Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE ILIAD AND THE ODYSSEY
The
Iliad
and the
Odyssey
, the oldest and greatest works in Greek literature, were the brilliant
summation of five centuries of poetic tradition, first developed by nameless bards whose
recitations were accompanied by music. Completed by 725 BC, they are far older than the
Pentateuch
, the first five books of the Old Testament, which achieved their finished form only
around 400 BC. The whole Greek world knew the Homeric epics, and their influence upon the
subsequent development of Greek literature, art and culture in general cannot be overstated.
Few works, and probably none not used in worship, have had such a hold on a nation for so long.
The Iliad is the story of a few days' action in the tenth and final year of the Trojan War, which
in its tales of heroic exploits recalls the golden age of the Mycenaeans. The Odyssey begins
after the war and follows the adventures of Odysseus, who takes ten years to return to his
island home of Ithaca on the western side of Greece. The story of his voyages demonstrates
the new Greek interest in the area around the Black Sea and in Italy and Sicily to the west. They
are also a celebration of an emerging hellenic identity, of a national adventure encompassing
both shores of the Aegean and beyond.
during the eighth century BC, of Hera and Zeus at
Olympia
and of Apollo and Artemis
at
Delos
, as well as the
oracles
of Zeus at
Dodona
and of Apollo at
Delphi
.
Expansion and colonization
Around 750 BC, Greeks began to found
colonies
in the Western Mediterranean - in
Sicily
and
southern Italy
especially - while a century later, around 650 BC, further
colonies were established round the shores of the
Black Sea
. By the fifth century BC
Greeks seemed to sit upon the shores of the entire world, in Plato's words like “frogs
around a pond”.
One impetus for expansion was competition between the Greeks and the Phoenicians
over trade routes; but there was also rivalry between the Greek city-states themselves.
Chalkis
,
Eretria
and
Corinth
were the major colonizers in the West, while the
Ionian
Greeks
were the chief colonizers around the Black Sea. When the Spartans needed more
land, they conquered neighbouring Messenia in 710 BC, but generally land shortage
drove Greeks overseas. Thus colonists were sent from Thera (Thíra) to found Cyrene in
North Africa, and were forbidden to return on pain of death. Whatever the reason for
their foundation, however, most colonies kept up close relations with their mother cities.
Democracy, tyranny and slavery
Meanwhile, at home in the city-states, political tensions were building between the
aristocratic rulers
and the
people
. A large class of farmers, merchants and the like was
excluded from political life but forced to pay heavy taxes. The pressure led to
numerous reforms and a gradual move towards
democracy
. Ironically, the transition
was often hastened by
tyrants
. Despite the name - which simply means they seized
power by force - many tyrants were in fact champions of the people, creating work,
redistributing wealth and patronizing the arts.
Peisistratos
, tyrant of Athens during
the sixth century BC, is perhaps the archetype. Successful and well-liked by his
people, his populist rule ensured Athenian prosperity by gaining control of the route
into the Black Sea. He also ordered that Homer's works be set down in their definitive
c.725 BC
700-480 BC
621 BC
546 BC
The Iliad and Odyssey,
hitherto retold as oral
sagas, are set down in
writing.
Archaic period.
Draco's reforming
“draconian” law code is
published in Athens.
Peisistratos seizes power
in Athens.
