1.2: A Condensed Outline of Greek History (to CE 1453)

The Prehistoric Periods

Literally meaning “the time before history,” or more precisely, before the written history of the Greek world, information about the Prehistoric Periods comes to us by way of archaeology, and the mythology and traditions of later periods.

Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic Periods:

Dating from 10,000 to 3000 BCE, the old (Paleolithic), middle (Mesolithic), and new stone (Neolithic) ages compromised a period of transformation in the civilizations of the Aegean. At the beginning of the Neolithic period there was a major transition from a nomadic "hunter-gatherer" lifestyle to one of settled village life and basic agriculture. Evidence of domestic stone foundations, stone tools, pottery and graves points to these conclusions. Evidence of stone tablets confirms that Sumerian cuneiform was the first form of writing, c. 3400. In Egypt, hieroglyphic writing evolved alongside Pharaonic civilization around 3100 BCE.

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): The Gilgamesh Dream tablet, written in cuneiform script, reflects an episode from The Epic of Gilgamesh, the earliest known epic poem. The writing system of cuneiform was designed to record the Sumerian language and was later adapted to record Akkadian, the language of the Gilgamesh poem. The tablets, discovered in the ruins of an Assyrian royal library in northern Iraq in 1853, collectively tell the story of King Gilgamesh of Uruk (modern southern Iraq). The epic is a mythic account of his exploits with Enkidu and his search for immortality. This tablet relates his dream, relayed to his mother, who interprets it as his impending meeting with Enkidu, the wild man/avatar of nature who will become his companion. The tablet was looted from an Iraqi museum during the Gulf War, but later recovered and returned (BBC). (District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Public domain, via Wikimedia)

The Bronze Age: 3000-1100 BCE

This term comes from the concept of the “Ages of Mankind,” originating with Stone, followed by Bronze, and Iron. The terms ‘'Industrial, Space, Nuclear,” which were not known at the time this system was created, follow in the same spirit. This age takes its name from the introduction of bronze metalworking, both for functional items and for weapons. In archaeological terms, the Bronze Age is divided into three periods, early, middle, and late. High cultures, specifically the Egyptian and Mesopotamian, arose first. From 2800-2340 in Mesopotamia (Iraq), Sumerian citadels grew in power, and were temporarily eclipsed by the Akkadian empire from 2334-2220, and then revived their power from 2200-2000. From 2500-1200 on the island of Crete, the Minoan civilization came to power during the early and middle phases, only to be eclipsed by the Mycenaean civilization on the mainland of Greece in the Late Bronze Age.

Historians do not regard the earliest inhabitants of the mainland as “Greeks” as their cultural traditions differed greatly from those who would later become known as the Greeks. Little is known about the people including their language or culture, but evidence of stone fertility goddesses indicates a pragmatic need to ensure crop success through worship. This tradition transferred to later cultures and their practices, manifesting as the goddess of Demeter in the Greek pantheon, and Ceres in the Roman pantheon.

Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): A Minoan double-headed ax, known as a labrys, was a common tool, weapon and symbol of the Minoan culture. Discovered in Arkalochori Cave, Crete, c. 1700-1600 BCE, AM Heraklion. e. (CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia)

More is known about the Minoans, a culture named after King Minos, a legendary ruler of Crete. While there are no known records of their language or genetic lineage, from c. 2200 to c. 1450 the wealthy Minoans built impressive palaces, notable for the absence of fortified walls around the structures, indicating that other cultures feared them enough not to attack. Archeological evidence indicates they practiced religious rituals that featured bulls and the double-headed ax as objects of significance. The doubled ax, or labrys, may have been the tool by which bulls were sacrificed (Powell 21). The myths of Theseus and of Icarus and Daedalus both feature King Minos, the Minoan culture, bulls (in the form of the Minotaur), sacrifice, and a labyrinth (from labrys).

Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\): The Minoans were an agrarian culture that worshiped and subsisted on cattle. A significant number of bull figures exist, including bull frescos on the Palace of Knossos (Cnossos). Bull leaping was a daring acrobatic feat, involving running at a bull, grabbing the horns and leaping onto the creature’s back. This depiction, however, suggests a leaper in mid-flip over the bull’s horns, a feat that might be impossible to execute. Such rituals may have inspired the myth of the Minotaur, the half-man half-bull hybrid monster that lived in the labyrinth below the palace of King Minos. The Minoan empire ruled the seas, and held a healthy respect for the tempestuous ocean god Poseidon, who controlled earthquakes and tidal waves (the bull of the ocean) (Harris and Platzner 29). “Minoan Bull-leaper,” the British Museum. Bronze figure of a bull and acrobat. Minoan, 1600-1450 BC. Said to be from south west Crete.. (Photo by Mike Peel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia)

The Middle Bronze age, from 2000-1600, was marked by the migration of Indo-European peoples—those who would become “the Greeks”—from central Asia to the Balkan Peninsula, and the introduction of the domestic horse to Greece. While the language of these Indo-Europeans is largely lost, significant fragments including vocabulary and grammatical structure survived and helped to form later European languages, which spread expansively, influencing languages on all continents in the modern world (Powell 22).

