Day 2: The early greeks

Geography of greece is very dry and barren, also very mountianous 3/4 of greece is like
this. This make traval and communication more difficult, there are, however, a few
areas with plains, like Thesolinika and Macedonia. Mount Olymous, near those plains,
is suppposed to be the site of the great battle between the titans and the gods, and it
was supposed to be where the gods lived. The islands were also very important, the
aegean sea, seperating greence proper and asia-minor/anatolia. Greece has two
peninsuals, the balkan peninsuala the site of athens, and the Poleponesian Penninsula,
the site of Sparta. This would create a spirit of independanece, an economy based of
fishing and trading, mostly by sea. Ubea was an important Island city state, that had
Marble, used for many architectual works, from statues to temples (like, for example,
the Parthenon, deadicated to the virgin godess of athens, athena). The very earliest
greeks appeared in the early bronze age (2100 BC), migrating from central asia, the
indigenous minoan civilization, that existed during from about 2500 bc to 2000 BC, in
crete. They were rather advanced, having such things as sewars and aqouducts, and
were socailly progressive, with eqoulity of the sexes and female priests of the mother
godesses. Towards the end of their civilization, the indo europeons from central asia, a
warlike civilzation, worshipping Zues, a sky god of war, and as they moved into greece,
they superceded the dying civilization of the Minoans, but took many of their ideas.
The mycenaean age: 1600-1200
During this age, powerful kings rose up during the period between 1600 bc-1200 bc,
with advanced civilization, great fortresses, and a language called linear b. Linear B was
a pictogram method of writing. it wasn't unit 1953 that they were able to decipher the
language. With that, they were able to find out information about the Trojan war (1250)
troy was a greek colony (and not, as the Aenead claims, a proto-roman colony). Most of
the Linear B writings talked mostly of economics and bussiness, and contain mention of
the Gods. The dorians invaded shortly after the trojan war, but a people called the
dorians invaded.
The Dark age: 1200-800
The time of war, famine, and chaos caused the dorians and their petty kings (who were
no better than warlords.) is known as the dark ages. the Petty kings wanted to hear
some stories, and this gave rise to to oral poets, such as homer. During this time, Ubea
remained stable and civilized, trading with the Hittites, the Phonecians and others
within the fertile crescent. The phoentic alphebet was made by the Phonecians, and the
idea was brought back to greece. Mythos: story of the Gods. Legends: stories of the
great kings and their deeds. Homor is said to be the greatest poet of the ancient world,
sometimes called the blind poet, and guys like him, told legends. The greatest event of
the Age they talked of, the Mycenean age, was the trojan war, and Homer is responsbile
for the Iliad, which the alphebet made possible to write down.