Transcript The Heroic Age of Ancient Greece The History of the Hero and

The Heroic Age of
Ancient Greece
The History of the Hero and
Helladic Greece
Geography
• Greece is
located on the
Balkan
Peninsula.
• Surrounded by
water on three
sides, the most
important was
the Aegean Sea
• First society to
not emerge on a
river.
Geography
• Greece is mostly
Photo overlooking some mountains and the
Aegean Sea.
Mountains,
early
agriculture had
to adapt to it.
• Most cities are
located on
hills, with
homes in the
valleys.
Geography
• Most cities still developed on water,
but they were coastal communities,
not river communities.
Brief Overview
• The Greeks are known as the
Έλλήνες, or Hellenes.
• The land of Greece, is actually
called Έλλάς, or Hellas.
• Greece, and Greek are both
Latin names given to them by the
Romans.
Brief Overview
• There are three distinct Greek
time periods.
– The Helladic Age (1500 -700 BC)
– The Hellenic Age (700 - 300ish BC)
– The Hellenistic Age (300ish – 100
BC)
Why Greece?
• The lives of the Ancient Greeks have
had the largest impact on our lives
today.
• Without the Greeks, our culture
couldn’t exist as we know it.
• The Greeks made phenomenal
advances in the areas of math, art,
science, and architecture; as well as
numerous other fields of study.
Early Greece
Pre-Heroic Age
• Pre-Greece Greeks
are known as the
Pelasgians.
• Migrated into the
Balkans from the
Asia Minor.
• Used the Aegean
islands as
“stepping stones.”
Early Greece
Pre-Heroic Age
• The Pelasgians reached Crete,
and got stuck.
– No islands to reach North Africa
• Reached the southern Balkans
– No islands in Ionian Sea to reach
Italy
– Mountains to the north are to inhospitable.
Early Greece
Pre-Heroic Age
• The people had to settle and
make the best of what they had.
• Only 17% of the land was
farmable.
– Early Greeks developed terrace
farming.
Early Greece
Pre-Heroic Age
• How terrace farming worked.
Early Greece
Pre-Heroic Age
• The Pelasgians built villages on
hilltops made of adobe mud and
thatch roofs.
• Farmed all day.
• Not much trade went on between
different villages.
• With terrace farming, most
villages were self-sufficient.
Early Greece
Pre-Heroic Age
• Around 1800 BC, a warrior tribe
know as the Achaeans invade the
Balkan Peninsula.
– Invade from Scythia (modern day Ukraine,
North of the Black Sea)
• The Achaeans conquer the
Pelasgians very easily
– Used bronze weapons and armor, and
fought on horse back.
• This is why Early Greek History is also
referred to as the Bronze Age.
Early Greece
Pre-Heroic Age
• This was the movement of the Achaeans.
Early Greece
Pre-Heroic Age
• Pelasgians had no experience
with war-fare, so they were
easily defeated.
• So Achaeans + Pelasgians=
Greeks or Hellenes.
Early Greece
Pre-Heroic Age
• Achaeans were now in control,
claimed majority of the Balkans.
– Valleys
– Coastal Plains
– Aegean Islands (90 % of them)
• Achaeans declared Kingship
over Balkans
Early Greece
Pre-Heroic Age
• Pelasgians were forcibly
relocated.
– Shops and homes are built
– Cities emerge in Greece
• Achaean kings rule from
Megarons (Palace/ Fortress)
– Enforce taxes and laws
Early Greece
Minoan Civilization
• By 1800 BC, a
Bronze Age
civilization developed on the
island of Crete. This became
known as the Minoan civilization
after King Minos.
• The capital of this seafaring
civilization was Knossos.
Early Greece
Minoan Civilization
• The Minoans grew wealthy from
trade between Egypt and
Greece.
• Around 1450 BC, the Minoan
civilization was destroyed by
tidal wave from the volcanic
explosion of Thera, and by
invasions of the Mycenaeans.
Early Greece
Heroic Age
• 1800 – 1600 BC, period of economic
expansion
– Crafts and Agriculture expand
– New skills and crafts are introduced
• Metalurgy: weapons, armor, tools
• Greeks begin to build monumental
architecture
– Stonework, carpentry, scultping, paiting.
– Shipbuilding becomes a popular trade
Early Greece
Heroic Age
• Greeks begin to trade with one
another.
• Eventually The Achaeans decide
to conquer Crete and Knossos.
– They wanted wealth, power, and
resources.
•This age of conquest begins the heroic
era.
The Heroic Age
• Called this because of this is the time
of the Heroes of Greece.
–
–
–
–
–
Achilles (Acillev)
Jason (/Iason)
Agamemnon (Agamemnon)
Hector (/Ector)
Paris (Pariv)
– Kratos was not an ancient Greek Hero!
