The Minoans and Mycenaeans
A few interesting links:
Minoan
and
Mycenaean art and architecture
Linear B and Other
Ancient
Scripts
Heinrich
Schliemann
Basic overview/time periods of Greek History
For convenience sake, we typically divide Greek history up
into
the following periods:
1. The Minoan period, very roughly 3000-1400
BC. The Minoans were not Greek speakers, but, for reasons
I will
explain later, we typically begin the study of Greek history by
talking
about the civilization the Minoans created on the Island of
Crete.
2. The Mycenaean period, roughly 1600-1100
BC. The Mycenaeans were Greek speakers and, apparently,
borrowed
much from the Minoans. The Trojan War heroes (Agammenon,
Odysseus, etc., if they were real figures, lived during the
Mycenaean
period.
3. The Dorian Invasion and Greek Dark Age, roughly
1100-800 BC. This is a period in which a new wave of Greek
speaking people sweeps into the Peloponnesian peninsula and
creates a
major disturbance. Literacy disappears and there are few
archaeological items of any interest from this period: a dark
age in
material culture and a dark age in terms of our knowledge.
4. Rise of City-States (800-500). Sparta and Athens
in
particular establish their distinctive ways of life and lay the
foundations of their future greatness/importance. Thebes
and
Corinth arise during this period as well, as do the city-states
of
Ionia (the west coast of present-day Turkey) and on Aegean
islands. Places like Miletus are the most culturally
advanced in
the Greek-speaking world.
5. The Persian War (490-479). The Greeks knock
out
the heavyweight champions of the world, a victory that ushers in
the
achievements of "Golden Age" Greece.
6. Athenian hegemony (479-404) and the Peloponnesian
War
(431-404). The Golden Age of Athens and the great tragedy
of
Athenian democracy.
7. Spartan hegemony (c. 404-371). Divide
and
rule time: the victory of the Persian "archers."
8. Theban hegemony (c. 371-362 ). Pelopidas,
Epamonandas,
and the Sacred Band turn a loser into a champion.
9. Macedonian hegemony (c. 338-197). Philip and Alexander
change
the Greek world--and a lot else besides.
10. The Hellenistic Age (c. 338-31 BC). Greek
political
greatness fades, but Greek culture lives on.
Minoan and Mycenaean history: problems with sources
As I said (or should have said) last time, the Greeks
are
probably the most important of all ancient peoples in terms of
their
impact on subsequent civilization. They achieved
incredible
things in poetry, philosophy, art, history, political science,
medicine, biology, theater, and mathematics, producing works
that, in
many cases, are unsurpassed in the history of the history of the
world.
The most important and impressive of Greek achirvements come
either from the 5th century "Golden Age" or from the later
Hellenistic
period, but if one wants to understand how it is that the Greeks
achieved so much, it's best to go back to the period of the
Minoans and
Mycenaeans. Some historians lump these two periods
together along
with some broader trends and talk about Aegean culture--and
that's
certainly a useful way of approaching this material--thought I
am going
to follow the more usual designations.
Unfortunately, we don't know nearly as much about the
Minoans
and Mycenaeans as we would like. Still, the work of people
like
Heinrich Schliemann, Sir Arthur Evans, and Michael Ventris has
given
us enough information to suggest that these peoples helped lay
the
foundations of later Greek
greatness.
Schliemann, Evans and Ventris: evidence for great
pre-classical
European
civilization
Not so very long ago (in the mid-19th century), no historian
would have been able to say much with confidence about the
Minoans and
Mycenaeans . Greek history started with the Dorians--and
there
wasn't much to say about that period either. History
depends on
written records, and this was something the 19th century
historians
didn't have for anything pre-dating the 6th century BC.
Plutarch,
a Greek writer from the 1st century AD, had better sources, but
even he
didn't have all that much to go on.
There was, of course one source that seemed to come from the
Dark Ages, and that pointed to an earlier Golden Age (the period
we now
call the Mycenaen period). That source: the poems of
Homer.
But 19th century scholars had no faith at all in Homer--or in
other
ancient writings either. The 19th century tended toward
skepticism about all ancient sources, and even stories that
(say)
Enlightenment scholars would have tended to believe, the 19th
century
dismissed as pure fantasy.
But one man turned things around: a German businessman named
Heinrich Schliemann. Here's an interesting summary:
Merchant digs more than gold
Heinrich Schliemann was a
bold
dreamer and a prolific liar. Despite those credentials, it
wasn't
politics that brought him to Gold Rush Sacramento in 1851.
Instead, it
was the death of his brother Ludwig, from typhus.
Schliemann, a German-born merchant
had
been living in St. Petersburg, Russia. He planned to make
sure his
brother was properly buried, claim what he believed to be a
sizable
estate, and get back to Europe.
What he found, however, was that his
brother had been buried without a tombstone, and his
brother's business
partner had made off with the loot. So Schliemann paid $50
for a marble
headstone, and set himself up in business as a gold broker.
