ANCIENT GREECE: DARK AGES (HOMERIC AGE, c.a. 1200-800 B.C.

After about 600 B.C. the powerful civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt had become
overshadowed and then dominated by the Classical civilizations of Greece and Rome.
The date 1200 B.C., was a turning point for the ancient history infact. Due to the several
waves of invasions and migrations, the great powers of the time not only in Greece, but also
in Anatolia ended:such as the Mycenaean in Greece, the Hittites in Anatolia, the Cassites in
Mesopotamia, the Mitannni Kingdom in Northern Syria. All collapsed. Whit the invasion of
the Dorians into Greece, the Mycenaean Civilization founded by the Achaeans came to an
end.
The Dorian Invasions
The Dorians were nomadic and warrior peoples. They came down upon the separate little
kingdoms of the Peloponnessus, the modern Mora peninsula, and put the ruling classes into
the sword and turned the Mycenaean remnant into serfs. It was a termianl catastrophe in the
ancient history of Greece. Its results was a long interruption in the development of Greece.
Political order was disturbed. Violence increased. Economy was destroyed. War flourished.
Poverty increased.
In succeeding centuries, after the 1200 B.C., historical development was not clear. Written
records disaapeared. Therefore this period is called by historians as the Greek “DARK AGE”
which covered the period between 1200 and 800 B.C. The only sources of information for the
period following the Dorian invasion are scanty archaeological remains and Homeric Poems,
written down around 750 B.C., near the end of Dark Age.
The Iliad and the Odysseia are important because they provide a view of early Hellenic
customs and institutions. The Iliad is the older poem. It is dated to the 2nd half of the 8th
century B.C. It is about the Troian (Truva) War between the Achaeans and the Troia
Kingdom. The Odyssey dates from 50 years later. It is about the adventures of a Greek hero
Odysseus returning to his homeland after the Troian War. Both are the works of bards and
they had been transmitted orally from generation to generation throughout centuries. And then
they were written down. The Works of Homeros reflect dark Age conditions and therefore we
call the Dark Age also as the Homeric Period.

th
To the many scholars Homeros lived in the 8 century B.C. According to the Homeric
sources, we can draw some pictures pertaining to the society, religion and political
institutions.

Homeric Society: Under the light of these sources, it is understood that the society and polity
in dark ages were aristocratic in nature. The heroes of Homeros were kings, chieftains and
nobles. Their power rested in wealth which was measured in land and flocks. The society of
the Dark Age was not highly organized urban society, but it was rural, aristocratic and warrior
society.
The great families possessed large estates under patriarchal direction.There were dependent
laborers who worked on the lands of the nobles and served them as faithful warriors during
wars. Moreover, there were slaves who were chiefly women employed as servants or
concubines. Many of them were captives of wars.

The main occupations of the people were agriculture and animal husbandry, in addition to
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trade which started to develop in the 9 century B.C. But the masters of the sea commerce in
the ancient world during this time were the Phoenicians.
Political Structure
During the Dark Ages or in the Homeric Age, the political institutions were primitive.
There was monarchy. The monarch was a leader in war; chief priest in religious life; and the
chief judge. Infact, he was not much more than a tribal leader. He could not make laws.
There were customs or traditions instead. These customs and traditions limited the power of
the monarch.

Around the monarch, each little community had its council of nobles composed of the heads
of the patriarchal families. The members of the council had right to quarrel with the king,
challenge his authority and at the same time they advised the king.

The 3rd organ was the assembly of warriors. It was composed of all adult male citizens.
As a matter of fact, the political concsiousness of the Greeks in the dark ages was so poorly
developed that they had no conception of government as an agency for the preservation of
social order.

Religion
Homeric religion was polytheistic. Polythesim is the worship of more than one god. Each
divinity was accepted as the supernatural divine power ruling the different field of life, such
as the god of sea, the god of sky, goddess of fertility org od of war. What dtermined theses
divine roles of the divinites was the worldly concerns and needs of the people.
The Homeric religion centered on worldly values. It was not otherworldly. Therefore it was
materialistic and it was not spiritual. Since it was not otherworldly there was no concepts of
hell, heaven and sin. Therefore it was not dogmatic. One of the other result of such an
understanding was the lack of a professional priesthood who could be responsible fort he
preservation of the dogmatic religious doctrines. The Homeroc religion was very rational and
pragmatic with the principle that DO UT DES ( “I am giving you because you will give
me”). The cornerstone in such a religious structure was sacrifice animals and offer votive
objects to the divinities in order to please them or in order to escape from their curse during
lifetime.
ARCHAIC AGE of GREECE (the 7th and 6th centuries B.C.)
After the Dark Age a new period started in the history of the ancient greeks around 800 B.C.
It was the Archaic Age which covered the 7th and 6th centuries B.C.This is an important
period because extraordinary changes took place in the Greek world. There was a kind of
revolution in political organizaiton, artistic traditions and intellectual values. For example the
formation of ethnos, establishments of polis -city-states- and the colonial movement are the
most worthy developments to be mentioned.

ARCHAIC GREECE

1. Ethnos : a territorial unit where the people with common cultural elements and
common historical background came to gether to live. In each ethnos people lived in
villages and small towns which were scattered . What united them was common
customs and a common religion. The ethnos was governed by an elite (the rule of the
few landowners).
A much more innovative form of political organization was Polis meaning city-state.

