Troy, Crete, and Mycenae

Summary

There were three centers of the Aegean civilization: the Trojan, the Minoan, and the Mycenaean. The Trojan was named for Troy, a city in Asia Minor. The Minoan was named for the king Minos. The Mycenaean was named for Mycenae, the largest settlement of its time in mainland Greece.

Archaeological Investigations

As of 1992, the language of the Aegean world had not been deciphered. This is probably the reason why this section will not have much detail describing what happened during the early days of the Aegean civilization. A thorough investigation of the Aegean civilization was done by the archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann (1822-1890). He began to dig at Hissarlik, Turkey, and found several layers of previous towns there. Schliemann had a hunch that the ruins of Troy would lie below this site. He found the layers dating to times before the Trojan War by 1000 years, and found objects of gold there. Many scholars feel that Troy had been destroyed by fire. He also found treasure in Mycenae of Peloponnesus, the city of Agamemnon.

The Minoan Civilization

The island of Crete was a maritime civilization that dominated the Aegean islands from 2000 to 1450 B.C. It also dominated mainland Greece and the coast of Asia Minor. There is little known about the people. The inhabitants could have been from a line of Indo-Europeans, or Libyan refugees from the area of the Egyptian delta. There were ties with the Egyptians, because artifacts from both cultures were found in each other’s lands.

During these times, palaces were erected. A new style of pottery decorations came about as well as a method of writing. The great palaces were built in Knossos and Phaestos. Knossos was the most important city in Crete, as it first came under the leadership of a king named Minos. This king is more of a legend rather than a historical reality. Thucydides, the fifth century Greek historian, writes about him being a great ruler of the Hellenic Sea and the Cyclades, which were islands in the Aegean Sea. He established a great navy and put down the piracy of the waters so that he may govern them. The government was known as a thalassocracy, or rule by the sea. Sir Arthur Evans, a nineteenth century archaeologist, excavated Minos’ palace. The palace walls were decorated with frescoes and there was a running water system with flush toilets. An old throne of stone was found, which perhaps was the throne of Minos. There was also an outdoor theater found.

Religion

Priests did not seem to have a major role in Minoan culture. They believed gods existed in trees, stones, and natural objects. They worshipped these deities in groves, caves, and shrines in their homes. When they did not worship the gods, they put reverence statues in the holy places to be worship representatives for them. The most important deity was the Mother Goddess. She was depicted holding a snake in each hand and a bird on her head. The bull god was also important.

The classical Greeks (fifth and fourth centuries B.C.) believed Zeus often took the form of a bull and was born in a cave in Crete. The Greek gods and religion were influenced by Minoan culture.

Economy

The land was very fertile and there were abundant harvests. This included cereals, vegetables, flax, olives and grapes. They also developed extensive maritime trade. They produced thin pottery called Kamares ware. They were in the shapes of plants and animals and later models were more naturalistic in appearance. They also made jewelry and vessels of gold, silver, and soapstone, and these crafts were often very small.

Writing

Their writing in the beginning was hieroglyphic, but later became a syllabic script called Linear A. The latter script has not been deciphered as of 1992.

Legends

According to a myth, Minos kept a Minotaur in a labyrinth beneath his palace. Minos required the Athenians to pay tribute to him by sending seven males and seven females to sacrifice to the Minotaur every nine years. Theseus son of King Aegeus of Athens went forth to put an end to these sacrifices. One year he went forth as one of the males to be sacrificed, and said if he returned victorious he would change his black sails of his ship to white. When he reached Knossos, Ariadne daughter of Minos fell in love with him. She gave him a sword and a ball of thread to trace his path of the back to the entrance of the labyrinth once he had defeated the Minotaur. He tied one end to the entrance door, let out a line of thread as he proceeded through the maze. He killed the Minotaur and found his way back by following the thread. Theseus sailed home, forgetting to change his sails. Aegeus, torn by grief, thinking his son had been killed, threw himself off a cliff into the sea, therefore naming the sea the Aegean Sea. Many scholars believe that such a story has some relevant truth; that once the Athenians paid some sort of tribute to the Minoans. The triumph of Theseus was celebrated into the Hellenistic period (323-30 B.C.).

