Week 4 Archaic Greece PDF

Wednesday, October 2 End of the Dark Age cont. A lot of development in religion. Religious festivals were common in these communities. As we’ve seen, the scheduling of festivals was central to a community’s method of timekeeping. This period sees the establishment of panhelleni...

Wednesday, October 2 End of the Dark Age cont. A lot of development in religion. Religious festivals were common in these communities. As we’ve seen, the scheduling of festivals was central to a community’s method of timekeeping. This period sees the establishment of panhellenic (meaning “all-Greek”) worship and festivals. This gives rise to a collective idea of “Greekness,” which we will see continue to grow. We see the rise to prominence of panhellenic cult-centres, namely the site of Delphi, a small community centred around an oracular shrine to the god Apollo, who speaks through the site priestess known as the Pythia. People came to Delphi from across the ancient world in order to consult the oracle. First recorded Olympic games in 776 BCE, a ritualised panhellenic sport event held near the temple of Zeus at Olympia. The second most important games in the Greek world were the Pythian games, held at Delphi. There is a rising sense of cultural national identity (not to be confused with a political national identity which we better know today). We see renewed interest in Mycenaean tombs, and the rise of ancestor and hero cults. We can tell because we see more recent offerings left at these tombs. We also suspect that the Greeks are engaging in some level of “ancestor worship,” religious reverence to their deceased forebears through grave offerings and presumably other ritual acts. Memory plays a strong role, there is a dual fear of death, with the anxiety around being forgotten in death, and the idea of forgetting oneself in death. You worship the gods because they can help you, but also because they can hurt you. The dead are understood to have some capacity for those powers as well. We see something emerge which has shared features of ancestor cult, which we call hero cult. There is a similar motivation there. The dead are seen as earth-powers, and this extends to both ancestors and “heroes.” What is a “hero” in this context? It is a complicated term. It is a Greek word, and we don’t know where exactly it comes from. The term pops up in Homer, where it seems to simply mean “really important guy,” or “chieftain.” By the 6th century it took a new shape, meaning “an important dead man worshipped at his grave.” There is a transition “hero” being an honorific, into a religious term. Where did this practice come from? We’re not entirely sure. We see people worshipping at graves of the dead who are not their relatives. Some of these graves are identified as being those of Homeric heroes. The hero cults are ancestor worship sites for those with no familial connections, but with perceived community connections. With the later emergence of the polis as a political structure, there is a transition away from deeply held ideals of clan ties, and a shift away from a world where clan-based violence was routine. The early architects of the polis had to contend with these deeply held ideas, and the shift from ancestor cults towards hero cults could reflect a changing ideal from a focus on familial ties towards broader community ties.  Archaic Period In many ways a great time in ancient Greece. Strong development of trade, both among Greek communities as well as with the outside world. We also see increased colonisation and a proliferation of city-states around the north mediterranean. Panhellenic festivals grow in importance and number. This is when we see the Panathenaea emerge in Athens under the rule of Peisistratus. We see the emergence of ‘new’ literary forms, particularly Greek lyric poetry. Dr. Brown suspects that we’re not necessarily seeing literary innovation in this era, but rather literary preservation. We also see the development of philosophy, looking ahead to the later works of the philosophers of Plato and Aristotle, whose impact on philosophy cannot really be overstated. The rise of the city-state (polis). Wars also proliferated, as did civil unrest. With the newfound abundance brought fierce competition over territory and trade routes. Civil unrest also rocked many of the city- states, as a by-product of the stratification of society. An aristocratic elite is naturally complemented by a subordinate poor. A stratified society is essentially structured like a pyramid, with a small number of the elite, and a much larger amount of the poor. The challenge for the architects of the polis was to manage this tension while keeping the city- state running. Rise of the Poleis The word polis can be translated as “city,” or “city-state.” There is another Greek word for city: astu, which tends to refer to the physical site of the city, while polis often suggests the broader political body of the city and its surrounding territory, especially the cuktrural identity of the city-state. Synoecism: Political Unification. From the Greek synoikismos, dir. translation: “living together.” The basic elements of early Greek society were a ruling basileus (often translated as ‘king,’ but that misses the meaning. It’s better translated as ‘chieftain’), as well as a council of elders, an assembly (of men of fighting-age) who form a subgroup of the larger population, as well as the demos (i.e. the people). Clan ties were used to bind together the various groups both within the city and in the surrounding region. You and your clan had various loyalties to one another, which you had to manage in the operation of your community. The poleis later come to the realisation that after a certain point the system of clan ties undermined the functioning of the larger communities, and would take actions to move away from the model of clan-loyalty. Forms of Government varied widely on a polis to polis basis. There was a tendency to eliminate or reduce the role of the basileus. The prominent role of the basileus would be redistributed to another Aristocratic political body, most often the council of elders. The poleis begin codifying laws and constitutions.  