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Chapter 4 The Aegean World and the Rise of Greece: Trade, War, and Victory Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved. How do the Cycladic, Minoan, and Mycenaean cultures differ? Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved. The Cyclades • The later Greeks traced their ancestry to the cultures on the islands in the Aegean Sea • The Cycladic islands had abundant resources of marble, especially on Naxos and Paros • The most famous artifacts of the Cycladic people are highly simplified Neolithic marble figurines in an abstract style that appeals to the modern viewer • The function of these figures is unknown, but they might have been created for a mortuary purpose • They later created elaborate wall frescoes depicting everyday events—probably under the influence of the Minoan culture to the south (Crete) Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved. Minoan Culture in Crete • Unique to the Minoan culture is an emphasis on the bull, associated with the legend of King Minos and the Minotaur • Like the Cycladic frescoes, the Minoan frescoes were painted in homes and palaces to be enjoyed by the living • Minoan artists employed the technique of buon fresco similar to the technique used by Renaissance artists nearly 3,000 years later • Ample archeological evidence tells us that the Minoans in Crete worshipped female deities • The Minoans were master builders of complex palace structures that gave rise to the word labyrinth Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved. Mycenaean Culture on the Mainland • Mycenaean warriors from the Greek mainland invaded Crete in about 1450 BCE • They valued the Minoan culture, especially their metalwork, but the Minoan and Mycenaean cultures differed vastly • Battle scenes were virtually nonexistent in Minoan art, but dominated Mycenaean art together with hunting scenes • Minoan culture appears to have been peaceful, while the warlike Mycenaeans lived and died by the sword Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved. What is an epic, and how do Homer’s epics the Iliad and the Odyssey differ? Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved. • An epic is a long narrative poem about the deeds of a historical hero following certain formal characteristics, such as starting in medias res (“in the middle of things”) and formulaic epithets • The stories of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey comprised for the Greeks their archaiologia, or their way of knowing their past Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved. The Iliad • The Iliad tells of the anger of the Greek hero Achilles and its consequences during a war between the Achaeans and Troy (sometime between 1800 and 1300 BCE) • In the Iliad, Homer recognizes the ability of the warriors to exceed their mere humanity, to raise themselves not only to a level of great military achievement, but to a state of compassion, nobility, and honor • It reflects the exploration of the “doubleness” of the human spirit, its cruelty and its humanity, its blindness and its insight Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved. The Odyssey • The Odyssey follows the Greek commander Odysseus on his adventure-laden journey home to his faithful wife Penelope • It is Odysseus’ craftiness—his wit and his intelligence—not the intervention of the gods, that saves him and his men • Homer is less concerned with what happened than how it happened Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved. How are the values of the Greek polis reflected in its art and architecture? Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved. • Each of the rural areas of Greece, separated from one another by mountainous geography, gradually began to form into a community— the polis or city-state—that exercised authority over its region • Certain of these poleis became more powerful than others • Corinth’s central location, for instance, allowed it to control sea traffic; trade with the Near East inspired its thriving pottery industry Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved. The Sacred Sanctuaries • The sanctuaries were sacred religious sites that inspired the competing poleis to create the first monumental architecture since Mycenaean times • At Delphi, the home to the Sanctuary of Apollo, the poleis built monuments and statues dedicated to the god, and elaborate treasuries to store offerings • At Olympia, a sanctuary dedicated to Hera and Zeus also housed an elaborate athletic facility where the first formal Panhellenic (“all-Greece) athletic competition was held Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved. Male Sculpture and the Cult of the Body • Greek athletes performed in the nude, which gave rise to what may be called a “cult of the body” • The physically fit male won accolades in athletic contests and at the same time represented the conditioning and the strength of the military forces of a particular polis • The portrayal of the male nude, especially in the widespread genre of kouros sculpture (i.e., ideal male nude statues), was found in sanctuaries and cemeteries, often serving as votive offerings to the gods or as commemorative grave markers Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved. How did democracy develop in Athens? Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved. • In the early sixth century BCE, the statesman and poet Solon eliminated Draconian slavery, weakened the aristocracy, and strengthened the legal system • The rise of democratic institutions in Athens was inspired through the reaction to the tyranny of Pisistratus (r. 560–527 BCE) and of his successor, his son Hippias (r. 527–508 BCE) • After Hippias was overthrown, Cleisthenes instituted the first Athenian democracy in 508 BCE • The power and influence of noble families was diminished under the rule of the Council of Five Hundred, the membership of which changed every 36 days Copyright © 2015, 2012, 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.