In addition
to making up outrageous stories in his diary, Schliemann was
more than
a little paranoid.
Afraid of fire, his office was
located
in Sacramento's only brick-and-stone building, at Front and
J streets.
He wrote that he often slept on top of the gold, with
pistols across
his chest.
Despite two bouts of yellow fever,
Schliemann persevered, and in nine months he made more than
$400,000,
some of it legitimately. He returned to St. Petersburg in
1852, using
his Gold Rush fortune to make an even greater fortune in the
Crimean
War. And his money allowed Schliemann to indulge his real
passion in
archaeology -- and preserve himself a place in history.
In 1871, Schliemann, using Homer's
"Iliad"
as a guide, began digging in what is now Turkey, and found the
lost
city of Troy. A German merchant with a penchant for
prevarication
spurred the growth of modern archaeology and found the gold of
an
ancient era -- using the gold of California.
Now the story here calls Schliemann a
liar,
and, unfortunately, that seems to be true. His account of
his
discoveries isn't necessarily as straight-forward as it might
be. Schliemann said he had first determined to
excavate
Troy at the age of 8. Well, maybe. And his account
of
falling in love with Homer after hearing a drunk recite Homeric
poetry? Well maybe that's true too. Wikipedia has a
really good
(and fascinating) summary of the Schliemman's achievements--well
worth
your time. The guy is a character: letting his kids be
baptized, but dedicating them in his own way by reciting 100
lines of
Homeric verse over little Agamemnon and Andromache!
Schliemann's work at Troy did suggest a great civilization at
the time
Homer suggested--though, interestingly, he identified "Troy 2"
as the
layer of Homer's Troy when it was really from an even earlier
civilization. Schliemann's methods weren't as good as
those of
modern archeologists, and he ended up accidentally destroying
some of the
evidence of "Homeric" Troy.
After excavating Troy, Schliemann went to the Greek mainland and
excavated Tyrens and Mycenae--the city of Agamemnon. What
he
found there was further confirmation that the Homeric stories
contained
at least partly accurate memories of a a great Greek
civilization
pre-dating Golden Age Athens by nearly 1000 years.
Schliemann's
discoveries also pointed to an even earlier civilization.
He was
going to excavate Knossos on the island of Crete, but died
before he
got the chance. The actual excavation of Knosos was
carried out
by Sir Arthur Evans. One again, Wikipedia has a really
good (and
fascinating) summary of Evan's achievments.
Before
reading that article, I didn't know he had failed his
exams in
his Oxford University specialty (modern history) because he
spent all
his time on ancient and medieval history. Ah, priorities.
Anyway, Evans excavations at Knossos revealed an advanced
civilization
developing as early as 3000 BC and, by 2000 BC, creating some
rather
impressive things. Unfortunately, Evans wasn't able to
provide
the kind of evidence historians value the most: written
documents. Evans (c. 1900 AD) did discover documents, but
they
couldn't be
translated. There were three different scripts, a
pictographic
script that's sort of like Egyptian hieroglyphics, Linear A, a
script
that still can't be deciphered, and Linear B that Evans (and
many later
scholars) couldn't figure out.
The man who finally figures out Linear B was Michael
Ventris. It
turns out that, as a boy (age 14), Ventris went to an exhibit of
Minoan artifacts and just happened to meet Evans (then an old
man in his
80's) who told him that Linear B had yet to be deciphered.
Ventris went on to serve in World War II and then to earn
a
degree in architecture. But he was fascinated by the
riddle of
Linear B--and (finally) figured out how to solve the
puzzle. He
had at first thought that Linear B must have been related to the
(also
undeciphered) Etruscan language. But, eventually, he
figured out
that Linear B was a method for writing an archaic form of
Greek.
Sadly, not all that long after this great discovery, Ventris
died in an
automobile accident: possibly suicide by car. He was only
in his
30's. Might he have gone on to also decipher Linear
A?
Maybe: no one has read that particular riddle yet. And
Linear B
turned out not to be quite so helpful because it's (first of
all) a
late script and (second) the texts preserved are basically
business
records, not the laws, proverbs, stories, etc. that historians
really
want.
Also, Linear B seems to be the result of the decline of Minoan
civilization. Greek-speakers from the Mainland seem to
have taken
over rule of the non-Greek Minoans as the Minoans themselves had
gone
into a decline. What all this means is that, when it comes
to the
Minoan period, we are left mostly in a guesswork position.
We've
got archaeological artifacts, but interpretation of these
artifacts
is sometimes a matter of dispute.
General interpretation of Minoan
archaeology/potential problems
The typical textbook tells you that the Minoans were
advanced a
peaceful, well-organized,
prosperous,
literate, artistic people, well-disposed toward women, extensively
involved in trade, matriarchal in religion, and superb at
engineering.
The archaeological evidence can confirm some of this, but not
everything. Before the world was thoroughly explored, the
old
map-makers found themselves faced with the problem of terra
incognita--unknown lands. Do you just leave your map
blank?
Often enough, no. "Here be dragons," say the maps--or
equally
fantastic creatures.
