Pan-hellenism

Archaic Greece.

Archaic Greece is a period of time dating from 800-480 BC

Pan = All Hellenism = Greek people and their culture

Pan-hellenism.- the idea of a union of all Greeks in a single political body.

CONSIDER! What aspects of Greek culture and society lead to an idea of

a single Greece?

What is pan-hellenism?

During the early Archaic period there was no unified Greece, each community

was independent, self governing and self sufficient. Greece comprised of more than 100 separate, independent states.

Here is a short list! Corcyra, Acarnania, Ithaca, Cephallenia, Leucas, Ambracia, Dodona, Aetolia,

Calydon, Zacynthus, Patrae, Achaeia, Elis, Arcadia, Olympia, Lepreon, Cythera, Crete, Cydonia, Carpathus, Rhodes, Samos, Priene, Miletus, Halicarnassus, Lindus, Icaria, Lebedos, Teos, Ilium/Troy, Abydos, Lampsacus, Antandrus, Cyzicus, Sestus, Phthia, Pylos, Chersonesus, Imbros, Lemnos, Methymna, Mytilene, Pergamum, Cyma, Phocaea, Magnesia, Smyrna, Sardes, Colophon, Delos, Naxos, Potidaea, Scione, Torone, Olynthus, Stagira, Aphipolis, Pella, Therma, Methone, Pydna, Aigai, Amphipolis, Philippi, Torone, Thebae, Pharsalus, Larissa, Pherae, Crissa, Phocis, Locris, Doris, Sicyon, Nemea, Corinth, Megara, Troezen, Epidaurus, Hermione, Eretria, Chalcis, Chaeronea, Cirrae, Melos, Chios, Massallia, Neapolis, Nicaea, Syracuse, Agrigentum,

Independent Greek States

By 500 BC there was a well developed Greek

civilisation with a common language, religion and traditions and a shared literature and concepts of art and architecture.

This created cultural unity and a strong sense of identity and pride in Greek nationality.

The ties that bonded Greek city states together are called pan-hellenism.

Pan-Hellenism

several reasons for Greek unity include:

1. Language and Literature 2. Colonisation and trade3. Religion4. Religious sanctuaries

Greek unity

All Greek states spoke the same root language,

unifying them all.

The epic poems of Homer: The Illiad and The Odyssey was a source of unity among the Greeks. These epics strongly shaped the beliefs and ideals of Greek civilisation.

- The heroic ideals of the poems moulded much of classical Greece. - The Homeric legend was was regarded as the Greek’s common history and source of shared ideals.

Language and Literature

750 BC marked a major colonisation

movement which lasted almost 200 years, carrying Greek settlers to new homes all throughout the Mediterranean and into the Black sea.

An established colony might send out its own settlers and found daughter colonies.

The new settlement however was entirely independent and self governing, links with the home city were purely religious and emotional.

Colonisation

CONSIDER Why would colonisation occur… what effect would it

have… and why does this mean anything for the notion of pan-hellenism?

Trade! Because hundreds of settlements begun developing all throughout Greece, these new communities were producing a great amount of resources form which all could benefit.

Colonies maintained contacts with the homeland and each other, trading and sharing resources.

The Effect of Colonisation

All of Greece worshipped the same pantheon of

gods, although each city had its patron deity. All inhabitants of Greece followed 12 principal

gods who lived in on Mount Olympus Zeus, Hera, Ares, Hestia, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes,

Hephaestus, Dionysus, Athena, Hades, Poseidon. The god’s underwent a primitive crudity of violent

events leading to Zeus’ rise to power. by the 8th century, clear myths became apart of

Homer’s stories and then Hesiod’s Theogony.

Religion

Greeks gave most attention to those gods that thy

believed to favour and protect them – patron deities.

There is no holy book or study of religion imposed on citizens.

Greek religion did not require a lot of commitment outside of respectful behavior and participation in rituals to ensure common good.

The ancient Greek was typically open to the philosophical, scientific or political debate of their time.

Religion in everyday life.

Priests and Priestesses supervised the worship

and offered prayers and sacrifices to the gods. Women served goddesses and men served

gods – there were exceptions. Sacrifices were animal sacrifices. Many rituals were put in pace including acting

out myths. Being a priestess was the only public office a

woman could hold

Priests and Priestesses

H.W Parke – An oracle was a formal statement

from a god usually given in answer to an enquiry

The most popular way of doing this was through the consultation of the oracles.

As all Greeks consulted the same oracles, acting as a bond between the states.

Oracles

Hellenic religion expressed itself in several

Pan-Hellenic festivals. These festivals were among the chief bonds of

unity in Greece. Festivals such as athletics contests brought

Greeks of every state together to honour the Gods and compete with one another.

Religious Festivals

In 776 B.C the religious games were

reorganized and established as the Panhellenic Olympiads at Olympia in Elis.

The first monumental temple to Zeus and Hera was built in Olympia during the second half of the 7th century B.C

Pan-Hellenic Sanctuaries: Olympia

Delphi was the site of the Delphic oracle, the

most important oracle in the classical Greek world, and became a major site for the worship of the god Apollo.

Delphi was a panhellenic sanctuary, where every four years, starting in 586 BC athletes from all over the Greek world competed in the Pythian Games.

Pan Hellenic Sanctuaries: Delphi

Pan Hellenic Sanctuaries: Nemea and Isthmia

Nemea was a religious sanctuary in the northern Peloponnese of Greece where PanHellenic athletic games were held every two years from 573 BC until 271 BC.

Isthmia was one of Greece's large PanHellenic sanctuaries and played host to the Isthmian Games founded in 584BC.

The sanctuary was primarily dedicated to the worship of Poseidon with a large temple to Poseidon being built around 700BC.