The Heroic Age
• Also the age of Greek Myth.
– The Epics of Greece happened
during this time period.
•Jason and the Argonauts, The Trojan
War, The Odyssey, etc.
• Some Greek myths pre-date even
this era.
– i.e. Pygmalion, Narcissus,
Prometheus, etc.
The Heroic Age
Mycenae
• Eventually the Achaeans grew
into the first city state
– Known as Mycenae
• The Mycenaean civilization
thrived from 1600 -1100 BC.
• The Mycenaean's were a
confederation, a powerful
alliance of several monarchies.
The Heroic Age
Mycenae
• The most famous leader of
Mycenae was Agamemnon.
– He was the son of King Atreus.
• His closest friend was
Menelaus, King of Sparta.
– Together, they invaded and laid
siege to the city of Troy for ten
years.
The Heroic Age
Mycenae
• Mycenae re-organized the way
early Greeks lived.
– Government became more
centralized from the Megarons.
• The kings became known as
Wanaks (War-kings).
– Wanaks ruled all of the various
cities of the Peloponnesus.
The Heroic Age
Mycenae
• The Mycenae’s
^- A drawing of
ancient Mycenae
 The View from
Inside a Tholos
wrote a primitive
pictograph form
of Greek, known
as Linear B.
• The war-kings
commissioned a
tholos, Which
was a bee-hive
shaped tomb for
the ruling family.
The Siege of Troy
• The most famous war in all of
western history (excluding
WWII) is the Trojan War.
• The Hellenic era poet Homer, is
most famous for the telling of
this story.
• The story was given in the form
of an Epic Poem.
The Siege of Troy
• The city of Troy was located in
Ionia, which is in Asia Minor.
– The Greek name for Troy is Ilium
(Ilium)
• The Trojan War lasted for ten
years
• Occurred around ~ 1250 BC
• The war was between the Greeks
and the Trojans.
– The Greeks wanted wealth, power,
and the control of trade.
The Siege of Troy
The mythos of the Trojan War
• How the war started: Prince
Paris of Troy was asked to judge
a beauty contest between the
goddesses.
– Paris choose Aphrodite, and to
reward him, she promised him the
heart of Helen (The most beautiful
woman in the world)
The Siege of Troy
The mythos of the Trojan War
• When Prince Hector and Paris
went to Sparta as peace envoys,
Helen fell in love with Paris
– She ran off with him to Troy
• Menelaus (King of Sparta)
wanted his wife back, so he asks
Agamemnon to help him, by
making war with Troy.
The Siege of Troy
The mythos of the Trojan War
• Because of this, Helen is
referred to as the woman to
launch 1000 ships.
• The Greeks wage war with Troy.
• This is the myth, not the reality.
The Siege of Troy
The Reality of the Trojan War
• Agamemnon and Menelaus wanted to
control the trade routes that ran
through Troy.
• The Greeks sought wealth, fame, and
honor with the war.
– Troy had never been conquered, and The
Greeks were the best soldiers in the
world.
The Siege of Troy
The Reality of the Trojan War
• The Greeks invaded Troy, and for ten years
•
they couldn’t break Troy’s defenses.
Achilles kills Hector in year 6 of the war,
and Achilles is killed in year 7.
– After this the Greek war effort is weakened.
The Siege of Troy
The Reality of the Trojan War
• Odysseus, king of Ithaca, steps
up to figure a way into the city.
• Develops the idea of a Trojan
horse.
– Not an actual wooden horse, but a
siege machine disguised as a gift for
King Priam.
The Siege of Troy
The Reality of the Trojan War
• Once inside the city walls, the
Greeks slaughter all of the
Trojans.
• The only member of the Trojan
royal family to escape was
Aeneas.
– His story is told in the Aeneid.
The Siege of Troy
The Reality of the Trojan War
• Following the fall of Troy, the
kings of Greece return home,
while Odysseus gets lost at sea.
– His story is told in the Odyssey.
• The Greeks live in relative peace
until the coming of the sea
peoples.
Greek Dark Ages
• Following the conquests of
Troy, the Greek cities fall into a
period of Dark times
• The Sea-Peoples invade Greece
roughly 50 years after the
Trojan war.
– They destroy all of the Greek
Kingdoms.
Greek Dark Ages
• The era is called the dark ages
because no major city/empire
arises in 400 years.
• They lose their ability to read
and write on a wide basis.
• No cultural advances during the
dark ages.
Conclusion
• To conclude, the Heroic
Age of Greece, also known
as the Helladic Age, was
the foundations for
everything that would
eventually become Greek.
– The heroes of this time
became the role models of
all Greeks, once the dark
ages came to an end.