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Greek Civilization

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Indo European Migration (印欧人迁徙)

Minoan Civilization (c. 2600-1400BCE)米诺斯文明

The First Civilization in the Aegean Sea

Mycenaean Civilization (1750-1050 BCE)迈锡尼文明

• Indo Europeans who migrated from Eurasia
• Warrior-based aristocracy.
• Regional kingdoms; no centralized state.
• Possibly involved in the Trojan War.
• Major traders in the eastern Mediterranean.
• Exchanged pottery, metals, and oils.
• Worshiped deities like Zeus, Hera, and Poseidon.

Bronze Age Collapse 青铜时代晚期崩溃

c. 1200-1150 BCE.

Affected Regions: Eastern Mediterranean(地中海): including the Hittite Empire(赫梯帝国), Egypt, Canaan(迦南), Mycenaean Greece, and the Levant(黎凡特).

Symptoms of Collapse

• Widespread destruction of cities and settlements.
• Disruption of trade routes.
• Loss of literacy in many areas.
• Population decline and migrations.

Possible Causes:

• Invasions: Theories of invasions by the "Sea Peoples" or other external groups.
• Natural Disasters: Earthquakes, droughts, or famines.
• Internal Revolts: Societal or economic upheavals leading to internal conflicts.
• Systemic Decline: Combination of multiple factors, leading to a cascading collapse of interconnected systems

Aftermath

• Emergence of "Dark Ages (c. 1100-800 BCE.)," especially in Greece.

• Rise of new powers and cultures, such as the Phoenicians and Aramaeans.
• Transition from Bronze Age to Iron Age.

Greek Dark Ages

Characteristics:

• Decline in population and urban centers.
• Simplified art and architecture.
• Decreased trade and cultural exchange.
• Loss of literacy: the Linear B script disappears.

Economy:

• Shift from palace economies to localized subsistence farming.
• Reduction in craft production.

Societal Changes:

• Decline of major Mycenaean palaces and centers.
• Rise of smaller, scattered tribal communities.

End of the Dark Age

• Development of oral traditions, leading to epic poems like the Iliad and Odyssey by Homer.
• Introduction of the Greek alphabet, derived from Phoenician script, towards the end of this period.
• Gradual re-emergence of urban centers.
• Beginning of the Archaic period around 800 BCE, marked by renewed cultural, political, and economic advancements.

Age of City-States (750BCE - 499BCE)

Key words: Monarchy 君主制 Democracy 民主制 Aristocracy 贵族制 Oligarchy 寡头制 Tyrant 暴君 Additional words: Theocracy 神权制 Meritocracy 英才制 Plutocracy 财阀制 Anarchy 无政府主义

Emergence of City-States (Polis, Poleis):

• Independent, self-governing cities with surrounding territories.
• Most prominent include Athens, Sparta, Corinth, and Thebes.

Colonization:

• Expansion and establishment of colonies across the Mediterranean and Black Sea.
• Reasons include overpopulation, land hunger, and trade opportunities.

Political Evolutions:

• Various forms of governance: monarchies, oligarchies, tyrannies, and democracies.
• Athens developed the first known democracy.

ATHENS

• Often cited as the birthplace of democracy.
• Strong maritime power due to its navy.
• Emphasis on rhetoric, philosophy, and physical education.
• Worship of Athena as the patron deity, celebrated in festivals like Panathenaia.
• Citizens (male, Athenian-born), metics (foreign residents), and slaves.
• Role of women primarily domestic, with limited public involvement.
• Tragedies, Dramas, widespread of Hellenistic culture.

Sparta

• Oligarchy: Often ruled by two kings
• Social structure: Spartan citizens, freemen (non-citizen), and state-owned serfs/slaves (Helots黑劳士)

• Highly militarized society; male Spartiates underwent rigorous training

• Agrarian economy, dependent on

the labor of Helots.

THIS IS SPARTA!

The Persian Wars (c.499 BCE - 449B)

Causes:

• Persian expansion into the Aegean and Anatolia.
• Ionian Revolt: Greek city-states in Asia Minor revolted against Persian rule (c. 499-494 BCE).

