GEOMETRIC PERIOD (1100-750 BC)

NAME & SOURCES

Geometric Age ( Geometric decorative forms on the vases)

Also known as:o Homeric Age ( Homeric

epic poems)o Dark Age or Greek

Medieval Age ( At first limited knowledge & so thought as a period of cultural decline)

Historical sources: o Homero Hesiodo Thucydideso Archaeological finds

MOVEMENT OF POPULATION

12th c. BC Decline of the political & social

authority of the Mycenaean centers Thinning population Plunders of the “Nations of the Sea” Search for better living conditions of

mountain tribes in the lower levels

Movement of population (11th - 9th c. BC)

First movements (beginning of the 11th c. BC) o Thessalians (Thesprotia in Epirus Thessaly) o Boeotians ( Southern part of Central Greece)o Dorians (North-Western mountains Thessaly & finally

Central Greece & Peloponnese)

THE FIRST GREEK COLONIZATION

Middle of the 11th c. – 9th c. BC

Aeolians: Thessaly Lesvos, Tenedos & the opposite coasts

of Minor Asia Ionians: South-Eastern

Peloponnese, Attica, Euboea

Cyclades, Samos, Chios & the opposite coasts of Minor Asia (Panionion in Mycale)

Dorians: Laconia, Epidaurus, Troezen Melos, Thira, Crete Rhodes, Kos & the opposite coasts of Minor Asia (Doric Exapolis in Triopion of Knidos)

AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY & “OIKOS” Closed agricultural economy Personal property, consisting of land &

breeding animals (especially cattle) Development of marine trade, by those who

weren’t land owners (9th c. BC) – First colonies &commercial agencies in the Tyrrhenian Sea by the Euboeans Depicted marine scenes & marine knowledge (Homer)

“oikos” (= house): The basic economical & social unit, consisting of the members of a family (even of 3 generations) & its financial dependents (e.g. workers, slaves, etc.)

Self-sufficiency of “oikos” Inner production & consumption of goods

AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY & “OIKOS”

Limited exchanging trade, exchanging of presents, plunders & piracy Further goods (not locally produced)

Value measured in cattle, animal skins, metals OR slaves

Division of labor Distinction between the sexes

Diet based on meat, bread & wine (Homer)

Beginning of poultry farming Use of horse only in war &

hunting by the nobles

SOCIAL & POLITICAL STRATIFICATION Trojan War: The last significant war of the Mycenaeans

Attempt of the nobles to abstract the power from the kings (Homer: Thersitis, murder of Agamemnon, Penelope ‘s suitors)

Decline of the Mycenaean kingdoms ( Lack of monumental buildings)

Social groups:o “Oikoi” with many powerful members & large landowning

social group of the nobles (“aristoi” – the best)o Mass of people not related by blood to “oikos” (“plithos” -

crowd)o Specialized craftsmen, financially attached to “oikos”

(“dimiourgoi” - creators)

SOCIAL & POLITICAL STRATIFICATION

Tribal state Tribal hereditary kingdom, where

the king was elected & nominated by the Assembly of all the warriors (“Agora”), also responsible for the most significant decisions

Administration by the king, who was also the military, religious & judicial authority, with the help of the Assembly of the Elders

Model of “great men”, who are brave in the battlefield, generous in their feasts & gifts & skilful speakers & negotiators – Always members of the noble social group

SOCIAL & POLITICAL STRATIFICATION Spoils as the basic aim of plunders –

Special honorary share for the king & the nobles, as a prize for their bravery (Homer)

Exchange of gifts of equal value among the nobles, as a compensation for an insult, a reward for a service OR a courtesy for a visitor (Homer)

Common law, based on religious & social rules

Legal procedures, by which the nobles solved issues of property & duty

Punishment of homicide: family vendetta OR exile of the murderer OR compensation in gold or other valuable material

RELIGION

Worship centers in the settlements OR on their limits OR sometimes far away from them (e.g. on the mountains)

Foundation of the first sanctuaries, which became national worship centers

Preservation of the local gods – Stabilization of the twelve Olympian gods & goddesses & minor deities

Worship of some heroes next to their graves

RELIGION Myths about the

creation of the world, the physical phenomena, the aspects of human life, etc

Complicated system of religious ethical values – Deification of the human virtues & weaknesses

Ritual ceremonies with memorial, appealing, preventing, or purifying character - Increase of the offerings

RELIGION Cremation of the dead on

a pyre set up at a spot different from that of the tomb Ashes and bones placed in a clay pot,

which was buried in a simple pit, with other clay & metal offerings - Necked amphorae and kraters for men, and stamnoi for women

Inhumation after 800 BC & decrease of precious offerings

Oversized vases as grave markers in Dipylon cemetery

ARCHITECTURE & METALLURGY

Apsidal & then rectangularhouses with walls of unfired mud brick, set upon rough-stone bases, and two-sloped roof, thatched on a wooden frame

Settlements with houses built around the bigger house of the king without any specific plan, at the beginning Plan with an open square for gatherings

Parallel use of iron Manufacturing metal objects either

by smelting molten alloy to a mould or hammering

Bronze figurines, helmets with cheek guards, rod tripods & three-legged lebets

POTTERY

Use of rapid potter's wheel ( Better balance & shape)

Concentric circles made with a compass – Use of multiple brush

Return of pictorial decoration but under a strict stylization and abstraction - Narrative scenes, especially on big vases (e.g. on burial vases)

Geometric decoration with meanders, curves & zigzags or animals (especially horses)

SCRIPT & LITERATURE

Creation & use of the Greek Alphabetical Script (end ofthe 9th – beginning of the 8th c. BC) Phoenician alphabet, after vocal assimilation & adding of vowels

Homeric epic poems, written in dactylic hexameter & based on former heroic narrative songs of the Mycenaean Age, which were sung in public or personal noble fests (“aoedoi” – “rapsodoi”)

“Homeric” hymns (33), writtenby different poets in dactylic hexameter

HOMERIC EPIC POEMS

1st recording in the middle of the 6th c. BC (Peisistratus) Language: Mixture of Ionian & Aeolian lingual forms Depicting the life of the heroes of the Mycenaean Age –

Mixed elements of the Homeric Age “Iliad” ( 16.000 verses): The story of the conflict between

Achilles & Agamemnon during the War of Troja Mostly war scenes – Projection of the physical power, the fighting ability & the virtue of bravery – More sonorous language

“Odyssey” (12.000 verses): The story of Ulysses, who was trying to return to Ithaca against Poseidon’s will New values such as resignation, endurance, family peace, respect between men and women, conjugal love, love of the child for his father, beauty of nature & more mature acceptance of human fate – More complicated & unexpected action

ETHNIC CONSCIOUSNESS Signs of Greek ethnic

consciousness:o Greek alphabeto Rapid spread of the epic

poetry Cultivation of a common Greek origin from the same heroic ancestors & projection of the Homeric ethic rules for human life

o Cult of specific common gods

o Olympic Games as a meeting chance for the whole Greek population in the end of the Geometric Age