Copyright (c) 2013 by Dimitry Bubis. All Rights Reserved

1. History of
Civilization
IV. BRONZE AGE GREECE

2. TOPICS




Minoans
Mycenaeans
Emergence of Greeks
Greek Myths



Deities and Heroes
Greek Dark Age
Iliad and Odyssey

3. THE QUIZ



Who are the Twelve Olympians,
name some names
Recall names/stories of besiegers
and besieged in a war described
by Homer (and others) –
Any link to computer security?



Recall some Labors of Heracles
What are names of Gemini?
What famous operas and
symphonies have immediate
connections with Ancient
Greece?

4. LOCATION, LOCATION
Tribe of Hellenes
→ Ἑλλάς
2
People from Graia
→
4
Graeci
(Latin)
3
1
Anachronistic map of
Eastern Mediterranean
1.
2.
Crete
Wilusa
3.
4.
Cyclades
Mycenae

5. 2500
2000
1500
1353 – 1323 BCE Amarna period
Suppiluliuma I dies
1322 BCE
1279 – 1213 BCE Ramses II
Hattusa destroyed
ca. 1200 BCE
1010 – 926 BCE Kingdom of Israel
900 BCE Sparta founded
814 BCE Carthage founded
776 BCE Ist Olympic Games
753 BCE Rome founded
Minoan
Hatshepsut, Thutmose III
Thera Eruption
ca. 1630 BCE
1479 BCE
ca. 1531 BCE Mursili I sacks Babylon
ca. 1700 BCE Hammurabi
First Greek
Speakers on
Aegean
ca. 1850 BCE Senusreth III
ca. 2100 BCE Epic of Gilgamesh
recorded
ca. 2240 BCE Sargon
ca. 2580 BCE Khufu
ca. 2500 BCE Troy founded
CHRONOLOGY
Greece: Bronze Age & “Dark” Period
Mycenaean “Dark”
1000
Persian War
500 - 479 BCE
Homer
ca. 800 BCE
Trojan War
ca. 1190 BCE
Death of Alexander
323 BCE
Archaic
Classic Hellen
istic
500 BCE
1 CE

6. CRETE



Indigenous culture from neolith
People ethnically closest to inhabitants of Asia Minor
Language became extinct during Greek Dark Ages
Bull leaping
fresco from
Knossos,
ca. 1600 BCE

7. THE MINOANS

Μίνως
→ a king
(Cretan)



Bronze age since ca. 2700 BCE
Local script developed under influences
from Fertile Crescent: Linear A
Merchant civilization with contacts across
Mediterranean, some trading posts
Cultural orbit included Cyclades
Phaistos Disk with 45 distinct symbols
ca. XVII cent. BCE
Saffron crocus

8. MINOAN PALACES
Administrative, Religious
centers

Knossos

largest, surrounded by settlement
(the oldest European city)
excavated by Sir Arthur Evans
between 1900 and 1931

palace

Three separate water systems
Courtyards, ventilation shafts

Λαβύρινθος - according to

Greeks was built by Daedalus for
king Minos
Κνωσός

9. MINOAN RELIGION

Sacred symbols
Bull
 Snake
 Labrys
Polytheistic cults with primarily
matriarchal deities: Mistress of
Animals (Britomartis), Mistress of
Harvest, Mistress of Dance, etc.
Shrines, not temples per se





“Snake goddess”
Sacrifices?
Later reworked into Greek legends
(different point of view)

10. PALATIAL ECONOMY

Centralization
Evidence:



Architecture
Pottery
Organic remains
? Control: tribute, proportional




share, seasonal levy?
Agriculture: usurpation of local communal
institutions
Husbandry: palatial and private flocks?
Palace-based crafts and manufacture: distribution
of the raw materials
Trade: primary importance of export of valuables

11. MINOAN CULTURE




Pre-palatial: 2600 – 1900 BCE
Old palatial: 1900 – 1700 BCE
New palatial: 1700 – 1450 BCE
Post-palatial: till ca. 1100 BCE
(Mycenaean)

Pax Minoica ?
(suggested by A.Evans)
•
probably too good to be true

12. MINOAN ERUPTION

Thera

Catastrophic eruption
ca. 1630 BCE
 Earthquake
 Ash fallout
 Tsunami
No reliable Egyptian record
(due to war with Hyksos)
Most likely source of
Plato’s account of Atlantis


island (Cyclades)
Santorini
Atlantis as described by Plato (427 – 347 BCE)

13. MYCENAEANS TAKE OVER


Period: 1600 – 1100 BCE
Adapted Minoan script into
Linear B
Golden funerary mask, Mycenae, ca. 1500,
called “Mask of Agamemnon”
by H. Schliemann

