family resemblance - there are no fixed set of characteristics that make a sandwich a sandwich. only family resemblances. the conception of a sandwich has changed over time along with the motivating interests and presuppositions. 

transmitted text - texts that have been passed down through history 

biofacts - archaeological evidence consisting of organic material that was not the object of craftsmanship

inference - a conclusion drawn from data or premises 

assumption - something taken for granted, either knowingly or unknowingly 

indo-european - a group of languages that bear a family resemblance and are believed to come from some common proto-indo-european language 

megaron - architectural form consisting of an open porch, vestibule, and large hall with central hearth and throne. found in all Mycenaean palaces and some houses. 

linear b - syllabic script used for writing in mycenaean greek (earliest attested form of the greek language) predates the greek alphabet by centuries (~1400 BC)

epic poetry - long narrative poem that’s written in verse and is usually the length of a novel. usually tells the story of a single person/group of people. often has to do with gods and other superhuman forces. was performed with music and served as entertainment for the masses. 

iliad - 1 of 2 major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. 24 books to the iliad. set around the end of the Trojan War. depicts significant events of the final weeks of the siege. in particular, the quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles. Agamemnon insults Achilles, Achilles refuses to fight, greeks die,

Odyssey -  One of two major ancient Greek epic 

poems attributed to Homer. Heroic brains and hero

 after war.

glory (kleos) -  The quest for glory to make your

 life meaningful by leaving your mark.

aristeia -  a scene in the dramatic conventions of 

epic poetry as in the Iliad, where a hero in battle

 has his finest moments 

respect (tīmē) -The need for respect. Respect can

 be the fundamental value that unites a group and 

gives individuals in the group a sense of self-worth

Homeric values - The divine had Multiple Gods,

Fallible, Petty deceitful. There was no afterlife.

 A good human life was a life embodied by the

 heroes and Godlike.

Christian values - The divine had One true God,

 infallible, and absolutely perfect. The afterlife was

 heaven. A good human life was a life embodied 

by Jesus and his disciples God-loving

geometric pottery - a style of ceramic art that 

emerged in ancient Greece during the Geometric

Panhellenism - the process that generated a 

shared culture among ancient Greeks and the 

interpretive framework that understands the

 Homeric epics as both products and producers of

 this phenomenon

Agamemnon 

klēros (pl. kleroi) - a lot, a division, or a share.

Plays a crucial role in understanding the spiritual 

        and social structure of biblical narratives.

Chryses 

phalanx - a body of heavily armed infantry in

 ancient Greece formed in close deep ranks and

 files a body of troops in close array.

ethnos (pl. ethnē) 

hoplon - A round wooden shield covered in a thin

 layer of bronze and held by inserting the left arm 

through a central band and gripping a strap at the

 rim, which gave it maneuverability

dēmos (pl. dēmoi) 

aulos - A flute-like wind instrument in ancient

 Greece

basileus (pl. basileis) 

Spartan mirage - The idea of Sparta was 

a vision of an egalitarian and orderly society

characterized by patriotism, courage 

in battle, and tolerance for deprivation

tyrant 

agōgē - the training program pre-requisite for 

Spartiate (citizen) status. Spartiate-class boys 

entered it at age 7, and aged out at 30.

colony 

syssition - (“Common meal”) A group of fifteen

 male Spartans who regularly ate and socialized

 Together.  At Sparta, all boys at the end of their 

agoge had to be admitted to a syssition. A boy who

 failed to join a syssition or to maintain his monthly

 food contribution ceased to be a full Spartan citizen.

hoplite 

apella - The Apella was the popular assembly of

 Ancient Sparta, representing the "democratic" 

element of the Spartan state. It was a monthly 

assembly of Spartan men, restricted to full citizens 

over 30, and presided over by kings or later by ephors

gerousia - Primary element of Greek governance.

Made up of the adult males of the community 2 

spartan kings and 28 men over th age of 60 known

As Gerontes.

democracy - A form of government in Classical

 Greece that permitted all adult, male citizens 

some degree of participation in politics, regardless

 of wealth or family background. However, it would

Deny voting rights to women and assumed the

 appropriateness of slavery

aristocracy - (“Power in the hands of the best

man”) to describe the rule of the elite. Form of 

government where a small group of people 

known as aristocrats are the sole custodian 

of political power. These aristocrats enjoy 

special privileges in the society and economy,

 and their authority generally comes from birth 

as these posts are mostly hereditary

Council of 500 - Established by Cleisthenes. Each

 tribe annually providing fifty members chosen

 by lot distributed among the demes in accordance

 with the population of each. It served as a

 City-state’s administrative body.

ostracism - Established by Cleisthenes a procedure

 thought to have been intended to prevent the

 emergence of a new tyrant. Every spring the 

Athenians had the option of voting to send one of 

their fellow citizens into exile for ten years. The 

process took its name from the ostraka—broken

 pieces of pottery.

