Chapter 1 Greek Culture.ppt

Greek Culture Part One Introduction Bronze Age cultures (2600-1200 BC) Iron Age cultures (1200-700 BC) The Archaic or the Lyric Age (700-490 BC) The Classical Age (490-338 BC) The Hellenistic Age (338-about 30 BC) Bronze Age cultures (2600-1200 BC) Minoan culture on Crete were replaced by people from the north --- the Mycenaeans. The Greek legend of the Minotaur: Minotaur, half man, half bull, comes from Crete. This monster lived in a labyrinth. The story tells how each year young men and women were sent from Athens as tribute to be fed to the Minotaur. Theseus, son of the king of Athens, volunteered to go, so that he could kill the monster and thus end the tribute system. Ariadne, daughter of King Minos, fell in love with Theseus, and gave him a sword and also a thread to help him find his way out of the labyrinth. Finally, Theseus killed the Minotaur. The labyrinth has become a common metaphor in western literature, to do with confusion and entrapment, and the Minotaur, particularly in the paintings of Picasso, a symbol of brutality and danger. Iron Age cultures (1200-700 BC) New people arrived from the north, defeating the Mycenaeans. These were the three tribes of Hellenes or Greeks, who settled in the mainland of Greece and also crossed the Aegean Sea to Asia Minor (today’s Turky) The geography of Greece and the wide distribution of Greeks meant that there were many independent city-states, united by language, religious outlook, mythology and temperament. These states were highly competitive and frequently at war with each other, yet managed, in spite of this, to retain the idea of being one people. To be Greek meant to belong to one culture rather than to belong to one country. This variety within unity is one of the striking things about ancient Greek culture. Historical Events: Around 1200 BC Trojan War; The Archaic or the Lyric Age (700-490 BC) The Greeks created a literature, City-states developed, each with its own constitution. Historic