borrow money from a pessimist… they don’t expect it back

Borrow money from a pessimist…

They don’t expect it back.

Early Aegean Civilization & The Rise of Hellenic Civilization

Parthenon, Athens - 450 BC

• Sir Arthur Evans, 1900

Theseus and the Minotaur

Theseus and the Minotaur

North entrance of Palace of Knossos

Sea themes on Cretan pottery

The Queen’s Room…

Minoan ladies, 1400

Prince With Lilies, c. 1500 BC

• The Fisherman

Crete, c 1400

Bull leaping Mural, Palace at Knossos

The Palace at Knossos, 2200 -1400 BC

• The Lion’s Gate, 1350 BC

Kyriakos Pittakis, 1841

The Treasury of Atreus, circa 1300 BC

• Pottery, swords, knives and 100’s of gold ornaments have been found

Two sets of gravesites were discovered at Mycenae

Mycenaean Queen, c. 1350

12th C. : The Trojan Wars

The poet Homer: The Iliad and The Odyssey

Invasions usher in a “Dark Age.” (1100-800 BC)

Invasions usher in a “Dark Age.” (1100-800 BC)

• Mycenaean civilization disappeared- warfare, poverty, insecurity and isolation.

• Extensive trade ceased• The knowledge of writing was forgotten• Palace workshops were abandoned• Art reflected primitive forms• Simple burials• No massive buildings/architecture• Fewer water wells were dug

How did life change after 800 BC?

• “The Greek Renaissance” 800 – 600 BC• Writing again became part of Greek culture

(Phoenician script!)• Population increased dramatically• Urbanization quickened • A merchant class emerged • Colonies around the Mediterranean multiplied • Overseas trade expanded • Rise in use of metals

The poet Homer: broke with the traditional treatment of the heroes of myth and legend

• Not just deeds and actions, but added what the hero thought and felt about his behavior

• Developed characters who were complex in their motives, who expressed emotions such as anger, vengeance, guilt, remorse and compassion.

Hesiod,wrote

The Theogonyand

Works & Days

• Hesiod, The Theogony• Emptiness - Chaos• 5 orginal elements personified as gods

• Gaia - the primordial earth goddess; Tartarus: Eros; Eerebus; Nyx

• Gaia - Uranus

12 children- the Titans• Cronus• Cronus and Rhea

6 children- Hestia, Demeter, Hera,

Hades, Poseidon and Zeus.• Zeus vs The Titans, The Giants and Typhon• Zues - Supreme leader dwells on Mt. Olympis

• The Polis… is the name for the independent city-state of the ancient Hellenes people.

• The polis developed into a self-governing community that expressed the will of free citizens, not the desires of gods, hereditary kings or priests.

The great Greek contribution to political life:

• Individual members shared a sense of belonging to and participating in the polis.

• Community problems are caused by human beings and require human solutions.

• Laws expressed the rational mind of the community to insure its will and needs are met.

Sparta: the ultimate military state

Spartan warriors, c. 450 BC

The ruins of Ancient Sparta

Athens, cradle of democracy

Draco Solon 620’sBC 570’sBC

Pisistratus,

540’s BC

Cleisthenes,

508 BC