History of Ancient Greek

The history of Greece can be traced back to Stone Age hunters. Later came early farmers and thecivilizations of the Minoan and Mycenaean kings. This was followed by a period of wars and invasions, known as the Dark Ages. In about 1100 BC, a people called the Dorians invaded from the north and spread down the west coast. In the period from 500-336 BC Greece was divided into small city states, each of which consisted of a city and its surrounding countryside.

There were only a few historians in the time of Ancient Greece. Three major ancient historians, were able to record their time of Ancient Greek history, that include Herodotus, known as the 'Father of History' who travelled to many ancient historic sites at the time, Thucydides and Xenophon.

Most other forms of History knowledge and accountability of the ancient Greeks we know is because of temples, sculpture, pottery, artefacts and other archaeological findings.

NEOLITHIC PERIOD (6000 - 2900 BC)

According to historians and archeological findings, the Neolithic Age in Greece lasted from 6800 to 3200 BC. The most domesticated settlements were in Near East of Greece. They traveled mainly due to overpopulation. These people introduced pottery and animal husbandry in Greece. They may as well have traveled via the route of Black sea into Thrace, which then further leads to Macedonia, Thessaly, Boeotia etc. The second way of traveling into Greece is from one island to another and such type of colonies has been found in Knossos and Kythnos.

The main characteristics of this era are the climate stabilization and the settlements of people. The Neolithic Revolution arrives with these people who traveled from Anatolia, Turkey. The economy of the region became steady with organized and methodical farming, stock rearing and, bartering and sculptures like pottery. People stopped traveling from region to region and permanent settlements in Greece. They domesticated animals like sheep and goats and grew plants and crops. They made their bases around sites where there was ample water supply and in open landscapes. The Neolithic Greece people can be said as the first 'farmers' and their lives were less complex and simple.

Archeological findings show more settlements in Northern Greece, like Thessaly and Sesklo. Villages were found in Thessaly around 6500 BC while settlements in Sesklo started in 5500 BC. The inhabitants of these areas couldn't have been more than a hundred people. The houses were made of stone foundations with a roof made of a thick layer of clay and timber. They were one-room houses measuring 10 to 50 square metres.

A small village was also found at an area called Nea Nikomedia, where people resided around 5800 BC. The houses were made of sticks and mud surrounded by fences.

The villagers made different types of attractive pottery like cups and dishes. Most of them were designed in a red and white pattern. Excellent remains of such pottery can found from sites at Sesklo. The figurines that were created in the Neolithic Era were carved to suggest a female goddess. Offerings in the form of clay animals and birds to the goddess have been found in the caves. Till now, the oldest artifacts of Neolithic Era have been found in the Knossos region dating back to 3500 BC.

EARLY BRONZE AGE (2900 - 2000BC)

The Greek Bronze Age or the Early Helladic Era started around 2800 BC and lasted till 1050 BC in Crete while in the Aegean islands it started in 3000 BC. The Bronze Age in Greece is divided into periods such as Helladic I, II. The information that is available today on the Bronze Age in Greece is from the architecture, burial styles and lifestyle. The colonies were made of 300 to 1000 people.

The Bronze Age is known as so because of the invention and introduction of the metal bronze. This metal made its entry into Greece in 3000 BC, but it did not make its impact as soon as it arrived. The people from Dimini from the Neolithic era that had settled in Greece slowly started the use of Bronze. Knives and swords were carved from the metal. This metal was more easy to use than stone, bone or wood. Metals such as gold, silver and lead arrived at the same time as bronze.

The class system in society started with the arrival of metal depending on their value and availability. Bronze was expensive and copper was to be brought from other areas. The richer class could afford the metals and this was proved by the excavations found wherein people where buried with metal jewelry.

An excellent example of the Early Bronze Age in Greece is the excavation of the Lerna village. The houses roofs were made with clay tiles and wall with stones. Baskets were sealed with marks pressed on them. This proves that even then people did care for their belongings. Fences of stonewalls were made to protect their houses. But evidence shows that Lerna was attacked by some colonies and burnt the whole town.

The Bronze Age was also characterized by the burial systems. They were simple pits or graves carved into rocks. These graves were either for one person or a complete family. These burial pits and the remains give us important information on the nutrition and diseases of those eras. Also they give us an insight on the people's minds on their beliefs on human behavior and after life.

The settlements of the Early Bronze Age lived on hills or on low plains, which were close to water. Such regions may have been more fertile for agricultural and settling purposes. The houses were made of stone foundations and mud walls. They had the provision of kilns for cooking and stones counters for sleeping, storage or for cooking. Goods were stored in containers made of wood or reed or simply dug into the ground.

The economy of the villages depended on production of tools, weapons, agriculture and art and architecture. In crops they grew cereals and legumes that was there from the Neolithic Era. Also they introduced olive trees and wine. In animal husbandry they reared sheep's and goats. The need for more metals and goods lead to introduction of different colonies and barter creating set-up for trade. Major production that contributed to the economy included pottery, stone carving, textile and metal carving.

Arts and crafts included ceramic pottery, which were painted in earthy colors. Manufacture of tools was from bone, metals and stones using advanced technology. Figurines reflected the social and lifestyle habits. Weaving also constituted an important part, but the remains were lost in time because they were of perishable nature.
The Early Bronze Age paved the way for Minoans and the Mycenaean Greeks, which was characterized by its prosperity and the rich empires.

MYCENAEAN AGE (600 - 1100 BC)

The Mycenaean Age dates from around 1600 BC to 1100 BC, during the Bronze Age. Mycenae is an archaeological site in Greece from which the name Mycenaean Age is derived. Mycenae site is located in the Peloponnese, Southern Greece. The remains of a Mycenaean palace were found at this site, accounting for its importance. Other notable sites during the Mycenaean Age include Athens, Thebes, Pylos and Tiryns.

