ANHS1600 Lecture 1: ANHS1600 Lecture notes whole semester
15 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
ANHS 1600 Foundations for Ancient Greece
Lecture Notes 01/03/2016
Successes for Greece:
-Acropolis
-Persian war defeat
-Aristotle/Plato
-Democracy
-Alexander the Great
Characteristics of the periods:
Archaic Greek World → Colonisation, Aristocrats, Monarchs
Classical Greek World → Democracy → (Oligarchy = Ruled by few)
Hellenistic Greek World → Returns to Colonisation
Greco-Roman World → Dynamic between Greece and Rome
Source = Evidence → Primary vs Secondary (READINGS)
Primary = Bold in outline
Secondary= Not bold
Lecture #2 – Mycenaean Greece 02/03/2016
-Started at the Bronze Age (approx. 1600- 1000 B.C.)
- Collapse was around 1200 -1050 B.C.
-Dealt with Pre-history (Before written history really existed)
-It is around the Mycenaean period that we mainly begin to see ideas of first civilizations → Domination by cities
where Mycenae was the capital.
- There are no ancient historical accounts of the Mycenaean. Archaeologists/historians have traced the use of
pottery and tombs to explain and study the culture.
Mycenaean Language → Are known Greek speakers through:
Linear A and Linear B Scripts
These scripts prove their language. It is written text on clay tablets which were fire baked.
Linear A → Created in an earlier time depicting the Minoan language, yet is NOT deciphered.
Linear B → Created after A, an early form of Greek connecting the Mycenaean’s to later Greeks despite the classical
Greeks using a different alphabet.
Buildings:
-Heavy fortification of the buildings at the gates of the “Lion Gate”.
-Classical Greeks were convinced that only creatures like the cyclops could build these large stone procedures.
-They were characterised as a warrior society.
-The fortification was a part of their monumental architecture → Showed skilled craftsmanship with elaborate walls,
representing power, money and authority.
-City of Agios Vasileios also testifies to this Military society → Recent excavation compliments and expands from
what we knew about Pylos.
Kings:
-Everything ruled by one king.
-Centralized control.
-Enormously wealthy.
-Grave shafts with Royal tombs depict riches in jewels, golden death masks and much more.
Economy:
- Palace Economy distributed the goods.
-Farming was an essential part of the economy
-Mycenaean’s engaged in trade → Pottery discovered in many places around the world.
Collapse:
-Unknown for exact cause → Possibility of invasion, natural disasters, etc.
-Unheard of again → As if they disappeared.
THE MYCENAEAN PERIOD (BRONZE AGE) THEN FOLLOWS TO THE DARK AGES AS:
- There is a disappearance of writing (which Mycenaean’s had)
- Dark Age era established through the change of Bronze to Iron weapons → Buildings have also no Mycenaean
characteristics and tombs have other distinctions.
Homer:
-Blind poet who wrote the Iliad and Odyssey → He wrote it down from formal oral histories 500 years after they
happened..
-His writings were used as a form of education.
-Iliad → History of the Trojan War, Love triangle between Helen (Daughter of Zeus), Menelaus (Mycenaean), Paris
(Prince of Troy)
-Odyssey → Follows the travels of Odysseus – one general in the Trojan War.
Homer described the city as “Mycenae, rich in gold” in the Iliad → The graves found can somewhat represent this
idea.
Some Mycenaean artefacts do resemble items or themes found in Homer → Silver studded sword, Imagery, etc.
Heinrich Schliemann:
-Before Schliemann there was no idea of the Mycenaean bronze age
- Went to Mycenae because it was the legendary home of King Agamemnon → Leader of Greeks who went to Troy
to fight the Trojan War.
- He discovered the deep shaft graves which were cut into the rock of the Mycenae acropolis.
- Found bodies, gold items, diadems, faces covered by masks of gold (Mask of Agamemnon)
Terms:
Pre Historic → Relating to the time or a period prior to recorded history → Gatherings before anything was
documented
Historic → What is being gathered and documented now. Tells narrative.
OVERALL: This lecture introduced the Mycenaean civilization with links to Homer, who had mentioned this
civilization in his works. Schliemann discovered the sight through his “passion” to discover the areas stated in
Homers works. Mycenae was important because:
1- Seemed to correspond with Homers description of Agamemnon’s palace
2- First “Greeks” – Linear B tablet proves this.
