Some Background on Ancient Greece

The Light of Ancient Hellas

Hellas, or Ellas, is the Greeks own term for their country. The word Greece is not a Greek word. Some Greeks think it is of Turkish derivation. No one is sure. Others ascribe it to an affectionate indigenous term for a tribe of Greeks who, in antiquity, colonized the coast of East central Italy, the Graecia.

Modern Greeks refer to Greece as the Hellenic Republic (Hellas) and to themselves as Hellenes or in Greek: Ellines, or El-li-ness.
If you like, or be-friend either, you become a Phil-hellene or 'friend of Greece'.
Hellenes is the same exact thing as Ellines but without the "H".

The original Ellas (Hellas) was named after Hellene (Hellene was a guy), whose name basically means "child of the land of light" and the Greeks became "Hellenes".

In classical Greek, EL = Fos (light) and LAS = Ghi, petra (land, rock)
If you put it together it gives you ELLAS, Land of Light. El=fos (light), Lin = pedia (children). Together it gives Children of Light. Its sunny here in summer!

A lot of people, including myself, thought that the name derived from Helen of Troy. Since the Greeks call themselves: "Hellenes", and apparently united for the 1st time in history to avenge her abduction, its understandable if one mistakenly thinks this was the defining point of their national identity. (Even so, I have done a bit of research, called in some heavy guns and still find that these origins are shrouded in the midst of antiquity). In fact after months of searching I still can't find out exactly how the name came about! I doubt I would believe anyone if they told me at this point too but I would like to hear your theory if you have one.

OK major update! I was breezing through my 1851, 8 volume History of Greece by George Grote Esq. and on page 136 of vol.1 found this:

'The offspring of Deukalion and Pyrrha were two sons, Hellen and Amphiktyon, and a daughter Protogeneia (literally meaning: 1st generation) whose son by Zeus was Aethlius: it was maintained by many however, that Hellen was the son of Zeus and not of Deukalion. Hellen had, by a nymph, three sons, Dorus, Xuthus and Aeolus. He gave to those who had been before, the name of "Hellenes" and partitioned his territory among his three children. Aeolus reigned in Thessaly; Xuthus received Peloponnesus; while Dorus occupied the country lying opposite the Peloponnesus on the northern side of the Corinthian Gulf."

Now George claims that this genealogy is according to Apollodorus and that Euripideis and others contradict him with their own genealogies. He goes on to say, that as far as he knows, this is "the first fraternal aggregation of Hellenic men together with their territorial distributions and the institutions which they collectively venerated"

So there you go! Its finally settled! We can source the qualities of the Greek Race to a nymph of no known address or attributes. Was she a water nymph or a tree nymph or what? Could she have been a dryad perhaps? Or even a a muse? In modern Greece, many nymphs have survived to this day, particularly in the summer.

The good news is, that none of the nymphs have last names so you only have to remember their first names!! The bad news men, is that they always have formidable family around every corner and under every rock and will use your name to found any new race that you are responsible for. Stick to the many foreign women visiting Greece.

'Definition' of an Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek is an Indo-European Language and its speakers first started to enter the Aegean area circa 1950 BC. The 'Greek Speakers' were invaders. The Minoan's did not speak Greek and neither did the Pelasgians or early Cycladic islanders.

What does seem to define being an ancient Greek, if you are a historian, was the language spoken and that fact that you lived in an overcrowded area where most everyone around you was extremely competitive, and often violent. It also helped if you left a lot of stuff laying around. Pottery, statues and inscriptions. Books such as later ancient Greeks left are even better but early marble or clay tablets are good too! That's how they know the Macedonians were ancient Greeks albeit "from up north" .They didn't leave much in the way of writings but they did leave funery or funeral epitaphs on grave stones with Greek names on them and written in Greek.

Even though Homer wrote all about them in the Iliad, scholars know the Mycenaean's were Greek because of Linear A & B tablets found in Mycenae written in an early form of ancient Greek. 

These fascinating tablets contained lists of food stuffs and tribute owed to or already received by the citadel/palace of the Mycenaean 'wanax'. It further proves that accounting ranks up there among the worlds oldest professions.

These linear A & B script manifests are very similar to tablets discovered in Minoan Cretan ruins too and both were probably borrowed from the Phoenician merchant sailors who traded with both.

The Minoan's, depending on who you read, were, or were not, Greeks, and since they didn't leave any engraved tablets or much written down, a whole heck of a lot isn't know about them. Oops! I take that back! The Minoans did leave some Linear A tablets but so far no one has been able to translate them but I'll give you three guesses what they consist of! Accounts!

It is known that they preceded the Mycenaean's and were supplanted by them with or without the help of a cataclysm earth quake or tsunami concurrent with the eruption of the still active volcano of Santorini in the Cyclades. Its further speculated that they traded with Egypt and were influenced by Egyptian art and sculpture. Cycladic art also shows such similarities.

Minoan ruins all seem to date from around the same period and show traces of fire. There are at least three major Minoan sites on Crete with the most famous, Knossos (left) just outside of Heraklion Crete's modern capitol.  The dig at Knossos was funded and excavated by Sir Arthur Evans, a contemporary of Hienrich Schlieman (below). Schlieman actually hunted down and discovered Troy but in the case of Mycenae the ruins were partially visible he just had to go uncover them. A lot of people give Schlieman a bad rap but they are just jealous. You can visit his house here in Athens too! Its a museum now - the numismatic museum to be exact but is a beautiful building in and of its self!

