Greek History: The Dark Ages

Over sixty percent of the English words have originated from the Greek language. Many of these words came into the English language through the poetry and theater plays done in ancient Greece. The Greek plays have been shaped by historical events and their tragic past and put into one story. The ancient Greek theater demonstrated historical events and poems in the form of plays like in The Cyclops and performed them for the audience’s entertainment and awareness.

Greek history has shown many tragic events over the course of time. One of the most tragic and important time periods in Greek History was known as the Dark Ages. During the Dark Ages the tribe of Mycenaeans took over Greece (“Origins”). Under the rule of the Mycenaeans almost all the Greek’s written language was lost along with other cultural values (“Archaic”). Over the course of the Mycenaeans rule many wars were fought and many people fled Greece to get away from the tragedies occurring (“Origins”). Several poets and writers during the Dark Ages began writing about the tragic events and wars going on (“Origins”). These poems and writings were what helped bring back the Greek culture back in during the Archaic Period. When the Mycenaeans were overthrown the ancient Greek civilizations regained power and were able to bring back Greece's culture and enhance it to make it better than before (“Origins”). The Dark Ages brought many tragedies but at the end it strengthened Greek history, religion, and mythology (“Archaic”).

After the Mycenaeans left many Greek citizens began living in tribes instead of cities (“Archaic”). Through these small tribes they began forming city-states known as “polis” (“Archaic”). City-states allowed them to govern themselves instead of a “basil...

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...dysseus realized that this was the chance for them to escape (Ferguson 525). The remaining men and Odysseus each hung under a sheep and escaped from the cave (Ferguson 525). After this Odysseus continues his journey back home from the Trojan War.

Greek history, culture, and theater have come a long way and have added to our culture as well. Some of our English language words have originated from the greek language. For example, the English word, politics came from the Greek word, polis, which meant city-state. Along with Greek words added to our English language, Greek arts have also contributed to our art culture. In Greek plays a chorus was present, who sang and performed during plays. Today, a chorus is a group of people that sing and perform together. Overall, Greek theater has originated from a very strong history and has contributed to many things even today.