3- “Bronze Age” – Dominated by the Mycenaean’s.
4- If we didn’t have records of these tablets, we wouldn’t recognise how complex the society is (Extensive
trade, etc.)
Lecture #3 Homer and Oral poetry 08/03/2016
In relation to the handout:
Thucydides: Is sceptical of Homer yet cites him when necessary. By the time Thucydides cited him, there was
believed to be a text version of Homers works yet most people were illiterate at this time (performances at festivals
is an example where Homer was recited → I.e. The quinquennial festival, which was highly prestigious). Thucydides
quotes from the hymn to Apollo written by Homer, which states that Homer had more works than just the Iliad and
the Odyssey. Also, the performance at the festival highlights that Homer wasn’t a leisurely read – it was a communal
and even official “text” performed which was mutually Panhellenic (all Greeks agreed on) throughout.
- There are even states to which Homer is alluded to in the poems → i.e. “A blind old man of Scio’s rocky isle”.
Plato: Highlights that Homer teaches about gods as well as outlines the “rhapsodes” in Homer’s works → Creates the
image of the putting together of songs. Our romantic notion of Homer is gone from this as this “rockstar”
appearance arises to which money is made from the performances of the poems.
It is important to note that Homer is something that is on transmission → Always on the move.
Iliad → is about the “wrath of Achilles” - 15,600 lines and 24 books. All about the war of Troy. The main theme is
Achilles, everything else is collateral.
Odyssey → “Nostos (the return) of Odysseus” – 12,000 lines and 24 books. All about what happens after Troy.
There is great unity within the books. They are companion pieces to one another. Unlike other epics, these stand out
for their unity → They are long, yet united around the same key theme. These two books are very monumental. On
the level of structure and level of language it highlights a “stitched” together perception.
The length of these poems question whether they were performed from beginning to end.
Questions about Homer (Scholars):
- Was his poems real? What was real about his poems?
- Was there really one person who proposed these poems/ songs?
→ We can’t say it was just Homer as we have people who were re-performing these poems and songs and receiving
money from it. The main context in which these poems are supported is orally (not many from this society were
literate and these poems were more so performed rather than read).
F. Wolf → Questioned the tradition of Homer. Stated the idea that there was a series of “homers” continually adding
on, rather than one singular person. The inconsistencies in the structure of the Iliad and Odyssey could be explained
the continuous stitching of the poems (working progress).
M. Parry → Comments on epithets.
A. Lord → Comparative studies with Parry → 1930s studied the Serbo-Croatians oral bards → They would sing the
songs daily but they would notice differences. That is the difference between someone who comes from an oral
culture versus a pure contextual culture. This is where we got the evidence of possible poetic composition. One
homer after the other, through oral performance would compose, with no difference noticed despite possible new
episodes being added to the story. The problem in this theory is that the Serbo-Croatians were said to never have
sung to this extent (as the Homeric bards would) relating to the fact that possibly not all of Homer was sung in the
one go (as it was long) yet possibly specific sections were asked to be sung. Highlights the Oral composition going on
throughout Iliad and Odyssey.
Every line of the Iliad and the Odyssey falls into a certain rhythm. Hexameter is what it is called. There is an oral
context in which people compose, recite and receive that is different in our ways.
The Iliad is not alone → There was a whole other range of poems it was just that the Iliad and Odyssey were by far
the most famous. Shows the superiority of the texts even in the past.
Document Summary
Classical greek world democracy (oligarchy = ruled by few) Greco-roman world dynamic between greece and rome. Source = evidence primary vs secondary (readings) Dealt with pre-history (before written history really existed) It is around the mycenaean period that we mainly begin to see ideas of first civilizations domination by cities where mycenae was the capital. There are no ancient historical accounts of the mycenaean. Archaeologists/historians have traced the use of pottery and tombs to explain and study the culture. Mycenaean language are known greek speakers through: It is written text on clay tablets which were fire baked. Linear a created in an earlier time depicting the minoan language, yet is not deciphered. Linear b created after a, an early form of greek connecting the mycenaean"s to later greeks despite the classical. Heavy fortification of the buildings at the gates of the lion gate . Classical greeks were convinced that only creatures like the cyclops could build these large stone procedures.
