Greek Civilization
Lecture Notes on Greek Civilization
Greece part of the Balkan Peninsula maritime country in Southeastern Europe bounded in the north by Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, in the south by the Mediterranean Sea, in the west by the Ionian Sea and in the east by the Aegean Sea known as the first “Western” civilization; reached the peak of its advancement in the 5th century BCE had no unified government and consisted of city states
4 Major Greek Tribes:
1. Acheans
2. Ionians
3. Dorians
4. Aeolians/Aetolians
Earliest Civilizations in Greece:
1. Minoan/Cretan (3,000-1300BCE)
known for its great palaces, mural paintings, labyrinth achieved its Golden Age during the reign of King Minos excavations in the 19th century revealed they had a system of writing labeled as Linear A and Linear B; Linear B script has been deciphered by Sir Athur Evans
2. Mycenean (1300-1100BCE)
mainland Greeks who launched an attack on the Cretan capital, Knossos around 1300 BCE destroyed Minoan civilization and ruled much of the Greek archipelago for two centuries fought against the city of Troy (c. 1200 BCE); Heinrich Schleimann excavated in Mycenae and found important relics and he also led a team to western Turkey where he unearthed the ruins of Troy
3. Dorian (1100-800BCE)
seized control of the Greeks from the Myceneans ushered in the Greek “Dark Ages’
*After three centuries of stagnation, Greek civilization was revived by 800 BCE brought about by changes resulting from population pressures.
Greek Expansion
between the 8th and the 5th centuries, the Greeks set out to colonize overseas lands where they established permanent settlements; eg. Black Sea, Southern Italy, Southern France and Spain and North Africa facilitated the spread of Greek civilization to many parts of the Mediterranean
Polis
smallest political unit in Ancient Greece refers to the city and the surrounding countryside functioned independently of other states
main
Greece part of the Balkan Peninsula maritime country in Southeastern Europe bounded in the north by Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, in the south by the Mediterranean Sea, in the west by the Ionian Sea and in the east by the Aegean Sea known as the first “Western” civilization; reached the peak of its advancement in the 5th century BCE had no unified government and consisted of city states
4 Major Greek Tribes:
1. Acheans
2. Ionians
3. Dorians
4. Aeolians/Aetolians
Earliest Civilizations in Greece:
1. Minoan/Cretan (3,000-1300BCE)
known for its great palaces, mural paintings, labyrinth achieved its Golden Age during the reign of King Minos excavations in the 19th century revealed they had a system of writing labeled as Linear A and Linear B; Linear B script has been deciphered by Sir Athur Evans
2. Mycenean (1300-1100BCE)
mainland Greeks who launched an attack on the Cretan capital, Knossos around 1300 BCE destroyed Minoan civilization and ruled much of the Greek archipelago for two centuries fought against the city of Troy (c. 1200 BCE); Heinrich Schleimann excavated in Mycenae and found important relics and he also led a team to western Turkey where he unearthed the ruins of Troy
3. Dorian (1100-800BCE)
seized control of the Greeks from the Myceneans ushered in the Greek “Dark Ages’
*After three centuries of stagnation, Greek civilization was revived by 800 BCE brought about by changes resulting from population pressures.
Greek Expansion
between the 8th and the 5th centuries, the Greeks set out to colonize overseas lands where they established permanent settlements; eg. Black Sea, Southern Italy, Southern France and Spain and North Africa facilitated the spread of Greek civilization to many parts of the Mediterranean
Polis
smallest political unit in Ancient Greece refers to the city and the surrounding countryside functioned independently of other states
main