Introduction

Land of Greece: general size, climate, & features

Food & Livestock: basic foods and animals

Stone Ages: when did settlers first arrive; what was Greece like in Neolithic (New Stone Age, 6500-3500 BC) like? Where did the idea of farming & domestical animals come from?

When, roughly, was Crete settled?

Four main periods of the Minoan Bronze Age? Their chief characteristics? How did they end?

"Palaces:" function, who lived in them, amenities, purposes of the central courtyard?

Religion: whom did they worship, where did they worship, importance of animals?

What type of writing system did they have? Deciphered?

What is their art like? Themes?

What are the main periods of the mainland Bronze Age and their chief characteristics? How did they end?

Who are the Indo-Europeans and their relationship with Greece?

Palaces & Cities: different from Minoan, who lived in them, & amenities, the purposes of the megaron?

Religion: whom did they worship, where did they worship, types of sacrifices or offerings?

Writing system? Significance?

What do we know from the written remains about:their political system, their social system, their military system?

What is their art like? Themes? Like Minoan? Different from Minoan

How did the Mycenaean age end? What are some of the various theories and their supporting facts?

• What are the salient points for this time period?
• What is the architecture like? Significance? What is their art like? Themes?
• What are the political structure and the social structure like?
• What do these terms refer to: basileus, genos, oikos, kleos, arete, time, aidos?

• The Iliad and the Odyssey
• Immortals: Like humans? Different from humans? How do they communicate with humans? Act justly? Differences between poems? Who are Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Poseidon, Athena, & Thetis, and how are they important to the action in the Iliad and/or the Odyssey?
• Mortals: Who are Achilles, Agamemnon, Menelaus, Nestor, Helen, Patroclus, Chryseis, Briseis, Priam, Hector, Andromache, Paris, Thersites, Telemachus, Odysseus, Penelope, Antinous, Eurylochus, and Eurycleia?
• The "Heroic Code" (i.e. kleos, arete, time, aidos): Describe the aim, key terms, ways to achieve, position of material possessions, & appearance. How does Achilles’ actions reflect the Heroic Code? How does Odysseus’ actions reflect the Heroic Code?
• Xenia: Describe xenia. What deity is in charge of xenia? Examine the meeting of Priam and Achilles in regard to xenia. How/why is xenia important for the maturation of Telemachus? For the episode of the Cyclops Polyphemus? For what happens to the suitors?

• Religion: Show how the Homeric deities and religious practices to those deities in many ways reflect a continuous tradition that goes back as far as the Mycenaean culture (and perhaps as far back as the Minoan culture), but also in many ways reflects changes in the tradition.

• Kleos: How does an individual achieve kleos in late Dark Age Society and why is kleos important in late Dark Age society? Use solely the passages we read in the Iliad and the Odyssey and, if you wish, any information on the topic in Pomeroy's text.

• Society: What individual from the Iliad or the Odyssey would you like to be and why? In answering this question, make sure you give at least three reasons and that you show sufficient insight into the character of the individual you choose.