Chapter 2: Early Greece

 

2.1 The Dawn of Greek Culture

 

Goals

 

Identify developments in early civilizations of ancient Greece.

Discuss the significance of city-states in ancient Greek culture.

Recognize development in ancient Greek art.

Understand the significant role of Homer.

 

 Shortly after 1000 B.C.E. Greek civilization began to develop. From the beginning, the Greek world was divided into separate city-states among which fierce rivalries would grow. For the first two centuries the Greeks had little contact with other peoples, but around 800 B.C.E. Greek travelers and merchants began to explore throughout the Mediterranean. The visual arts during these early centuries are principally represented by pottery decorated with geometric designs. The period also saw the creation of two of the greatest masterpieces of Western literature, the Iliad and the Odyssey.

 2.2 The Age of Colonization

 Goals

 

Identify developments in early civilizations of ancient Greece.

Discuss the significance influence of the ancient Near East and Egypt on ancient Greek culture.

Discuss Greek colonization.

 

During the Age of Colonization (c. 750-600 B.C.E.) the Greeks came in contact with a wide range of foreign peoples. The ancient Near East, in particular, played a large part in influencing the development of Greek art and architecture. The decoration of pottery became Orientalizing in style, while large freestanding sculpture based on Egyptian models began to evolve. Important Greek colonies began to develop in southern Italy and Sicily.


2.3 The Archaic Period

 

Goals

 

Identify developments in early civilizations of ancient Greece.

Discuss the significance of literary developments in ancient Greek culture.

Discuss the developments in ancient Greek government.

 

The period from 600 B.C.E. to 480 B.C.E., known as the Archaic Age, was marked by political and cultural change. A new literary form, lyric poetry, became popular; one of its leading practitioners was the poet Sappho. The Presocratics began to develop a wide range of philosophical schools. Sculpture and vase painting both became increasingly naturalistic. “Tyrants,” rich merchant traders who depended on the support of the lower classes, supplanted the aristocratic rulers of earlier times. In Athens, Solon’s reform of the constitution introduced a form of democracy, which was overthrown by the tyrant Pisistratus in 546 B.C.E.

 

 

2.4 The Persian Wars

 

Goals

 

Identify developments in early civilizations of ancient Greece.

Discuss the influence of the Persians on Greek culture.

Discuss the importance of military encounters involving the Persians and the Greeks.

Understand the significant role of Herodotus.

 

Democratic government was restored at Athens in 510 B.C.E., and shortly thereafter the Greeks became embroiled with the mighty Persian Empire to their east. In 499 B.C.E. the Greek cities of western Asia, established more than a century earlier, rebelled against their Persian rulers; the Athenians sent help. The Persians crushed the revolt, and in 490 B.C.E. the Persian king Darius led an expedition against the Greeks to punish them for their interference. Against all odds, the Persians were defeated at the Battle of Marathon. Darius, humiliated, was forced to withdraw, but ten years later Xerxes, his son, mounted an even more grandiose campaign to restore Persian honor. In 480 B.C.E. he invaded Greece, defeated Spartan troops at Thermopylae, and sacked Athens. The Athenians took to their ships, however, and destroyed the Persian navy at the Battle of Salamis.

The following year combined Greek forces defeated Xerxes’ army on land, and the Persians returned home in defeat. Faced by the greatest threat in their history, the Greeks had managed to present a united front. Their victories set the scene for the Classical Age of Greek culture. A detailed account of the Greeks’ success can be found in the History of the Persian Wars written by Herodotus, the first Greek historian and the earliest significant prose writer in Western literature.

 

 

Discussion Questions

  1. What significant differences exist between the cultures of the iron age and those of the bronze age? Explain.

  2. Consider the role of religion in Early Greece. What does Early Greek theology suggest about the concerns of the society? Explain.

  3. What were the causes for and the results of Greek colonization? Cite specific examples.

  4. Explain the new directions of art in the Archaic Period. What do these changes suggest about the culture that was producing and patronizing this art?