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Freshman Humanities
It’s All Greek To Me!
An introduction to Greek history and culture
Geography
The Greeks- ancient and modern- have had to cope with difficult terrain. In
terms of geography, the Greek peninsula is rugged and mountainous. The
ancient Greeks had access to many rivers running through these mountains.
They also had access to the Mediterranean, Ionian, Aegean, and Black Seas. The
Greeks developed small, local governments called city-states (or poleis, polis in
the singular) because the mountains made communication and ruling difficult.
Due to their geography, the Greek communities developed in relative isolation.
Also due to their geography, the Greeks were able to use the seas to trade and
travel, setting up colonies throughout the Mediterranean Sea.
Minoan Crete
Minoan civilization flourished between 2000 and 1450
BCE on the island of Crete in the southern
Mediterranean. The Minoans built a great palace at
Knossos and were ruled by a king.
The Minoan
civilization was named by Sir Arthur Evans, an
archaeologist who uncovered ruins on Crete of a great
labyrinth. In Greek mythology, King Minos built a
labyrinth, or giant maze, to hold the Minotaur, a
monster that was half human and half bull.
The Minoans were active sea traders; archaeological
evidence demonstrates that the Minoans traded with
many civilizations. The Minoans also had a strong navy,
and did not build walls around their cities.
The Minoan civilization collapsed around 1450 BCE. Many
historians believe that a volcanic eruption on the nearby
island of Thera destroyed the Minoans. Others argue
invaders destroyed the Minoans.
Mycenaeans on mainland Crete
Minotaur bust,
Archaeological Museum,
Athens
The Mycenaeans thrived on the Peloponnesus in Southern Greece between 1600 and 1100 BCE. Mycenae, the center of Mycenaean civilization, was a fortified city
built on a hill. Mycenae was ruled by a king, who was supported by nobles and a strong army. The Mycenaeans were a warlike people. Homer’s account of the
Trojan War between the Greeks and the Trojans credits Mycenae with the sacking of the city of Troy in modern Turkey. According to Greek mythology,
Agamemnon, a mythical king of Mycenae, led the expedition to conquer Troy.
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The Mycenaeans built an impressive citadel
with tall, thick walls for protection. By 1100
BCE,
Mycenaean
civilization
collapsed
because of warfare and weakened city-states
in the wake of earthquakes.
The not so dark “Dark Ages”
From 1100 to 750 BCE, the population of Greece and crops declined. Few records were kept for centuries. The “Dark Ages,” however, were not so dark. Many
Greek colonies were established. Homer composed his epic poems during the “Dark Ages.” By the end of the “Dark Ages” Greek city-states revived.
The Greek Polis
The polis was the center of Greek life. Each polis was different, but several patterns emerged among the poleis. A Greek polis had a high, fortified area called an
acropolis. This was a safe place if the Greeks came under attack but also served as a central location for religious and governmental functions. A Greek polis also
had an agora, or a marketplace, where citizens could sell and buy goods and meet with other citizens. In a polis, a certain group was considered citizens, and
those citizens had political rights. These citizens were free, adult males, and some city-states had property requirements for citizenship. In the polis, there was
also a group of women, the citizens without political rights. Noncitizens, slaves or foreigners, also were part of the polis. The definition of a citizen changed many
times over Greek history. As Greek civilization expanded, more people wanted the rights granted to citizens.
Systems of government
Many Greek city-states were ruled by monarchies. Other forms of government developed in Greece as well. In Sparta, a polis on the Peloponnesus, a system of
government developed that is referred to as an oligarchy, or rule by a few people. The system could also be described as an aristocracy, where the wealthy have
a stake in the government. Sparta was ruled by 2 kings (a diarchy) who were supported by a council of elders (28 men over 60) and 5 ephors, who controlled
public life. The Spartans valued their military lifestyle to the extent that Spartan mothers were said to have told their sons to come home “with their shields – or
on them.” Spartan infants that appeared to have physical weakness were left on the hillside in a practice called infant exposure. Men spent most of their lives at
war (retiring at age 60) or at military academies preparing for war. Women played a more active role in Spartan life than in other Greek city-states since the men
were occupied with war.
Athens, a city-state in mainland Greece, is famed for its democracy. The word democracy means “government by the people,” but the term is misleading. In
ancient Athens, “the people” meant free, male citizens over the age of 18. Women, slaves, and foreigners were not considered citizens. In Athens, the assembly
of citizens made decisions for the city-state under the direction of an elected leader. Athens focused on the development of artistic and philosophical pastimes
rather than war. Sparta and Athens were drastically different city-states; during the Persian Wars in the late 5th century BCE these two city-states formed an
alliance. That alliance fell apart later when the two city-states clashed in the Peloponnesian War.