Historians too have a tendency to fill in historical terra
incognita
with things they wish to find. Equality for women? A
society without warfare? Maybe just wishful
thinking.
Another problem is the ambiguity of some of the later
sources that might otherwise help. "Minos," for instance
appears
as a Cretan leader in several much later Greek tales.
Sometimes,
he's an exceptionally cruel leader as, for instance, in the
Daedalus
story and the Theseus legend. On the other hand, Minos is
depicted elsewhere as a wise leader: Plato suggests that he's one
of
those that judge the dead and decide an appropriate afterlife for
them,
and Homer calls Minos a confidant of Zeus!
So what are we left with? Advanced engineering and
building? We can be confident here. Roads 11 feet
wide.
Indoor plumbing of a kind not equaled again for many centuries in
Europe. Spacious buildings with 6-8 rooms. Palace grounds covering
five
acres? That suggests an advanced organizational structure,
as do
the business records themselves. Beautiful art?
Yes--again
we're on safe ground.
But what about the evidence that the Minoans were peaceful?
Minoan
art features nature scenes suggesting cooperation with
nature rather than conflict. We get bull leaping (with both
male
and
female athletes) rather than the killing of bulls. We
don't
have warfare reflected in the surviving artworks, and we don't
see lots in the way of preparation for fighting. But these
are a
sea-faring people, and their fighting may well have been done in
naval
engagements which have left no trace.
High status for women and the matriarchal religion? Well, we've
got
goddesses including one with an owl and snakes--typical symbols
later
of Athena. But Athena was the patron goddess of Athens, and
few
would argue that that status of women was particularly high there.
Worship of goddesses often goes hand in hand with temple
prostitution
and the degradation of women. I don't think that's the case
here,
but it's not safe to assume that beautiful goddess statuettes are
proof
of an egalitarian society.
Almost certainly we can conclude that the Minoans were dimly
remembered
for their achievements by later Greeks and that, in the Atlantis
legends, we have a memory of Minoan greatness. "Minos" most
probably wasn't a single individual but a title (like pharaoh)--no
wonder there's some ambiguity regarding "Minos" character.
Unfortunately, we don't really know how Minoan civilization came
to an
end. Some point to volcanic eruption and a following
earthquake
as a factor. Others suggest that the Greek-speakers
disrupted
things. Both were probably factors, but I would guess that,
also,
declining trade played a role. Did Hyksos rule of Egypt
(1750-1570) cut off important trade opportunities? Hard to
know.
But, despite all the terra incognita, it does seem
reasonable to assume
that memories of Minoan civilization much later did serve to
inspire
some of the great achievements of later Greece.
The Mycenaens
There are somewhat similar problems
when it
comes to the Mycenaeans/Achaeans. The Mycenaeans apparently
began moving in to the Greek mainland as early as 2000 BC, but
they
aren't very advanced until around 1600 BC. Apparently, these
Greek speakers came into contact with the more-advanced Minoans
and
adopted some Minoan traits for their own. Once again, we
don't
have the written records we would like. We've got
Linear B
business records once again, no laws, stories, proverbs, etc.
Excavating Mycenaean sites shows a culture similar in some ways to
Minoan culture, but, in one important way, substantially
different. We have shaft graves filled with weapons, and
walled
cities prepared for defense. Land warfare a much greater
feature
of Mycenaean society than Minoan society. The poems of
Homer, set in Mycenaean times, suggest a people for whom warfare
stood
at the heart of economic success. Hittite and Egyptian
records
tend to confirm the idea that the Mycenaeans were a warlike
people.
But he who lives by the sword dies by the sword. Around 1100
BC a
new wave of Greek speakers (the Dorians) swept into the
Peloponnesian
peninsula and displaced the Mycenaeans. Ancient writers suggested
that
the Athenians were a remnant of people who pre-dated the Dorians,
and
I'd guess that this is correct. Some Mycenaean types
probably
ended up in Athens. But, throughout Greece, the Dorian
invasion
disrupted greatly what had gone on before. The Dorians with
their
iron weapons were more advanced in military technology than the
Mycenaeans (who still depended on bronze). But, in every
other
way, the Dorians were less advanced, and during the next
centuries,
Greece goes through a dark age. Material culture
declines.
Literacy disappears. The Greeks achieve nothing of lasting
greatness. But out of the dark, come two things: the rise of
the
polis and the poems of Homer.
As I've mentioned earlier, 19th century scholars dismissed Homer's
stories as entirely without historical foundation.
Schliemann
showed that this view was wrong. Both the Iliad and the
Odyssey
have portions at least that reflect real conditions during the
Mycenaean period. Maybe the names of his heroes are
historical--and maybe even some of the character
descriptions.
The cities he indicates as important do often seem to those that
were
in fact important in the Mycenaean period. Yes, there's a
mixture
of material that reflects the dark age in which the poems actually
took
shape, but there's evidence for earlier conditions as well--and
we'll
talk about this some as we actually read the Iliad.