2. Polis: city-state (originall means citadel).

What were the social and economic conditions leading to the emergence of the Greek city-
states?
With the collapse of the Mycenean culture, many of the settlements in Greece had been
completely abondoned just after the Dorian arrival. Where they did not disappear, the
religious element became dominant and the acropolis, meaning high settlements built on the
mounds, became the religious center of the community. Here the people of the neighbouring
villages gathered for religious purposes. This is the ready or the existing condition which
paved the way for the emergence of polis.
Apart from this, some important changes in social organization can be regarded as the
determining factor for the formation of the city-states.
What was the change in the social conditions?
After their arrival into Greece, the Dorians were organized into tribes. Blood relationship,
kinship was dominant in the tribal system. Another peculiarity of the tribal organization was
that there was no fixed individual property because the traditions did not permit to
individual ownership. According to the custom, cultivable land was the property of all
members of the tribes and they were shared on equal terms. So, the understanding was
collective ownership: A particular plot of land was not cultivated continuously. When the
land lost its freshness, it was abandoned and the fertile or the fresh one was found. So long as
the population was sparse and so long as the abundant wasteland existed, any exact definition
of property right was not necessary. Under such conditions, mobility of population was
relatively great. For instance, a tribe could easily change the plain that it occupied and went to
another place which was more fertile. However, as time went on, population increased and
technological development in agriculture expressed itself. Therefore, continuous cultivation
of a particular spot became possible. As a result of this development, population movement
became less common, and ties of locality gained importance and became much more
important than the ties of kinship. So, the occupation of the same land became common. So,
by this way, the village communities emerged. These village communities, which were
founded mainly upon tribal organization, began to give way to larger political units.
From the economic point of view, the increase in commercial activities was a factor, too, in
the formation of the city-states. As trade increased, market places were established and they
strengthened their position. So, at the end, the cities grew up around market places, with
defensive fortifications around and with religious centers. These new larger political units
became also the seats of government for whole community.

In short, these settlements were fortified religious, political and economic centers, with their
market places including the shops and the residences of the merchants, craftsmen and artisans
and with their scared areas or sanctuaries.
Concerning the nature of the Polis, ancient historians agree that the city-state was a group of
pepole, not a piece of territory. Boundaries were vague. Around it there were several small
communities each of which was strong in its allegiance to its own polis. These units were
governed by monarchs and each was controlling its own surrounding region. Each city-state
had absolute freedom in the control of its local government and its relations with the other
states. This means that polis was self-governing. Membership in the citizenship of a polis
depended on birth, not on residence in the locality. Every freeborn Greek was born as a
member of a polis. His whole life centered around it. In every Greek city-state, slaves were
excluded from citizenship by their status. Moreover strangers coming from some other city
were not admitted to citizenship. The aristocratic idea was that the citizens should be ready to
fight for his own polis. So, there was a strong devotion of citizen class to the police itself.

The formation of polis was accomponied by Stratification of Society, Emergence of

Aristocratic Class and the End of the Monarchies.
3. Stratification of Society and the Emergence of Aristocratic Class in Hellas
With the start of the settled conditions in Greece the tie of the tribal organization was
abandoned and the tie of kinship left its place to the tie of locality. The development of the
settled conditions in agriculture brought about the transition from the collective ownership to
the individual property. The direct result of this was the concentration of the landed richness
in some people in the community. Landowners appeared, who called “aristoi” meaning “the
best”. The acquisition of the land individually by the certain people means loss of the land by
the rest of the community. While the power of some people increased, the rest were deprived
of some rights. In other words, while some became rich, the others sank into poverty and the
poor ones was brought under the patronage of the rich.
So this was the emergence of aristocracy. The lower class of the society in the Greek world in
that time started to be composed of small farmers, landless men and serfs. Against the
landowners (aristocrats) the small farmers had little chance. Many of them sank into tenantry,
serfdom and slavery. Moreover, agricultural methods and the poor quality of the soil made the
situation difficult for the small farmer. The scarcity in produce made the prices high and
increased the power of the great landowners and increased the distress of the poor.
4. The End of Monarchies
Gradually with the increasing power and prestige of the aristocratic class, monarchies came to
end. The Greek city- states had begun their histories as monarchies. But the emergence of the
classification in the society and the expansion of the aristocratic influence over the other
social classes brought about political evolution. All socio-political developments made
necessary to organize the states to satisfy the needs of the time. There occured some changes;
so regulations, organizations of somethings according to the changing needs of the changing
time and conditions.
So, monarch himself was not enough to perform his duties. New officials were needed and
therefore appointed from the aristocratic class to assist the monarch.
The nobles who based their power on land and traced their ancestry to the heroes and the
gods, thus acquired privilege and immunity under the sense of nobility, participated in the
governmental affairs and became powerful in the assemblies which were consulted by the
monarchs. Gradually in most of the states, aristocrats assumed control through their council.
As the owners of great estates, they gained ever-greater economic power and they were
decided to wrest the political authority from the monarch and vest it in the council which they
generally controlled. Only the religious power was left to the kingship. Then, the kingship
which was hereditary up to that time became an elective office.
With the gain of the political and military power, the aristocrats claimed to be the guardians
of the god-given laws and began to control the courts. There was not a sysytem of written
laws. So, they gained the right to judge. Apart from that they had also military power since
they were giving military service in the army as cavalry. To be cavalry required expensive
equipment such as horse, helmet, shiled and spear. Therefore only the rich people could equip
themselves with such expensive arms. They were the aristocrats.
At the end we see the replacement of the kingship by the aristocratic governments. And in the
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beginning of the 8 century B.C. in Ionia the kings were overthrown. In the 8 and the 7
centuries in Greece they kingships ended.
5. COLONIAL EXPANSION (c. 750-550 B.C.)
All these socio political developments were accomponied and followed by a vast overseas
expansion lasting from about 750 to 550 B.C. with the establishments of Greek colonies on
the different parts of the Medit. World.
What were the factors leading to this Colonial expansion.
I. Population Growth: The first factor was an overpopulation. During the centuries when
the Greek city-states took a shape, population grew rapidly. The increase led to a
shortage of cultivable land. The question was general in the land.
II. The land shortage created a sharp gap within the social structure and brought about
widespread struggles betrween rich and poor. The poor began to look for new
lands and jobs for their livelihood.
III. In the meantime there was a desire for commercial expansion in order to find raw
materials and new markets for industrial products. The superabundant oil and wine
that the Greeks produced led to the planting of commercial settlements, in other
words colonies.

