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GREEK CIVILIZATION
ANCIENT GREECE


Region of isolated
valleys, hills, small plains,
peninsulas, and islands
 Sea formed its focal
point
Nothing more than
barbarous fringe area to
older civilizations of the
Middle East
 Tiny, unimportant, and
poor in natural
resources
FIRST GREEKS



Either were Neolithic
farmers who migrated
from Asia Minor around
3000 BC
Or were an IndoEuropean tribe from
southern Russia who
migrated into the region
around 2300 BC
In either case, when
people did arrive in the
peninsula, they soon
came into contact with
an already civilized
people who lived on the
MINOAN CIVILIZATION


Neolithic settlements
date back to 4000 BC
 Early farmers
probably came into
contact with Middle
Eastern civilization
around 3000 BC
Had developed an
advanced civilization
of their own by 2000
BC
 Expressed in the
construction and
decoration of huge
palace complexes
MINOAN PALACE COMPLEXES

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
Complicated structures
consisting of a honeycomb of
various rooms surrounding a
large courtyard
Huge
 Knossos covered three acres
Well-built
 Strong foundations meant to
withstand earthquakes
Many rooms decorated with
brightly colored frescoes that
depicted various aspects of
Minoan life
 Know from them that men
were clean shaven and
generally wore short kilts
 Women had elaborate hairdos and wore dresses with
wide sleeves and pinched-in
MINOAN WRITING


Developed alphabet around 1700
BC
 Linear A
 Not yet deciphered
Switched to alphabet called Linear
B around 1450 BC
 Mostly used perishable writing
materials
 None of which has survived
 But also sometimes wrote on
clay tablets using this alphabet
 Have been deciphered
 Tells us quite a bit about their
society and culture
MINOAN COMMERCE


Palaces controlled the
commercial, agricultural, and
manufacturing activities of
surrounding regions
Commerce was very
important
 Acted as trade
intermediary between
civilized and barbarian
worlds
 Exported wool, olive oil
and timber in exchange
for other raw materials
and luxury items
 Built large and
MINOAN WOMEN


Women played important role
in society
 Most of their gods were
female
 Headed by the so-called
“Snake Goddess”
 Women also portrayed at
the head of processions
and as participants in
athletic events
 Even bull-leaping
May not have been a
matriarchy but women
nonetheless enjoyed a
prominent social position
MYCENEAN AGE



1600-1150 BC
Had some contact with
Minoan civilization by at
least 1600 BC
Typical of the very
warlike, semi-barbarian
cultures that extended
over most of Europe
 Only difference was
that contact with
Minoans gradually
ameliorated some of
their barbarism and
allowed them to
develop a more
sophisticated culture
MYCENEAN CIVILIZATION
EMERGES

Assimilation of Minoan
culture was complete by
1400 BC
 About the time that they
invade and destroyed
Crete
 Took the place of
Minoans as commercial
middlemen between
civilized Middle East and
barbarian Europe
 Began to build huge
palaces at Mycenae,
Tiryns, Athens, Thebes,
and Pylos
MYCENEAN PALACES


Palaces served as central
meeting places
 Home for the king and
his administrators
 Warehouse for
agricultural and
manufactured products
 Marketplace
 Communications center
Also served as religious
centers
 Crowded with priests and
priestesses
RELIGION AND CULTURE


Great Mother goddess was major
god
 Derived from Minoan Snake
Goddess
 But Myceneans also began to
emphasize male gods
 Zeus, Poseidon, Hermes, and
Apollo
Borrowed heavily from Minoans
 Wrote in Linear B on clay tablets
 Painted frescoes on palace walls
 Carved in ivory and stone
 Made elaborate seals
THE DARK AGE
Although generally
isolated
and backward,
Iron,
for example,
came
the
Age use
did see
intoDark
general
for
someweapons
technological
and and
cultural innovations
agricultural
implements
that would create
foundation for future
Greek civilization
People who fled Greece
settled on Aegean
Islands, coast of Asia
Minor, and elsewhere,
forming base for
prosperous city-states
that would develop there
ProtoGeometric Vases
This monumental amphora was
used to mark an aristocratic
tomb in Athens. Called Dipylon
for the location in Athens where
it and several others were
found, this vase marks the highpoint in Geometric art, with
sophisticated multiple friezes
and a central figural scene
which makes an attempt to
show both emotion and 3D
perspective
Bronze statuettes
WORLD OF THE ILIAD AND
ODYSSEY


In terms of values and attitudes,
Homer was describing the late
Dark Age
 Imposed values, attitudes, and
motivations of his own age on
historical characters
World he described was made up
of tiny, autonomous political units
 Each self-sufficient and inwardlooking
 Each ruled by a chieftain
 Main job was to protect his
people from constant outside
aggression
Mask of Agamemnon,
king of Argos
Coritnhian Pottery
From KORAI to KOUROS
KORE c.a. 510
B.C. from
Athens
Kouros
CLASSIC PERIOD (c.a. 490-338 B.C.)
THE BASILICAPaestum(Italy)
PARTHENON- Athens
Architectural Orders
PROPYLAEA-Acropolis of Athens
ERECHTEUM
TEMPLE
OF ATHENA NIKE
DELPHI
THE CHARIOTEER
Paintings (Vase)
Black-Figure Pottery
Red-Figure Pottery
MEIDIAS’ VASE
STELAE
LATE CLASSICAL PERIOD (4th ct.
B.C.)