Bronze Age Greece Mycenaean world Chronology 2200 1500

Bronze Age Greece

Mycenaean world

Chronology • 2200 -1500 BC: Height of Minoan civilization • 1600 -1100: Height of Mycenaean civilization • 1100 -750: Greek Dark Age • 750: Homer

Minoan Civilization • Pre-Hellenic (non-Greek, non Indo. European) • Most powerful from 1600 -1400 BCE • Spread influence to Cyclades, Peloponnese, and central Greece • Unified by Knossos, where the Minos (King) administered the kingdom

Palace at Knossos

Knossos, storeroom

Columns and Bull Fresco, Knossos

Knossos, temple tomb

What the palaces suggest: • • Complex political structure, monarch Had a syllabic script, Linear A Centralized political/economic system The palace was this center Thalassocracy: naval power They were wealthy, cultured, unified, peaceful Minoan art supports these conclusions

Knossos, dolphins fresco

Knossos, bluebirds fresco

Minoan fertility goddess

Knossos, bull leaping fresco

Linear A tablet

New developments 1450 -1400 BCE • • Closer contact with Mycenae More militaristic scenes in art Presence of Linear B, which is Greek Knossos and other sites on Crete were burned near the end of the 15 th century • Cretan supremacy ended

Mycenaeans – 1600 -1500 BCE • Aegean leadership passed to Greek-speaking people, who called themselves the Achaeans • They entered the Greek mainland around 2000 BC, and rose to power on the mainland around the 16 th century • Their power depended on the horse and chariot • They were aggressive both as traders and warriors • Extent of their trade: Sicily, Troy, Egypt

What were Mycenaeans like? • • Highly skilled in war and administration Had dynastic rulers Wealthy and powerful Early shaft graves held many gold objects, martial objects (1600 -1500 BCE) • Wealth based on control of trade and agriculture

Mycenaean grave circle

Mycenaean tholos tomb 1500 -1400 So-called “Treasury of Atreus”

Mycenaean inlaid dagger

Mycenaean boar’s tusk helmet

Wall Painting, Mycenae

Mycenaean funerary masks

Mycenaean funerary mask

Mycenae 1400 -1200 BCE • Mycenaean culture spread through Greece and the Ionian islands • Kings of Mycenae held broad hegemony • They claimed tribute from subjects • Had an efficient bureaucratic service • Engaged in overseas trade, especially metals • Had a form of writing, Linear B

Linear B tablet

Palace at Mycenae

Fortification walls at Mycenae

Lion Gate at Mycenae

Cyclopean tunnel, Tiryns

Signet ring from Tiryns

Signet rings from Aidonia

Bull cups from Vapheio

Mycenaean society • Royal, centralized bureaucracy • Artisans and peasants under royal control • Class structure: – – serfs, slaves, lords and councilmen, retainers and agents the great king, the wanax • Kings were powerful in war and trade • They achieved their power through violence, as artifacts suggest

Warrior frescoes from Pylos

Fall of Mycenae, 1200 -1100 • Citadels were destroyed, kingdoms fell • Mycenaean culture, including writing, was lost • Transition to the iron age • All the Mycenaeans were not destroyed, but life changed drastically • Depopulation • Dark Ages: 1100 -800

8 th century • • • New developments in trade and colonization Greeks adapt the Phoenician alphabet Writing reappears: Iliad and Odyssey by 750 Kingship begins to disappear Aristocracies begin to rise Later Greeks were unaware of most of the important aspects of life they portrayed in heroic poetry – Its social organization – Its material culture – Its writing system

Homeric / Heroic culture • • • Evidence comes mainly from texts Ties were with family, clan, warrior band, and tribe Men lived in small, self-sufficient units; oikos Political ties were personal Basileus or king lived by agriculture, war Wealth was counted in herds, slaves, reserves of treasure, food, metal • King was not far above other men in upper classes • His reputation rested on his physical might and his sagacity • His powers were limited by the unwritten code of themis: what is done

“Homeric” Society • Aristocratic warriors – Had a special standing – Were dominated by the need to show bravery – Their honor was expressed in material possessions won in battle or awarded by the community • Material wealth comes from land, raids, war and gift exchange • Trading is disdained • Human values mirror divine values

Homeric culture is an amalgam • Different poetic accounts from different periods • Some mention of specifically Myceanaen objects: tower shield, boar’s tusk helmet, metal inlay, bronze armor • Late Mycenaean political geography is known • But many references to iron age culture and customs

Moses Finley’s culture of the Odyssey • • • Sacrifice, cooked meal Agriculture, cooked food Good host-guest relationships Stable family life Stable political life Strength, intelligence, ability to speak