Mycenaeans

1
Mycenaeans

• The Age of Heroes

2
Minoans

• Where were the Minoans located?
• What happened to them?
• What is a city-state?
• Why was ancient Greece a collection of
  city-states?

3
Mycenaeans

• 1900BCE-1100BCE
• The Age of Heroes
• Much of their art shows warriors in heroic feats
  (war, fighting animals)

4
Acropolis

• The Mycenaeans and Greek city states that
  followed built cities surrounded by fortresses.
  These fortresses were usually built on hills.
  The ancient Greek word for a high point was
  akron.
• The fortress on the hill became known as an
  acropolis.
• The acropolis was also the location of religious
  temples to worship gods and goddesses.
• What advantage did acropolises have?

5
Mycenaean Daily Life

• Polytheistic
• Had writing
• Became wealthy through trade and war
• Responsible for the legend of the Trojan War
• Collapsed around 1100BCE due to earthquakes and
  invasions
• 1100BCE-750BCE Greece fell into a dark age, no
  writing

6
Epic

• Epic Long poem about historic deeds
• First great epics were the Iliad and the Odyssey
  by Homer

7
The Iliad

• Prince of Troy kidnapped the wife of the king of
  Sparta
• King of Mycenae and the brother of the King of
  Sparta lead the Greeks to Troy to get her back
• 10 year battle
• Greeks leave Trojan horse with soldiers inside
• Trojans take horse inside, nightfall, Greeks
  climb from the horse and take the city

8
The Odyssey

• Story of Odysseus, a Greek hero and his journey
  home from the Trojan War
• 10 year journey
• Odysseus faces storms, witches, and giants on his
  journey home to his wife