Introduction

• Land of Greece: general size, climate, & features
• Food & Livestock: basic foods and animals

The Minoans (7000-1200 BC)

• 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?

Mainland Greece and the Mycenaeans (3100-1200 BC)

• 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?

The Dark Age (1200-750/700 BC)

• 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, aretê, timê, aidos?

The Iliad and the Odyssey

• Religion & Deities:
  • Who are Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Poseidon, Athena, Hephaestus, & Thetis, and how are they important to the action in the Iliad and/or the Odyssey.
  • How are the deities: Like humans? Different from humans? Act kindly/cruelly? Unjustly/justly? Near/Far?
  • Differences between poems?
  • How do they communicate with humans?
  • What function do sacrifices/dreams/oracles/omens play in mediating between the immortals and mortals?
  
  
• Mortals:
  • The Iliad: Achilles, Agamemnon, Menelaus, Helen, Patroclus, Chryseis, Briseis, Priam, Hector, Andromache, Paris, Thersites, Odysseus,
  • The Odyssey: Telemachus, Odysseus, Penelope, Antinous, Eurylochus, Eurycleia, and Eumaeus.
  • How is the Homeric chief (basileus) different from the commoners? What are their roles in society?
  
  
• Governmental Structure:
  • what is the governmental structure in the poems?
  • Expectations of the different classes?
  • Difference between the two poems?
  
  
• The Heroic/Homeric Code:
  • Describe the Heroic Code: 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 what happens to the Polyphemus? The suitors?

Possible Essay Questions:

1. Religion: Examine the ways that Zeus acts like a human and/or expresses human emotions. Use as evidence Iliad, bks 1, 2, & 24; Odyssey, bk 1. Make sure you have at least one example from all 4 books.


2. Women: Examine how a basileus (i.e. a human noble) interacts with females (divine or mortal) in the passages from the Iliad, bks 1 & 24 and the Odyssey, bks 1, 23. Make sure you have at least one example from all 4 of these books. What conclusions can you draw?


3. Political Structure: Compare/contrast the political structure of a Mycenaean 'kingdom' with that expressed in the Iliad, bks 1 & 2 and Odyssey, bk 2 (i.e. 'a top basileus,' a council (made up of nobles—each a basileus in his own right), and an assembly). For the Mycenaean, use Pomeroy and class notes. Don't forget how to format a comparison/contrast paper and that you will need concrete examples from all 3 books and from Pomeroy and from class notes.