October 4 Archaic Greek Lyric Poetry The Archaic Period is sometimes referred to as the “Lyric Age,” which is somewhat misleading, fitting into a timeline of intellectual development, where the Greeks transitioned from a ‘primitive’ culture into a culture that is much more ‘like us’ by the time of Plato and Aristotle. We should not think of things along these lines. There was a prevailing idea that the Greeks had suddenly invented lyric poetry in the 7th century, but it’s much more likely that this is just the period when these songs begin being recorded. Much ‘lyric’ was recorded in the 7th and 6th centuries, although very little of it has survived. We are left with fragmentary material, quotations from other authors, and scraps of papyri. The Greeks didn’t come to think of this lyric material as ‘bad,’ per se, but they evidently considered it difficult. Marginal notes on surviving papyri make it clear that later Greeks struggled with the use of language at work in Archaic Lyric. We tend to find that, with the smaller a group, the more complex their language tends to be. These Archaic poems were recorded in a variety of dialects, and the content of the poems is thoroughly tied to the contexts in which they were performed. ‘Lyric’ vs. Lyric We use the word lyric to refer to a broad range of ‘personal’ poetry. This model has problems as all of this poetry was sung, some of it in quite public contexts. The word lyric originally refers to poetry sung to the accompaniment of a lyre (lyra). An aulos (double-reeded wind instrument) was also used to accompany some kinds of poetry. The early Greeks often used the word melos (‘song’), so you will hear reference to melic poetry. The Symposium was a common context for song, an important social event for elite men, with a dinner followed by (potentially much) drinking. These men would sometimes discuss politics and other important matters, and sometimes they would sing. The role of women as singers and performers is much less well attested, but there is some evidence. Characteristics of Early Greek Poetry Very different from modern notions of personal poetry. Ancient poetry was much more outward facing, meant to be sung and performed, from more intimate sympotic settings to larger festival contexts. Nothing is being composed with the intention of being read. Occasions for song include religious festivals, weddings, funerals, victory- celebrations, symposia. We believe that traditional songs were sung at these occasions, and big name poets would also contribute new material to them as well. We unfortunately have little in the way of the traditional songs which would have been sung. Weddings were an occasion for all different manners of tone. Sappho was famous for her wedding poetry, which we have in quotations and fragments. There is a fertility element to some of it, reading as quite raunchy.  Victory-celebrations: celebrations with elaborate gatherings. The wealthy would commission poets (such as Pindar) to compose songs to commemorate their victories. A narrow purpose, such as a victory song, is an occasion for a poet to engage in a wide variety of material. The singing of these songs is a complicated business. These poems featured incredibly elaborate metres. The language was equally difficult; Pindar is regarded as one of the most difficult Ancient Greek writers, as his use of the language really pushed its limits. Writers would use dialects (mainly Doric and Ionic) which they did not speak themselves, giving a sense of artificial use of language in the poetic tradition. The Major Figures Archilochus was an Iambic poet often regarded by Greeks as second only to Homer. He composed over a wide variety of subject matter, but he was regarded mostly for his invective. Criticising others for all manner of things. He had a cycle of poems criticising a man who was nearly his father in law, which was supposedly so effective that the man’s entire family committed suicide (according to the biographical tradition). Reputation is crucial to one’s standing in society. We have bits and pieces of this cycle of poems, and it is apparent that the object of Archilochus’ ire had violated an oath that he’d sworn. This is a world without contracts, and oaths were regarded as genuinely sacred. Oaths were under the supervision of Zeus, and an oath was a solemn ritual act. “Don’t set sail with an oath- breaker.” Violations against the gods can be a public issue, as the retribution of the gods can come in many forms which may have repercussions on the wider community. Elegy is closely related to Epic poetry. Poets like Tyrtaeus were all about war. Elegy was used for a wide arrange of poetic types. Solon was an elegist who used his poetry to outline his political ideas of how one should live. The Choral poets trafficked in myth. We see a different application of myth in social contexts of the Greek world. We have scant examples of this, but Bacchylides and Pindar give us a tantalising glimpse at the genre. Pindar leaves us some of the greatest works of Greek literature. Monody (‘solo song’). Alcaeus and Sappho both hail from the island of Lesbos. Alcaeus was a particularly political poet. The Greeks regarded Sappho as a particularly special poet. Sappho’s work has been quite controversial: for what occasion was she writing and performing? She is known for her erotic songs, and her erotic focus on young women. Various 19th century receptions to her work have complicated our view of her work. This poetry comes from all over the Greek world, ranging from Sicily, through mainland Greece and across the Aegean to the Ionian coast.