According to Homer, the Mycenaean civilization is dedicated to King Agamemnon who led the Greeks in the Trojan War. The palace found at Mycenae matches Homer's description of Agamemnon's residence. The amount and quality of possessions found at the graves at the site provide an insight to the affluence and prosperity of the Mycenaean civilization. Prior to the Mycenaean's ascendancy in Greece, the Minoan culture was dominant. However, the Mycenaeans defeated the Minoans, acquiring the city of Troy in the process, according to Homer's Illiad (some historians argue this is Myth rather than fact). Mycenaean culture was based around its main cities in Mycenae, Tiryns, Pylos, Athens, Thebes, Orchomenos, and Folksier. The Mycenaeans also inhabited the ruins of Knossos on Crete, which was a major city during the Minoan era.

Mycenaean and Minoan art melded, forming a cultural amalgamation that is found on Crete (figurines, sculptures and pottery). During the Mycenaean civilization the class diversification of rich and poor, higher classes and lower became more established, with extreme wealth being mostly reserved for the King, his entourage and other members of the royal circle. Like the Minoans, the Mycenaeans built grand palaces and fortified citadels, with administrative and political powers firmly under royal authority. Mycenaean society was to some extent a warrior culture and their military was ever prepared for battle, be it in defence of a city or to protect its wealth and cultural treasures.

The Mycenaeans were bold traders and maintained contact with other countries from the Mediterranean and Europe. They were excellent engineers and built outstanding bridges, tombs, residences and palaces. Their tombs known as 'beehive tombs' were circular in shape with a high roof. A single passage made of stone led to the tomb. A variety of possessions, including arms and armour, were buried with the dead, while the more affluent might also be buried with gold and jewellery. Interestingly, rather than being buried in a sleeping position, Mycenaeans were interred in a sitting position, with the richer classes sometimes being mummified.

The Mycenaeans invented there own script known as Linear B, which was an improved derivative of Linear A (a language commonly accepted as Minoan or Eteocretan).

Greek Dark Age:

For some reason the Myceneans abandoned their civilization between 1200 and 1100 BC. The populations of their once-mighty cities dwindled rapidly until there was no urbanized culture left on the Greek mainland. Most of the cities were eventually destroyed, and all the great craftsmen of the Mycenean cities faded away when society could no longer support them. How much of their culture they abandoned, we don't know. For the one key element of their culture that they did abandon was writing , and we don't know why. Without writing, they left us no history following the collapse of Mycenean civilization; we have, instead, only five centuries of mystery: the Greek Dark Ages. Also called, the Greek Middle Ages, this period may have been precipitated by migrations and invasions of a people speaking a dialect of Greek, the Dorians. Later Greeks believed this to be the case: in Greek history and legend, the Dorians were a barbaric northern tribe of Greeks who rushed down into Greece and wrested control over the area.

In the absence of archaeological evidence, it seems unlikely that a nomadic, tribal group could so easily overcome a highly efficient, warfare-centered society like the Myceneans. There is, though, no reason to disbelieve the Greeks. The best explanation is that a combination of economic decline and migrations of northern peoples slowly spelled the end of the Myceneans.

From 1200 (or 1150, or 1100, take your pick) to 750, the Greeks lived a fairly sedentary, non-urbanized, agricultural life. Many villages were abandoned, and it seems likely that many Greeks returned to a nomadic life in small tribal groups. Many Greeks in this period took to the sea and migrated to the islands in the Aegean; according to Greek history, they were soon followed by the Dorians.

Not only did the Greeks abandon writing and most crafts, they also abandoned their large commercial network. They virtually stopped trading with Asia Minor, the Middle East, and Egypt; in fact, they seem to have stopped trading with one another as well. Fortunately for the Greeks, none of the great powers had ever been interested in Europe or the Aegean, so the Greek Dark Ages, once the Dorians had settled, were probably a time of peace. This long breathing-space allowed the Greeks the leisure to slowly redevelop an urbanized culture.

Despite the bleakness of the situation, the Greeks began to slowly urbanize in the latter part of the Dark Ages. This early urbanized culture would produce, at the very close of the Greek Dark Ages, the single greatest Greek accomplishment in the Greek view of themselves: the poetry of Homer. Not only are the two epic poems of Homer windows into the distant Mycenean past and into the darkness of the Greek Middle Ages, they are the defining moment in Greek culture; for the Greeks will turn to these poems throughout their history to define themselves culturally, politically, and historically.

Archaic Period (750 - 500 BC)

The Archaic Period in Greece refers to the years between 750 and 480 B.C., more particularly from 620 to 480 B.C. The age is defined through the development of art at this time, specifically through the style of pottery and sculpture, showing the specific characteristics that would later be developed into the more naturalistic style of the Classical period. The Archaic is one of five periods that Ancient Greek history can be divided into; it was preceded by the Dark Ages and followed by the Classical period. The Archaic period saw advancements in political theory, especially the beginnings of democracy, as well as in culture and art. The knowledge and use of written language which was lost in the Dark Ages was re-established.

Classical Period (500-336 BC)

Classical period of ancient Greek history, is fixed between about 500 B. C., when the Greeks began to come into conflict with the kingdom of Persia to the east, and the death of the Macedonian king and conqueror Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. In this period Athens reached its greatest political and cultural heights: the full development of the democratic system of government under the Athenian statesman Pericles; the building of the Parthenon on the Acropolis; the creation of the tragedies of Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripides; and the founding of the philosophical schools of Socrates and Plato.