Civilizations of the Bible

The World of the “Greeks”

Geography and Civilization
Who are these People?
Indo-European
“Danaans” settle in the
Balkans, c. 1600 B.C.
Achaeans
Aeolians
Ionians
ELLAS = Hellas, Greece
Hellenes = Greeks
 Hellas in the Archaic Age
Minoans, c. 1900-1450 B.C.
Linear A
“Danaan” migration
environmental catastrophe
Mycenaens, c. 1600-1100 B.C.
Linear B
Trojan War, c. 1184 B.C.
“Dorian” invasion
Dark Ages, c. 1100-776 B.C.
 The Hellenic “Dark Ages,”
c. 1100 – 776 B.C.
First Wave of Colonization
settlement in Asia Minor, “Ionia”
raids of the “Sea Peoples,” Philistia
Epic poetry
Homer, c. 850 B.C.
Iliad
Odyssey
What did the Hellenes believe?
Olympian pantheon
syncretism
Open priesthood
Oracles
Olympic Games, 776 B.C.
Agonia = “competition”
Individual prowess
Drama, c. 550 B.C.
hubris
 The Twelve Olympians

Zeus = king of the gods Ares = god of war

Hera = queen of the gods Aphrodite = goddess of
Poseidon = god of the sea love
Hades = god of the dead Apollo = god of light
Demeter = goddess of Artemis = goddess of the
nature hunt
Athena = goddess of Hephaestus = god of fire
wisdom Dionysus = god of wine
Other Hellenic Institutions

Polis = the City-State

Common features
• Acropolis, Agora
Diverse forms
• Thebes, Athens, Corinth, Miletus, Sparta
Other Hellenic Institutions

Stasis = “conflict”
Hoplite
Phalanx
 The Pursuit of Wisdom
Reason and Rhetoric
speculation
observation
Philosophy
Thales of Miletus, c. 624-546 B.C.
Pythagoras of Samos, c. 570-495 B.C.
Heraclitus of Ephesus, c. 535-475 B.C.
“No man can step into the same river
twice.”
 The Pursuit of Wisdom
Socrates, 469 – 399 B.C.
“The life which is unexamined is
not worth living.”
Plato, c. 429 – 347 B.C.
Academy
“The soul of man is immortal and
imperishable.”
Aristotle, c. 384 – 322 B.C.
Lyceum
“Moderation in all things.”
The Hellenic Classical Age,
c. 776 - 338 B.C.
Rivalry among the Poleis, c.
776-490 B.C.
Metropolis + colonies
Persian Wars, 490-448 B.C.
Delian League, 477 B.C.
“Golden Age” of Athens
Pericles, r. 462-429 B.C.
Peloponnesian War, 431-404
B.C.
The Hellenic World