Nature of Colony
Each colony was independent unit having a tie with the mother-city only based on blood
relation-ship and common religious elements.
Examples:
Greek Colonization extended in 3 main directions: north to the Black Sea Coast such as
Sinope and Trapezus and the Sea of Marmora and north Aegean; West to the southern Italy
and Siciliy, southern France and eastern Spain; southward to the Eastern Meditrrenean.
In regard to the results of the Greek Colonial Movement it is seen that
1. the Greek culture spread around the shores of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
2. While the native tribes acquired the greek cultures from the colonies, they offered new
opportunities to the Greek merchants for the purchase of raw materials and the sale
of industrial products.
3. At the end, the demand for home products, the opening of new markets, the contact
with foreign people, the increase of knowledge and new ideas about the world brought
the Greeks into a consciousness of their own ethno-cultural identity. It was after the
colonial movement that the Greeks began to use words Hellas and Hellenes to include
all Greeks whereever located in order to distinquish themselves from the alien people,
barbarians. So at the end we see that ethno-cultural identity came to the fore.
POLITICAL EVOLUTION
The General Line of Political Development From Monarchy to Democracy.

Under the multiple economic influences such as growth of trade, industry and
colonization, the city-states in Greece underwent startling political changes.
They began their histories as Monarchies. Then about 800 B.C. the monarchs had
lost their powers to the nobles (aristocrats) and the result was establishment of
aristocratic type of governments. It was the rule of those in which wealth gained
from landed estae was a necessity for holding political office.
However, the nobles who based their powers on the landed estates did not long enjoy
their unchallenged position. With the revival of trade and industry middle class
emerged including merchants, artisans and the craftsmen. These wealthy newcomers
were able make their way into positions of power and influence even without having
noble family connections. This middle class were obtaining landed estates not through
inheritance but through purchase. So when the basis of wealth became money instead
of land, many men became rich and they were able to demand and secure a share in
the government. As a result oligarchies which were the rules of the fews succeeded to
political power. In oligarchy, wealth which was gained from any source rather than
from landed estates, became the chief requirement for holding political office.

Later, oligarchy yielded to the timocracy when increased prosperity, cheaper metals
and improved methods of production brought armor within the reach of the average
man. Most city-states organized heavy armed infantry, the members of which were
from well-to-do citizens.
Before that only people who were equipped themselves with cavalry equipment took
a part in the army and therefore had a political right. And mostly they were the rich
segment of the society, in other words the nobles (aristocrats). Thus the military
power and thus the political power was monopolized within this class.
But now this military power expanded over a larger segment of the society including
those who could equip themselves with infantry arms. So these people now were able
to secure a share in the government. The result was timocracy which was the rule of
those rich enough to equip themselves with heavy armor.

On the other hand, those who were too poor to able to afford a hoplite’s equipment
had no share in the government. They had economic hardship. This led to disorder in
the society. The situation was aggravated by the shift from a barter to a monetary
economy. Meanwhile the introduction of olive and wine culture in agriculture made
the situation of the poor class worse. The cultivation of olive and wine was much
more profitable than cultivating grain in Greece. But there is a long time span
between the planting and the obtaining the first crops. So within this long period, only
the rich people could afford such a wait. The poor had no chance to engage in the
cultivation of olive and wine. They borrowed money from the nobles for that. But
they could not pay back. At the end a large debtor class appeared and most of them
became slaves and toys at the hands of the nobles.
Due to the economic depression of the lower class the conflicts of the economic
interests reached it peak.Discontent increased more and more.
The disorders gave opportunities for able men to rise to power. By encouraging hopes
and promising relief from chaos, ambitious demagogues attracted enough popular
support from the agricultural classes and trading - industrial classes to come into
power. The leaders of successful factions, prominent nobles or the leaders of the
common folk, magistrates or generals turned their official position or power or
prestige to good account in one state after another. They became the champions of the
popular cause and established personal governments. In other words the natural fruit
of the class conflicts and economic disturbances of the majority was the establishment
of Tyranny, which was a kind of dictatorship. Such unconstitutional dictators were
called tyrants by the Greeks.However, in spite of their benevolent achievements, as
time went on the tyrants were regarded by the Greeks as usurpers, since they started
to rule as a dynasty.
Gradually, the lack of political rights among the members of the lower class and
increasing political consciousness of the common citizens fueled the flames of a
desire for the establishments of democratic regimes. (Democracy: the power of
people).
This was the general political evolution in ancient Greece. Indeed, all these changes
did not take place in all states or at one time or in any fixed order. But this was the
tendency. The history of the city-state Athens is a very good example for this political
evolution.
ATHENS

