The Bronze Age was fully underway by 2000 BC (succeeding the Stone Age). Bronze was excellent for the making of daggers and other weapons such as spears, as well as for armour such as helmets and shields.
The Trojan war is generally thought to have occurred about 1100 BC (late Bronze Age), and the descriptions in the Illiad are thought to refer to actual people (Agamemnon, Menelaus, Odysseus, Achilles). The Illiad is
generally believed to have been composed in the period 750 - 725 BC and The Odyssey during a similar period: 743 - 713 BC. This is right at the end of the Dark Ages period. They were not committed to writing
for another 400 years (i.e. about 300 BC)
The period 1200 - 1000 BC was a period of transition from the Mycenaean culture to one of relative poverty consisting of small rural settlements. This period from about 1000 BC to 750 BC is usually referred to as the
Greek Dark Age, in part because so little is known about it.
Dark Age [1000 BC - 750 BC]
During the early Dark ages the Greeks apparently lost their knowledge of
writing. Thus the oral tradition remained the only method of passing on Greek culture, legends and myths. Sometime between 950 and 750 BC the Greeks adopted a Phoenician alphabet, which then became widely used in the next age, the Archaic Age (750 - 500 BC)
The Dark age was also the beginning of the Iron Age.
In 776 BC the first Olympic Games were held in Athens. This was a religious festival where Greeks from any regioin were welcome to compete.
Archaic Age [750 BC - 500 BC]
The period from 750 BC to 500 BC is usually referred to as the Archaic Age of Greece. The term comes from a study of the sculpture duirng this period which is fairly formal (compared with the next Age, where the
sculpture is more dynmaic and "human").
The Greeks began establishing colonies along the Mediterranean - in large part because there was not enough good land to support the increasing population.
It was during this period that the Greeks developed the idea of the city-state and the idea of citizenship. These are the beginnings of democracy, and are the most important
legacy of the Greeks to modern civilization.
The Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet and later used it to record literature (i.e. Homer).
They began copying Egyptian ideas of architecture to build huge public buildings and also began to develop a strong cultural around the making of pottery.
Corinth, located at the narrow isthmus that separates southern Greece from the mainland, became an important trading center, and Athens began to grow, in large part due to trade and its emerging pottery industry.
Hoplites
were Greek infantrymen that wore metal body armour and advanced into battle in a large rectangular formation called a phalanx. This was a new development in the evolution of warfare. I do not recall seeing the word hoplite before, and I thought a phalanx was shaped like a triangle!
Slavery became very common during the latter part of this period, with slaves constituting as many as a third of the people in many city-states. The term chattel slave refers to one who has been captured in battle,
although slaves were also traded between Greeks and groups further north.
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