Greek Culture I Historyoverview (NE 2006).pptVIP

2006-9 傅洁莹 制作 II Greek Culture (1) Learning Objective After this section, you are expected to illustrate briefly the timeline of ancient Greece and comment on the major events on each period. Understand Athenian democracy and it’s core concept. Where is Greece? We are all Greeks. Our laws, our literature, our religion, our arts, have their root in Greece. Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1792-1822 As one of the major contributors to Western civilization, ancient Greek culture has provided the creative energy and prototypes for later forms of Western society. Intellectual and cultural achievements, together with social and economic developments in ancient Greece and its neighbouring areas, mark the real beginning of Western civilization and the ending of the barbarous age in Europe. Map of Ancient Greek World (Southern Italy, Greece and Asia Minor) A Timeline of Early Greek History Archaeological remains show that Greece had a long prehistory, dating from the Neolithic Age （新石器时代）(c.4000 B.C.). The earliest highly developed civilization in the Aegean area was the Minoan civilization of Crete（克里特弥诺斯文明） (c.3000 –1400 B.C.希腊克里特岛青铜器时代), which spread to the mainland and gave rise to the Mycenaean civilization (c. 1400-1200 B.C.). 1200-700B.C.E,this is the Heroic Age described by Homer.  Cretan Civilization According to Evans’ research, the Cretan society dated back to nearly 5,000 years ago, falling into three stages, namely, the early stage dated from 2600—2000 BC, belonging to the Neolithic; the middle period dated from 2000—1600 BC, a period when social classes appeared and some smaller city-states started to be unified into one country called Minos; and the later period dated from 1600—1125 BC when the unified nation Minoan Dynasty was gradually weakened and eventually toppled. The Mycenaean Society and Cultural Achievements Cretan culture contributed much to the development of Mycenaean culture initially established by the Achaeans who had moved from elsewhere into