All the reforms towards democracy in Athens were the results of the socio-economic
disturbances. In regard to the political transformation in Athens, the first change came
with the decline in the power of the kingship while the landed aristocrats were
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increasing their power in the society. From the mid of the 8 century B.C. on, the
council of the nobles wrested the political authority from the king and gained political
privileges and military power. With the stratification of the society according to
wealth, the nobles reached very high status ever greater than before. Their possession
of large estates and thus their wealth enabled them to keep horses in the army as
cavalry and therefore to have military power and thus right to take a part in the state
affairs.
th th
During the Archaic age, the 7 and 6 centuries B.C., the introduction of olive and
wine culture contributed much to the increasing power of the aristocratic class and
contributed much to the distress of the lower class.
Meanwhile in Athens due to the development of trade and industry an urban class
emerged including merchants, craftsmen, artisans etc. Under the influence of money
economy and slavery, the urban middle class took up the cause of the peasants in the
liberalization of the government. By taking a part on the side of the lower class, they
reacted and started to struggle against the aristocrats. What they want was the
improvement of the economic conditions and to have political rights.
At the end, social and economic discontent, commercial and industrial development
making the society more complex, legal confusion and feuds among the great families
accelerated popular discontent. The dissatisfaction of the people made Athens ripe for
some reforms and made the clearer conception of the laws necessary.
Up to that time there existed the ancient customs and traditions instead of written
laws. These customs were regarded as the wills of the divinities and the aristocratic
class had always claimed that they were the guardians of these customs. In trial cases
the aristocrats judged the people according to these customs. However, the customs
were open to the interpretations of the aristocrats. So it was arbitrary. But people
living within a social disturbances wanted to know where they stood in front of the
laws.
The reform giving a response to this want was the Codification of Laws.

DRACON
In 621 B.C. Draco was elected with powers and instructions to codify the laws. But
the codification of the laws was not more than the record of the ancestral customs.
Just the power of the arbitrary and unstable interpretation which the noble
judges previously had was reduced. By these laws the various kinds of murder were
defined and proper penalties were affixed. However, while the recording of the law
secured a more balanced justice, it did not correct the fundamental economic evils
of the period.
Because of the debt and dispossession of land, the peasants were steadily losing their
lands and becoming serfs and sank into slavery. For the debtor class the situation was
aggravated by the scarcity of food, the introduction of coinage and the high rates of
interests. Farmers who sank into debt or those who lost their land wanted cancellation
of debts and redistribution of the landed property.

Another problem was military in Athens. As small farmers lost their land from
failure to repay their debts, the number of hoplites available for the Athenian phalanx
was reduced. Because according to the regulations, only the people who had
economic power to equip themselves with heavy arms could be hoplite. Generally
these people were those who had certain amount of land as the basis of their economic
wealth. But due to the repressive agricultural policy that the aristocrats followed, most
of these people lost their land and thus were unable to serve as hoplites in the army.
The result was that the army was ruined and the civil strife broke out.
All these problems led the Athenians in 594 B.C. to appoint the aristocrat Solon as the
chief magistrate with absolute power to carry out reforms and revise the laws.

SOLON
The reforms of Solon were directed towards moderating social conflict.
First of all he cancelled all debts and all mortgages were cancelled. Moreover,
enslavement for debt in the future was forbidden. Those who had been enslaved for
debt were freed and those who had been sold outside of Attica were redeemed by the
State. Solon had no power over the fields in the hands of the nobles. Therefore he
refused to take revolutionary steps necessary to re-divide the land.
However, he brought limitation to the amount of land that one individual could own.
With this limitation the economic power of the aristocrats was shaken.

Classification of the Athenian Society

Another achievement of Solon was the classification of the Athenian society.
st
The 1 class was composed of the rich people whose estates produced five hundred
nd
measures of grain or oil. The 2 class were the knights serving in the cavalry.
rd
The 3 class was composed of small farmers who served as hoplites in the army and
they were the members of the new council of four hundreds created by Solon. There
were 4 tribes in Athens and one hundred from each tribe was chosen by lot from these
th
first 3 classes. The 4 class was composed of the landless and poor people. This class
gained right of membership in the public assembly called Ecclessia.( The most
important result of Solon’s definition of the classes was the possibility that a
prosperos man might rise to greater power, regardless of his origin, whatever the
basis of wealth was. This means that the power of the aristoctrats, who based their
on landed wealth, decreased in the aristocratic council.

Another institution established by Solon was Heliaea. It was the popular supreme
court. It is open to all citizens over thirty from all classes. The decisions taken by this
court was certain.

However, in spite of these reforms, the discontent in the society continued. Why?
Beecuse the middle class and the lower one were still excluded from the offices of
magistracy
On the other hand the noble class dissatisfied because their some rights and privileges
were taken away (for example the limitation of land that they could own).

PEISISTRATUS
After Solon, during the next 30 years, some rival parties were formed. Hill Party the
members of which were the small farmers, charcoal burners and miners; Plain Party,
the members of which were the aristocratic landowners and the Shore Party, the
members of which were the merchants, artisans, craftsmen and fishermen. Each had
clashing interests with one another.

Within this chaotic circumstances, a successful commander Peisistratus took

advantage of his prestige and by promising relief from chaos and by encouraging
hopes, he took popular support against the aristocrats and he declared his tyranny in
560 B.C. However, despite his benevolent achievements, he gradually acted as a
dictator and turned his rule into a dynastic character with his sons.