Homer also notes more about the king Minos. Zeus, disguised as a bull, kidnapped a Phoenician princess and took her to his cave. She begot a son, who was the legendary king Minos. Because of the vast number of stories concerning Minos, some scholars think Minos is a dynasty of kings rather than an individual.

Though there was a major volcanic eruption in 1600 B.C., there was a period of peace for 150 years following. In 1450 B.C., the Minoan civilization came to an abrupt end. The towns were destroyed by fire and were looted. The Mycenaeans may have been responsible.

The Mycenaean Civilization

Around 2000 B.C., the Achaeans invaded mainland Greece. These people were of Indo-European origin. They established many fortified strongholds, among which were Pylos, Tiryns, and Mycenae. These strongholds are located in Peloponnesus. By the time of 1600 B.C., these Achaeans, also called Mycenaeans, sailed the Aegean Sea as pirates first, and then as traders. They were the most powerful group in the Aegean world after Knossos fell in 1450 B.C.

The Mycenaeans copied the artistic styles of the Minoans. Otherwise, their culture was very different. The Minoans’ economy was peacefully based with crafts of pottery and such, but the Mycenaeans used their skills in warfare. Many weapons have been found in Mycenaean graves, and appear to be much like those described in the Homeric epics. The Mycenaeans built great citadels with massive walls that the stones were believed to be built by the Cyclopes.

Government

The tribal leaders established hereditary monarchies. They ruled territories similar to city-states. They did not have absolute power like other monarchies in Egypt or Mesopotamia. Kings were expected to discuss major decisions with an assembly of nobles. This is apparent in Homer’s account of the Trojan War, where Agamemnon heeded the words of other kings and nobles.

The Mycenaean Greeks devoted much energy into athletic contests to stay fit for battle. Bards often recited heroic tales as well and these were passed down through the generations. Around 750 B.C., Homer cited the epics of the Iliad and the Odyssey over 400 years after it happened, based on their oral traditions.

They were hospitable to all people because they believed they might be gods in disguise. There was no code of honor for enemies, however, as it were admirable to deceive enemies. Odysseus was famous for doing this, as he was known to be a ‘master of stratagems’.

Archaeological Findings

Around 1500 B.C., the Mycenaeans buried people in what is called a shaft grave. These were arranged in a circle with a diameter of 50 feet. Each grave was marked with a limestone slab. Many were objects of gold were found in these graves. After 1500 B.C., there were circular dome structures built on hillsides called tholoi, or ‘bee hive tombs’. The most notable ones were known to be royal tombs, two of which are called the Treasury of Atreus and the Tomb of Clytemnestra.

The Trojan War (1194-1184 B.C.)

Troy was a strategically placed city at the west end of the Hellespont. The rulers or Troy could control the water route from the Aegean to the Black Sea, and land route between Europe and Asia. By the early twelfth century B.C., the Mycenaeans were in conflict with them because of this reason. This of course was one reason for the battle of the Trojan War. According to the Iliad, it was also because the kidnapping of Menelaus’ wife, Helen. Menelaus was the king of Sparta. Paris, the son of the king of Troy, did the kidnapping. The Mycenaeans then went out to rescue her. Many other battles took place there. The Persians seized the Hellespont in 495 B.C. to cut off grain supplies from the Black Sea area to Athens. The Spartans fought the Athenians there later to stop Athenian trade in the Black Sea region. In World War I, British Commonwealth troops fought a battle at Gallipoli as an attempt to stop Germans from occupying the area.

The End of Mycenaean Rule

Invaders from the north took many of the Mycenaean cities in Peloponnesus by the end of the thirteenth century B.C. Around 1100 B.C., the Dorians conquered Mycenae, Pylos, and Tiryns. The Mycenaeans were either enslaved, or they fled to the surrounding islands. They also fled to the west coast of Asia Minor to an area called Ionia. In the ninth century B.C., their civilization had flourished. What came to be known later as Greek philosophy, literature, science, and architecture had its beginnings there. In mainland Greece, technology, the art of writing, trade, and the economy all declined. This period became known as the Archaic Age, or the Greek Dark Ages (1100-700 B.C.). It was also called the Iron Age because iron replaced the bronze of the Mycenaeans.