Parallel to the Indo-European migration, the Old Babylonian Empire was established in Mesopotamia between 2000-1550.

The Late Bronze Age, also referred to as the Mycenaean Age, dated between 1600-1200, gained its name for the impressive “stone citadel of Mycenae in the Peloponnesus'' (Powell 22), and was further distinguished by the rule of the Hittite empire in Anatolia, the emergence of Phoenician syllabic writing in 1500, and the Trojan War, which may have occurred c.1250. Throughout this age, powerful warrior kings, like those seen in The Iliad, ruled across Greece and unlike the Minoans, they built heavily fortified strongholds. Those fortresses existed in areas that also hold places of significance in Greek mythology: Mycenae (Agamemnon, Iliad), Thebes (Oedipus and Antigone), Athens (various myths), Pylos (Apollo), and Sparta (Helen, Iliad). In The Iliad, the term Achaean is frequently used to describe a Greek tribe which may have substituted for the Mycenaeans (22-23).

Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\): Map of Mycenaean Greece 1400-1200 BC: Palaces, main cities and other settlements. (CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia)

From among the works affiliated with these fortresses, the epic poems of Homer echo in the awareness of readers, even those who haven’t yet read these epics. Walter Burket explains the lasting impressions and influence of Homer and the flag he plants in our historical reference:

In the perspective of the western world, ‘Homer’ had long been the solitary beginning of the literature, nay, the origin of poetry, concentrated in one person, ‘the original genius of Homer.’ With the development of scholarship, a more historical approach had to take over, owing to at least three discoveries: (1) The analysis of Homeric languages proves that there have been generations of singers, of oral performance underlying the texts we have . . . (2) The archeological exploration of Greece and Crete have brought to light Bronze Age civilizations vaguely remembered in ‘Homer,’ the Mycenaean Age . . . (3) And, remnants of Near Eastern literature written during this age offer a wider appreciation “to Greek epic in what constitutes a Near Easter-Aegean cultural community (koinê)” (Burket 291).

Yet, Homer’s works weren’t transcribed into written form during this time. In fact, they were recorded several hundred years later, which leads to the natural question: why weren’t they written at the time of the events? The answer is pragmatic. Two writing systems existed during this time, Linear A, of which there are no known records left, and Linear B, a non-alphabetic script inscribed on clay tablets, which was used exclusively for keeping economic accounts, was difficult to master, and likely only known to scribes of the palace who “employed writing only for recording the flow of goods into the palaces and then out again for redistribution. When the redistributive economy of Mycenaean Greece was destroyed [possibly by sea invaders], there was no longer a place for scribes or a need for writing.” Literature, especially mythology, survived this decline in writing due to the oral transmission of these traditions, permitting Greek culture to persist via sagas, myths and legends as a valuable inheritance passed to ensuing generations (Martin).

The Early Iron Age: 1100-900 BCE.

Following the collapse of the Mycenaean civilization at the end of the Bronze Age, most of the palatial centers disappeared, accompanied by depopulation of the surrounding areas. This signaled the start of the Dark Age, or the Early Iron Age, so named due to the low level of cultural achievements—such as the loss of the art of writing—that naturally accompanies times of war, persecution, famine and scarcity. When people struggle to survive, cultural achievement understandably declines. The general scarcity of information from this period darkens our understanding of the changes that occurred at this time. Though the events cannot be concretely confirmed by historians, the decline of the great kingdoms is attributed to Dorian invaders—men who find their place in literature as the “Sons of Herakles”—who sacked the area, driving out the last of the Mycenaeans in a phase known as the “Dorian Invasion.” Of the great cities, only Athens survived the invaders, leaving the other Greek-speaking peoples to migrate and settle in Asia Minor (supposedly led by the descendants of Ion of Athens) where they settled along the coast and in the Aegean Isles during the “Ionian Migration,” c. 1000; this led to Asia Minor being renamed Ionia. The Aeolians, another group of refugees, moved from northern Thessaly to the isle of Lesbos, finally settling in the northernmost coast of Asia Minor close to Troy and renaming that area as Aeolis. The massive migration effort completely changed the landscape and the map of Greece (Powell 23-24).

