MYCENAEANS · communities while Minoan palaces were flourishing •Invaders hindered development....
Transcript of MYCENAEANS · communities while Minoan palaces were flourishing •Invaders hindered development....
MYCENAEANS
Social Studies 10| A. Morrison
[Adapted in part from A. Champion]
OUTCOME
3.3 Describe the political and social organization of Mycenaean civilization as revealed in the archaeological and written record.
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Minoan: 2000-1450 BCEMycenaean: 1600-1100 BCEThe Dark Ages: 1100-800 BCECity-States/Colonization: 800-550 BCEPersian Wars: 550-480 BCE
Classical Greece: 480-338 BCEThe Hellenistic Age: 338-27 BCE
Greco-Roman Period: 27 BCE-400 AD
You are here.
MYCENAEANS
•Mycenaean period: 1600-1100 BCE
•Most of what we know about Mycenae comes from Homer.
HOMER• Famous for the Iliad and the Odyssey•Written c. 900BCE? 700-600BCE?
• Theories:•Homer was one man.
•Homer was a number of authors.
• Probably originally oral stories (like Gilgamesh).
The Iliad tells the story of the fall of Troy.The Odyssey details the journey of Odysseus
and his crew.
MYCENAE •Mycenae was a city• Ruins discovered by German
archaeologist, Heinrich Schliemann, who was looking for the city described in Homer’s Iliad.• Schliemann found a fortress.• Mycenae, Greece: Ancient and
Mysterious (4:10)| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELH_5Do-VZI
MYCENAEANS
•Mycenaeans had small simple farming communities while Minoan palaces were flourishing• Invaders hindered development.• Learned from the Minoans: ship building,
navigation, gold & bronze work, fashions, art, writing. The Mycenaean language (Linear B)
was based on the Minoan language, but historians have deciphered it because it
is an early version of Greek.
MYCENAEANS
• Unlike Minoans, Mycenaeans were a warrior people.
• Society constantly ready for battle and invasion.• Cities had heavy fortified walls.
• By 1400 BCE: most powerful people in Aegean world.
Reconstruction of Tiryns as it would have appeared c. 1300BCE.
GOVERNMENT• Powerful monarchies.
•Monarchy: a system of government in which one person (king or queen) rules.
•Monarchies in various centresmay have had ‘loose’ alliances.• Society was likely a hierarchy:
social differences were marked by wealth, clothing, and titles.
King
Palace Freemen
Community Freemen
Slaves
AGAMEMNON
• According to Homer, most famous king: Agamemnon
• Leader of the Greeks during the Trojan War.•Not sure if a real person or only
a myth.• Famous “Mask of Agamemnon”…
probably not Agamemnon. The Mask of Agamemnon pre-dates Agamemnon by 300 years!
MYCENAEANS
• Ultimately a lot we don’t know.•Mycenaeans were ancient to the Ancient Greeks.
•One event might have historical basis…• The Trojan War, c. 1200 BCE… if it was real
TROY• Long considered a Greek myth:• Trojan prince (Paris) kidnapped the
wife (Helen) of the king of Sparta (Meneleus)•Meneleus went to his brother
(Agamemnon) for help in getting Helen back• A number of Greek rulers allied to
attack the city of Troy.•Handout| Troy: The City and
Legend
MYCENAEANS
• At the height of their power, they destroyed Troy and invaded Crete.• Then, c.1100BCE… they
disappeared.
•Only settlement left: Athens
Theories:
• Civil war• Outside
invasion• Famine or
disease
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Minoan: 2000-1450 BCEMycenaean: 1600-1100 BCE
The Dark Ages: 1100-800 BCECity-States/Colonization: 800-550 BCEPersian Wars: 550-480 BCE
Classical Greece: 480-338 BCEThe Hellenistic Age: 338-27 BCE
Greco-Roman Period: 27 BCE-400 AD
You are here.
THE DARK AGES
• A bleak period c. 1100-800BCE followed the collapse of Mycenae.• Little known about these years except:
•Mainland Greece invaded by a people called the Dorians• People were driven across the Aegean sea where they eventually
became known as Ionians.
• Those who kept the mainland remained Dorians.•Mycenaean knowledge was lost and forgotten.
POLIS• Eventually independent communities developed: polis.• Polis: Greek city-states.
• Rarely more than 20 000 people, except two largest:• Athens & Sparta• In order to supply polis, Greeks
created apoikai.• Apoikai: “Away homes”
(colonies)
MINOANS & MYCENAEANS RESPONSE
• Would you rather live in the Minoan civilization, or the Mycenaean? Discuss your answer in a well-organized paragraph.
• Make reference to three specific learnings about either civilization in order to support your argument.
Value: 5 marks
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