Table of Contents
What was the Mycenaean society like?
Mycenaean Greece was dominated by a warrior elite society and consisted of a network of palace-centered states that developed rigid hierarchical, political, social and economic systems. At the head of this society was the king, known as a wanax.
What are some characteristics of Mycenaean civilization?
Such shared features include architecture, frescoes, pottery, jewellery, weaponry, and of course, the Greek language and writing in the form of Linear B (an adaptation of the Minoan Linear A).
What did the Mycenaean kingdoms have?
During the Mycenaean period, the Greek mainland enjoyed an era of prosperity centered in such strongholds as Mycenae, Tiryns, Thebes, and Athens. Local workshops produced utilitarian objects of pottery and bronze, as well as luxury items, such as carved gems, jewelry, vases in precious metals, and glass ornaments.
How was the Mycenaean society structured?
The Mycenaeans had a strict social hierarchy. There were staggered social classes, and the head of the society was the wanax or king. The telestai were probably important leaders of the religious part of the society. There was a warrior class called the hequetai that the lawagetas ruled.
What are the Mycenaeans best known for?
Mycenae is perhaps best known in mythology as the city of Agamemnon, the son of Atreus. King Agamemnon led the expedition against Troy during the Trojan War, which Homer accounted in his epic poem the Iliad.
What did the Mycenaeans do for fun?
For leisure, Mycenaean upper-class men were involved in a variety of sports like wrestling, boxing, chariot racing, and bull-leaping.
What are the major differences between the Minoan and Mycenaean cultures?
While the Mycenaeans were no strangers to trade, they developed as a result of war and conquest. While the Minoans focused on building relationships with other cultures in the Mediterranean and Asia Minor, the Mycenaeans fought and battled their way across the area to overtake and build their own cities and outposts.
What kind of culture did the Mycenaeans have?
Architecture, art and religious practices were assimilated and adapted to better express the perhaps more militaristic and austere Mycenaean culture. The Mycenaeans came to dominate most of mainland Greece and several islands, extending trade relations to other Bronze Age cultures in such places as Cyprus, the Levant, and Egypt.
When did the Mycenaean civilization start and end?
Mycenaean Greece (or the Mycenaean civilization) was the last phase of the Bronze Age in Ancient Greece, spanning the period from approximately 1600–1100 BC. It represents the first advanced civilization in mainland Greece, with its palatial states, urban organization, works of art, and writing system.
What was the royal palace like in Mycenaean Greece?
The palatial structures of mainland Greece share a number of common features. The focal point of the socio-political aspect of a Mycenaean palace was the megaron, the throne room. It was laid out around a circular hearth surrounded by four columns.
Why did the Mycenaeans increase the size of their walls?
Around 1200 BC, we have evidence that the Mycenaeans increased the size of the walls around their cities. Something was threatening the civilization. Perhaps there was increased fighting among the Mycenaean cities, or perhaps there was a foreign invasion from the north of Greece.