• Introduction, pp. 15-27, of Classical Mythology

View the following sites on-line: Note: Any of the information and images below may appear on your exams.

Timelines

• Greece:
  • Greek Chronology 1200-300 BCE.

  The Ancient Near East and Greece:

  • Cultural Timeline 3200 - 800 BCE.
  • Cultural Timeline 800 - 280 BCE.

Maps

• Note: to view some of the maps below you will first need to download a plug-in (Shockwave), which you may do from the following site:
  • Atlas Requirements.

• Greece:
  • Late Aegean Bronze Age: cities and palaces 1250-1000 BCE.
  • Athenian League and the Peloponnesian War: 5th century BCE.
  • Macedonian Expansion under Philip and Alexander: 4th century BCE.

• The Ancient Near East:
  • Political Changes in Ancient Mesopotamia: 3000-1000 BCE.
  • Ancient Near East: empires from 700-300 BCE.

Archaeological Remains

• Knossos, Crete:
  • Aerial view of the palace. (Perseus Project)
  • Palace of Minos, Columns and Bull Fresco. (Perseus Project)
  • Royal Tomb. (Perseus Project)
  • Palace of Minos: Dolphin Fresco. (Perseus Project)
  • Palace of Minos: Throne Room Quarter. (Perseus Project)
  • Knossos: Bluebirds fresco. (Iraklion Archaeological Museum)
  • Knossos: Bull's head rhyton. 16th c. BCE. (Iraklion Archaeological Museum)

• Troy, Level VI:
  • Ruins of a tower. (Perseus Project)
  • East city gate and later wall of ashlar masonry. (Perseus Project)

• Mycenae:
  • Aerial view of the citadel from the NW. (Perseus Project)
  • Fortification Walls
  • "Treasury of Atreus"
  • Lion Gate

• Other Artifacts:
  • Prehistoric Collection (National Archaeological Museum of Athens) Click on images to enlarge them.

• Other Sites:
  • Linear B. -- the link now works
  • Land and Archaeological Time. Read the sections on "Land" and on the time periods of Ancient Greece.

Come to class ready to view maps and slides of some of the on-line images, and to discuss the historical background, including following questions:

• What are the dates and characteristics of Bronze Age civilization in the Aegean?
• What is Minoan civilization and what are the characteristics of its art and architecture?
• What is Mycenaean civilization and what are the characteristics of its art and architecture?
• What is Cycladic civilization and what are the characteristics of its art (from the images)?
• What is Linear B and what does it suggest about Mycenaean civilization?
• What prompted the archaeological investigations at Mycenae and on Crete?
• What do the artifacts found at Mycenae suggest about its culture, especially the death masks and the bull cups?
• What are the Lion Gate and what is its significance for Greek Bronze Age culture?
• Which dates and levels of Troy link the city to the legends of the Trojan War?
• What are the major sources for classical mythology?

E-Mail Dr. Caldwell