A much better history of Minoan and Mycenaean Civilization, with Homer's Epics, and Early Greek Olympics and Mythology.

2. • As the Persian Empire spread civilization from
Asia Minor to the Mediterranean, other
civilizations grew..

3. • The Greeks and Etruscans served as
mercenaries in the Persians and Egyptian
armies.

4. • Mercenary:
a paid soldier hired to serve in a foreign army

5. The Greeks
• The Persians considered the Greeks
barbarians.
• Greek Barbarians would create an artistic
and intellectual renaissance.
• Combining strength and a new vision with
the technology of the east.

6. The 12 Century BCE
• The Indo European Greek-speaking invaded Mycenae.
• The Phoenicians set up colonies.
• The Etruscans set up a Kingdom in Italy and civilized the
Latin and Roman tribes.

7. The Greeks
• These iron age cultures destroyed the old
bronze age cultures of Minoa and Mycenae.

10. The “Bronze” Age Mediterranean Region

11. An Archipelago region.

12. • Archipelago an area made up of many many islands.

13. Geometric
Pottery

14. Geometric
• Repeating patterns of balanced lines.

15. Geometric bronze

16. Early Greek Art & Artifacts
Cycladic figures in Marble

18. By 2800 BCE, a Bronze Age civilization flourished on the
large island of Crete.

19. Sir Arthur Evans
In the 1920’s, Arthur Evans
discovered it, naming it
Minoan, after, the legendary
king Minus of Crete.

20. Artist’s idea of Knossos

21. Palace of King Minos – North Entrance

22. Palace of King Minos - Interiors

23. Palace of King Minos – Throne Room

24. Aerial View of Knossos
Knossos had a large
sea trade empire.

25. • Minoan ships traded mostly with Egypt
and southern Greece.

26. Minoan
Trade
“Bireme” ship
Coast of Crete

27. Early Writing :
“Linear A” (no one can read)
Canon?

30. Early Writing : “Linear A” (no one can read it today)

31. The People
• Minoans Civilization centered on the island of
Crete.
Palace on Knossos
Theseus and the Minotaur

32. The People
• And spread to other Islands like Thera.
Palace on Knossos
Theseus and the Minotaur
Island of Thera

33. By 2800 BCE, Knossos had been built into a large trade
city.
Knossos had a
large sea trade
empire.

34. • Minoan ships traded with Ancient
• Egypt and southern Greece.

35. • The Minoans were not loved by the early
mainland Greeks.

36. • The rich people of Athens had to send 10
children every year to live at King Minus
palace.

38. • Theseus & The Minotaur

39. • Perhaps they were hostages to ensure
trade relationships with the Minoans.

40. Minoan Trade
“Bireme” ship
Coast of Crete

41. Minoan Women ran the temples and
religion.

42. Minoan Culture - Religion
Minoan Priest
Minoan Snake
Goddess

43. Bull Cult

44. Bull Jumping Sports

46. Minoan Artistic “Motifs”

47. Palace of King Minos – North Entrance

48. Palace of King Minos - Interiors

49. Palace of King Minos – Throne Room

50. • A volcanic eruption on the Island of Thera had
devastating effects on the Minoan people on the
Island of Crete.

51. • After that, the early Greek city states of
Mycenae invaded Crete, taking its trade
routes.

52. Atlantis
• Could Crete and the Minoans be related to
the legend of Atlantis?????

53. • Have you ever heard of Atlantis?

54. • Have you ever heard of Atlantis?

55. • In Athens, Plato wrote about politics
around 330BC.

56. • In one of his stories,
he wrote about a
war that the
democratic
Athenians won
against the
kingdom of Atlantis,
an advanced island
Civilization,

57. • The Greek Gods sent a tidal wave to
destroy Atlantis.

58. • How is Minoan history related to the
legend of Atlantis?

59. Around 1450 BC, the Mycenaean Greeks invaded and
destroyed Crete.

61. The Mycenaean World Bronze Age

62. Sir Heinrich Schliemann
Heinrich Schliemann discovered
Mycenaean.

63. Mycenaean Writing System: “Linear B”

64. View of Mycenae
archaeological“tell”

65. Mycenae Citadel & Reconstuction

66. Approach to the Lion’s Gate

67. Lion’s Gate Entrance to Mycenae

68. • Mycenae had a loose alliance of independent
kings.