Bronze Age - 3 bronze age periods: early-mid, late

• Early bronze age from 3000-1600 bc

  • First evidence of social hierarchies

  • Early proto-greek speakers

  • Arrival of bronze

  • First palaces made

• Late bronze age 1600-1200

  • Increased social complexity and wealth compiled

  • Mycenaean civilization dominates - conquers crete 1490~

  • Warfare heightens up to 1200 bce

  • Mycenaean civ collapses by 1100 (bronze age collapse) - number of reasons for this:

    • Warfare

    • Collapse of trade

    • Drought

    • Really undetermined though

Iron Age  - 1200 - 750 bce

• May include the fall of troy

Trojan War 

• Hard to tell whether this story is real or fake; likely a mix of both

• Troy uncovered by heinrich schliemann

• Said to take place between 1250-1225 bce

• May exist in hittite records

Archaic Period - 750 - 480 bce

• Greece returns to become a proper civilization again following the greek dark ages which follows the bronze age collapse

• Increasing population, arts, wealth, temples, etc everything gets better

• Also started colonizing, using hoplite warfare - guys in linen or bronze armor with wooden shields and maybe iron weapons like spears

Olympics 

• The first organized large scale sports and competition events 

• First started in 776 bc, last games held 393 ad

• Multiple events

Age of Tyrants 

• 670-500 bce

• During this time many “tyrants” took over rule but many of them were just and worked in the people’s best interest - working against oligarchy 

  • Came from elite families, took rule by easing the strife between the aristocracy, provided for the city through their own wealth, but rarely transferred power to their sons well

seisachtheia (“Shaking of Burdens”) 

• Basically solon’s reforms

  • Canceled all debt, retroactively freed all enslaved debtors, forbade the use of freedom as collateral for debt

  • Installed a ceiling on collateral with a maximum property size 

• Mycenae - home of the mycenaeans, the earliest ‘greek’ power

  • South of main greece, large island ish

  • Conquered the crete people (minoans) in 1490 also ruled most of greece at this time

• Troy

  • Location of the trojan war (10 yrs)

  • Across the aegean sea from greece and mycenae

  • Was built over many times as it eroded and faced war

• Lefkandi

  • Place of archeological importance because it was a much larger house than expected for the time period - also showed a continuous connection between before and after the dark ages

  • Illustrated a level of wealth and community much higher than the average iron age house

• Polis

  • term to define a political community which includes a city/town and its countryside, which forms a city state

  • Also related - demos - a village esque community that was not a city state

• Lakonia 

  • The region under the rule of the spartans

    • Laconic - meaning to use few words to get across your point

  • Militarized rule because the helot - slaves - outnumbered the spartans

• Sparta

  • The warrior city of greece 

  • South east corner of mycenae

  • Military based society, with all men becoming part of the military 

    • At the age of 7 all boys join a herd, at 14 they join the military, later they serve and when they are old they live at home but still attend to the military barracks

• Athens

  • Democratic city of greece

  • First democracy after the oligarchy of the 9 eupatrids (ancient nobles)

  • Southeast corner of greek mainland (on the coast)

Heinrich Schliemann- a german businessman turned archaeologist who discovered the ruins of Troy after he decided to search for it when people believed troy was not real

Minoans- People who were living on crete different from the greek but were conquered by the greeks when they were taking over the aegean sea.

Mycenaeans- The starting point for ancient greek people who first conquered the minoans. They spoke Greek, we know this because of linear B tablets. 

Wanax (later:anax) = leader

koreter= governor of a district

telestai= landholders (?)

Doeroi = slaves

• Used bronze armor and chariots

• Fell because of:

• Raids by sea people

• Land invasions

• Earthquakes

• Drought

• Displaced peoples

Rhapsode- a person who told stories and passed on epic poetry by word of mouth. They used strategies such as repeating specific phrases like puzzle pieces to memorize very long stories. 

Homer- we dont know if he was real or not, He composed the iliad and the odyssey, he is said to have been blind

A likely explanation for Homer is that the popular epics that he wrote were just entries into a homeric poem competitions for literature and thus the winners and most popular such as the iliad and odyssey were known as homeric poems.

