MYCENAEANS

Social Studies 10| A. Morrison

[Adapted in part from A. Champion]

OUTCOME

3.3 Describe the political and social organization of Mycenaean civilization as revealed in the archaeological and written record.

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Minoan: 2000-1450 BCEMycenaean: 1600-1100 BCEThe Dark Ages: 1100-800 BCECity-States/Colonization: 800-550 BCEPersian Wars: 550-480 BCE

Classical Greece: 480-338 BCEThe Hellenistic Age: 338-27 BCE

Greco-Roman Period: 27 BCE-400 AD

You are here.

MYCENAEANS

•Mycenaean period: 1600-1100 BCE

•Most of what we know about Mycenae comes from Homer.

HOMER• Famous for the Iliad and the Odyssey•Written c. 900BCE? 700-600BCE?

• Theories:•Homer was one man.

•Homer was a number of authors.

• Probably originally oral stories (like Gilgamesh).

The Iliad tells the story of the fall of Troy.The Odyssey details the journey of Odysseus

and his crew.

MYCENAE •Mycenae was a city• Ruins discovered by German

archaeologist, Heinrich Schliemann, who was looking for the city described in Homer’s Iliad.• Schliemann found a fortress.• Mycenae, Greece: Ancient and

Mysterious (4:10)| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELH_5Do-VZI

MYCENAEANS

•Mycenaeans had small simple farming communities while Minoan palaces were flourishing• Invaders hindered development.• Learned from the Minoans: ship building,

navigation, gold & bronze work, fashions, art, writing. The Mycenaean language (Linear B)

was based on the Minoan language, but historians have deciphered it because it

is an early version of Greek.

MYCENAEANS

• Unlike Minoans, Mycenaeans were a warrior people.

• Society constantly ready for battle and invasion.• Cities had heavy fortified walls.

• By 1400 BCE: most powerful people in Aegean world.

Reconstruction of Tiryns as it would have appeared c. 1300BCE.

GOVERNMENT• Powerful monarchies.

•Monarchy: a system of government in which one person (king or queen) rules.

•Monarchies in various centresmay have had ‘loose’ alliances.• Society was likely a hierarchy:

social differences were marked by wealth, clothing, and titles.

King

Palace Freemen

Community Freemen

Slaves

AGAMEMNON

• According to Homer, most famous king: Agamemnon

• Leader of the Greeks during the Trojan War.•Not sure if a real person or only

a myth.• Famous “Mask of Agamemnon”…

probably not Agamemnon. The Mask of Agamemnon pre-dates Agamemnon by 300 years!

MYCENAEANS

• Ultimately a lot we don’t know.•Mycenaeans were ancient to the Ancient Greeks.

•One event might have historical basis…• The Trojan War, c. 1200 BCE… if it was real

TROY• Long considered a Greek myth:• Trojan prince (Paris) kidnapped the

wife (Helen) of the king of Sparta (Meneleus)•Meneleus went to his brother

(Agamemnon) for help in getting Helen back• A number of Greek rulers allied to

attack the city of Troy.•Handout| Troy: The City and

Legend

MYCENAEANS

• At the height of their power, they destroyed Troy and invaded Crete.• Then, c.1100BCE… they

disappeared.

•Only settlement left: Athens

Theories:

• Civil war• Outside

invasion• Famine or

disease

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Minoan: 2000-1450 BCEMycenaean: 1600-1100 BCE

The Dark Ages: 1100-800 BCECity-States/Colonization: 800-550 BCEPersian Wars: 550-480 BCE

Classical Greece: 480-338 BCEThe Hellenistic Age: 338-27 BCE

Greco-Roman Period: 27 BCE-400 AD

You are here.

THE DARK AGES

• A bleak period c. 1100-800BCE followed the collapse of Mycenae.• Little known about these years except:

•Mainland Greece invaded by a people called the Dorians• People were driven across the Aegean sea where they eventually

became known as Ionians.

• Those who kept the mainland remained Dorians.•Mycenaean knowledge was lost and forgotten.

POLIS• Eventually independent communities developed: polis.• Polis: Greek city-states.

• Rarely more than 20 000 people, except two largest:• Athens & Sparta• In order to supply polis, Greeks

created apoikai.• Apoikai: “Away homes”

(colonies)

MINOANS & MYCENAEANS RESPONSE

• Would you rather live in the Minoan civilization, or the Mycenaean? Discuss your answer in a well-organized paragraph.

• Make reference to three specific learnings about either civilization in order to support your argument.

Value: 5 marks

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