Battle of Plataea (479 BCE):

• United Greek forces decisively defeated the Persian land army.
• Marked the end of Persian land invasions into Greek territory.

Aftermath

• Delian League (提洛同盟) was formed (led by Athens) to defend against future Persian threats.
• Beginning of a period of confidence and cultural flourishing for Athens (Golden Age of Athens).
• Increased tensions between Athens and Sparta, setting the stage for the Peloponnesian War(伯罗奔尼撒战争).

Significance:

• Secured the independence of Greek city-states from Persian dominance.
• Provided inspiration for many legendary and historical accounts, including Herodotus' "Histories."

Athenian Golden Age (c. 460-404 BCE)

• Also known as the Age of Pericles(伯里克利)
• Expansion of the Athenian democracy: greater participation of citizens in governance.
• Flourishing of tragic and comic drama with playwrights like Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, and Aeschylus.
• Evolution of sculptural techniques; sculptors like Phidias played pivotal roles.
• Birth of Athenian philosophy with thinkers like Socrates, laying the foundation for later philosophers like Plato and Aristotle.

Pericles’ three goals for Athens

• Strengthen Democracy
• Hold and Expand the Athenian Empire
• Glorify Athens

Peloponnesian War (431 - 404 BCE)

• Growing tension between Athens (and its allies) and Sparta (and the Peloponnesian League).
• Competition for influence over Greek city-states and control of resources.
• Delian League: Led by Athens, maritime-based empire with naval dominance.
• Peloponnesian League: Led by Sparta, land-based alliance with superior infantry.
• Result: Athens was defeated in 404 BCE, end of the Athenian Gold Age.

Aftermath of Peloponnesian War

• Athens faced decline, both politically and economically.
• Sparta briefly dominated Greek politics but soon faced challenges from other states, particularly Thebes.
• Set the stage for the rise of Macedonia under Philip II and his son Alexander the Great.

Rise of Macedon

• North of classical Greek city-states, considered semi-barbaric by southern Greeks.
• Kingdom with a monarchy and tribal structure.

Philip II (359-336 BCE):

• Unified the Macedonian tribes and modernized the military.
• Introduced the sarissa, a long pike, enhancing phalanx warfare.
• Diplomacy and marriages solidified alliances.
• Victory at the Battle of Chaeronea (338 BCE) asserted Macedonian dominance over Greece.
• Established the League of Corinth, unifying most Greek city-states under Macedonian hegemony.
• Assassinated in 336 BCE, succeeded by his son, Alexander.

Alexander The Great (356 - 323 BCE)

• Educated by the philosopher Aristotle.
• Ambitious expansion goals, aimed to conquer the Persian Empire.
• Conquest of Persia
• Conquest of Egypt
• Pushed into the Indian subcontinent, reaching the Beas River.
• Promoted fusion of cultures (Hellenization泛希腊化), especially Greek and Persian.
• Died in Babylon in 323 BCE, reasons debated (illness, poison, etc.).

Succersor/Diadochi States (继业者)

Alexander died in Babylon in 323 BCE, reasons debated (illness, poison, etc.).Empire divided among his generals (the Diadochi):

• Ptolemy(托勒密) took Egypt.
• Seleucus(塞琉古) took the majority of the Asian part.
• Antigonus(安提柯) and his dynasty controlled Macedonia and Greece.
• Lysimachus(利西马科斯) controlled Thrace and parts of Asia Minor.
• Start of the Hellenistic Period: Greek culture merged with Middle Eastern, Persian, and Indian influences.

“My dear husband, your warlike spirit will be your death. You've no compassion for your infant child, for me, your sad wife, who before long will be your widow. . . . As for me, it would be better, if I'm to lose you, to be buried in the ground. . . .” Great Hector . . . replied, “Wife, all this concerns me, too. But I’d be disgraced, dreadfully shamed . . . , if I should slink away from war, like a coward. [F]or I have learned always to be brave, to fight alongside Trojans at the front, striving to win great fame for my father, for myself." - Homer, the Illiad