ANCIENT GREECE: FROM THE MYCENAEAN PALACES TO THE AGE OF HOMER: ED. BY SIGRID DEGER-JALKOTZY

The period between the collapse of the Mycenaean civilization around 1200 BC and the dawning of the classical era four and half centuries later is widely known as the Dark Age of Greece, not least in the eponymous history by A. M. Snodgrass published by EUP in 1971, and reissued by the Press in 2000.In January 2003 distinguished scholars from all over the world gathered in Edinburgh to re-examine old and new evidence on the period. The subjects of their papers were chosen in advance by the editors so that taken together they would cover the field. This book, based on thirty-three of the presentations, will constitute the most fundamental reinterpretation of the period for 30 years. The authors take issue with the idea of a Greek Dark Age and everything it implies for the understanding of Greek history, culture and society. They argue that the period is characterised as much by continuity as disruption and that the evidence from every source shows a progression from Mycenaean kingship to the conception of aristocratic nobility in the Archaic period. The volume is divided into six parts dealing with political and social structures; questions of continuity and transformation; international and inter-regional relations; religion and hero cult; Homeric epics and heroic poetry; and the archaeology of the Greek regions. Copiously illustrated and with a collated bibliography, itself a valuable resource, this book is likely to be the essential and basic source of reference on the later phases of the Mycenaean and the Early Greek Iron Ages for many years. CONTENTS 6 CONTRIBUTORS AND EDITORS 9 ABBREVIATIONS 16 INTRODUCTION 26 Part I POLITICAL AND SOCIAL STRUCTURES 30 1 THE FORMATION OF THE MYCENAEAN PALACE 32 2 WANAKS AND RELATED POWER TERMS IN MYCENAEAN AND LATER GREEK 78 3 MYCENAEAN PALATIAL ADMINISTRATION 98 4 THE SUBJECTS OF THE WANAX: ASPECTS OF MYCENAEAN SOCIAL STRUCTURE 112 5 ?? AND ?? ßIN THE HOMERIC POEMS 126 6 KIN-GROUPS IN THE HOMERIC EPICS (SUMMARY) 136 Part II CONTINUITY – DISCONTINUITY – TRANSFORMATION 138 7 THE MYCENAEAN HERITAGE OF EARLY IRON AGE GREECE 140 8 COMING TO TERMS WITH THE PAST: IDEOLOGY AND POWER IN LATE HELLADIC IIIC 148 9 LATE MYCENAEAN WARRIOR TOMBS 176 10 THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF BASILEIS 206 11 FROM LATE BRONZE AGE TO EARLY IRON AGE COPPER METALLURGY IN MAINLAND GREECE AND OFFSHORE AEGEAN ISLANDS 238 12 ETHNE IN THE PELOPONNESE AND CENTRAL GREECE 258 Part III INTERNATIONAL AND INTER-REGIONAL RELATIONS 280 13 GIFT EXCHANGE: MODERN THEORIES AND ANCIENT ATTITUDES 282 14 BASILEIS AT SEA: ELITES AND EXTERNAL CONTACTS IN THE EUBOEAN GULF REGION FROM THE END OF THE BRONZE AGE TO THE BEGINNING OF THE IRON AGE 296 15 ASPECTS OF THE ‘ITALIAN CONNECTION’ 324 16 FROM THE MYCENAEAN QA-SI-RE-U TO THE CYPRIOTE PA-SI-LE-WO-SE: THE BASILEUS IN THE KINGDOMS OF CYPRUS 340 17 PHOENICIANS IN CRETE 362 Part IV RELIGION AND HERO CULT 386 18 FROM KINGS TO DEMIGODS: EPIC HEROES AND SOCIAL CHANGE c.750–600 bc 388 19 RELIGION, BASILEIS AND HEROES 406 20 CULT ACTIVITY ON CRETE IN THE EARLY DARK AGE: CHANGES, CONTINUITIES AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF A ‘GREEK’ CULT SYSTEM 422 Part V THE HOMERIC EPICS AND HEROIC POETRY 440 21 THE RISE AND DESCENT OF THE LANGUAGE OF THE HOMERIC POEMS 442 22 HOMER AND ORAL POETRY 452 23 SOME REMARKS ON THE SEMANTICS OF ?? IN HOMER 464 24 HISTORICAL APPROACHES TO HOMER 474 Part VI THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF GREEK REGIONS AND BEYOND 488 25 THE PALACE OF IOLKOS AND ITS END 490 26 EARLY IRON AGE ELITE BURIALS IN EAST LOKRIS 508 27 ATHENS AND LEFKANDI: A TALE OF TWO SITES 530 28 THE EARLY IRON AGE IN THE ARGOLID: SOME NEW ASPECTS 556 29 THE WORLD OF TELEMACHUS: WESTERN GREECE 1200–700 bc 574 30 KNOSSOS IN EARLY GREEK TIMES 606 31 PRAISOS: POLITICAL EVOLUTION AND ETHNIC IDENTITY IN EASTERN CRETE 622 32 THE GILDED CAGE? SETTLEMENT AND SOCIOECONOMIC CHANGE AFTER 1200 bc: A COMPARISON OF CRETE AND OTHER AEGEAN REGIONS 644 33 HOMERIC CYPRUS 690 INDEX 701

This book is the most fundamental reinterpretation of Ancient Greek history, culture, and society in thirty years. The authors refute the traditional view of the Greek Dark Age with evidence of a steady progression from Mycenaean kingship to the conception of aristocratic nobility in the Archaic period.

Edinburgh University Press

Edited By Sigrid Deger-jalkotzy And Irene S. Lemos. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.