Archaic Greece alludes to the period in Greek history between 800 BC and 480 BC, when Persia invaded Greece. (Raaflaub, 2013, p. 97). The so-called classical era replaced the period that came after the Greek Dark Ages. Compared to earlier times, there were many notable changes at this period that signaled the beginning of a new Greece. Two significant revolutions defined archaic Greece. One was a structural revolution, according to Raaflaub (99), that drew the political map of Greece and resulted in the creation of the polis, one of the nationalities that defined human culture. The second was an intellectual revolution that initiated classical periods. Cultural, international relations, economic, political and warfare developments were all changes characterized Archaic Greece. During this time Greek alphabet was formed, Greek literature composed, art in the form of red figure pottery as well as monumental sculptures developed and Greek armies core development marked by the hoplite (Raaflaub 99). These dynamisms occurred both in Athens and Sparta. In the former, for instance, democracy was invented by Solon as well as Cleisthenes reforms were adopted in the Archaic period’s end. On the other hand, in Sparta which also extended into the classical period, Lycurgus, Peloponnesian League and ‘helotage’ got implemented together with their associated institutions; Sparta took over control of Messenia.
Polis
The word ‘politics’ used today was derived from ‘polis’, which means ‘city-state’ and should not be mistaken to mean the same as today’s cities as observed by Raaflaubet al. (90). Polis did not only include urban centers, but also extended into the countryside which was a few miles around, marked by their numerous small elements. Each polis had a protectororpatron, a god who presided over it, for instance, Athena oversaw events at Athens (89).
Polis, or poleis in plural, referred to structural centers in ancient Greece (Lang 184). It contained an urban center, normally fortified, which was sacred and erected on an acropolis controlled by a chora or land territory. Each polis was independent in terms of religious, legal, social and political practices and was, in essence, a state (Lang 186). The domains also got individually involved in trade within Greece and internationally. Other cultures like Phoenicia and the Etruscans had similar political structures and are believed to have shaped the polis structures. This paper outlines key characteristics of the development of polis in Archaic Greece.
Emergence of Greek Alphabet
Insoll observes that with the advent of polis the Greek alphabet appeared in archaeological records of the nation in 8th Century BC (131). This period was just when polis started developing. Before this, however, there was an alphabet which did not survive through to present times. To briefly discuss this, the Script of Linear B was a system of writing used by the Greek in Mycenaean times (Insoll 130). Indeed, it did not make much impact and got lost approximately in 1100 BC. It was not as important as the polis Greek alphabet because with its vanishing, all writings in Greek disappeared until the former was developed. This polis writing style developed when Greece adopted Phoenician writing to signify their language. According to Lang (187), they developed a complete phonetic system of writing characterized by individual signs which were linearly arranged. The linearity was in such a manner that they could depict consonants as well as vowels. Polis-based inscriptions in its earliest forms were writings and graffiti on pots as well as potsherds.
History defines how the Greek during development of the polis borrowed alphabets from Phoenicians (Insoll 128). The latter, whose origin was Lebanon, were aggressive maritime merchants who gradually influenced people westwards. They erected outposts all over the Mediterranean region. Their language originated from the Semitic section of Afro-asiatic language genre, closely associated with Hebrew. The Phoenicians carried trade goods and, in addition to this, another influential commodity which was their system of writing. Just like the contemporary Arabic or Hebrew systems of writing, there were no vowels in the Phoenician scheme (Insoll 129). On adoption of this writing style, the Greek altered it accordingly. They dropped signs that did not have consonantal equivalents in their language, using them rather for vowel sounds. Henceforth, the Greek vowel-based letters I (Iota), O (omicron), A (alpha), Y (upsilon) and E (epsilon) emerged. For the first time in Greece under the polis was created a system of writing that could unambiguously represent speech.
Emergence of a New Form of Religion
Insoll observes that one of the factors that was associated with polis was the emergence of belief in many anthropomorphic deities, all of who served under a supreme god (107). Each polis had their own religious association, which had the obligation of honoring the patron deity in addition to other gods of the community. Through cults, the community depicted formal respect towards gods. Many public religious events marked such occasions which were overseen by priests or priestesses who came from common citizens and were funded by the general public (Insoll 108). Animal sacrifice was the norm of a polis’s cult to portray respect or piety as they viewed it to the gods.