69. • Alliance a relationship in which people
agree to work together.

70. Petty monarchies made up Mycenaean civilization.
Each lived in a fortified palace center on hills and surrounded by
tall stone walls.

71. • Monarchy a country that is ruled by
a monarch (such as a king or queen)

75. • The Mycenaean people admired heroic
deeds in battle most.

76. Heroes fought individually,
Achilles, Hector, Paris…

77. • Homer recorded their most famous military
adventures.

79. Homer’s Great Epics

80. The Trojan War 1280-1250 BCE
According to Homer, the kings of Mycenae led by King
Agamemnon made war for 10 years against King Priam of Troy.

81. • Scholars had dismissed Homer’s story as
fantasy until Schliemann’s discovery of
Troy in 1870.

82. • Today, many believe that Homer’s books
have a basis in fact.

83. Plan of the City of Troy

84. The Seven “Layers” of Ancient Troy

85. The Seven “Layers” of Ancient Troy
Homer’s
Troy
(VII)

86. Original Wall of the City of Troy

87. Wall of Troy Recreated

88. Dome of King Priam’s Treasury

89. King Priam’s Treasure

90. Sofie Schliemann
With King Priam’s Jewelry

91. The Trojan War 1280-1250 BCE
According to Homer, the Mycenans led by King Agamemnon
sacked the city of Troy after a 10 year war.

92. The Trojan War 1280-1250 BCE
The war began when a Trojan Prince fell in love with the Queen
Helen of Sparta (Helen of Troy).

93. • The King of Sparta Menelaus asked his
brother King Agamemnon to declare war
against the Trojans and Prince Paris.

94. Paris France the city of love

95. The Trojan War 1280-1250 BCE
After a 10 year siege of Troy, King Agamemnon sacked the city
by tricking the Trojans into thinking the Greeks had left.

96. Mask of Agammemnon

97. Decline of Mycenae
• By 1200 BCE, Mycenaean had serious troubles.

98. Decline of Mycenae
• By 1200 BCE, Mycenaean had serious troubles.

99. Decline of Mycenae
• By 1200 BCE, a series of earthquakes shook the
area.

100. Decline of Mycenae
• The constantly fought and weakened each others
kingdoms.

101. Decline of Mycenae
• Then, Greek-speaking invaders with iron weapons
moved in from the north.

102. • These iron age cultures destroyed and
dominated the old bronze age cultures of
Mycenae and Minoa.

103. • Persian Empire
• Mycenae
• Crete
• Knossos
• Troy
• Thera
• Byblos
• Tyre
• Carthage
• Aegean, Adriatic, Mediterranean Seas
• Thebes
• Memphis
• Jerusalem
• Babylon
• Nile, Tigris, Euphrates Rivers

104. Home Work Book
• Page 113
• 1-5 and 7 full sentences
• Bonus 8 or 9

105. • In the twelfth century BCE, the Indo European Greek-
speaking invaded Mycenae.
• The Phoenicians set up colonies.
• The Etruscans set up a Kingdom in Italy, they ruled and
civilized the Latin and Roman tribes.

106. Greek Civilization
Dark Ages

108. • The European tradition really starts with
the Greeks.
• European politics, art, thinking, even
singing are all connected to the Greeks.
• The Greeks did not abandon themselves to
luck, fate or Gods.
• Instead they asked questions and came up
with answers rationally .

109. • Plato wrote “philosophy is the
child of wonder, and it is the gift
of the Greeks”.
• Their curiosity paid off in
insecurity and instability, but also
in greatness.

110. World of Hellas
• Hellenes, part of the world of Hellas.
• Not a nation or people, but a cultural
community.
• Homer thought that culture to Hellen and
fighting together in the Trojan War.

111. • As we will see unified Greek culture has
more to do with the Persian Wars, than the
Trojan War.