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Greek Religion
The ancient Greeks worshipped a colorful pantheon. They believed that their gods lived on Mt. Olympus. These gods played active roles in the lives of the
ancient Greeks. Greek religion was intricately linked to the state. Each polis had a patron god or goddess; Athens, for example, was named for the goddess
Athena. In Athens, the Parthenon was dedicated in honor of Athena. Greek religion involved festivals for the worship of gods, as well as consultation of oracles.
The Oracle at Delphi, for example, was frequently consulted by those seeking to know what the future would hold.
The Greek Pantheon
The ancient Greeks worshipped their gods in many ways. The Olympic Games were held
every four years at Olympia to honor Zeus. Temples were built in honor of the gods. The
Temple of Zeus at Olympia was once one of the largest structures in the world. The statue of
Zeus that was reportedly housed in the temple made it one of the wonders of the ancient
world.
The Parthenon on the Athenian Acropolis
Reconstructed column,
Temple of Zeus at
Olympia
Other facets of Greek culture
Drama
The ancient Greeks also used drama as a way to worship their gods. Many playwrights,
including tragedians like Sophocles and Euripides, wrote plays about stories from mythology.
Sophocles wrote a trilogy, or collection of three plays, called the Oedipus Cycle. It tells the
story of Oedipus Rex, a man whose future was foretold by the Oracle at Delphi. Not a
pleasant story: he would murder his father and marry his mother. According to Greek
mythology, it happened, even though his parents tried to avoid the fate. When he discovered
what he had done, he blinded himself. (More on this tomorrow)
The Greeks even had comedic playwrights. One playwright, Aristophanes, was the South
Park of his age. He used satire to poke fun at popular figures and also relied on physical
comedy. The Greeks performed and observed these plays in amphitheatres, like the large
one constructed at Epidaurus.
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The Amphitheatre at Epidaurus
Vase painting
The Greeks also portrayed their mythology on vase paintings. The Greeks had dozens of styles of vases for
different uses. Many vases were used to hold wine and oil, two staple products for the Greeks. Vase paintings are
one way that scholars learn about Greek values.
Athletes vase
Philosophy
Greek philosophers like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle were literally “lovers of wisdom.”
Socrates used a question and answer method, now known as the Socratic Method, to
encourage his students to use reason. Socrates encouraged his students to
constantly question authority, which brought him into conflict with the government of
Athens. Athens had lost the Peloponnesian War to Sparta and was under Spartan
control for 30 years. Just as Athens restored its democracy, Socrates, a rather
curmudgeonly old man of 70, was riling up his students and encouraging them to
question the establishment. Socrates was put on trial for corrupting the youth of
Athens and not worshipping the state gods. He defended himself in court, and rather than choosing exile when he lost the case,
chose to drink hemlock juice. He stated that he would rather die than give up his beliefs. Plato, a pupil of Socrates, recorded his
mentor’s beliefs. Plato wrote a book called The Republic which was about an ideal state led by philosopher-kings. Plato set up a school in Athens (called the
Academy) and taught many pupils, including Aristotle, who would in turn write his own books on philosophy and tutor Alexander the Great.
History
The Greeks also recorded history. The first “historian” was Herodotus. Herodotus is credited with being the first historian because he systematically recorded
events for future generations to examine. However, Herodotus often relied on second, third, or even fourth-hand information when writing his books. He
claimed, for example, that the people in India were cannibals. Herodotus is a useful source, however, because he provides a primary source about how the
Greeks viewed themselves and the people around them. Herodotus wrote a book called The Histories which recounted the events of the Persian Wars. Another
historian, Thucydides, wrote about the Peloponnesian Wars.
Sculpture
The Greeks went through several eras of sculpture. The most famous of these Greek periods was the Classical
period, which celebrated the beauty of the ideal human form. One example of Classical sculpture is Myron’s
Discobolos. During the Hellenistic era, ushered in by the conquests of Alexander the Great and the mixing of
cultures, Greek art focused more on realism and detail. Statues included stories from mythology, like that of
Lacoon, and scenes from everyday life.
The Discobolos and Lacoon Group
Alexander the Great
About 100 years after the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars, the Greek mainland
was conquered by its northern neighbors from Macedonia. Alexander the Great,
son of Philip II of Macedon, conquered as far as India by the time of his death at age 32. Alexander
spread Greek culture throughout his empire and encouraged the exchange of ideas with the eastern
cultures he conquered. After Alexander’s death, the Greek city-states fell into disarray and were later conquered by the
Romans.