Dr. Vess's World Civilization Virtual Library

The Minoans and Myceneans

THE EARLY GREEKS -- THE BRONZE AGE

OBJECTIVES:

1. Be able to discuss the historical sources of information concerning ancient Minoan and Mycenean culture. 2. Be able to discuss the principal features of Minoan culture and civilization. 3. Be able to explain the various theories concerning the collapse of Minoan culture. 4. Be able to explain the principal features of Mycenean civilization. 5. Be able to explain the historical sources relating to the Trojan War, its causes, progress, and outcome. 6. Be able to discuss the decline of the Mycenean culture and the characteristics of the Dark Ages. 7. Be able to discuss the features of Greek geography and to explain how those features influenced culture during the Dark Ages and in Classical Greece. 8. Be able to discuss the impact of the Dorian migrations on ancient Greece and how subsequent Greek culture was affected by the geography of ancient Greece. 9. Be able to discuss the formation of Greek colonies and assess how the nature of these expeditions affected later Greek unity. 10. Be able to discuss the contact with Egypt and its influence, if any, on the ancient Greeks. FOOD FOR THOUGHT: In what ways are literature and history similar? In what ways are they different? If there is a moral to be learned from Homer's account of the Trojan War, what would it be? Before the nineteenth century, our knowledge of ancient Greece began with the advent of the Olympics in the eighth century b.c. In an example of the living power of myth, the German Heinrich Schliemann dedicated his life to proving the historical truth of Homer's account of the Trojan War, the Iliad, long assumed to be the stuff of legend. Schliemann assiduously followed the geographical clues in Homer to a place called Hisarlik, and there unearthed nine levels of an ancient civilization visited by Alexander the Great. Level VIIa was burned to the ground in the thirteenth century b.c., approximately the time of the Trojan War. Was this Homer's Troy? As Schliemann's excavation lost more than it preserved, we will never know the answer to this question. In the course of his search, Schliemann uncovered the Mycenean citadel, and the British Arthur Evans later unearthed the remnants of the Minoan civilization on Crete. These discoveries opened up a whole new era in Greek studies, proving that there was a thriving culture in ancient Greece well before the eighth century b.c. According to legend, Troy was destroyed all for the love of a beautiful woman; centuries later, Schliemann's love for this tragic story would resurrect the ancient Trojans and their nemesis, the Myceneans. She, Helen, brought to Ilium her dowry, destruction. Aeschylus, Agamemnon, 406. Was this the face that launched a thousand ships, And burnt the topless towers of Ilium? Marlowe, The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, scene xiv <

Outline

Introduction -- the geography of Greece small area very mountainous I. The Minoans A. Crete and Knossos i. The Legend of the Minotaur ii. the structure of the palace iii. the art of the palace iv. the snake goddesses v. linear A B. Theories about the collapse of Minoan Civilization i. earthquake ii. volcanic eruption iii. invasion

II. The Myceneans

A. Knowledge of Mycenae from 1870 Heinrich Schliemann and Troy: i. The story of the Trojan War a) Homer's Illiad b) Vergil's Aeneid and the Trojan horse B. Linear B C. references to Mycenae in other cultures D. Homer's Iliad as a historical source: i. problems with accuracy: a) the construction of the poem b) themes from Gilgamesh c) account of Ajax's Shield ii. accurate elements: a) Homer's catalogues of ships and Trojan names E. The Aeneid as an historical source: a) history and propaganda in the reign of Augustus F. Schliemann's search for Troy: i. Hisarlik: the levels of excavation ii. to the mainland: a) Mycenae b) the lion gate c) the golden mask and the circle of graves d) Schliemann foiled by dating!!!! G. Tholos Beehive Tombs H. Troy a) VIIa and Homer's story b) Troy deserted 400 years after the sack of Troy, c) visited by Alexander the Great, rebuilt by the Romans I. collapse of Mycenae i. the Dorians and the Dark Ages III. The Greek Dark Ages A. The Dorian Invasion B. Who were the Dorians? i. legend of Heracles ii. A Mycenean people? C. writing disappears until the 8th century b.c. D. Tribal structure of Dorians i. patriarchy ii. aristocratic iii. lived in valleys in the hills of Greece a) the city states IV. The Age of Colonization 8th-6th centuries b.c. A. population could not be supported by the land B. The colonies -- i. Italy ii. Sicily iii. Corinth iv. Thrace v. Syracuse C. Colonies around Egypt and Egyptian influence i. the Kouros statues ii. Egyptian medicine and Greek rationality D. The nature of the colonies: i. independence and full rights V. Archaic Culture A. festivals for the godsGreek mythology

B. no distinction between religious society and state C. The Olympics -- 776 b.c. D. Hesiod's Theogony i. creation myths E. Poetry of Sappho F. The Presocratic philosophers: i. Thales ii. Pythagoras iii. Democritus G. Architecture: i. the three orders a) Doric b) Ionian c) Corinthian