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FA 202-2015 BEHİN AKSOY MYCENAEANS, HELLENES
AND HELLENIC COLONIZATION
I. / Mycenaeans: from about 1600 BC to 1200 BCA. / Indo-European Hellenic speaking people
B. / Myc. geography
1. Peloponnesus: esp. Argolidos-cities: Mycenae
Tiryns
the South Argos
2. Attica : the East
3. Euboea: the East
4. Epirus : the North and North-west
C. / Myc. Art and Architecture (type site Mycenae)
1. fortified citadel
2. one main gate: / two rampant lions above, reminiscent of Phrygian lions on rock monuments such as Aslantaş, Afyon (common ancestors in the Balkans)
3. graves
a. grave circles
1) A: I-VI shaft graves/inside the fortress, 13th century BC
2) B: outside the fortress, also 13th cent.
b. tholos tombs: such as the so called “Treasury of Atreus” / 13th cent. BC,
decorated parts now missing
1) round tomb chamber
2) dromos: long corridor before the entrance to the tomb chamber
4. typical Myc. objects
a. the treasures
1) gold plated box w. embossed decoration
(hexagonal): geometric and naturalistic motifs
2) round gold pieces as ornamentation for clothing (embossed motifs)
3) silver and gold cups: decoration techniques
a) embossing
b) inlay: silver and gold, also niello (metallic alloy of sulphur
w. silver, lead, copper, etc.)
4) gold funerary masks
5) gold funerary diadems
b. figurines: esp. female/mostly draped in pleated clothing
c. life size sculpture: not many retrieved/one example stucco female head
with painted decoration on cheeks and chin
d. pottery
1) many shapes, but the stirrup jar is the most typical
2) decoration: esp. fr. 13th cent. on Minoan influence, therefore
naturalistic sea life represented the most
a) fish
b) octopuses
c) shelled molluscs
D. / Myc. seamanship and first attempts of colonization in Anatolia
(1400-1200 BC)
1. through legend
a. Argonauts and Jason
1) group of heroes in the boat Argo
2) they sailed to Colchis
3) in search of the golden fleece (in actual fact: in search of real gold)
b. Iliad: 8th cent. epic poem of the blind poet, Homer of Smyrna (fall of Troy
is ca. 1250 – if it ever happened at all – so the poet is telling of a
tale which is in a setting of about 500 years ago)
1) siege of Troy by Achaeans (Mycenaeans)
2) fall of Troy (the wooden horse, etc.)
2. boat paintings, esp. on pottery, point out to concentrated sea-faring esp. in
the Aegean (from island to island, also coastal navigation)
3. archaeological data: Myc. pottery found in 2nd millennium levels of some
Western Anatolian sites
a. Troy
b. Çandarlı
c. Miletus
d. Müskebi
4. written sources: Hittite tablet/Hittite king granting protection to the Trojan
king against Myc. attacks
II. / Dorian invasion of Greece (about 1200 BC) and aftermath
A. / Dark Ages of Greece: 1200 – 1050 BC (about 150 years)
B. / After the Dark Ages
1. Greek city states in the Myc. area
2. attempts at colonization of Western Anatolia, coastal areas
a. Proto-geometric pottery (arch. data) in early 1st mill.
levels of Western Anatolian sites
1) naturalistic decoration totally absent
2) geometric decoration only
a) panels: concentric circles, lozenges, etc. within them
b) bands and lines
b. Geometric pottery in slightly later levels of the same sites
1) naturalistic scenes reappearing
a) floral, faunal, human and other
b) highly stylized
c) in restricted panels
2) geometric decoration mostly
III. / Intensive Hellenic colonization of Western Anatolia: 750-550 BC
A. / important Hellenic colonies of this early period
1. islands
a. Chios
b. Samos
2. cities of Anatolia
a. Phocaea
b. Clazomenae
c. Erythrae
d. Teos
e. Lebedos
f. Colophon
g. Ephesus (Apasa of the Hittites)
h. Priene
i. Myus
j. Miletus (Millawanda of the Hittites)
k. Smyrna (founded somewhat later than these)
1) first founded as a meagre mudbrick village offshore on an island
2) then the island is annexed to the shore (Bayraklı suburb of Smyrna
today)
3) the archaic temple of Athena was important: of Aeolic order
a) Greek closed temples were first built in the colonies (influence
of Lydian wooden temples, now lost, but depicted on rock
monuments)
- the earliest in Samos (Heraion)
- then in Anatolia proper
- then in Greece
b) ground plan: megaron (basic Western Anatolian and island house
plan from Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age on)
B. / Basic periods of art in the Hellenic World
1. Orientalizing Period: end of 8th, beginning of 7th centuries, esp. East Greek.
a. influence of Oriental cultures, esp. Anatolian, on Greek Art.
b. Cybele, the Mother Goddess of the Lydians, draws special attention
c. mixed creatures also draw special attention: esp. reminiscent of Lydian
decoration on pottery
1) sphinxes (body: lion, head: human)
2) griffons (body: lion, head: bird)
d. counterpart of Orientalizing pottery of East Greeks in the West is
Proto-Corinthian
pottery: shift now more to the naturalistic w. less geometric decoration.