Despite, or perhaps due to, this radical remapping, the Dark Age concluded with communal stability and a rebirth of culture in the Archaic Age. During the Archaic Period, c. 825, the Greek alphabet was born, allowing scribes to record the significant works by Homer, The Iliad and The Odyssey, which were penned between c. 825-800. Not only did the Greek alphabet allow for transcribing important works of literature, but it also offered “an approximation of the actual sound of the human voice, hence a script potentially applicable to any human language.” In historical scope, this had a seismic effect, allowing for the evolution of languages across the planet as well as the foundations of Western Civilization. Save for a few advancements and modifications, it is the same form of written alphabet we use today for English, as well as other Western European languages (Powell 24).

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The Historical Periods

The Geometric Period: 900-700 BCE

During this period the Greek polis (pl. = poleis) or "city-state" developed, including Athens, Corinth, and Sparta, in addition to Greek colonies in Southern Italy and Sicily, c. 800-600. Archaeologically there was significant artistic output in the form of painted geometric pottery—from which the age takes its name—and the rise of trade with other areas of the Mediterranean. The aforementioned invention of the Greek alphabet allowed scribes to record the significant works by Homer, The Iliad and The Odyssey, transcribed between c. 825-800, followed by Hesiod’s first major work, the Theogony, written between c. 800-750.

The Archaic Period: 700-480 BCE

Individual city-states and their colonies prospered, largely due to the introduction of coinage and the widely accepted means to measure, weigh and certify the currency, allowing for the evolution of new social classes, specifically the kakoi (the bad men), so named by the aristoi (the best men) (Powell 26). Such social stratifications gave rise to centers of political, religious, philosophical, athletic and artistic development. The Olympic Games were founded in 776, offering soldiers an opportunity to prove their prowess without risking death. Literature continued to flourish with the creation of the Homeric Hymns, a body of poems written by various poets in the style of Homer, c. 750-500, and the works of the Cyclic poets, c. 650-500.

Between 650-500 many of the Greek cities in the mainland, Aegean islands, and the Ionian coast were ruled by "tyrants", strong-willed men who ruled, not by constitutional authority, but by popular support. They prioritized the political and economic interests of traders and merchants and opposed the aristocracy. The term “tyrant” originally may have meant “ruler” but by 500 BCE, it had come to define a ruler who had seized power by nontraditional or unlawful means. While the aristocracy viewed the tyrants as a threat to “legal” authority, these leaders did much to improve the economy and military prowess of the cities they ruled. Monumental sculpture, stone temple architecture, and civic building programs are among the achievements of this period. Greek cities in the eastern Aegean and Asia Minor came under the domination of the Persian Empire at the end of the sixth century. An unsuccessful revolt by the Greeks living on the Ionian coast led to the invasion of mainland Greece by the Persians in 490 B.C. and again in 480 B.C. The Archaic period "officially" came to an end (at least for modern historians) with the defeat of the home of several important philosophical schools.

The Classical Period/The Golden Age of Greece: 480-323 BCE

The term “Classical” upon a culture implies the apex of civilization, the high point when military conquests have contributed to wealth and stability, and cultures can enjoy the development of arts, education and literature. Such was the case with Greece, which produced prolific examples of architecture, art, philosophy, history, and drama. Adding to and perhaps eclipsing these achievements was the development of the first democracy, a term that means “rule by demos (people).” However, “by the people” at this time meant only adult male citizens, neither women, nor adolescents, nor enslaved people, nor noncitizen residents. The achievement settled the ongoing, long-term disputes between kakoi and aristoi, offering citizens the belief that they had an opportunity to positively influence their political and social future (Powell 26).

The period also included ongoing conflict between Athens and Sparta, known as the Peloponnesian Wars, which spanned the period of 431-404 and despite several Athenian victories, ultimately concluded with the defeat of Athens due to the Persian support the Spartans received. However, this defeat did little to dampen the artistic efforts of Athens, whose fountain of achievements set a standard of excellence that continues to be referenced throughout history and to this day.

Contributors to the Golden Age included the early physician Hippocrates, philosophers Protagoras, Plato and his student Aristotle who “challenged mythic accounts of the origin and nature of the universe, and the historian Thucydides [who] rejected the conviction, heretofore universal, that gods determine the outcome of human events” (Powell 28-29).

Despite the deaths of playwrights Euripides and Sophocles in 406, and the dual conquests of Athens and Thebes by Philip II of Macedonia, the literary achievements of the Ancient Greeks are recorded in the mythology we study, both within this text and throughout the Western literary canon by writers who used Ancient Greek source material as their muse.