112. Greek (Hellas) practicality
• No matter where they lived, Greeks stole
anything useful and improve it.

113. Greek (Hellas) practicality
• They did not invent pottery, but the
improved it.
• Artists signed their pieces.

116. Hellas practicality
• They improve Egyptian architecture.

117. Hellas practicality
• They made sculpture idealistic and more
realistic, and invent the nude.

118. Hellas practicality
• They add vowels to the Phoenician
Alphabet, making the easiest alphabet.

119. • Reading was for everyone, unlike in Egypt or
Mesopotamia where only a few could read.
• Even merchants, common soldiers, farmers
could read and write in Greek city states.

120. • An easy alphabet causes growth of
literacy.
• Knowledge no longer died with a teacher.
• Knowledge was recorded, learned by the
next generation.
• It could be added to and built on.

121. Homer, the Blind Poet
Some historians argue
he is one person,
others he did not exist,
others that the poems
were a collection of
many different writers.

122. Homer
The Iliad describes life in
the dark ages.
It describes a society of warriors and
petty chiefs greedy for honors and
riches.
Ruthless, but with a code of
behavior heroism, nobility, eventually
chivalry.

123. • These masterpieces gave the Greeks an ideal
past of heroes.
• Greeks used them as basic educational texts
for generations of Greek males.

124. • Homer taught the value of “arete” courage
and honor.
• They taught students to be proud of their
Greek heritage and their heroic ancestors.

125. Olympic Games
• By 776 BCE, the Greeks ritualize heroism in
great competitive games, the most famous at
Olympia to honor Zeus.

127. Olympic Games
• Mythical founders run from Hercules, to Zeus.

128. • A Greek city states had a truce during the
Olympic games, which ran 4 days.

129. • Truce an agreement between enemies or
opponents to stop fighting or arguing for a
certain time.

130. • The ancient Olympics included running, long
jump, shot put, javelin,

131. • The ancient Olympics included running, long
jump, shot put, javelin,

132. • The ancient Olympics included running, long
jump, shot put, javelin,

133. • The ancient Olympics included boxing, and
wrestling,

134. • the most popular event the Chariot races. Ben Hur -
The Chariot race2.flv

135. • They named the games argon, from which “agony” comes
from.

136. • The honor you competed for was so high that neither
agony or even life were too high a price to pay for winning.

137. • Realistic Athletes wanted to win big prizes.
• Winners pay no taxes, often received a free
house, special theater seats, and eat free at
restaurants for life!

138. • Later, the athlete’s image was cleaned up by
fans who wanted sacrifice, not money
ambition.

140. • Zeus’s games were for men only. Married
women could not go.

141. • The only woman to attend the games was the
priestess of Demeter.

142. • A law stipulated that every other female
spectator had to be thrown off a high cliff.

143. • However women had their own games the
Heraia in honor of Hera.

147. • The Ancient Olympics ended in 393 CE,
when the Christian Roman emperor
Theodosius I stopped the Games.
•

148. • The first modern Olympic Games opened in
April 1896 in Athens, mostly due to Pierre de
Coubertin.

150. Greek culture gods and
goddesses

151. • By the 5th Century BCE, Olympia had been
built up magnificently.

152. • The Athenian artist Phidias made the Temple
of Zeus into one of the “7 wonders of the
Ancient World”.

153. • Greeks honored Gods with palaces, but only the
Gods would be worshiped, not kings or pharaohs.
• Unlike Persia, the Greeks worshiped no man as
God, or a God’s agent, only the Gods!

154. • Now for the first time, “Man(kind)
is the measure of all things” as
Protagoras said in the 5th
Century.

155. Greek Mythology
• Uranus (the god of the sky) and Gaia (earth
goddess) had six sets of twins called the Titans.

156. Atlas

157. Oceanus

158. Rhea

159. Thea mother of the Sun

161. Greek Mythology
• Crones, their youngest ( god of Time) took
control and kills Uranus.

162. • Aphrodite (goddess of love) came from the
sea as Uranus fell into it.

163. Greek Mythology
• Cronus had three sons (Zeus, Poseidon,
Hades). He also had three daughters (Hestia,
Demeter and Hera).

