Ancient Greece Chapter 9 Section One-The Minoans Section Two- The Mycenaens

1. Ancient GreeceChapter 9Section One-The MinoansSection Two- The Mycenaens

2. The Aegean Region

3. Ancient Greece-Section 1, The Minoans A. Location - located on the Balkan Peninsula - surrounded by the Aegean Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and the Ionian Sea B. Minoans -settled the island of Crete around 2800 B.C. • Way of Life: -grew wheat, barley, grapes, and olives - used wood and metals to build ships for trade - changed from farming to building strong and swift ships to defeat pirates

4. 2. The People: Small, bronzed colored people This civilization was named after legendary King Minos, whose father was said to be Zeus • Men: raised livestock, farmed, fished, and served in the military • Women: ran household, attended sporting events, and hunted in chariots • loved sports: two of their favorites were bull leaping and boxing • created one of the first arenas

5. 3. Cities and Palaces • a palace was at the center of the city and was the center of the government • Depended on the sea and navy to protect them instead of walls • largest city on Crete was Knossos: 1/5th of the city -painted frescoes, water colored paintings on damp plaster, along the walls of the palace -all of the rooms and entrances formed a labyrinth, a network of paths through which it is difficult to find one’s way • needed to enter the house through the roof (used a ladder to exit to street level. - parchment, or thin animal skin, was tinted and used on doors and windows

6. The Minoans The Minoan king lived in a maze of a palace with 1500 rooms! The walls were painted with pictures of people jumping over bulls! Even poor people had four-room stone houses with running water and bathrooms that flushed!

7. Bull Leaping

8. Art-Fresnos

9. 4. Religion and Rulers • Rulers were Priest-Kings • Created laws according to will of the gods • Many gods; main god was The Great Goddess, Mother Earth • Worshipped gods by building shrines, or sacred places of worship,and keeping certain things sacred such as the lily • Shrines were built in palaces, homes, caves, and hilltops. - Believed hills lead to heaven, caves led to the underworld - Double axe was sacred: stood for power of Mother Earth and authority of the King - Dove was sacred because it flew to heavens

10. 5. Fall of Minoans • No one knows why, but about 1400 B.C. control of the sea and Crete passed to the Mycenaeans. • Legend: When Theseus (a Greek) killed the Minotaur (body of man, head of bull), this also killed the power of the Minoans • Minoan trade dominated eastern Mediterranean until about 1380 BC • Something happened, maybe a volcanic eruption or other natural disaster • Culture was further weakened by Mycenaean attacks and influences between 1400 and 1100 BC

11. More likely Scenario Natural disasters hit Crete! • Earthquake (around 1700 BC) • Volcanic eruption (around 1500 BC) • Tidal waves (following volcanic eruption) • The Minoans disappear and are replaced by the more aggressive Mycenaeans

12. Section Two: Mycenaeans • Came from southern Russia- settled in southern Greece around 2000 B.C. • Kings built fortress-palaces on hilltops. • Land divided into estates that were farmed by slaves or tenants, or people who live on and work another’s land. • Most profitable crop was olives • During war, villages outside the palace took shelter in the palace • Palace’s chief feature was the megaron, a square room with a fireplace in its center where the king held meetings or entertained. • Landowners gave the king horses, chariots, weapons, animals and food in exchange for protection.

13. Mycenae

14. Lions Gate • Ruins of Mycenaean palaces reveal them to be structures with massive double walls and narrow escape passages. • Most well know Mycenaean monument is the massive Lion Gate constructed from four massive hewn stones (ashlars) • Bronze lion’s heads now gone, maybe stolen. Design likely to remind citizens who ruled and to intimidate visitors.

15. Traders and Pirates • Mycenaeans imitated Minoan traders from Crete • Adopted Minoan gold and metal work and adapted their script to their own language • Copied Minoan art and fashions • Built ships to trade • Developed olive oil presses and used oil for fuel in lamps, cooking, and to rub on bodies • Sold oil in clay jars and perfumed oil in painted vases • Became rich and expanded into other lands • Replaced Minoans as the main power in the Aegean Region

16. The Trojan War • Mycenaeans were warriors; their most famous war was the Trojan War. Popular story of a large wooden horse left for the Trojans • War was actually caused by Troy because it controlled major trading routes and taxed ships • Myth: War was caused by the kidnapping of Helen from the Mycenaean king by the son of the king of Troy • Blind Greek poet named Homer wrote the Iliad and Odyssey about the war based on oral accounts from it • The Mycenaeans won the Trojan War

17. Decline of the Mycenae “A Dark Age” • After the Trojan War; they fought many civil wars (wars between opposing groups of citizens) • Dorians invaded and sent the much weakened Mycenaeans onto islands later named Ionia. • Region went into a “Dark Age” or a period of wars and declining trade and culture • People forgot how to write, paint, and produce the trade items that once made them wealthy. • In time, the Mycenaeans started new independent communities and called themselves Hellenes, or Greeks.

18. Dark Ages Continued:1100—800 BC • After collapse of Mycenaean civilization, a 300 year period called Dark Ages • Life becomes more agrarian • Transitional time—changes happening behind the scenes • Power shifting from kings to families • Bronze gives way to iron • Mycenaeans flee to Asia Minor. Early Greeks establish life around Aegean and Mediterranean Seas