Before the Mycenaean's moved into Greece other people lived here too but far fewer. Since they left no written record very little is known about them. Pre-Greek place names were akin to those of Asia Minor and races such as the Pelasgians, Leleges, Carians, Dryopes, Tyrrhenians, Egocretans, and the Minyans who inhabited areas of the Aegean and mainland Greece.

Cycladic Wall mural from Santorini (left) National Archeology Museum Athens.

Neolithic settlements have been discovered in Thessaly (N. Greece) and in Macedonia and Crete. The finds from the German Archeological Institute during 1956-59 show traces of 100,000 year old inhabitation at Argissa in Thessaly. (Volos Museum)

Periods of Greek Civilization

During the 2nd millennium BC, incursions began by Northern Greek speaking tribes: Ionian, Achaean and Aeolian followed around 1000 BC by the Dorians. At this point the whole of the Aegean and mainland was occupied by Greek speakers.

Mycenaean Greece & The Trojan Wars

There are no conventions on to how to really spell Mycenae or Myceneae or Myceni. In fact, the word comes from Mykites which are mushroom or yeast spores and were used along with barley and wheat molds as hallucinogens in sacred rituals such as the Eluesian mysteries and others. Today in modern demotic Greek mykites can even refer to athletes foot. Today, in English 'Mycologists' are people who study mushrooms. Mushrooms as I am sure you know can kill you if you eat the wrong kind.

But back to Helen.... and her Mycenaean times. You remember Helen of Troy? The trophy bride that King Agamemnon launched a thousand ships for in Homer's Iliad. That's supposedly, Agamemnon's golden death mask left , dug up in Mycenae by Enrich Schlieman, the father of modern archeology below right. Nobody can prove it really is him however and others say its 200 years earlier than the Trojan wars.

She was initially Helen of Argos, and married not to Agamemnon but to his brother Menelaous. But the Trojan prince, Paris, "stole her away"..... She must have been pretty hot. Perhaps she just embodied the ancient Greek ideal of physical beauty which was a far cry from today's fashion models.

She was royalty and so beautiful that royal suitors would come from near and far to woo her. There were so many of these suitors that Agamemnon, with Odysseus' help devised a pledge which all suitors had to swear to before the husband to be was chosen. This pledge bound them to uphold Helen's honor and to defend it no matter who was chosen. They figured that way no powerful princes would get annoyed enough to start a war. This was a pretty smart idea actually and although disappointed the suitors went their separate ways for quite a few years until Helen got "abducted". It was fortunate for Agamemnon that the "abductor" just happened to be a son of the troublesome King of Troy, Priam.

Now Priam felt threatened by the Greeks to his west and would levy really large tolls on Greek shipping if he let them through at all. The real reason for the war against Troy (and all wars) was economic. The theory is that the Trojans controlled the straits of the Dardanelle's and access to the tin and other minerals necessary to change from a bronze to an iron age culture. (Read that as having better weapons). Theorists attribute the Dorian ascendance over the Minoan to their iron weapons as well.

Left is a bust of Homer who is thought to have been blind. You can see these masks and more in the National Archeology Museum in Athens. As mentioned a little earlier, Helen was married to Menelaous, King of Argos which is just down the road from Mycenae and also Agamemnon's brother. If we assume a family resemblance, and that's him above left in another death mask found at Mycenae, we now we know why she ran away!

Not a bronzed Adonis was he?! In the Iliad he was no slouch on the battlefield, however. Also, Argos wasn't exactly know for its beauty salons and creature comforts either. In the Iliad we see Helen bitterly regretting, in public anyway, her decision. In private Homer gives us a peek at the early Mediterranean blood in action.

I saw a PBS special in which forensic pathologists reconstructed some skulls found in one of the Royal Mycenaean tombs.

They didn't look anything like these death masks and weren't blonde and blue eyed either. In fact the pathologist himself said they looked like "thugs". You'll see many modern Greeks with these same type of features; police officers mostly.

Fact is, there were many racial stocks coming into ancient Greece, either emigrating/conquering or as slaves. Fling those stereotypes aside! Here's an excavated Mycenaean grave left and a pretty bronze sword tip from a Mycenaean grave below.

As mentioned, The Trojans, threatened by Greek expansion into Asia Minor, would levy large tolls to pass the straits. Agamemnon used the scandal of Helen as an excuse to make war on the Trojans and ease his trade problems. Since this affected all Greek Kingdoms foreign trade...they went along with it. That was about the only thing anyone could get them to agree on at all besides their common language. So, after 10 years and the stratagem of the Trojan Horse, the Greeks won by subterfuge. Some of the Trojans escaped to subsequently found Rome (Aenais)... which then turned around and conquered Greece.... proving once again that.... Paris wasn't gay, better weapons were needed, violence does solve things and to beware of Greeks bearing gifts?

Lions Gate Mycenae

Well, whatever it proves, I personally think the Iliad is difficult to read unless in prose form, while the Odyssey is a heck of a lot of fun depending on the translator.

Hard to believe they are both by Homer, circa 750 BC, who supposed to be blind. More likely he carried on the bardic memorization tradition from his predecessors. No one really knows much about Homer and the whole Trojan War was considered a mythical epic until Heinrich Schlieman and his wife set out to prove its existence and that of Mycenae as well. Modern Archeology owes them a great debt. I read The Greek Treasure by Irving Stone the other day and it was pretty good too. Its about all the red tape and BS they had to go through to excavate and how incredibly dumb Greek and Turkish officials among others were/are. The Trojan stuff has recently turned up in Russia at their Hermitage museum as WW2 plunder. "To the victor go the spoils"