2. Archaic Period: Late 7th and 6th centuries BC
a. life size statues in the round increase, esp. in Greece (much under
Egyptian influence)
1) rigid postures
2) very little movement
3) interest in the naked human body already present, esp. male
a) young boy: kouros, mostly naked
b) young girl: kore, mostly dressed
4) “archaic smile”: corners of the mouth upturned
b. pottery
1) in Greece
a) Corinthian: plain background, drawings in dark brown (purplish)
on all the available surface
b) Attic/black figure “firnis” (had a natural glazed effect after firing
because of the chemical composition of the black paint)
- mostly black painted overall or wide bands
- black figures in light preserved background
- preferred a lot in all the Hellenic world of the Mediterranean
2) Anatolia: local pottery production continuing, but there is a distinct
preference for the Attic black figure
3. Classical Period: 5th cent. BC
a. sculpture in the round and in relief
1) much tendancy, esp. in Greece, toward sculpture
2) sculptors mostly from mainland Greece
a) Myron
b) Phidias (responsible for the sculpture of the temple of Athena
Parthenos in the Acropolis, Athens)
c) Polycleitus
d) Cresilas
3) sculpture in Anatolia is also mostly by mainland Greek sculptors
b. pottery: black and mostly red figure Attic vases predominant
IV. / Greek “polis” (city-state): basic architectural features
A. / the plan: regular grid plan w. insulae
1. influence of the earlier Anatolian cities
2. finally developed by Hippodamos of Miletos (therefore known as
“Hippodamian plan”)
3. appearance of plan
a. regular streets cutting each other at 90o
b. regular insulae: square or rectangular
c. usually two main streets cutting each other at a certain point
d. major buildings usually at the junction point of the main streets
B. / major architectural features
1. bouleuterion: city council building (boule: city council)
2. agora: market place
a. open square
b. stoa: gallery of columns (usually around the square)
c. shops behind the stoa
3. gymnasion: school and place for exercise (palaestra) for young boys
and the youth
4. stadion
a. U shaped area w. seats around
b. not all cities necessarily have it
c. for athletics and races
5. temple: one always dedicated to the patron god or goddess of the city
6. odeion:
a. for music and poetry contests
b. small enough to be closed by a roof without having a forest of columns
c. amphitheater form
d. not all cities have an odeion
7. theatre
a. cavea: amphitheatre built on a hill slope
b. diazoma: walks of the cavea in line with the orchestra
c. loge: seats of honour near the orchestra
d. skene: stage building
1) acting is done on the skene
2) earlier theatres do not have permanent skenes
e. proskene: front part of the skene
f. orchestra
1) complete circle form: the early ones
2) semicircular form: later ones, esp. from Hellenistic Per. on
3) where the chorus sings and dances
LYDIANS AND THE
GRECO-PERSIAN PERIOD
I. / Persians: replace the Medians as ruling power in IranA. / extent of the Empire
1. before the battle with Croesus, the Lydian King, in 546 BC
a. Halys in Central Anatolia: West
b. River Oxus in Central Asia: East
2. after the battle in Sardis (546 BC)
a. Western Anatolian coastal area: West
b. Central Asia: East, including
1) Syria (Near East)
2) Mesopotamia (Near East)
3. Egypt
B. / Persian capitals
1. Ecbatana
a. in Hamedan, Iran
b. it was the capital of the Medians as well
2. Pazargadae: original capital of the Persians
3. Susa
a. capital after the conquest of Babylonia
b. the beginning of the renowned “royal road” which ended in Sardis, the
capital of the Lydian Kingdom in the West
4. Persepolis: the last capital, perhaps summer residence of the Persian kings,
because Susa always remains the official capital
C. / religion: Zoroastrianism
1. Zoroaster (Zerdüşt): the teacher of the religion
2. Zendavesta: the book compiling Zoroaster’s teachings
3. Ahuramazda: the symbol of the religion w. wings
a. Ahriman: evil
b. Ormazd: goodness
4. fire temples: where a symbolic fire always burns (symbolizing both evil
and goodness at the same time)
D. / art and architecture
1. architecture
a. fire temples: high tower-like buildings
b. palaces: quite large with many halls
c. apadana: large throne hall for audience
1) many columns to support the roof of the large hall
2) also seen in other parts of the Near East: eg.Urartu in the Iron Age
2. architectural decoration
a. reliefs depicting royalty mostly
b. friezes also outside buildings
1) like the lines of soldiers in Persepolis
2) for those, who are not allowed to go in, to see and admire from the
outside, something similar to the ceremonies inside
c. relief tile decorations esp. in Susa
1) influence of Assyria and Babylonia
2) Persian novelty: figures in relief
d. foreign influences
1) Mesopotamian: tile decoration
2) Anatolian
