Ancient Greece: From Prehistoric To Hellenistic Times

Ancient Greece: From Prehistoric to Hellenistic Times

This book provides an overview of ancient Greece, starting “with Greece’s place in the prehistory of Europe and ending with the period” after the death of Alexander the Great (BOOK PG ix). Each topic mentioned in this book complement the emphasis of Ancient Greece, providing more in-depth and expanded sections. In 221 pages, Thomas Martin explains the extensive rule and power that Ancient Greece earned and maintained.

Book Overview Mycenaeans derived from the Indo-European people and, by evidence, are the first people to speak Greek. The Indo-European people migrated to Europe, India, Persia and eventually into Greece. The Mycenaeans flourished from 1600 to 1100 B.C.E., but entered the

With “local conflicts, economic disruptions, and movements of people of the period,” Greece began to see a decline in population and food production making it difficult to maintain a civilization (BOOKPG36). During this period, the palace scribes were among the few individuals who had mastered the writing known as Linear B Script (BOOKPG37). With the loss of a central authority, there were no records coming in and the palace scribes had no reason or need to write (BOOKPG37). Therefore, the knowledge and eligibility to write declined. Luckily, with the oral transmission of the traditions, the Greek culture was about to survive during the difficult times. Beginning in 1100 B.C.E., Greece would not see a change in their grueling times until 900 B.C.E. Archaeological evidence shows that during that time a small portion of the population “had become wealthy enough to have valuable objects buried with their bodies” (BOOKPG39-40). Furthermore, it is visible that the wealth of society eventually spread throughout Greece. Along with these Greece transferred from Bronze to Iron and also invented and adopted new social values, religions, myths, sports and an alphabet. And to help generalize this period was a blind poet by the name of Homer. Homer composed two epic poems known as the Iliad and the Odyssey, which underlies the social values of the Dark Age. These poems not only

It was approximately 750 B.C.E. when the Greeks would fully develop “the most widespread and influence of their new political forms, the city-state (polis)” (BOOKPG51). This was known as the Archaic Age, meaning the “Old-Fashioned Age,” where scholars of art produced artwork that was more old-fashion compared to the naturalistic art of the following period (BOOKPG51). Aside from the artwork, Greece had begun to see developments in their social and political organization. The central institution in Greek life was known as the polis, translated to “city-state.” The city was the central focus where the citizens could assemble for political, social, and religious activities. Only men could discuss and conclude on political debates; however, women were involved socially, legally and religiously. They believed that a particular god was the protector and patron over the polis; for example, Athena was the protector over Athens. Another common form of political organization in Greece was ethnos, “a flexible form of association over a broad of territory” (BOOKPG53). However, some Greeks began to emigrate from the mainland across the Aegean Sea and even further, establishing colonies in areas that are know today as France, Spain, Sicily and Italy (BOOKPG55). This turned out to help the Greek civilization because the individuals that left the mainland and colonized were able to reach new