750-600
Throughout 10th century? or later? in particular in the 8th century steadily throughout 8th century increasingly in 8th century
Poleis arising in Greece Alphabet introduced Kingship under threat Material prosperity increases Rapid population growth
Evidence and Methodology
The great migrations had brought new peoples into Greece and had expanded the area of Greek civilization. Greek cities dotted the Aegean coastline of Anatolia. Deserted regions such as the Dodecanese were resettled. However, the kingdoms of Pylos, Thebes, and Knosos were no more; and with their glittering courts much had perished. Among other things, in mainland Greece and on Crete literacy ceased: no one remembered anymore how to write in Linear B. In the absence of written documents, it is difficult to provide an historical narrative in any but the broadest terms, and the period is conventionally termed a “Dark Age.”
A History of Greece: 1300 to 30 BC, First Edition. Victor Parker.
© 2014 Victor Parker. Published 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The evidence for historical developments during this period is of a radically different nature from that for the previous two chapters. For the Mycenaean period itself there are the Linear B documents; and various documents from the Near East help to illuminate the downfall of the Mycenaean kingdoms. The great migrations ultimately left such an indelible impression on the Greek landscape that they too can still be described.
But when times become more settled, the absence of a written tradition makes itself felt more keenly. Several avenues of exploration remain open, however. First, one can extrapolate forwards from what is known of the Mycenaean Age and at the same time extrapolate backwards from what is known of the archaic and classical periods. Occasionally, one can make the two lines “meet” and thus cast some light on the period in between. Second, there is still the archaeological evidence. Unfortunately, given the decline in material prosperity after the downfall of the Mycenaean kingdoms, it is patchy and therefore often inconclusive, especially during the earlier part of the “Dark Age.” The site of Lefkandi on Euboea (see below) makes an exception, however, and as time goes by, the archaeological evidence does become steadily more plentiful as material prosperity picks up again.
Third, even if the glittering courts of the Mycenaean kingdoms perished, one art which they fostered remained: the recitation of epic and lyric poetry. People still enjoyed hearing songs in the old style. Moreover, Greek epic poetry as it has come down to us took the adventures of the Mycenaean kings as its subject matter - perhaps precisely because of people’s nostalgia for the olden days, when a mighty king yet sat upon a gilded throne in the hall of yonder high palace. The epic poets composed in a highly archaic form of Greek which owes much of its vocabulary to Mycenaean Greek. Many words in Greek epic (and lyric) poetry are attested in Linear B texts, but not elsewhere. The Iliad and Odyssey, as they exist today, represent the final product of these compositions. While the stories are set in the Mycenaean Age, inevitably they reflect the conditions of the poets’ own day. Since later poets continually reworked the older material, the poems, as they now stand, in fact reflect best the conditions of the last poets’ age - roughly the eighth century BC or, in the case of the Odyssey, a little later (see Box 4.2). The epic poems, therefore, are at their most useful in reconstructing conditions at the very end of the Dark Age.
World History