KLEISTHENES
The persisting problems started to be eliminated by Kleisthenes who was given right
to govern in 508 B.C. He was the other reformer in the history Athens accepted as the
father of democracy.
His most important achievement towards democratization was the new tribal
organization and the establishment of the council of five hundreds. He broke up the
ancestral tribal system.
The political leadership of aristocratic families had rested on their privileged positions
as religious and political leaders of the tribes as you know. In order to shake the
power of the aristocracy, the radical step of Kleisthenes was to deprive the old 4 tribes
of all political functions.
What did he do?
As you know the Attica region was composed of plain, shore and hill parts each with
its own population having different economic pursuits and interests. So this structure
led to the local rivalries, particularism, local factionalism.
During the time of Kleisthenes each part was divided into 10 parts. So, there were 10
units in the Hill, 10 in the plain and 10 in the shore; totally 30 units in the whole
region. Finally 1 from hill, 1 from the plain and 1 from the shore, Kleisthenes brought
3 parts together. These 3 parts formed a new tribe. Finally 10 tribes were formed.
Within each tribe there were people from not only hill or shore but from every part.
By doing so, Kleisthenes put an end to the local factionalism and particularism
followed by the aristocratic class.
Each tribe, from the whole body of its citizens chose 50 men over 30 years of age by
lot. Totally five hundred men. These 50 men formed a new council, the council of
five-hundreds which replaced the council of four-hundreds.
Each 50 men from one tribe presided over the state affairs as an executive committee
in order and the order of the tribes was determined by lot. The entire membership, the
whole body of the council (five-hundred men), might come together on important
occasions.
Another important accomplishment of Kleisthenes, which marks the development to
democracy, was the instution of Ostracismos.
It was a peculiar custom in order to prevent the emergence of Tyranny.
Once a year a vote was taken. The people, the voters, wrote the name of any man in
the city who was dangerous for the state or who had dictatorial ambitions and
therefore should be sent to exile. The names of the candidates for exile were written
on potsherds or ostracon in ancient Greek. The individual against whom the largest
number of votes had been cast was sent into exile for 10 years without confiscation of
property.
Therefore Ostarcismos was regarded as a system to prevent further civil strife and to
prevent the party rivalries.

nd
All these democratic reforms reached it climax during the reign of Perikles in the 2
th
part of the 5 century B.C. Among the important reforms of Perikles the new function
of Heliaea is worthy to mention.

• The judicial functions were given to the popular supreme court, Heliaea.
• This court was divided into a number of Juries.
• At the beginning of each year, a list of 6000 citizens was chosen by lot from
the
various sections of the country.
• From this list separate juries were made up of for particular trials.
• Each of these juries constituted a court with power to decide.
• The people were the jury and the jury itself was the judge. And here was the
democracy.

While the situation was so in Athens , the conditions in Sparta followed a quite
different line.
SPARTA
The Spartans were originally Dorians. After their arrival into Greece a branch of the Dorians
invaded Peloponnessus Peninsula including Mesenia and Laconia. They settled on this region
with their center Sparta. And they turned the inhabitants of Messenia into serfs, called Helot.

In its early history Sparta played an important part in the early revival of culture. They had
commercial relations with the outside world. But its cultural advance was suddenly halted.
The event leading to this was the the Helot uprising called as the Messenian Revolt.
The Messenian Revolt:
About 650 B.C. the Messenians who were reduced to slavery revolted against their Spartan
masters. It was a long lasting wars. At the end the Spartans won the war.
After the war the social and the political structure changed dramatically.

The Spartan Socio-Political Structure

From this time on the Spartans feared that further foreign warfare was dangerous for them
since it might give an opportunity for a helot uprising. For this reason their foreign policy
became defensive after this event.

