Greece in the early era
Chronological Phases of Greek History
The time periods that passed through Greece varied, there is the early era that began in the year 800 to 500 BC, which is the era of clarity of the features of Greece and the Persian wars and expansion
It comes from the classical age, which was in the fifth and fourth century BC. It was called the era of city-states, and this era witnessed most of the achievements of Greece.
And after him the Hellenistic era, which is the era of Alexander the Great until the Roman conquest of the ancient kingdoms and the end of absolutism. This era is divided into three stages, namely (Macedonia, which is called Antigone, which fell in 146 BC, Seleucia, which fell in 70-67 BC, and Egypt) The Ptolemaic, which fell in 30 BC,
And the Roman era, which is the era since the reign of Octavius and the victory over Cleopatra and Anthony from the year 30 until the end of the third century AD 285 BC, and that date is a watershed for the division of the Roman Empire into two parts, the East, which is Constantinople (Byzantium) and the West, which is referred to as Rome.
Poetry
It is considered the main source of our historical information about the countries of Greece and poetry was in the beginning, mythical epic poetry full of tales and works of the gods, represented in the poetry of the Iliad and the Odyssey. After the primitive barbaric poetry of Homer’s poems, hence the beginning of the emergence of philosophy and theology.
Epic poetry
The poetry was close to the ground of reality and contemporary events, and this is exemplified in the poem of the lineage of the gods Theogonia of the poet Hesiodus and the diversity of epic poetry, there is the long primitive epic poetry and the language is almost close, and the epic poetry is close to the long-language reality that is almost close to one language between Homer and Hesiodus.
Hosiods
Hosiodos wrote a new poem, Works and Days, in which he explains his condition and lineage that his father came from Asia Minor, fleeing to Boeotia, and he was working in agriculture. The end of the eighth century and the beginning of the seventh century BC, where this poem explains half the life of a farmer, what he suffers, and what he owns in terms of slaves and oxen, as well as the hatred of the nobles, merchants, the sea, and the wealth they carried.
The emergence of lyric poetry
It is a completely new literary color represented by Archilochus, one of the poets of Paros, who served as a mercenary and boycotted his era in the 7th century BC. He wrote poetry that simulates the earth in describing his friends as they are, meaning (glorification and commitment),
As well as the poet Caius, who lived half a century after Archilochus, as well as his poems Sappho and Solon.
There were some political and social differences that met an important aspect in the poetic writings, such as the emergence of independent Greek societies in Asia and the Aegean, which was not formed in Homer's poetry and recommends the emergence of the development of the city-state.
Social life in the Greek era
At the head of society are kings and nobles who own vast areas of land and livestock and enjoy a luxurious life, and they are the ones who form the army and carry heavy weapons, as the house of the nobles was the place of social activity and the center of its power.
The king
He is the judge who legislates laws and the leader and is distinguished by strength because it is the decisive factor in preserving property, and the example of Odysseus when he returned his property and the old manor objected to him and did not find his property.
Common people
It is a societal group whose social status cannot be determined, but joined by the captain and slaves, and were inferior to the craftsmen, carpenters, and battle workers. Of the foreign Phoenicians, and they were known as foreigners, and people did not have a say or vote in making decisions despite attending some meetings and meetings, so the matter was limited to only the nobles and the army as they participated in the vote, but they did not face an actual clash.
Religious life in the Greek era
For many centuries, and especially until the fifth century B.C., the Greek interest in their history did not go further than talking about Greek myths and individual heroics, through which their rituals and methods of worship appeared.
And Herodotus mentions that both Homer and Hesiodus, who developed the first poem in which he explained the genealogies of the Greek gods and determined their titles, and the function and position of each deity, and Zeus was the head of the gods and the seat of a mountain. Olympus, and depicted the gods in the form of a human figure, but the gods do not die. Like the Greek Osan, and although there are good gods, there are evil gods and the Greeks hate such as Dionysius (magic) and Bacchus (wine).