Principal
Mycenaean Sites
Mycenaeans were probably
referred to as
“Ahhiyawa” by Hittites,
“Danaans” by Egyptians

14. CITY OF MYCENAE


Founded before 2000 BCE
by pre-Greek inhabitants
Center of culture more
warlike than Minoans
The
Tholos
Tombs

The
Lion
Gate
In legends, ruling dynasties:
 Perseids
 Atreids

15. MYCENAEAN DEITIES AND RELIGION




Chief deity: Poseidon, the Shaker of Earth
His two queens (later Demeter and Persephone)
 Eleusinian Mysteries
Sun
Continuity:
from Mycenaean beliefs
to Ancient Greek religion
μυστήριον
→
ἥρως
→

In addition to cults of gods: cults of heroes
secret
warrior

16. MYCENAEAN CULTURE



Artifacts found across Mediterranean
Mycenaean was oldest form of Greek
language; written in Linear B syllabary
Bronze arms and armour

17. MYCENAEAN COLLAPSE

Part of Bronze Age Collapse

Facts:
 Palaces burnt
 Population dropped
to 10 – 20 % level
 Evidence of military
conflict
 Disruption of trade,
subsequent economic
decline
Burning of Troy
by Jan Brueghel the Elder, 1621

18. THE DORIANS AND “DARK AGES”


Invasion or takeover?
Who were Dorians?

Transitions:




Bronze and iron
Cremation and embalming
Bride gifts and dowry
Periods:



1200 – 1050 BCE: sub-Mycenaean
1050 – 900 BCE: from Palace to
Village
900 – 750 BCE: from Village to Polis
Geometric pottery

19. GREEK MYTHOLOGY AND CULTS

Our sources:




Legendary seers and prophets
Great epics and poetry: Homer, Hesiod
Dramatists of Classical Greece
Roman authors: Pausanias the Geographer, Ovid
What is Mythos?
and Who needs Epics?
 Practices




Oracles
Mysteries
Magic
Delphic Pythia

20. FROM BELIEFS TO RELIGION

Roots




No definitive scripture
Amalgamation and Syncretism




Local cults
Herodotus’ insight
Orthodoxy vs. Orthopraxy
Gods: neither omniscient, nor
omnipotent, nor omnipresent
Favorites and Special Deals
Criticisms and Revisions
Orpheus
(Roman mosaic)

21. FROM PRIMORDIAL TO IMMORTAL

Gaia, Chaos, Aether, Aion

χάος
Greek version of cosmogony:
genesis of Sky & Earth

gaping void
Uranus

→
Romans: Terra, Caelus

Rhea & Kronos


The Mutilation of Uranus by Saturn:
fresco by Vasari and Gherardi, c. 1560


Mother goddess,
Creative Power
Titans
Olympians
No world for humans

22. FULL HOUSES

Deities θεοί

Daemons δαίμωνες
.


Nymphs
(Latin)
Primordial, Titans, Gods
Oceanic, Chthonic






Asteriae
Aurae
Alseids
Oreads
Dryads





Nereids
Naiads
Oceanids
Lampads
Maenads

Here be <scary stuff>

Giants
Cyclops
Dragons
Cetea
Centaurs
Harpies
Erinyes
Monsters






Hylas and the Nymphs by J. W. Waterhouse, 1896
HC SVNT
DRACONES


23. OUR GUIDE

Hesiod is the principal

source on mythology of
Classical Greece
Main extant works:
 Theogony
 Works and Days

Ἡσίοδος
(between 750 and 650 BCE)
native of Aeolis,
lived in Thespiae near Mt. Helicon


First European author to
act in own works
Language thought to be
inferior to Homer’s
Pessimism, misogyny

24. TITANS Τιτᾶνες

Kronus, Rhea

Oceanus, Tethys


Coeus, Phoebe

Chronos
also Kronus
Κρόνος
a.k.a Saturn





Leto, Asteria
Ῥέα
Ἑκάτη
Hyperion, Theia


Metis
Helios, Selene, Eos
Crius
Mnemosyne
Themis
Iapetus

Atlas,
Menoetius,
Epimetheus,
Prometheus
Mνημοσύνη
Θέμις
Ἄτλας

25. PROMETHEUS



The only truly benevolent deity?
Cultural Hero and Trickster
Meaning?





