The chief symbol of this militaristic civilization: the fortress-palace
Ashlar construction
The Lion Gate, Mycenae
Religion
Worship of divinities
Burial practices
Contribution to later Greek practice of worship of heroes
The Trojan War
The realities of the war
The inspiration for Homer's Iliad and Odyssey
Mycenae and the Homeric tradition
Technology in Minoan Crete and Mycenae
Warfare
Shipbuilding
Interlude: The Dark Ages, 1100-800 B.C.E.
The collapse of one form of civilized order
The emergence of a new civilized order
The Archaic Age, 800-479 B.C.E.
Historical overview: Age of innovation and experimentation
The origin of Hellas and Hellene
Political, economic, and social structures
The rise of the polis
a) The acropolis
b) The agora
c) The goal of the polis
The shift from monarchy to oligarchy
a) Exemplary leadership, civil idealism, and cultural and artistic patronage
b) New military tactics
c) Overseas expansion and colonization
(1) The coasts of Spain and North Africa, and the Black Sea area
(2) Southern Italy and Sicily: Magna Graecia
(3) Social developments
(4) The rise of tyrants
The shift from oligarchy to democracy
a) The rights of male citizens
b) Few rights for women
c) The hard lot of foreigners and slaves
The Greek polis: Sparta and Athens
Sparta, the symbol of Dorian civilization
a) Origins of oligarchic rule
b) Limited cultural achievements
a) The war against Darius
b) The war against Xerxes
The consequences of a Greek victory for the West
The emergence of Greek genius: the mastery of form
The role of the muses in artistic creativity
Religion
Olympian and chthonic deities
The concept of hubris
Literature
Epic poetry
a) The Iliad
b) The Odyssey
c) The role of Homer in Greek civilization
Lyric poetry
a) The solo lyric
b) The poems of Sappho
Philosophy, Science, and Medicine
Natural philosophy
a) The emergence of philosophy/science
b) The Milesian school: Thales
c) The Sicilian school: Pythagoras
d) The originator of dialectical reasoning: Heraclitus
Medicine
Architecture
The temple
a) Post-beam-triangle construction
b) The principal parts
The Doric-style temple
a) Entasis
b) Fluting
Sculpture
The chief sculptural forms of this period
a) Kouros and Kore
b) Characteristics
c) Influence from Egypt and Greek innovations