During the course of war, the Spartans converted their army into phalanx form. In order to
win the war, the Spartans instituted a rigid discipline. The citizen body became something like
a standing army. This was the Spartan militarism. The peculiarity also resulted from the same
fear of a possible Helot Revolt.
While the Spartans subdued and despoiled the Messenians, they infact enslaved themselves.
Because they lived in fear of insurrection throughout the remainig centuries.They had a srong
resistance to any change. They thought that any innovation might invoke the Helots and might
result in weakening of the system. This was the Spartan conservatism.
The Spartan provincialism can also attributed to the same cause. According to the Spartan
mind dangerous ideas might be brought into country through the contact with the outside
world. So, they even dissscouraged travel and abolished trade with the foreign communities.
Furthermore it was essential for the Spartans to establish and maintain absolute supremacy of
the citizen class over the population of serfs. This necessity required an iron discipline and a
strict subordination of the individual. This was the Spartan collectivism which extended in
every branch of the social and economic life.
Because of all these reasons Sparta failed to make any progress in the direction of democratic
rule.
SOCIAL STRUCTURE
From the social point of view the Spartans became very rigid in their social life. At the
bottom of the social ladder there were Helots. They were owned by the state. They were
bound to the soil.
The other segment of the society was Perioeci. They were the dwellers around. It is most
probable that they were the peoples that, at one time, had been the allies of the Spartans or
those who had submitted voluntarily to the Spartan domination. They formed a buffer
population between the Spartans and the Helots. Sometimes they were given to engage in
commerce and manufacturing. But their foreign relations were under the control of the
Spartans. They served as heavy armed troops in the army.
At the top there were the Spartans. All the Spartans constituted the ruling class. They alone
had political privileged. They called themselves “equals”.
POLITICAL STRUCTURE
There were two monarchs at the top. They had 3 fuunctions: they priests, the commanders of
the army and the members of the council called Gerousia. Why two kings existed was
because of that the Spartans did not want emergence of only one man as a tyran. To the
Spartan mind tyranny was a transitional regime to democracy which was dangerous for their
system. Instead they had 2 kings which checked each other in order to block the inclination
toward the establishment of tyranny.
nd
The 2 branch was the council, Gerousia. It consisted of 2 kings and 28 nobles 60 or over
years of age. This council supervised the work of administration.
rd
The 3 organ of government was the assembly called Apella. It was made up of all Spartan
adult male citizens over thirty. It was a passive body without initiative and elected all public
officials.
The highest authority under the Spartan constitution was vested in a board of five men
knowns as Ephorate. (they were elected annually from each of five tribe). This body served
as the executive board of the state. It was virtually the government (It enforced the laws). Its
presence marks oligarchic type of regime.
***
Athens and Sparta, the two distinct political unit contrasting to each other in character
had a general hostility between themselves throughout the Greek history. While the Spartan
State used its effort to overthrow tyrans and repress revolutionary movements around itself,
Athens had always become a model for the establishment of democratic institutions in the
other Greek city-States. They always kept their enmity infact. It was this enmity paving the
way for the end of the Greek civilization in Hellas. (The event putting this end was the
Peloponnessian wars between Athens and Sparta which lasted from 431 to 404 B.C. )
RELIGION – MYTH AND MYTHOLOGY IN THE ANCIENT GREEK CULTURE

Ancient Greek religion was polytheistic.

What the Greeks wanted was not the gods having great powers.
They thought of their gods like human being, for instance like nobles, or superman and
superwomen.
They had antropomorphic shapes and humanfeelings such as wants, weakness, love and
feeling of struggle etc.
They differed from humans only in the fact that they were immortals.
Each member of the Greek Pantheon was supreme in different fields, such as war, fertility,
sea, love and so forth.
Another aspect of the Greek religion in the Dark Ages is tha fact that it was not dogmatic. So
the Greeks worshiped their divinities freely.
There was no conception of sin.
This means that they believed that after they die, no one was rewarded for good deeds and no
one was punished for sins. So, the understanding was worldly. Only worldly needs and
satisfactions were important.
Worship in early Greek religion consisted mainly of sacrifice: In order to please the gods
people made offerings and sacrificed animals such as bulls, goats, ships.
So, the worshipper just made the proper sacrifice and then hoped the best in his life. So it is
very materialistic and rational and pragmatic.

For such a religion no elaborate institutions were necessary. The professional priesthood
which was responsible for preserving some religious dogmas or strict principles was not
required.

The earliest written sources for the archaic aspects of greek religion was the books of
Homeros; especially the book of Hesiodos, named Theogonia.

HESIODOS
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Hesiodos lived in the 7 century B.C in Boetia in Greece.
He left two books to us.
Theogonia and Works & Days.
THEOGONIA :
Theogonia involves cosmogonical and divine tales.
In this book, Hesiodos deals with the birth of the gods and goddesses;
where they come from; how were they born.
While defining these he not only aims at showing the roots of some symbolic beings; but also
aims at creating a cosmogony; in other words to indicate the process of formation and
development of all beings symbolizing nature or all beings involved in the nature.
This is an imagination for the begining.
In every religion we see such imaginative beginings.
Mostly all the holy books are the products of such an attempt : to define the process from
nonexistence to existence step by step:
how the world came into being;
how the divinities were born;
then came the third question: who created the humanbeing.
Hesiodos had follow the same process in his Theogonia.
The book includes a mass of fascinating mythical and theological stories.
It talks about the history of the world from the earliest stage including the birth of the
divinities.

WORKS & DAYS

In his other book, Works and Days, the main theme was the ordinary people; peasants;
farmers; the life or daily activities of the this class; their problems; mainly economic
difficulties; he wrote himself or his brother; his friend or his neighbour; he tells his own age;
his own thoughts and his own beliefs.
He reflected the values of the people living in countryside. Therefore he is accepted as the
representative of this class including farmers and herdsman.
He is the first poet stating the thoughts, feelings and troubles of this class. He always tries to
reflect the realities of the life of his own age.

Because the objective of the author is the explain the causes to live. He know the
circumstances of life; define them; criticize them.

On the other hand the main characters of Homeros are the members of the aristocratic class;
he is like the representative of this class; the kings; heroes; their life style; he exalted the
noble class; they regard most of them like semi-divine beings.

What is myth ?
Myth is very important part of the ancient Greek Literature.
The common stock of myths was the great treasure of the ancient Greeks.
What is myth?
Why did the ancient Greeks created myths ?
What is the nature of myth?
What is the function of myth?

MYTH & MYTHOLOGY

The term myth comes from MUTHOS.
Muthos means something said; or a story.
The term mythology comes from MUTHOS and LOGOS.
Logos implies something like “analytical statement or theory.
First time Plato used the term mythology in the meaning of telling of stories.
Today we use the term mythology in the meaning of the study of myths or set of myths or
their content.

