The Rise of the City-States

Once the population grew, however, new forms of infrastructure were needed to allow the Greeks to live together with minimal conflict. The familial basis of problem resolution and the simple cottage industries that marked most human interaction in the Dark Age villages—the oikos, or household system—gave way to a more complex system that accommodated larger groups of people who not only were not related, but did not necessarily know each other—the polis system. Laws were established to organize the community, to determine and allocate responsibilities, and to protect economic interests (see chapter 7). Armies were organized to protect the cities (see chapter 6). Group labor projects, such as the building and maintenance of city walls, were assigned. Eventually, coinage was struck polis by polis (see chapter 5).

A common cult, a common territory, a common set of laws, and a common defense were the glue that held together the early poleis. This last element— that of the military—was of particular importance during this period, as the new system of hoplite (foot soldier) warfare contributed to the communal, citizen-based society of the poleis (see chapter 6). Another means of creating a sense of unity and citizenship within the newly forming poleis was a common dedication to a common city deity. The Athenians, for example, venerated Athena Polias—Athena of the city. At Corinth, by contrast, Aphrodite was the city goddess and protector, and at Argos, the citizens revered Hera. These manifestations of the deities were closely allied to their respective cities, so that worship of, say, Argive Hera would not translate into worship of Samian Hera; the fact that both Athens and Sparta adopted Athena as a city goddess certainly did not lead to close alliances between these two cities.

However, the common Greek pantheon did lead to an even higher form of unification in Greece as early as the eighth century b. c.e., with the rise of the Panhellenic sanctuaries. The earliest of these was Olympia, later followed by Delphi, Isthmia, and Nemea. Unlike the local sanctuaries, where peoples from the immediate surrounding areas would convene, the Panhellenic sanctuaries received regular visits from all over the Greek world, usually during specific religious festivals. Starting at least as late as the eighth century b. c.e., for example, a great festival of Zeus took place at Olympia. One element of these festivals was the assortment of athletic contests, which legend originally ascribed to Heracles and which were resurrected in 776 b. c.e. at the First Olympiad. According to the later-era Christian author Eusebios, "First Olympiad: from the capture of Troy up the first Olympiad 405 years. The first Olympiad took place in the second year of Aeschylus as judge of the Athenians, and Koroibos of Elis was victorious. . . Iphitos son of Praxonides or of Haimon set up the first Olympiad. From this time Greek history is believed to be accurate in the matter of chronology" (Osborne 1996, 100).

Originally these Olympic Games (and the festival in general) were probably local affairs, composed mainly of Messenians and some Arcadians, with other contestants from the rest of the Peloponnese. In time, however, athletes and worshippers started to come from all over the Greek world, from the islands as well as the northern regions. Because the athletes were taking part in a religious ritual, their safe conduct had to be guaranteed both to and from the games, and so all the Greeks had to acknowledge a period of several months of peace to allow for this safe passage. The notion of all Greeks taking part in the same ritual, and organizing the various aspects of that ritual on a communal basis, marks the beginnings of Panhellenism, whereby the Greeks came to see themselves as an ethnically unified society.

This tendency toward Greek unification was never strong. The topography of Greece (see chapter 2) did more to separate the Greeks than to unite them, and the various dialects and differences in local traditions did not help matters. But there were a few aspects of Greek society that did cause the Greeks to see themselves as one people. The first was language. In spite of the differences among Doric, Ionic, Aeolic, etc., the Greek dialects were mutually understandable, allowing the Greeks to understand and appreciate the same literature and rituals. Religion was also of crucial importance, permitting all Greeks to take part in the same Panhellenic rituals. The alphabet, which came to Greece from Phoenicia (see chapter 3), was also a unifying factor, allowing inscriptions and dedications from any part of Greece to send their message to any reader of Greek. Even the wars became Panhellenic. According to Thucydides, the greatest Greek conflict since the Trojan War was the Lelantine War, fought between the cities of Eretria and Chalkis on the island of Euboia and eventually involving all the other Greek cities. In Book 1, 15, 3, he states, "At best [concerning Panhellenic wars], in the olden times, was the war between the Chalkidians and the Eretrians; the rest of the Greek world divided into camps as allies of one or the other."

The combination of religion, language, and alphabet culminated in what was probably the greatest unifying factor among the Greeks—the epics of Homer and Hesiod (see chapter 10). These works—the Iliad, Odyssey, Theogony, and Works and Days—in a way created a common religion, history, and ethos for all the Greeks. The lineage of the deities as expressed in Hesiod's Theogony became, with variations, the standard Greek pantheon. All Greeks traced their heritage back to the Trojan War (a semi-mythological event), occasionally citing relations between Homeric heroes as bases for "modern" laws and traditions. For example, in the sixth century b. c.e., the cities of Athens and Megara disputed who owned the island of Salamis. Before Spartan arbitrators, both parties presented the relevant myths that associated their own city with the hero Ajax, who in epic tradition had owned the island. The Megarians quoted portions of Homer, which showed that Ajax himself was Megarian; the Athenians used quotes that noted that Ajax "willed" the island to an Athenian, thus establishing their proper inheritance. The Athenians won (Wickersham 1991, passim) Even the Panhellenic games mentioned above were understood in terms of Homeric ideology. The games at Olympia, Isthmia, and Nemea were funeral games for dead heroes, just like the funerary games hosted by Achilles at the end of the Iliad for his dead companion Patrocles.

There is debate concerning when these epics were composed, especially those longer ones created by the shadowy figure of Homer. Actual written texts are late, and even ancient Greek testimonia only mention written copies from as early as the sixth century b. c.e. (Osborne 1996, 158). However, as mentioned above, there are cultural and linguistic elements in the epics that show knowledge of the Bronze, Dark, and Iron Ages. The general understanding for Homer is that both the Iliad and Odyssey were passed down and embellished generation after generation during centuries of oral recitations (see chapter 10). Although some authors, such as Osborne, have argued that the Homeric epics achieved their "permanent" form in the seventh century b. c.e., others, such as Graham, have argued rather convincingly that these epics portray most clearly the world of the eighth century b. c.e. (Osborne 1996, 156-160; Graham 1995, passim). In short, it seems likely that the Homeric epics evolved during the Dark Age and were "standardized" during the eighth century b. c.e.

In contrast to Homer, Hesiod seems to have been a historically verifiable person, living in Boiotia in the eighth century b. c.e., and it is probable that he recited his poetry in the context of the Panhellenic games mentioned above. The fact that Hesiod himself claimed to have sung at a funeral game for a fellow named Amphidamas of Chalkis, who probably lived in the mid - to late eighth century b. c.e., also supports the claim that Hesiod composed during this century.

And so the Archaic Age was a good time for Greece. Temples were under construction, cities were born, games were afoot, and wonderful tales of famous heroes filled the long hours. Nevertheless, all good things bring their difficulties, and the Archaic Age was no exception. While the population was growing, the land failed to expand to accommodate all the new mouths to feed. The finite amount of land also proved problematic in a social sense: Although land was the basis of wealth and prestige, it became increasingly difficult during the Archaic Age to get either. New sources of land and alternate types of wealth had to be found. Thus began the great age of colonization.