a) Ionian type columns but without fluting (esp. in Pazargadae)
b) pyramidal tomb in Pazargadae: reminiscent of the one in Sardis
(both may be Egyptian influence in turn)
e. column capitals
1) quite different from the Anatolian of the period
2) protomes of animals (two) back to back
f. basic style
1) formality in positions and postures: in that respect compares better
w. Eastern Anatolia, Mesopotamia and Egypt
2) contrast w. esp. 5th cent. Greek tendencies
a) laxness and freedom in position (even the deities in the Parthenon
frieze)
b) tendency to show esp. male human body naked
c) clothes also in free falling draperies
3. not much sculpture in the round (one eg. head of a young prince or a queen)
4. tombs
a. tomb chamber built of stone (like the pyramidal tomb in Pazargadae)
b. usually carved as tomb chambers in rocks: eg. Nakş-i Rüstem, the royal
necropolis of the Persians
5. not much pottery known
6. royal treasures: eg. Oxus Treasure
a. omphalos bowl: compares well w. contemporary Lydian work
b. gold vessels: usually embossed like their counterparts in the West
c. head of man: compares well w. even the later Roman portrait tradition
II. / Western Anatolia in brief at the time of the Persian conquest
A. / Lydians
1. capital: Sardis
a. most of the ruins restored today are Hellenistic and Roman
b. Lydian levels excavated
1) House of Bronzes area: w. the hasty burial of a young girl after the
Cimmerian attack
2) part of the Lydian fortification wall: reinforced after the
Cimmerian attack
3) Lydian Market
4) some Lydian shops and houses (Pactolus North)
a) house decoration: painted terracotta plaque friezes
b) lamp shop w. early style oil lamps
5) gold refinery area
a) work areas for
- cupellation: refinement of gold or silver
- cementation: separating gold and silver from the natural alloy
electrum
b) kilns
c) possibily shops of private jewellers
d) shrine: for Cybele
- altar w. lions only
- poss. compares with a tomb painting in Tarquinia, Italy,
probably painted by a Lydian artist who had fled to Italy after
the Persian conquest
- figure of the goddess was not found
e) minting of coins
- coins: invention of Lydians
- denominations: Stater and Hekte (1/6 of a Stater)
- decorations as legend: lion and bull (hand pressing results in
irregular shapes)
- state controlled and guaranteed
6) acropolis: fortification walls of the Lydian Period partly
excavated, well worked stones
2. cemeteries
a. simple inhumation graves around Sardis: with small burials gifts
1) Şeytanderesi
2) İntepe
b. pyramidal tomb: influence of Egypt?
c. Bintepeler: royal cemetery of the Lydians
1) between the Gygean Lake and Sardis
2) many tumuli (tumulus: artificial grave mound covering a tomb
chamber)
a) crepis wall: wall surrounding the chamber
b) tomb chamber
c) earth piled on the chamber
3. pottery: more of the Orienatalizing style, which was influenced by
Lydian pottery
4. treasures
a. Lydian kings extremely rich, the richest was Croesus, the last king of
the last dynasty, the Mermnadae
b. the aristocracy also quite rich, the so called “Treasures of Croesus” from
Uşak actually come from tombs of the rich (recently returned by the
Metropolitan Museum of Art)
5. Lydian inscription
a. different from the Greek alphabet
b. proper names deciphered
c. not many examples
B. / Greek colonies
1. all along the coastal areas of Anatolia
a. Western Anatolia
b. Mediterranean / spreading North and South because Lydians
c. Black Sea / do not allow them to spread inland
2. tax paying to the Lydians (first to the Phrygians in the 8th cent. BC),
they pay taxes to the Persians after the Persian conquest
III. / Greco-Persian period in Anatolia: 546 – 334 BC
A. / Persian administration
1. provinces (satrapies) and appointed governors (satraps): a number of them
in Anatolia
2. military troops stationed at strategic points (army also includes
Greek mercenaries)
3. network of roads
a. for trade (caravans)
b. moving of troops
c. messengers (on horseback)
1) changing at stations at regular intervals
2) covering the whole span of the empire within a week
4. organization of spies, called the “ears of the King”
B. / Art and Architecture of the period: a synthesis which can be called
“Greco-Persian”
1. Greek and Persian in detail
2. mostly Persian in concept
a. monumental tombs
1) Monument of the Nereids: now in the British Museum, orig.
fr. Xanthus
2) Mausoleum of Halicarnassus: also in the Brit. Mus.
a) built for Mausalos, the Satrap of Caria
b) by his wife Artemisia
b. mixed creatures: basically oriental concept
IV. / Anabasis of Xenophon/ The Return of the Ten Thousand
A. / group of Greek mercenaries returning from Babylon
1. they cross the whole of Eastern Anatolia after many adventures
2. finally they reach the sea near Trebizond
B. / important event which put into the Greek mind that the East could be penetrated
MACEDONIANS AND