Introduction to Greek history
1. Prehistory
Signs
of human habitation (e.g. Franchthi cave) during stone age (paleolithic and
neolithic periods) but no writing.
2. Minoan civilization (palatial period c. 2000-1380 B.C.)
Palace
complex at Knossos on island of Crete discovered by Sir Arthur Evans ca. AD
1900 (other palaces at Phaestus, Malia, Mochlus). Minoans, the ‘sea-people’;
contact with Greek mainland, Aegean islands, and Egypt. Linear A: syllabic,
non-IndoEuropean script, undeciphered. Arrival of Mycenaean Greek invaders c.
1450 B.C: use Greek language and write using Linear B script. Palaces destroyed
by fire: Mycenaeans? Or eruption of volcano on island of Thera? Theseus
(Athenian culture hero) connected to the Minotaur of legendary king Minos.
3. Mycenaean civilization (apex c. 1450-1200 B.C.)
Named
after the most prominent of the centers of Mycenaean civilization (others incl.
Tiryns, Pylos, Thebes), the palace at Mycenae in N.E. Peloponnese excavated by
Heinrich Schliemann in 1876. Palace complexes ruled by wanax (king);
main hall (megaron). Agamemnon ruled at Mycenae (in myth also referred to as
Argos). Myth of Achaean expedition
against Troy. Troy excavated by Schliemann (1870-1890), then Dörpfeld. Layer VI
destroyed by fire c. 1270 B.C. Collapse of civilization and decay of palace
sites: precipitated by invasion of Dorians from the North? (traditional view,
but little evidence). The Mycenaean
period forms the kernel for the myths of the age of heroes. Many of the Greek
plays we will study draw their inspiration from this glorious bygone age (the
bronze age)
4. Dark ages (c. 1100-776 B.C.) - also the Iron Age
Settlements
continued on a smaller scale, though evidence that some sites continued to
flourish (e.g. Lefkandi). Trade more
localized, writing forgotten. Oral
poetic tradition culminating in the epics of Homer. The poems are a fusion of features of Mycenaean and contemporary
life.
5. Archaic period (776-479 B.C.)
The
beginning of the archaic era is traditionally dated to the first year of the
Olympic games. These pan-hellenic games
reflect a new sense of Greek identity. The period saw the development of the polis
(city-state), increased rivalry between city-states, and a period of
colonization, esp. in Southern Italy and Sicily. Greater contact with the East leads to orientalizing influences
in art. Many city-states saw the rise of tyrants. Eventually even Athens had a
brief period under the tyrant Pisistratos and his sons. It was Pisistratos who
is credited with initiating the first theatrical performances at Athens in
534B.C.
6. Classical period (479- 323 B.C.)
The
Persian invasions (first Darius in 490 - Marathon, then Xerxes in 480/479 –
Thermopylae, Plataea, Salamis).
Motivation for Delian league (defensive alliance), increasingly
dominated by Athens. Growth of Athens
reflected in Periclean building program (incl. Parthenon temple). Fear of
Athens on the part of Sparta and her Peloponnesian allies leads to Peloponnesian
War (431-404). The history of the fourth century was marked by a series of
leagues of states, brief periods of ascendancy by Corinth and Thebes, then the
rise of Macedon, which grew stronger and stronger until Philip II defeated the
Greeks at Chaeronea in 338 B.C. His son Alexander the Great conquered lands as
far East as Afghanistan. The tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides
which we are reading, and the comedies of Aristophanes are all written between
458 and 405 B.C.
7. Hellenistic period (323-146 B.C.)
The
beginning of the Hellenistic era is usually dated to the death of Alexander the
Great. After his death, his empire was divided
up into Greek monarchies of Macedonia, Syria and Egypt. The Hellenistic period sees a decline in the
role of the polis as a defining concept; also the rise of new urban
centers in the Greek-speaking East such as Alexandria (with its famous Library
and Museum). Menander writes in the late 4th century B.C.
8. Greece becomes a Roman province (146 B.C.)
In
146 B.C, Rome becomes a province of the Roman empire. At the same time, Greek culture greatly influences Roman
life. The Roman poet cogently expressed
the relationship between the two cultures (Epistles 2.157-8):
Greece
the captive captured her fierce victor and brought the arts into rustic Latium.