Gods, Heroes and Tyrants: Greek Chronology in Chaos

193 Pages·2009·2.17 MB·English

by  Emmet Sweeney

G , H T
ods eroes and yranTs

G , H T
ods eroes and yranTs
G C C
reek HronoloGy in Haos
Emmet Sweeney
Algora Publishing
New York
© 2009 by Algora Publishing.
All Rights Reserved
www.algora.com
No portion of this book (beyond what is permitted by
Sections 107 or 108 of the United States Copyright Act of 1976)
may be reproduced by any process, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form, or by any means, without the
express written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data —
Sweeney, Emmet John.
Gods, heroes and tyrants: Greek chronology in chaos / Emmet Sweeney.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-87586-681-9 (trade paper: alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-87586-682-6 (hard
cover: alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-87586-683-3 (ebook) 1. Greece—History—To 146
B.C.—Chronology. I. Title. II. Title: Greek chronology in chaos.
DF217.S94 2009
938’.01—dc22
2008048531
Front Cover: An Attic Red-Figure Kylix Attributed to Colmar Painter © Christie’s
Images/CORBIS. Date Created: ca. 490-480 B.C.
Printed in the United States

Table of ConTenTs
inTroduCTion 1
CHapTer 1. an aGe of Heroes 9
Where does Greek History Begin? 9
The Rediscovery of Homeric Greece 11
The Early Debate 13
A “Dark Age” Intrudes 17
The Dark Age in Asia Minor 20
CHapTer 2. arCHaeoloGy and arT 23
Artistic Anomalies 23
A Bitter Controversy 27
The Emergence of Greek Culture 29
The Earliest Greek Culture 31
Contemporary Cultures 34
CHapTer 3. THe QuesTion of liTeraCy 5 1
Epic Poetry 51
The Loss of Literacy 54
The Linear B Tablets 56
The Language of Linear B 60
Cadmus and the Phoenician Alphabet 64
CHapTer 4. evidenCe from abroad 69
Thrace and Scythia 69
Magna Graecia 74