Punishment (Classic)
Rebellion (Romantic)
Quest for Knowledge (Modern)
“Mystery of Prometheus”?
Christ or Lucifer?
Προμηθεύς
- “pre – thinker”
Prometheus Brings Fire to Mankind
by Heinrich Fueger, 1817

26. GENERATION CHANGE (AGAIN…)
Choke on
this one

Τιτανομαχία
Saturn
devouring his son
by Francisco Goya (1823)


Ten years of war between
Olympians and Titans (Mt. Othrys)
Cyclops and Hecatonchires
Details in lost poems by
Eumelos of Corinth and
Thamyris of Thracia
Hesiodic vs. Orphic traditions
Cf. Enuma Elish
Paradigm shift?
 Uranus’ prophecy to blame?

Typhon - “Father of Monsters”




? Are humans of “Titanic nature”?

27. FALL OF THE TITANS


Fresco by Giulio Romano (1535)
Into Tartarus:
Titans as prisoners,
Hecatonchires as guards
Atlas: the heaviest of
punishments
Enceladus fountain,
Versailles (1677)

28. ZEUS

Ζεύς
a.k.a: Jupiter

Youngest son of Kronos and Rhea,
born on Crete
Mercury and Argus by P. P. Rubens, 1638

29. POSEIDON

Ποσειδῶν
a.k.a: Neptune

Earthquakes, Horses, Consorts
Neptune calming the tempest by P. P. Rubens, 1635

30. HADES / PLUTON

Αἵδης / Πλούτων
a.k.a: Dis Pater, Orcus, Pluto
NB: Tartarus is only part of Hades
Abduction
of
Proserpina
by R. H.
van Rijn,
1631

31. HERA

Ἥρα
a.k.a: Juno


Cow eyed, jealous matron,
foe of many
Seventh wife of Zeus
Juno and Argus by P. P. Rubens, 1610

32. DEMETER

Δημήτηρ
a.k.a: Ceres
 Virgo of Zodiac
Ceres teaching King Triptolemus
by L. Lagrenee, 1769

33. APHRODITE

Ἀφροδίτη
a.k.a: Venus

Born on Cyprus, most probably
of Uranus’ genetic material
Birth of Venus by S. Botticelli, 1486

34. HEPHAESTUS

Ἥφαιστος
a.k.a: Vulcan

Technology, Lameness,
pre-Greek cults
Thetis receiving the Arms of Achilles from Vulcan
by P. P. Rubens, 1634

35. ARES

Ἄρης
a.k.a: Mars


Sisters: Eris, Enyo
Companions: Phobos, Deimos
Venus, Mars, and Vulcan
by J. Tintoretto, 1551

36. APOLLO

Ἀπόλλων Φοίβος
a.k.a: Apollo



Son of Leto, twin of Artemis
Origin: Doric? Minoan? Anatolian?
Patron of Delphi
Chief of Muses and Olympian Sun God
Apollo and Marsyas by C. van Loo, 1735

37. ARTEMIS

Ἄρτεμις
a.k.a: Diana



Twin of Apollo
Pre-Greek mistress of animals
Temple in Ephesus
Diana and Actaeon by Paul Manship, 1930s

38. ATHENA

Παλλὰς Ἀθήνη
a.k.a: Minerva


Birth by Neurosurgery
Owl eyed, grey eyed, aegis bearing
warrior, eternal virgin
Creation of Man by C. Griepenkerl, 1878

39. HERMES

Ἑρμῆς
a.k.a: Mercury


Son of Pleiad Maia
Benefactor of humans, patron
of skillful or deceptive arts
Mercury crowning Philosophy by P. Batoni 1747

40. HESTIA

Ἑστία
a.k.a: Vesta

Gets the first offering of any
sacrifice in the household

41. DIONYSUS

Διόνυσος
a.k.a: Bacchus




Son of mortal Semele, “Twice-born”
Descent to Hades
Mystic and relief from hardship
Thyrsus is wand/weapon
Midas and Bacchus by N. Poussin, 1630

42. MOIRAI

Three daughters of
Themis (Θέμις
the embodiment of law
and order)

Κλωθώ the Spinner
Λάχεσις the Allotter
Ἄτροπος the Unturning




Incarnation of Fates / Destiny
Acting over gods (Hesiod)
Time & Fates of Man
at New York World’s Fair 1939
by Paul Manship

43. MUSES


Daughters of Zeus and
Mnemosyne
Embodiments/sponsors of:
Κλειώ
o History
o Comedy
o Hymns and
Eloquence
o Songs and
Elegies
o
o
o
o
o
Dance
Epic poetry
Love poetry
Astronomy
Tragedy
Πολύμνια
Τερψιχόρη
Ἐρατώ
Μελπομένη
Θαλία
Eὐτέρπη
Καλλιόπη
Οὐρανία

