MINOANS MINOANS 2000-1400 BCE

LIVED ON THE ISLAND OF CRETE

VERY ADVANCED CULTURE

ENDED MYSTERIOUSLY

This civilization was both powerful, and This civilization was both powerful, and advanced. Their might allowed them to control advanced. Their might allowed them to control the Aegean Sea, keeping it free from criminals, the Aegean Sea, keeping it free from criminals, and pirates.and pirates. Evidence from archeological finds show that the Minoans curled their hair, wore gold jewelry and belts. Just as this society was growing and seeing great success, it suddenly disappeared.

Many archeologists believe it was destroyed by a giant tidal wave.

Others believe they were conquered by another group of people known as the Mycenaeans.

  

   

1600 – 1200 BCE, GREECEWARLIKE PEOPLE

•After 1500 B.C., Mycenaeans adopt Minoan sea trade and culture

FOUGHT THE TROJAN WARTROJAN WAR AGAINST TROY

•Once thought to be fictional, archaeological evidence has been found

In order to protect their people, the Mycenaeans built large fortresses astride the hills and mountain tops of their villages.

These fortresses offered a place of refuge during times of danger.

Another major Bronze Age civilization in the Aegean was Troy. It was located at the Hellespont, today called

Dardanelles, a narrow strait of water from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea. The Mycenaeans and the Trojans often battled for supremacy of the Aegean Sea.

Crete

AsiaMinor

Troy

Hellespont

Mycenea

Troy

Epics of Homer•Oral tradition grows, especially epics of Homer a blind storyteller•Epic—a narrative poem about heroic deeds•Homer’s epic the Iliad, about Trojan War, shows Greek heroic ideal

Depiction of funeral games in honor of Patroclus, influenced by Homer's Iliad (book 23).

The Trojan War: The MythAccording to Homer, the

Trojan War began when the Greek gods Peleus and Thetis forgot to invite Eris, the goddess of discord, to their wedding.

Eris came uninvited and played a trick at the wedding. She threw a golden apple on the banquet table and said that it belonged to the most beautiful goddess at the party.

The goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite all reached for the apple at the same time.

Zeus, the King of the Gods, decided that Paris, prince of Troy and most handsome human on earth, would decide which of the goddesses was most beautiful.

Discord – absence of agreement

The Trojan War: The Myth

Each goddess offered Paris a prize.

Hera promised power, Athena promised wealth, and Aphrodite promised the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen, wife of Spartan King Menelaus.

Paris chose to have Helen and left for Sparta.

While in Sparta, Paris was treated as a royal guest.

However, when Menelaus left Sparta to go to a funeral, Paris captured Helen and took her to Troy to be married.

This occurred around 1200 BCE.

Helen of Troy by Evelyn de Morgan 1898

Menelaus gathered more than a thousand ships under the command Agamemnon and set sail for Troy.

In total, 100,000 men from 28 city states throughout the Greek mainland joined Menelaus to attack Troy.

Achilles, the greatest warrior of the Trojan War, would defy Agamemnon and challenge his authority.

Achilles was known as the warrior of destiny.

Achilles was killed by Paris, the weakest warrior, with an arrow to the heel, his weakest point.

Achilles in Armor

Achilles Death

The Trojan War: The Myth

Arriving at Troy, Agamemnon sent Odysseus, known for his great speaking abilities, and Menelaus to ask King

Priam, Paris’ father, to return Helen. Priam refused. For nine years the Greeks and Trojans fought without either side gaining a victory. The wall surrounding Troy held

back the Greek army.

The Trojans, led by Hector

(brother of Paris), had

allies from city-states

throughout Asia Minor. Hector

was later killed by Achilles.

The Trojan War: The Myth

Hector’s body returned to Troy.

The Greek soldiers invaded Troy as the Trojan soldiers slept.

All males, including infants, were killed; all females taken as slaves, and all of Troy’s treasures taken as booty.

The city was completely demolished.

The Trojan War: The Myth

For thousands of years Troy was a legend. However, using clues from the Iliad, an amateur archaeologist named Heinrich Schliemann discovered the location of Troy at

Hisarlik, Turkey in 1871.

Troy: the archaeologist’s story

Ruins of ancient TroyHeinrich Schliemann

Troy, archeological ruins of two small walls.

In total, there were nine cities built at the location of Troy, each on top of the other.

The sixth city is the most grand and resembles the Troy in Homer’s Iliad, but it was destroyed by an earthquake, not by war, in 1250 BCE.

The seventh layer of the city appears to be the legendary Troy and has been dated to 1180 BCE.

Its towers and walls can still be seen in the ruins and there are arrowheads lying in the streets.

The Nine Cities of Troy

Trojan HorseIn Greek legend, a huge hollow wooden horse used by the attacking Greeks to gain entrance to the city of Troy, thus ending the Trojan War. Unable to capture the city after a siege of ten years, the Greeks resorted to stratagem.They sailed away and left the horse, filled with armed warriors on the shore. Sinon, a Greek spy, persuaded the Trojans to take the horse into the city,convincing them that to do so would mysteriously Troy invulnerable. That night, Sinon let out the armed Greek troops; killing the guards, they opened the gates to the Greeks and Troy was captured and burned.

By 1200 B.C.E. the Mycenaean fortresses, which had fallen into disrepair due to neglect and battle, were conquered by a new people from the North called Dorians, who spoke theGreek language.

Using iron weapons, they had little difficulty defeating the Mycenaeans.

DORIANS – 1200 – 800 BCEDORIANS – 1200 – 800 BCE

After conquering the region, the Dorians fell into a ‘Dark Age’. Poverty became widespread, and important skills such as reading and writing were lost. This dark age lasted for 300 – 400 years.

The Dark Ages 1200 –800 BCEThe Dark Ages 1200 –800 BCE

Dorians were uncivilized, lacking a written language.