164. Titans vs Olympians
• Crones ate his children, but his wife Rhea
fed him a stone instead of Zeus.

165. 12 Olympians
• Zeus grew up in a hidden cave and
learned from the goddesses of knowledge
the Muses.

166. 12 Olympians
• When he grew up, Zeus and his brothers
fought a war against Cronus and the Titans.

167. 12 Olympians
• Zeus fought a war against Cronus and the
Titans.

168. 12 Olympians
• Zeus became god of heaven and earth.

169. Mt Olympus

170. • He punished the Titans…..Atlas holds up
the world.

171. • Prometheus chained to a cliff..

172. Cronus to live a whole life in
one year then be reborn.

173. Cronus to live a whole life in
one year then be reborn.

175. 12 Olympians
• His brother Poseidon became god of the
Sea.

176. 12 Olympians
• Their brother Hades became god of the
underworld,

177. 12 Olympians
• The afterlife a place of shadows and boredom,
which all spirits went to no matter good or bad.

178. 12 Olympians
• Hera Queen of the
gods and the goddess
of marriage and
family. She frequently
tried to get revenge
on Zeus' lovers and
their children.

179. 12 Olympians
• Demeter goddess of
fertility, agriculture,
nature, and the seasons.
Her Latin name, Ceres,
gives us the word
”cereal".

180. 12 Olympians
• Athena
• Virgin goddess of wisdom,
handicrafts, defense and
strategic warfare. Daughter
of Zeus and Oceanid Metis.
She rose from her father's
head fully grown and in full
battle armor after he
swallowed her mother.

181. 12 Olympians
• Dionysus
• God of wine, celebrations
and ecstasy. Patron god of
theater. Son of Zeus and
the Theban princess
Semele, youngest
Olympian.

182. 12 Olympians
• Apollo
• God of light,
knowledge,
music, poetry,
prophecy and
archery. Twin
brother of
Artemis.

183. Oracle of Apollo at Delphi
• An Oracle is a temple
where the Gods speak to
humans..
• A Priestess of Apollo would
answer your questions
about the future.

184. Oracle of Apollo at Delphi
• The most famous oracle of
the ancient world.
• Predications were difficult to
interpret.
• The Oracle told Crosses if
he went to war with Cyrus
“a great kingdom would be
lost.”

185. 12 Olympians
• Artemis
• Virgin goddess of the hunt,
purity, archery, the moon,
and all animals, twin sister
of Apollo.

186. 12 Olympians
• Ares
• God of war, violence and
bloodshed. Son of Zeus
and Hera, all the other
gods (except Aphrodite)
despised him.

187. 12 Olympians
• Hephaestus
• Master blacksmith
and craftsman of the
gods; god of fire and
the forge. Married to
Aphrodite.

188. 12 Olympians
• Hermes
• Messenger of the gods; god
of commerce and thieves.
Son of Zeus and the nymph
Maia. The second-youngest
Olympian.

189. • Gods and Goddess were supernatural and
superhuman, but had human emotions
and biology, a revolution in religion.

190. • Olympians had emotions such as love, jealousy
and anger. Humans’ lives fascinated them.

191. • Zeus and the other
Olympians had love
affairs with humans.
• Leda mother of Helen of
Troy.

192. • Zeus’ favorite Ganymede lived with him on
Mount Olympus, much to Hera’s
annoyance.

193. Heroes and Demi gods
• Hercules, Jason, Medusa and Peruses
were all half human half god, and many
many more.

195. • Only the Gods would be worshiped, not
kings or pharaohs or any human!
• Unlike Persia, the Greeks worshiped no
man as God, only the Gods!

196. • Gods had to be honored with palaces.

197. • However, when sacrificing animals, the gods
received animal fat and bones, the people got
the good meat.

198. Next time Greek Polis
pp115-120
• END

199. • Mycenae
• Troy
• Olympia
• Carthage
• Byzantium
• Rome
• Aegean, Adriatic, Med Seas
• Alp Pyrenees Mts
• Athens
• Sparta
• Syracuse
• Thebes
• Alexandria
• Jerusalem
• Ionia
• Attica
• Peloponnese
• Sicily
• Po Danube Tiber, Po, Rhone rivers