1. Ancient Greece

2. Chapter 2: The Minoans, The Mycenaeans, and the Greeks of the Arcahic Age

3. The tradition of Greece is often the first in which Westerners feel they can recognize themselves. Greeks were the “first” to place human beings at the center of the universe.
However, preceding the Greeks in the Aegean Basin were the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations.

4. Aegean Basin

5. The Minoans
Minoans lived on the island of Crete.
British archaeologist, Arthur Evans,
discovered the ruins of the ancient
kingdom. He called it the Minoan
civilization in honor of the legendary
king of Crete called Minos.
Minoans built huge palaces that may have
been the center for governing and for
religion.

6. As with Egyptians, the Minoans were organized into a complex caste system: Nobles, Merchants, Artisans, Bureaucrats, and Laborers
Life for Minoans was unusually peaceful…very few weapons found at archeological sites

7. The palaces were like mazes.
Many houses were built around them.
Beyond the palaces were small towns,
villages, and farmland.
The remains of four palaces have been found.
The largest is called Knossos and probably
stood at least 3 stories high.
It probably covered an area as large as 20
football fields.
As many as 12,000 people may have lived
there.

8. Palace at Knossos Known for its sophisticated architecture
A complete plumbing and drainage system
Multi-level structure with complex layout of rooms and passageways
Below ground storage of grains, oils, and wines
Beautiful friezes and frescoes
No walls protecting this palace
Evans began a massive reconstruction project

9. Beautiful friezes and frescoes

10. Minoans depended on trade

11. Bull leaping

12. Bull Leaping

13. Minoan Bull and god?

14. Minoans developed a system of writing.
The only remaining records are written on
clay tablets.

15. Written Langauge Pictorial forms gave way to:
1. Linear A script from 1800 BC to about 1400 BC. Undecipherable even to this day. Found on Phaistos Disc which has writing on both sides
2. Linear B from 1400 to decline in Was an early form of Greek and not used for political, social, and philosophical aspects of life; only commercial transactions

16. Religion
Most Minoan life revealed through its religious practices and art.
1. Matriarchal society
2. Center of worship was a mother goddess
3. Earth goddesses portrayed in various forms.

17. Mother Goddesses

18. Decline of Civilization
Minoan trade dominated eastern Mediterranean until about 1380 BC
Something happened, maybe a volcanic eruption or other natural disaster
Culture was further weakened by Mycenaean attacks and influences between 1400 and 1100 BC

19. Beginnings: Mycenaean Civilization 1900—1100 BC

20. Mycenae

21. Mycenaeans
The civilization named by archeologists after the fortress city, Mycenae, in the lower rugged region of the Greek peninsula, Peloponnesus
Discovered in late 1800s by a German, Heinrich Schliemann.
He named the people The Myceneans

22. The Mycenaeans They were a war like people.
They traded with the Minoans and learned
much of their culture. (cultural borrowing)
They changed Minoan art styles to make them
more warlike.
They changed the Minoan written language to
match their own.
Some believe they invaded and overtook
the Minoans

23. Mycenae
Ruins of Mycenaean palaces reveals them to be mole like structures with massive double walls and narrow escape passages
Most well known Mycenaean monument is the massive Lion Gate constructed from four massive hewn stones (ashlars)
Bronze lion’s heads now gone, maybe stolen. Design likely to remind citizens who ruled and to intimidate visitors.

24. Lion’s Gate

25. It was Mycenaeans who tried to topple Troy
It was Mycenaeans who tried to topple Troy. The long siege weakened the civilization and inspired Homer’s later Iliad and Odyssey
It was the Mycenaeans who gave the Greeks many of their ideals and inspired the age of heroes established by Homer

26. Arcaheological Dig
The weapons and armor found in Mycenaean graves greatly impressed later Greeks
Homer called Mycenaean warriors”the strongest generation of earthborn mortals.”

27. Dark Ages: 1100—800 BC
After collapse of Mycenaean civilization, a 300 year period called Dark Ages
Life becomes more agrarian
Transitional time—changes happening behind the scenes
Power shifting from kings to families
Bronze gives way to iron
Mycenaeans flee to Asia Minor. Early Greeks establish life around Aegean and Mediterranean Seas

28. The Archaic Greek Age: 800—479 BC
After the Dark Ages, the Greeks emerged with a common language, heroic stories, myths, religious practices and trading interests.
They claimed a common mythical parent, Hellen, who fathered three sons, the ancestors of the three major Greek tribes:
Ionians, Aeolians, and Dorians.

29. The development of Greek culture lasted three centuries, and by the end of it they had laid the foundation of a new world…ours!!!