The Classical Age closed with the ascension of Alexander the Great, son of Philip II, who inherited his father’s throne at age twenty, following his father’s death by homicide. Influenced by the tales of the Trojan War, Alexander fashioned himself as his era’s Achilles, and his significant and brilliant conquests fit, if not surpassed, his role model. Alexander avenged the Persian invasions from the previous era, conquering and occupying the vast Persian empire before expanding his empire to India. His achievements, especially his tactical intelligence, continue unparalleled, but his ambition was snuffed by his early death at age thirty-two when he either succumbed to a fever or to intentional poisoning.

The Hellenistic Period: 323-30 BCE

The Hellenistic Period, (which takes its name from Hellên, legendary founder of the Greek race, and not from Helen of Troy) began after the conquests of Alexander the Great. Alexander’s conquests helped spread Greek culture across the eastern Mediterranean regions and the Asian continent. Of his lasting achievements, the city of Alexandria (331 BCE) along the western delta in Egypt was to be most pivotal for Greek culture and the persistence of its myths. It was in Alexandria that the first academic library was established: the Mouseion, or “Hall of the Muses.” Within the hall, the first librarians, scholars versed in sciences, mathematics, and other areas of learning, worked to gather and edit the classical works into standardized versions. These early scholars established measures of originality to maintain the most authentic versions of the oft-copied and oft-adulterated texts. The measure of their work is beyond value, as all surviving Greek myths that we read today were salvaged by the librarians at Alexandria.

Figure \(\PageIndex{5}\): The laurel tree was a symbol of Apollo, god of wisdom and learning. Following his failed pursuit of the nymph Daphne, he adopted the wearing of the laurel wreath. Gold wreaths were worn for ceremonial purposes, placed upon tombs, and dedicated at temples. Getty Villa, c. 300-100 BCE. (CC-BY; Photo by A. Murray 2023)

Performance of literature also continued to evolve at this time, as for the first time poems and plays were likely recorded and read from papyrus scrolls. The intellectual and psychological impact of this evolution was massive as literature transformed from purely performance-based into written forms intended for personal use: reading for pleasure. As an effect, literature became more complicated, often more abstract, and more sophisticated.

Hellenistic Greeks, likely inspired by Zeno of Citium (a village in Cyprus) the founder of the school of Stoicism, demonstrated a specific interest in the crucial authenticity of myth, and the insights it offered into the human condition. Mythographers–writers of myth–began to collect and organize traditional oral tales of the gods and heroes as early as the 5th century BCE, and during the Hellenistic Period these efforts escalated and expanded. The most valuable surviving work of these early mythographers is the Library of Apollodorus (c. CE 120), which is not a creative text, but a linear report of mythical events beginning with the creation of the world and concluding with the death of Odysseus. Of the surviving mythic texts, it represents the apex of information we have, particularly about the Cyclic Poems.

Two other great sources of mythic material come from “the great geological survey of Greece by Pausanias [c. CE 150], and a Latin handbook compiled from Greek sources by Hyginus [c. CE 100]” (Powell 66).

While literature saw great advances during this period, the conquests of Alexander didn’t fare as well. In c. 323, Alexander’s successors broke his massive empire into smaller, hostile kingdoms across the eastern Mediterranean area and the Near East. Following a period of relative stability, Rome rose to greatness and destroyed Corinth, bringing Macedonia into Roman rule and effectively conquering all of Greece.

The Roman Period in Greece: 31 BCE-CE 323

The term “Greek” actually comes from the Romans, who called them “Graioi” and may have taken the term from a tribe in Epirus, along the northwest border of Greece and Italy. The growing power of Rome eventually surpassed and engulfed the Hellenistic Kingdoms. With the defeat and subsequent deaths of Antony and Cleopatra—the last of the Ptolemaic rulers—in 31 BCE, Octavian (Augustus) incorporated much of what had been Greece into the Roman province of Achaia. Centers of learning and the arts such as Athens and Rhodes, as well as the sanctuaries of Delos and Delphi, continued to flourish in the Roman period, particularly under the patronage of such philhellenic emperors as Hadrian (CE 117-38). Ephesos, Pergamon, and Aphrodisias were major Roman cities in Asia Minor.

The Byzantine Period in Greece: CE 323-1453

Constantine the Great created a new capital in the eastern half of the Roman Empire, renaming the ancient Greek city of Byzantium "Nova Roma," the New Rome, more commonly known as the city of Constantine or "Constantinopolis" (modern Istanbul). His religious conversion and political recognition of the Christian faith paved the way for the continuation, in Christian form, of the Roman Empire. Henceforth, the "Eastern Roman Christian Empire" known in modern times as the Byzantine Empire, carried on the traditions of Greek culture. Following the sack of Constantinople in 1204 at the hands of Latin Crusaders, much of Greece came under Frankish or Venetian ownership. The Byzantine Empire finally came to an end with the capture of Constantinopolis by the Ottoman Turks in 1453.