2 - Bronze Age, Dark Age, Oral Poetry Ppt

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    2. Early Greek History, Religion, and

    Poetry

    2. Early Greek History,Religion, and Poetry

    Setting the stage for Homers epics

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    Review Points from Course IntroductionA classic is a creative work (e.g. literature, art, music,thought) that transcends its cultural and period boundaries

    Somehow addresses universal human experiences and feelingssuch as love, loss, joy, pain, beauty, etc.

    The study of Greek and Roman culture is the field ofClassics because these cultures are the foundation of much of Western Civilization

    ClCv 201 concentrates on the literature and ideas of theancient Greeks and Romans

    will provide the student with a solid introductory grounding in theGreek and Roman Classics by surveying the important literarygenres of epic, tragedy, philosophy, and historiography (thewriting and interpreting of history) and setting them in theirhistorical and cultural context

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    2. Early Greek History, Religion, and

    Poetry

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    Periods Covered This SemesterBegin to familiarize yourself with all of them, mastering them as each is studied

    Bronze AgeMinoan (c. 20001400 B.C)Mycenaean (c. 14001150B.C.)

    Greek Dark Age (1100 750 B.C)Archaic Greece (700500B.C.)Classical Greece (500404B.C.)Fourth Century Greece(404336 B.C.)Hellenistic Age (336164B.C)

    The Monarchy of Rome(753510 B.C.)The Republic

    Early Republic (509264B.C.)Middle Republic (264133B.C.)Late Republic (13327B.C.)

    Augustan Age (27 B.C. A.D. 14)Empire (A.D. 14235)

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    Minoan KreteKnossos

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    Minoan Civilizationc. 20001400 B.C.Palace culture

    Redistributive economySurplus used in trade

    Presumably a literate societyLinear A , still undeciphered

    Setting for many early mythsKing Minos and the Minotaur, etc.

    Clues to society and religion . . .

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    Historical/Mythological TraditionsMinosTheseusMinotaurLabyrinthBull motif

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    Palace Site at Knossos on Krete

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    Layout of Palace at KnossosCentral Court

    Unimpeded, direct access

    Storagemagazines

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    Artists Conception of Knossos Palace

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    Bull-Jumper FrescoFresco fragments restored to recreate a Minoan painting of a youth

    leaping on the back of a bull. The bull was an important Minoanfertility symbol that survived in many myths about Krete.

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    MinoanPainting

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    Snake

    Goddessstatues

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    Mycenaean Civilizationc. 1400-1150 B.C.States based on palace centers , heavily influenced by theMinoan civilizationPalaces heavily fortified , grave goods include manyweaponsLinear B script which has been decipheredGreek-speaking people , precursors of the Ionian peoples

    Mycenaeans were late Helladic, esp. LHII

    Setting for the so-called Heroic Age , including the Trojan

    War

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    Site of Bronze Age Palace at Mycenae

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    Plan of palace atMycenae

    Heavily fortified with nodirect access to centralcourtCentered on megaron(columned hall with an openhearth in the middle)Seat of a centralizedgovernment led by a wanax

    or king

    megaron

    Heavyfortifications

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    Artists conception of the megaron at Pylos

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    Fortifications at MycenaeNote Cyclopean masonry

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    2. Early Greek History, Religion, and

    Poetry 1

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    Lions Gate

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    Death Mask of Agamemnon

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    2. Early Greek History, Religion, and

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    Linear B

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    The Greek Dark Age and the Oral Tradition The collapse of Bronze Age Greece ushered in a confusing period of myth and legend1100-750 B.C.Invasions brought new peoples suchas the Dorians into Greece whoused ironLiteracy and palace culture werelost with collapse of MycenaeanCivilizationOral poetry preserved myths andstories for later agesFew material remains outside ofpottery

    Modern scholars are largely in thedark about what happened in thisperiod!

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    Age of HeroesNot an actual historical period, it was an imaginative erawhich combined Bronze Age memories with theprevailing warlord society of the Dark Ages

    Homer drew upon a rich oral tradition that chronicled thewarlike society and values of the Dark AgesThis same oral tradition also preserved memories of the greatBronze Age civilizations in embellished songs that recalledgreat wars and kings from earlier times

    To the Greeks who listened to these tales, however, the kingsand battles were very real

    Throughout Greece there were many a ruined Mycenaeanpalaces that suggested that there was some truthfulness to thetales and many circle graves or tumuli that were confidentlyidentified as the tombs of prominent heroes

    These heroes were larger than life figures capable of great deedswho, more importantly, came to serve as models of good andbad behavior

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    Greek ReligionGreek religion was systematized in the Dark ages

    the gods and goddesses became major characters of the oraltradition, as later exemplified by Homers Iliad and Odyssey

    Hesiods Theogony , or Birth of the GodsDidactic poem organized the growing pantheon through asuccession mythSon replaced father, often violently, in a generational scheme

    Gaia (Earth) and Ouranos (Sky) Gave birth to TitansThe Titan Kronos castrated and overthrew his fatherKronos swallowed his children as his wife Rhea gave birth to eachZeus escaped through a trick, saved siblingsZeus and allies overthrew TitansZeus emerged as the paramount and permanent leader

    Olympian (sky) deities, Chthonic (underworld) deities

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    See Synopsisof the Greek

    Pantheon