The age after the Mycenaeans, before the Archaic age.

2. Why Study Dark
Ages?
• Patterns of social
and political
integration occurred
• A new kind of
state Government
would arise.
• “The cradle of
western democracy”

3. The “Dark Age” of Greece

4. Decline and Recovery
• Near total absence of finely made
and expensive artifacts.
• The course of decline and
recovery is charted mainly through
pottery.
• 1125 – 1250 “submycenaean”
• Low amount of pottery as well as
low quality. Graves and above
ground.
• This shows a _______ and
_______ decline.
• Population levels dropped 60 to
90%
• Large Movements/ Relocation /
Emigration of Peoples.
• Centralized political and
economic organization
disappeared with palaces.

5. Change and Continuity
 Daily life at the level of
household and village
remained very similar.
 Foods, wine, cheese
 Spun wool and flax
 Pottery
 Centralization had
changed.

6. Recovery
 Large permanent
Greek settlements
occur in Asia Minor.
 Mastery of smelting
and working iron.
(Borrowed from east)
 Protogeometric
Pottery.

7. Society In the Early Dark Age
 Villages on their own
politically and
economically.
 Reverted to a
government of local
chiefs.
 Little Social
differentiation.

8. The Basileus
 Had been mayors of town or
village.
 The title survives into dark ages.
 Centralized village life
 Tells us about lack of change in
economy, government, and
social institutions.
 Created and preserved rules for
social conduct.
 Ancient traditions.

9. Late Dark Age (Homeric) Society
 How powerful were
Basileus?
 Judicial System?
 Diplomatic relations
between chiefdoms

10. Revival
 Material Progress
 Geometric Vases
 Gold Jewelry, ivory
carvings
 Availability of Raw
materials.
 What does this show?

11. Social Values and
Ethics
• Warriors
•
Bravery, skill, athletics, c
ompetition.
• Public
Speaking, debate.
• Honor gods, honor
promises.
• Self-control.
• loyalty, Respect.
• Hospitable
• Respect to women and
elders.
• Pity to beggars

12. Women
• Housewife /
mother.
• Value beauty and
skill
• Household
management
• Weaving
• Practical sense
• Modesty, Chase.

13. Religion
• Formal, Ritualistic, and
communal.
• No official set of
doctrines or compulsory
beliefs
• Various gods mirror the
human environment and
conditions
• Mortals are playthings of
the gods.
• limited concern with
morality.
• Afterlife?
• Psyche and Hades

14. The gods and goddesses
 Aphrodite The sensual goddess of love
and beauty
 Apollo The youthful god of the sun and
the music
 Ares The fierce god of war
 Artemis The wild goddess of the hunt
 Athena The sophisticated goddess of
wisdom and Arts
 Demeter The natural goddess of the
harvest
 Dionysus The joyful god of the wine
 Hades The gloomy god of the
Underworld
 Hephaestus The ill-favored god of
Metallurgy
 Hera The mature goddess of the family
 Hermes The cunning god of the trade
 Hestia The calm goddess of the hearth
 Poseidon The moody god of the seas
 Zeus The superior King of the Gods and
ruler of mankind

15. Community, Household, and Economy in the late
Dark Age
 Village life
 Customary Law / public
disappoval
 Demos
 Patrilineal & Patriarchal
 Large Families
 Kleros – ancestral plot of
land
 Small social class
distinctions

16. End of the Greek Dark Age
 Rise in population
 Pastureland to agricultural
land
 Land distribution problems
and effects
 Need for raw materials
(metal)
 The Alphabet and writing
 Borrowed from Phoenecians
 Easy to learn / phonetic
 History, drama, philosophy,
math, science, law, medicine