44. PERSONIFICATIONS

Embodiments of
character traits and
abstract notions:
•
Apate
Atë
Bia
Charites
Eris
Eros
Harmonia
Horae
Hypnos
Kratos
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Metis
Mnemosyne
Moirai
Oneiroi
Nemesis
Nike
Thanatos
Themis
Zelos
Nemesis
by Alfred Rethel, 1837

45. ARCHETYPES AND ETERNAL TALES
C. G. Jung
1875 – 1961

Archetypal




Figures
Motifs
Events
Collective unconscious
J. L. Borges
1899 – 1986

Only four stories




Siege of the City
Tale of Quest
Epic of Return
Death of God

46. DEMI-GODS AND FOUNDING HEROES

Cadmus










Divine birth
Special powers
Life of conflict
Quest
Mysterious death
Founder of Mycenae
Theseus


Making of a hero
Perseus


Son of Agenor, uncle
of Minos, granddad of
Dionysus
The dragon-slayer
Bringer of the letters
Founder of Thebes

Founder of Athens
Heracles
1904 – 1987
→ Comparative
Mythology

47. LEGEND OF PERSEUS


The first hero
Son of Zeus and Danaë


Golden shower
Chest upon waves

Slayer of Gorgon
Rescuer of Andromeda
Founder of Mycenae
Ancestor of Perseids

Middle Eastern connections



Perseus
by Benvenuto Cellini, 1545

48. LEGEND OF ORPHEUS

The “Father of Songs”

Thracian prince, son of Muse
Calliope
Tamed wild beasts with his music
Legend of Eurydice and
descent to Underworld
Death at hands of uncomprehending





Not mentioned by Homer and
Hesiod
The first Greek prophet?
Orpheus
by Cristoforo Stati, 1600

49. ORPHIC TRADITIONS



Thracian roots of Dionysian
legend
“Descent to Underworld” motif
Alternative cosmology:
Pelasgian creation myth
• Eternal soul
• Punishment
in afterlife
• Ascetic
prescriptions
• Sacred
writings
“Orphic Egg”
Head of Orpheus
on the Water or
The Mystic
by Odilon Redon, 1910

50. ORPHEUS IN OPERA
Cristoph
Willibald
Gluck
1714 – 1787
Jacques
Offenbach
1819 – 1880

Orfeo ed Euridice

Orphée aux enfers

First of “reform” operas
Tragedy of loss and grief
of misunderstanding
Love triumphant
Berlioz’ rewrite for
contralto (1859)

Antagonist is
L'Opinion Publique
Poking fun at classic legend,
Gluck, and social morals
Pleasures of Underworld
Infernal gallop







51. ORPHEUS IN 20TH CENTURY
Jean Cocteau
1889 – 1963

Philip Glass
b.1937
Orphée (1950)
“If you look your whole life into a mirror you will see death at work”

52. THE SUPER-HERO
Enmity of Hera
Born as Alcides, name change
Choice: Pleasure or Virtue?


1. Nemean Lion
3. Ceryneian Hind
2. Lernaean Hydra
6. Stymphalian birds
4. Erymanthian Boar 9. Girdle of Hippolyta
5. Augean stables
7. Cretan Bull
8. Mares of Diomedes
God or Hero?

Ἡρακλῆς a.k.a Hercules


Cult: temple,
ancestry
claims


Twelve
Labours
10. Cattle of Geryon
11. Apples of Hesperides
12. Capture of Kerberos

53. ARGONAUTS

The ultimate quest




An unrivaled prize
Succession of obstacles
The dream team
Love conquest
 Ἀργοναυτικά
- an epic poem by Apollonius Rhodius
(3rd century BCE in Ptolemaic Egypt)
Jason and Medea
by J.W.Waterhouse
1890-s




Influenced by Homer
Exerted influence on Virgil
The only epic on the subject to survive
Realistic hero

54. THESEUS







Θησέας
son of Aegeus
Sword under the stone
Medea and capture of Marathonian Bull
Tribute to Minos and sailing to Crete
Ariadne and killing of Minotaur
Fleeing Naxos and wrong sails
Marble by E.-J. Ramey, 1826
Jardins des Tuileries
Founding of Athenian sinoikismos

By Maître
des Cassoni
Campana
1520s




Pirithous: first confrontation,
then friendship
Abductions: Helen, Persephone
Amazonian adventure
Marriage to Phaedra
Refuge on Skyros and death

55. CORNUCOPIA
Cornu copiae
= horn of plenty



Legend of “endless
source”
Greek mythology is
our cornucopia of
images, themes, and
inspiration
(Latin)
To illustrate:
Narcissus and Echo

