Period Dates

480-323 BC

Hellenistic Period Dates

323-30 BC

Indo-european

classification based on language not ethnicity, all migrated starting between black sea and caspian sea

Crete

largest island, first civilization

Mt. Olympus

home of the gods, tallest in Greece

Athens

main city in Greece

Sparta

rival of Athens, other main city

Thebes

tragedy that we read takes place there

Delphi

most important holy site

Discovery of Troy

discovered by Heinrich Schliemann in 1870

Discovery of Mycenae

discovered by Heinrich Schliemann in 1876

Discovery of Cnossus

discovered by Arthur Evans in 1899

Minoans

lived in crete

named after minos

many palaces

3000-1400 BC

not warriors, traders

Palace at Cnossus (Minoan)

Minoans/Crete

Open palaces, economic hub

Cnossus Throne Room (Minoan)

Minoans/Crete

Cnossus Queen's Megaron/Great Room (Minoan)

Minoans/Crete

Sea people

Cnossus Halls and Stairs (Minoan)

Palace Economy

products stored in the palace and then redistributed

Cnossus Storage Room (Minoan)

Minoans/Crete

Palace economy

Thalassocracy

power on the sea

The Ship Procession in Akrotiri (Minoan)

Minoans/Crete

Thalassocracy

Fresco from Akrotiri (Minoan)

Minoans/Crete

Thalassocracy

The so-called Parisienne (Minoan)

Minoans/Crete

Fresco

Bees Pendant from Mallia (Minoan)

Minoans/Crete

Very intricate/advanced

Statuette of the Snake Goddess (Minoan)

Minoans/Crete

Main goddess of religion, fertility goddess

Bull Jumping Fresco Cnossus (Minoan)

Minoans/Crete

Bulls very important in Crete

Rhyton/drinking cup in the shape of a bull's head (Minoan)

Minoans/Crete

Bull very important, wine very important

Horns of Consecration (Minoan)

Minoans/Crete

Bull very important

Sarcophagus with bulls and horns of consecration (Minoan)

Minoans/Crete

Bull very important

Thesseus and the Minotaur

takes palce on Crete

based on ritual importance of bull

cnossus looked like a maze

Mycenaeans

1600-1150 BC

Named after Mycenae

Fortified citadels

Independent kingdoms

Conquest of Crete (1500-1450 BC)

Mycenae (Mycenaean)

Mycenaeans

Fortified citadels

Mycenea Cyclopean Wall (Mycenaean)

Mycenaeans

Walls for protection

Mycenae Lion Gate (Mycenaean)

Mycenaeans

Walls for protection

Mycenae, the so-called Treasury of Atreus (Mycenaean)

Mycenaeans

Filled with precious artifacts, honeycomb

Seal with Goddess and Demons from

Tiryns (Mycenaean)

Mycenaeans

Very intricate artistry

Goblet from Vaphio (Mycenaean)

Mycenaeans

Very intricate artistry

Dagger blade from Mycenae (Mycenaean)

Mycenaeans

Very intricate artistry

Hieroglyphic script

on seal-stones in crete

Linear A

on clay tablets in crete

still not deciphered

from Mycenae

Linear B

on clay tablets (found in the Mycenaean layer of the palace)

ideograms, numerals & syllabic signs

1952: decipherment by Michael Ventris

GREEK

Palace Records

not private, but only bureaucratic use of writing

found on linear b tablets

Wanax

lord and commander-in-chief of the army

Lawagetas

commander of the army ('leader of the people')

Hequetas

military officer ('follower')

Qasireu

town official

Damos

people = farmers, workers & slaves

Pylos Great Room (Mycenaean)

Mycenaeans

Less open than minoans

Linear B Tablet from Pylos (Mycenaean)

Mycenaeans

decipherable writing, greek

Dark Ages

No centralized political organization

No centralized economy

Self-sufficient communities with a local chief

Population decline

No writing

Iron!