By the term of muthos the Greeks themselves meant the traditional tales of gods and heroes.
What is myth?
Myth is a story !
Then every story is a myth ? NO !!
Myths is a traditional story !!
Then every traditional story is a myth? NO !!
What is traditional story ?
Many of the traditional stories are about historical events and persons of the past.
But not every stories of historical events or the every stories about persons of the past can not
be classified as myths.
For example there are legends; apartfrom legends there are folktales ?
What are the differences between the legend and myth ?
What is the difference between folktale and myth?
Legend :
Legend is a story; it is a traditional story; the legend is always rooted in actuality (in some
sense).
So legend is semi-historical story !!!But it exxeggerates and distorts history.
What is folktale?
Folktale :
Folktale is the simple story of adventure involving some intrigues and ingenuities and
ingenuities sometimes with giants or other supernatural beings.
Every society has its folktales.
The folktales reflect the solutions of simple dilemmas, wish-fulfilment adventures involving
the slaying of monsters and the winning of princess,
All these are main characteristics of folktales.
So folktales are about life; about the problems, willls or aspirations of ordinary people; folk
itself!!
Moreover folktales are not dealing with large questions, such as inevitably of death.
Its social structure is limited to family (for instance problems with step-mother or jealous
sisters; these are the typical topics of the folktales
Folktale seems to be reliastic; It is impersonal.
It is not set in timeless past; it is within historical time; in the past enough; “Once, upon a
time”.
On the other hand Myth:
Myth does not include historical or semi-historical elements ; but myth include religious
elements such as gods or semi-divine figures.
There is no actuality in myth; There is fantasy and a deepness.
It deals with large questions; birth, death; how the earth was created; what is god; how
huumanbeing was created; who created the universe.
Myth is set in timeless past; yes, it sometimes involve some deatils of contemporary life, but
these details are superficial.
The main figures of myth are gods and goddesses, semi-divine figures and heroes
Why the ancient people created myths?
All myths offer a cause or explanation of something in the real world.
In order to explain some phenomenon in the universe the Greeks created these myths; in order
to define and explain the relation between man and society, nature and the universe.
Morover every custom and institution, and values, beliefs in a traditional society were
invalidated or to be confirmed by a myth. Myth states a precedent for it.
And therefore myths were the common treasure of the ancient Greeks; myth was like a glue
holding the scattered Greek communities together.
Because it was myths that sanctioned and supported the power of social, political and
religious traditions of the ancient Greek societies.
FROM MYTHS TO PHILOSOPHY
In its early history, the Greek cultur is the myth-dominated culture. However in the
subsequent period this myth-dominated culture gradually turned into a culture in
which philosophy was an important element especially with its famous philosophers
such as Thales, Pythagoras, Socrates, Platon and Aristotales.
THE MILESIAN SCHOOL
The first philosophical argument came into the Greek world with Thales from
th
Miletos in the early part of the 6 century B.C. Thales was the founder of the Milesian
School. Miletos, a city-state on the western coast of Anatolia, had been established at
th
the begining of the 1st millenium B.C. in Ionia in the 6 century B.C.; therefore the
Milesian School is also called as the Ionian philosophy or Ionic School.
Thales is accepted as the first Greek thinker who cleansed his mind from myths and
used his reason and thus regarded as the first scientist. He was followed by
Anaximendros and Anaximenes.
The chief characteristic of the Milesian philosophy was materialistic and scientific
approach.
What was the interest of the Milesian thinkers?
They started to be interested in the universe; the object of their inquiry was the world
as a whole- the physical world itself. They attempted to discover the nature of the
physical world.
In the previous period to explain the universe and its nature was the business of
Hesidos but in a completely different way: in the mythical way and by an irrational
way. However the Milesian thinkers rejected the details of this model; they refused
the Hesiodos’ explanation of the universe.

According to the Milesian Philosophy, the source of all things was “some primary
substance.”

• Thales, the founder of the School, claimed that the primary substance is water.
• For Anaximenes the original material of the universe is air. It turns successively
wind, vapor, water, earth and stone.
• Anaximander, went further. To his mind, none of this is the source. To his mind
there is something “uncreated and imperishable.” He called this substance as the
“Boundless.”
It is understood that the Milesian thinkers were essentially cosmogonists. During the
6th century, all these thoughts or disscussions had a great significance and
importance, because it broke or changed the mythological and religious beliefs of the
Greeks about the origin of the world and brought rational explanations to the fore.
***
At the end of the 6th. century B.C. the nature of the Greek philosophy began to
change. Instead of occupying in the problems of the physical world, it developed into
a metaphysical turn : being and the nature of being, truth and the meaning of thruth”
and “the position of the divine power in the scheme of things” became central in the
philosophical discussions.
Under the leadership of Pythagoras, the members of this philosophical work had an
inclination to interpret philosophy in terms of religion: They claimed that the
essence of things is not a material substance, but an abstract one.