Retold by Ovid in
Metamorphoses
(8 CE)
Metamorphose of Narcissus by Salvador Dali, 1937

56. CATASTERISMI
Andromeda
Cetus’ intended victim
Cepheus
King of Aethiopia
Aquarius
Ganymede or Deucalion
Eridanus
River or Phaeton’s path
Aquila
Eagle of Zeus
Gemini
Castor and Pollux
Argo Navis
Jason’s ship
Hercules
Heracles
Aries
The Golden Fleece
Hydra
Second labor
Auriga
Erichtonius
Libra
Scales of Themis/Astreia
Boötes
ploughman, son of Demeter,
or Icarius
Lyra
Orpheus’ instrument
Canis Major Orion’s dogs, or
Canis Minor Maera, dog of Icarius
Orion
hunter, patient of
Ophiuchus
Capricornus Amaltea
Pegasus
Bellerophon’s steed
Cassiopeia
Queen of Aethiopia
Perseus
Andromeda’s rescuer
Centauros
Not Chiron
Virgo
Astreia or Demeter

57. TROJAN CYCLE

Ilion, the City of Troy


Historicity



Wilusa in Hittite sources
Nine cities:
from 3000 BCE to 500 CE
VIIa burnt ca. 1250 BCE
Troy in epics and legends
 Iliad and Odyssey
 Oresteia by Aeschylus
 Aeneid by Virgil
Homer by R. H. van Rijn, 1663
Heinrich Schliemann (1822 – 1890)
and the walls of Troy VII in Hissarlik

58. CRASHED PARTY & BEAUTY PAGEANT

Wedding of Peleus and Thetis

Zeus stays out
Resolution

Judgment by Paris by S. Botticelli, 1488


The abduction and its consequences
The war: Zeus’ genocidal design?

59. HOMER




Homeric question
Oral tradition and Epic poetry
Court Bard
Language




Foundation of Greek culture


Hexameter
Formulaic
Composition
μῆνιν ἄειδε, θεά, Πηληϊάδεω Ἀχιλῆος
Dactylic Hexameter:
What “culture” in Archaic
Greece meant
Epics as a focal point between
Myths and Literature
Thís is the fórest priméval The múrmuring pínes and the hémlocks.
(Longfellow)

60. ILIAD


Tale of Wrath of Achilles
Events of 40 days in last
year of the ten-year siege
κλέος
μῆνις
τιμή
Troy, 2004

Themes:

Rage (pride, vanity)
Glory (fame)
Honor (respect)
Coming home
Fate (death)

κήρ νόστος




61. OLDEST EXTANT WORK IN THE WEST

Localities and Personalities



Structure:



Gods
People
Starts in media res
24 chapters
Plot: from conflict between
Agamemnon and Achilles
to burial of Hector
Achilles slaying Hector by Rubens, 1635


Gods’ intervention as one
of driving forces
Hidden Mystery

62. AFTER EVENTS IN ILIAD


Death of Achilles
Danaan Gift

Story told in Odyssey

Fall of Troy

Escape of Aeneas’ party
Nostoi

The Procession of the Wooden Horse into Troy,
by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, 1760
Death of
Achilles,
from VIth
century

63. ODYSSEY




Story of ten-year return after
the ten-year war
The hubris and resulting curse
Cattle of Helios, shipwreck and
captivity on Calypso’s island
Nausicaä and return to Ithaca
Odysseus and Nausicaä
by Jacob Jordaens (ca. 1630)

Ὀδυσσεύς a.k.a: Ulysses

Man of many troubles
Odyssey is a sequel to Iliad




Homecoming epic
Story of Telemachus
Flashbacks

64. MODERN ULYSSES



Major work of 20th century
modernism
Bloomsday: June 16th, 1904
18 episodes

Comedy by
Joel and Ethan Coen
(2000)

65. ROOTS OF CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY

The Bronze Age cultures of
Aegean and Eastern
Mediterranean were a bridge
between fertile crescent and
cultures of Classical Antiquity
Athens: half way between
the first civilization and the present

66. SUMMARY




Minoans were the first
European civilization
Mycenaean culture was
foundation of later Archaic
and Classical Greece
Epics by Homer are the
oldest extant literature in
the West and foundation of
Classical Greek culture
Greek Bronze Age links the
cultures of Fertile Crescent
to Antiquity
Aeneas escaping from siege of Troy
by Daniel van Heil (ca. 1650)

67. IN THE NEXT CHAPTER:






Indus Valley
The Harappan Civilization
Mohenjo-Daro and other
cities
Vedas and Emergence of
Hinduism
Vedic Sanskrit
Collapse and the Aryans

68. Thank You