Great hall at Lefkandi Euboea (Dark Ages)

Euboea

Much more functional, less grand

Protogeometric amphora (Early Dark Ages)

simple but still fairly intricate

Geometric funerary vase with scenes of

ritual mourning and funeral procession (Late Dark Ages)

very very intricate

Greek Alphabet

800 BC - late dark ages

Not related to Linear B but to the Phoenician alphabet

22 Phoenician consonants for Greek consonants & vowels (+ 3 new signs)

It is a phonetic alphabet

Languages vs Writing Systems

Greek is a language

Linear B and the Greek Alphabet are writing systems

Different writing systems can be used to write the same language

Dipylon Vase (Renaissance): 'whoever of the dancers dances most delicately, to him this [prize will be given?]'

'Cup of Nestor' from Pithecusae (Renaissance): 'I am the cup of Nestor, a joy to drink from. Whoever drinks this cup, straightway the desire of beautiful crowned Aphrodite will seize him.'

Found in Italy

'oral' literature

enjoyed through performance and NOT through readings

Oral theory

Milman Parry & Albert Lord

based on slavic oral poetry

no fixed text

used formulas (repetitive)

FORMULAS

ready-made building blocks for oral re-composition in performance

Fresco from Pylos with a bard playing the lyre (Mycenaean)

Oral poetry

Theories for how Homer was written down

1. The poems were written down at the time of composition

by the poet himself

2. They were dictated to a scribe when they were being composed orally

3. They were written many centuries after having circulated in Greek in a purely oral form

Exekias, Achilles and Ajax playing

(550-520 BC - archaic period)

The Trojan Horse (amphora, c. 670

BC - archaic period)

The 'Mask of Agamemnon'

(1550-1500 BC - Mycenaean period)

Hattusas, Lion Gate (c. 1400-1200 BC)

Man-covering shields

Mycenaean period

look like figure 8

Round Shields

Late mycenaean and early dark ages

small and round, lightweight

Boar's tusk helmet from Crete

(1450-1300 BC - Mycenaean period)

Bronze Armor with Helmet of Boar's

Tusk from tomb at Dendra, near

Mycenae (c. 1450 BC - Mycenaean

period)

Head of a Warrior with Boar's Tusk

Helmet from Mycenae (c. 1250 BC -

Mycenaean period)

The "Tarzan" fresco, from Pylos, Mycenaean Period

Boar Hunt fresco, from Tiryns, Mycenaean period

Chariot scene, Grave stele from

Mycenae, c. 1600 BC

Early Mycenaean period

Chariot scene, from Tiryns,

c. 1350 BC, Mycenaean period

Chariot scene, from Pylos,

c. 1350 BC, Mycenaean period

Blinding of Polyphemus

(Amphora, c. 650 BC -

archaic period)

mēnis

wrath/rage

Tiepolo, Athena intervenes in the quarrel between Achilles and Agamemnon (1757)

Priam begging Achilles for the body of

Hector (Athenian red-figure vase (c. 490 -

archaic period)

Ingres, The Embassy to Achilles (1801)

Achilles' surrender of Briseis (fresco from Pompeii, 1st cent. AD - Roman period)

timē

honor

Kleos

glory

Geras

prize

Aidōs

shame

Shame Culture

One seeks to avoid shame (aidōs)

for himself

Highest good is the enjoyment of public esteem → honor (timē)

Result culture

One seeks success through glory (kleos) and prize (geras) → the individual is everything

Competitive values

Guilt Culture

One seeks to avoid sense of guilt

Highest good is the enjoyment of a quiet conscience → moral standards

Intention culture

Notion of the greater good → community is more important than individual

Cooperative values

Exekias, Ajax with body of Achilles

(ca. 540 BC - archaic period)

Achilles (red-figure amphora, c.

445-440 BC - classical period)

Achilles bandaging Patroclus (tondo of an Attic

red-figure cup, c. 500 BC - archaic period)

Euphronios, Hermes

directing Sleep and Death

as they bear Sarpedon

(krater, ca. 515 BC -

archaic period)

Achilles (2) fighting Hector (3) with Athena (1) and Apollo (4)

(Athenian krater c. 500-480 BC - archaic period)

Cloebis and Biton (statues found at Delphi,

c. 580 BC - archaic period)

Syncretism

combination of different beliefs or

practices

Athena & Poseidon (neck amphora of Amasis

Painter, c. 540-530 BC - archaic period)

Elgin Marbles: The Olympian

Gods (Parthenon, East Frieze ,

c. 446-440 BC - classical period)