They put a sharp line between spirit and matter, good and evil, harmony and disccord.
Therefore they were regarded as the founders of dualism in the Greek thought.
***
After the Pythagoreans, the debate over the nature of the universe intensified in the
second half of the 5th century B.C. There was a new philosophical movement. It was
Atomism.
Democritus was their leader. According to the thoughts of atomists, atoms which
were infinite in number constitutes the universe. The atoms were the parts of the
universe and they were indivisible and indestructible. They differ in size and shape.
Each individual object or organism in the universe is the product of fortuitous
concourse of atoms This can be regarded as strong materialistic inclination in the
early Greek thought.
The leader of the atomists, Democritus, denied the immortality of the soul and the
existence of any spiritual world. At the same time he was a moral idealist, becaause
he affirms that “good means not only not to do wrong, but rather not to desire to do
wrong.”
***

About the mid of the 5th. century B.C. there was an intellectual revolution in Greece.
This is the time of democracy in Athens. The struggles among the social classes
which led to the the rise in the power of the citizen and brought about the growth of
individualism. These developments left its impact on the philosophy. It brought about
a reaction against the old mode of thinking. Some Greek philosophers abondoned the
study of physical universe and turned to the subjects concerning “the individual.”
These philosophers were known as the Sophists. One of the chief personalities among
the Sophists was Protagoras.
The essence of the Sophist philosophy : “Man is the measure of all things.”By this
essence “goodness, truth, justice and beauty are relative to the needs and interests of
man.” There are no absolute truths or eternal standarts of right and justice. Morality
differs from one people to another. Individualism of Sophists aroused opposition in
Greece. According to this opposition, if there is no final truth and if goodness and
justice are relative to the thoughts of the individual, religion, morality, the state and
society could not be maintained.
So under such a view, a new philosophic movement emerged in which absolute
standards exist. Among the leaders of this philosophical movement, the most known
were Socrates, Plato and Aristotales.

PLATO :
The doctrine of Ideas:
For Plato relativity and change are the characteristics of the physical world which
human perceive by his senses. However, he admit that this world is not the complete
universe. According to him apart from this physical world, a higher one, a spiritual
world exist. And this spiritual world is composed of eternal forms and ideas. And
these eternal forms and ideas are can be conceived by only mind. These are spiritual
things. Thus to his mind there are ideas of man, tree, shape, proportion, colour,
justice, beauty. Among them the highest one was the Idea of Good. Because the idea
of the good is the guiding purpose of the universe. And the things that human
perceives by his senses are only imperfect copies of the Ideas. And the ideas are the
supreme realities.
Apart from his doctrine of Ideas, Plato had remarkable idea or ideal in the political
field.
HIS IDEAL STATE :
Plato had an ideal about how a state should be pertaining to its structure or
construction. According to his ideal, in constructing a state there would be no room
for confusion and self-seeking understanding among the social classes or even among
the individuals. Harmony and efficiency are important things for the stability and
these two things are enough: No democracy or no liberty.
HIS IDEAL SOCIETY:
According to Plato an ideal society society should be composed of three classes.
1. The lowest class included farmers, artisans and merchants. It was a productive
and serving class. This class at the bottom should always be act on behalf of
the whole community. The members of this class are to be responsible for the
production and distribution of the goods for the community.
2. The second class included soldiers. The role of this class is defence; to defend
and protect the whole community.
3. At the top there is intellectual aristocracy; and this class represent the function
of reason. It was the ruling segment of the society. They enjoy a monopoly of
political power.

In this ideal society the social ranks would be determined according to a criteria. The
criteria was education.It means that birth or wealth are not criteria.
***
ARISTOTALES
Aristotales dealt with natural sciences, politics, ethics, rhetoric, logic and
metaphysics.He establishedf a school with the name “LYCEUM” at Athens.

What was the concept on the universe in the philosophy of Aristotales?

To his mind, matter is as important as form. They have equal importance. And he
thought that form can not exist without matter and matter can not exist without form.
Universe owes its character to the union matter and form.
What about his idea on state? (his work = Politics)
He produced some political theories like Plato. To his mind state is the supreme

power for the advancement of good life. He declared that state can not be artifical

product of the few who came to political power by their ambitions. On the other hand

state can not be constructed on the wills of the many.According to his ideal, the best
political regime is not kingship; not aristocratic type of rule; not dmocratic regime.

It should be something between oligarchy and democracy: It was a commonwealth

intermediate between these two regimes: There should be a middle class; and this
class should control the state; in order to prevent the concentration of wealth the
number of its members should be numerous. And the state or the governemnt should
defend the poor; should give financial aid to the poor; by doing so state increased the
life standarts of the poor; increased the prosperity of the poor; thus increase the self-
esteem of the poor.
***
EPICURANSIM

Epicuranism was originated in Greece around 300 B.C. and founded by Epicurus.
The followers of epicureanism based their philosophy on atomism. They accepted the
materialism of the atomists. But they denied the theory that mechanical motion of the
atoms can be the cause of all things in the universe.
Their remarkable thought concerning human being and life is that they believe in
fatalism. According to the Epicureans fatalism would be the law of the universe.
Their ethical philosophy was based on the doctrine that the highest good is pleasure. It
does not imply the bodily or flesh pleasure. They believed that physical pleasure
should be avoided. They saw that mental pleasure is better than the flesh one. They
claimed that the highest pleasure is to have peaceful spirit. But in order to have a
peaceful and cool spirit all fears should be removed from the mind. Especially fear of
supernatural should be removed. According to them divinities are living too far away
from the world. And therefore they do not intervene in human affairs. They do not
punish or reward the mortals during lifetime. So there is no reason why they should
be feared.
STOICS:
The Stoic philosophy was one of the noblest product of the Hellenistic Age in
teaching equalitarianism, pacifism, humanitarianism and universalism.
The founder of the Stoic philosophy was Zeno (ca. 335 –ca. 263). Like Epicureanism
universalism was important; they defended that there was no distinction among the
people. According to the Stoic philosophy no individual is master of his fate; It means
they can not overcome their fate. They can accept their fate or they can rebel against
their fate; but whether they accept or rebel, they can not overcome it.
The supreme duty is to submit to the order of the universe in the knowledge that this
order is good.