Topics:

Migrations circa 2200 BC.
Bronze Age (Mycenaean) 1400-1200 BC
Syllabic script. Linear B.
What is the key date in the destruction of Mycenaean cities?
What was so dark about the so-called "dark ages" of Greek history? How long did this age last?
Shift from bronze to iron.
Who were the Greeks? A nation state? (No.) On what basis do we identify the people we call Greeks (and who called themselves Achaeans and Hellenes) as Greeks?
What is a barbarian? To a Greek? How negative is the term initially?
How thoroughly or densely did the Greeks settle in the various territories in which they took up residence?
What is the importance of understanding oral poetry to understanding the nature of society described by Homer?
How freely did oral poets treat their material?
What do we call oral poets?
Do we have the bulk of ancient epic poems on the Trojan war? Why not?
Do archaeological excavations provide any credibility to the view that the Trojan war has some basis in history and not simply purely in the fantasy of some poet?
What are some of the dangers in an oral as opposed to a written tradition? How trustworthy, for example, is history based solely on word of mouth? How does writing alter the way we learn about the past? Is writing a precondition for history?
Some aspects of society reflected in the Odyssey:
- Nobles who live on luxury and warfare.
- King=Law.
- Constraints on royal power: ceremonies, rituals, conscience.
- Trump: Power, Violence.
- Code of Conduct: Heroic, not Legal. More akin to strong man and followers, king and thanes, mafioso and thugs.
- Compare the behavior of Odysseus and the suitors in the Odyssey.
- To what exten are non-nobles, commoners, slaves, etc., reflected in the Odyssey?
How important was Homer to Greek culture? If one wished to compare the moral authority carried by the Iliad and the Odyssey, with what other written works might one compare these epics? Did philosophers like Plato approve? Why or why not?
What kind of religion do we find in Homer?