Achilles- He was the heroic brawn, the hero at war. He was dipped into the river styx by his mother except for his heel. Both the illiad and the odyssey reflect greek values such as pride, glory, and respect. He is the son of a goddess. “Swift footed and god-like”

Odysseus- The heroic brains and the cunning. He used his quick wit and intellect to escape situations. He is the hero after war and the odyssey is about his return back to his home, ithaca. 

Agamemnon- He was a king of mycenae who commanded the Achaeans after the trojan war. During the illiad he took away Achilles’s concubine which angered achilles greatly after which Achilles refused to fight for him.

Chryses- During the iliad his daughter was taken by Agamemnon and after he tried to ransom her for money, he invoked the wrath of apollo who sent a plague to the greek armies until Agamemnon returned the daughter.

Ethnos- a term used to describe a large group of people who shared a common identity and territory but were not politically united.

Basileus: king

Tyrant- caused by an increasing wealth gap between the rich and the poor. They were elected based on the general opinion of the public and were kind of like heroes who represented the poor. Increased strife lead to tyrants and tyrants were often unable to continue lineage because their children were not as loved

Colony- homes away (Apoikiai)

Hoplite- a greek soldier, also had hoplite warfare which involved formations of 8 men

Helot- a race of people that were subjugated by the spartans, thus becoming slaves. Outnumbered spartans 7:1 so spartans had to become very strong

Spartiate- elite, high class citizens of sparta that were not enslaved and usually had military professions 

Periokoi- Perioikoi 'dwellers round about', was the name employed usually to describe neighboring people frequently constituting groups of subjects or half-citizens, normally with local self-government; but it could also be applied to outright slaves

Ephor- The ephors were a board of five magistrates in ancient Sparta. They had an extensive range of judicial, religious, legislative, and military powers, and could shape Sparta's home and foreign affairs.

Archon- chief magistrates that had the most power in greece. Eponymous archon- presided over civic affairs +6 thesmothetai (“those who lay down rules”) 

Eupatrids- Eupatrids were:

• Often large landowners

• From distinguished families

• The pool from which these archons were elected

Tribe- athens was divided into 4 tribes

Solon- an athenian lawmaker who made a bunch of reforms

III. The reforms of Solon (ca. 594BCE)

Economic reforms (some)

By this time there was a growing number of Hektemoroi (“sixth-partners”): sharecroppers of debtors who had to pay (⅙?) of their crops to pay their rent/debts. If they failed to pay they and their families could be enslaved

Solon’s seisachtheia (“the shaking of burdens”)

Abolished debt slavery

Freed the previously enslaved (how?)

Freed hektemoroi from the ⅙ obligations

Constitutional reforms (some)

Solon established 4 political classes

Pentekosiomedimnoi (the 500 measure men) > 500 measures of goods

Hipeis (“horsemen”) >300

Zeugitai (“owners of yoke of oxen”) >200

Thetes (“menials”) <200

Only the top two social classes could serve as archons.

Zeugitai could maybe serve in minor political offices.

Thetes could join the assembly.

Solon established the council of 400

Solon established the heliaia an appeals court for which any adult male citizen could serve. That way if someone didn’t like the ruling from a thesmothetai, they could appeal

Solon also allowed any adult male citizen not just a family member to bring indictment against someone for a crime

Solon’s reforms helped some, but not enough

Factions emerged:

Men of the Plain

Men of the Coast

Men of the Hill (pisistratus)

Pisistratus seized power (thrice) and ruled 540-526 BCE

A benevolent tyrant, supported arts and commerce

Died of natural causes

Son hippias eventually expelled in 510 BCE

III. The reforms of Cleisthenes (Ca. 507 BCE)

Solon made this reforms by fiat, but Cleisthenes passed his reforms through the assembly

Constitutional Reforms

Cleisthenes divides up the citizenry into 10 new tribes

Each tribe was divided into thirds (trittyes): city, coast, and plain

Each trittyes contained a number of demes (demoi)

Each tribe outfitted an army, led by elected general

Cleisthenes established the council of 500

The council prepared business for assembly and managed financial and foreign affairs

50 council seats from each tribe

Council seats were determined annually by lot

Demes had seats on the council proportional to their population

Cleisthenes also may have established the practice of ostracism

Hektemoroi- very poor people who supposedly had to pay back 1/6 times the amount they made