History of Ancient Greece Institute for the Study of Western Civilization
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History of Ancient Greece Institute for the Study of Western Civilization Week 6: Homer October 21, 2018 Homer and Troy The Bronze Age Charioteers The Bronze Age Charioteers Origin and Diffusion of Indo-European Language The Bronze Metalurgy, 3000 BC Charioteers The Fall of Troy, 1184 BC The Bronze Age Collapse, The Bronze Age collapse is a transition in the Aegean Region, and the Eastern Mediterranean from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age that historians, such as M. Liverani, S. Richard, Robert Drews, Frank J. Yurco, Amos Nur, Leonard R. Palmer, and others, believe was violent, sudden and culturally disruptive. The palace economy of the Aegean Region and Anatolia which characterised the Late Bronze Age was replaced, after a hiatus, by the isolated village cultures of the Greek Dark Ages.In the first phase of this period, almost every city between Pylos and Gaza was violently destroyed, and often left unoccupied thereafter: examples include Hattusa, Mycenae, and Ugarit. Robert Drews describes the collapse as "the worst disaster in ancient history, even more calamitous than the collapse of the Western Roman Empire". A number of people have spoken of the cultural memories of the disaster as stories of a "lost golden age". Hesiod for example spoke of Ages of Gold, Silver and Bronze, separated from the modern harsh cruel world of the Age of Iron by the Age of Heroes. TROY Troy and its Geopolitical Importance Homer in Smyrna, 800 BC-750 BC THE ANCIENT GREEK RENAISSANCE 800 BC The Renaissance of the Eighth Century B.C. Developments in the eighth century B.C. enabled states to reemerge. The ports of Argos and Corinth, on the eastern shore of the Peloponnesus, grew very fast, trade with the Near East began to flourish, and increased domestic production enabled a new, wealthy elite to rise. Commercial activity centered on the acquisition of metals from the Near East for the manufacture of luxury goods. In this process, the Greeks came in contact with and adopted the alphabet of the Phoenicians, as well as other innovations that accelerated change in Greek civilization. Homer in Smyrna, 800 BC-750 BC Joachim Latacz Born April 4, 1934 (age 80), Katowice, Poland, Nationality , German, Fields Classical philology Institutions University of Basel A PROVISIONAL PORTRAIT: 1. Born into good home sometime around 770 BC, maybe aristocracy. 2. Homer is from upper class, the aristocracy. you can tell by what he knows about things, about possessions, about beautiful things, he is someone who knows and possesses beautiful things. (note the Singer in the poems is Upper Class-ACHILLES in Book IX) 3. Born in city of Ionian coast of Asia Minor (Smyrna?) flourishing rich city close to Phoenicia trade with Egypt (paper) Greek Language 4. Writing attested in Smyrna by early 8th Century Paper(papyrus) arriving in Ionia from nearby Phoenicia by 9thC 5. Homer heard the old heroic songs (Mycenae, Troy). Smyrna close to Troy Continuity between "Old Culture" and the new reviving 8th Century Greek culture. 6. Learned to read and write as youth. Aristocracy 7. Traveled far and wide in the Greek world due to his family connections. Homer knows geography very well. Size of Greek world small, easily traveled, distance from Troy in north to Crete in south only over 300 miles. 8. In 730, age 40 Homer became famous. fame and success of Iliad immediate and Homer's name never detached from the work. PITHEKOUSSI CUP 750 BC Homer wrote his poems himself. (Most likely had a secretary/scribe as would all aristocracy) 9. Exact parts of the authentic-original pre-Homeric sections cant be known with certainty but some parts are recognizable as additions by their extraneous nature. (Example: Bk X, Dolon's book) 10. Homer gives fresh expression to the new aristocratic confidence and self-consciousness of Ionia by a timely revival of the ancient songs celebrating the Trojan war. 11. Authorship of Odyssey is a completely other issue. It is something we cannot prove. But which I believe along with Marsh McCall (SU) is the case. Homer wrote both books separated by some time and events. By his death sometime around 700 BC the fame of his creations had become so great as to be inextricably linked to his name and to his two creations, his two poems, and never to be forgotten. What are the chances that someone ELSE really wrote them but whose name is lost while Homer's preserved? The so-called Cup of Nestor from Pithekoussai is a clay drinking cup that was found by Giorgio Buchner in 1954 at excavations in a grave in the ancient Greek site of Pithekoussai on the island of Ischia in Italy. Pithekoussai was one of the earliest Greek colonies in the West. The cup is dated to the Geometric Period (c.750-700 BC) and is believed to have been originally manufactured in Rhodes. It is now kept in the Villa Arbusto museum in the village of Lacco Ameno, Ischia, Italy. The Pithekoussai Cup from Ischia, c. 750 BC One of the earliest known examples of Greek alphabet “Nestor’s cup I am, good to drink from. Whoever drinks this cup empty, straightaway the desire of beautiful-crowned Aphrodite will seize.” 750 BC one of earliest known examples of Greek alphabet just after Greeks adopt Phoenician phonic alphabetic writing spelling is archaic goes from right to left Nestor’s Cup, 750 BC The inscription has been seen as a reference to the Iliad. Barry B. Powell calls it "Europe’s first literary allusion.” a milestone in the evolution of the Western Mind Here is the first work of literature created with writing. Thus now possible to allude to this work well known and quotable…… By the time of Virgil, a whole work of literature can be created as one giant allusion (to Homer) The Pithekoussai Cup from Ischia, c. 750 BC DACTYLIC HEXAMETER (EPIC METER) six mesures per line in each a dactyl… 1 stress 2 unstressed Book I, The Rage of Achilles Day one to day twenty-one The quarrel of Achilles and Agamemnon(1-53). Chryses appeals to Agamemnon(12-32). Chryses appeals to Apollo (33-43). Apollo sends the plague (44-53). The plague lasts nine days. Council of Achaeans (54-187). The quarrel gets worse (188-194). Intervention of Athena (194-326). Heralds go to Achilles (327-348). Achilles with Thetis (348-430). The embassy of Odysseus to Island Chryse (430-476). Return of embassy (477-487). Anger of Achilles (488-492). Eleven day absence of the Gods. Intercession of Thetis (493). Thetis with Zeus (493-533). Zeus and Hera quarrel (533-570). Hephaestus reconciles parents (571-611). Olympian peace, banquet, sleep (595-611). .