Priests’ role was only to look after the cults (Insoll 110). There was neither a constitution set up for clergies nor sacred books. Citizens were required solely to perform sacrifices and rituals (gods received dues from these occasions) and believe that they (gods) existed. One risked reprisal if they denied a deity’s existence. Moreover, these deities were believed to be immortal (Insoll 110). However, if a Greek underwent piety motions, he risked only a little because orthodoxy, a concept of religion incomprehensible to all Greeks, was not enforced. Gods, cults, rituals and heroes were all major developments of the polis under Archaic Greek, a scenario which still marks the legacy of the nation in present times.
Architectural Developments
In mid500 BC, when Acropolis emerged Athenian League seat and the greatest center regarding culture was Athens, Perikles started a building program that took almost half of that period (Van der Vliet 128). Athenians as well as foreigners joined hands to finish this project, each laborer receiving one drachma as their daily wages. Under the watch of some of the globe’s best artists, sculptors and architects, the most vital buildings were created in the Acropolis, for instance, the Erechtheion, the Parthenon and Propylaia (Van der Vliet 128).
The Greeks viewed temples as ‘dwelling’ places, were built in honor of divinities and made of wood or mud brick materials before polis as Van der Vliet observes (128). However, during and after the polis there was a shift from the older temporary materials to a more permanent and sophisticated one, stone. This development paved way for many modern architectural structures which are now built from stones. The Sikel settlements were first seen in the polis (Van der Vliet 128). They might have undergone fortification as a result of ‘Hellenisation’ prototypes inspiration. These kinds of native settlements and others located in many parts of Greece marked their urbanization planning as well as Greek sanctuaries. The buildings which came with the polis civilization are majorly characterized by temples spread all over the area. Open-air theatres were also common in the polis, in addition to a processional gateway, known as propylon, building of the town council (bouleuterion), public monuments, mausoleum or monumental tomb, storied colonnade (stoa) and a stadium (Van der Vliet 127). The structures were highly decorated, especially the temples in which each structure was conceived as being a sculptural formation with the landscape. These were normally erected on high geographical zones to enable them to be visible from to all citizens, for instance, the ones in the acropolis (Van der Vliet 127). The buildings were based on structure as well as proportion.
Art: New Forms of Sculpture and Pottery
Before the archaic period, there was no human sculpture of the life-size model (Osborne 94). These were only seen after the polis developed, inspired by Egyptian stone art-work. Most of them were used to mark graves as well as sculpture images of cults. Kouros was the most common archaic sculpture, placed near kore. Both of these works were developed in Cyclades about 7th Century BC. The earliest of such sculptures produced was the dedication to Artemis in Delos during 660 BC. The creations were meant for representing humans and divine beings. In the archaic period, sculptures gained a more naturalistic, life-like appearance.
Apart from sculpturing, the development of the polis also saw a shift to figurative from the older abstract style of the Greek pottery according to Osborne (94). Before, in the so-called dark ages, decoration had its basis as elaborated geometric patterns (Martin 66). This type of new art was known as the style of ‘orientalization’, majorly influenced by Phoenicia as a result of trade in the eastern Greece.
Subsequently, vase painters developed somewhere around 7th century BC (Osborne 95). The painters adopted a black figure scheme. In addition to this, potters started drawing outlines and interior decorations using incisions in clay (Osborne 95). Finer details of decorations were hence more visible, a trade-resultant development adopted from metal work from the east. More developments followed, a significant one being the red-figure pottery in Athens, said to have been invented by Andokides, a painter. In the same period the six’s and white-ground styles also emerged (Osborne 95).
International Trade
Archaic Greece had actively become involved in the Aegean trade network in the late 8th century BC (Van der Vliet 120). This influential network marked the Greek art ‘orientalizing’ influence in initial archaic periods. Presence of trade items such as ivory, copper and gold spurred the business network in Asia Minor, Greece, Cyprus, Cyclades, Crete and Egypt. Subsequently, on the western side of the Greek empire, Magna Graecia was booming in trade with Corinth in Southern Italy (Van der Vliet 121). The eastern part of the trade majorly involved Greek islands, for example, Aegina which acted as the intermediary between Greek mainland and the east.
Prosperity came easy to the Greece’s eastern states because of trading with Asia as well as Egypt (Van der Vliet 121). Corinth was a major trade recipient from the eastern side and became prosperous and popular. However, Athens was not involved actively in the eastern trade as Van der Vliet points out (122). Little evidence of imports from the east has been seen in Athens in the archaic timeline. In contrast, early Greek pottery was found in AlMina, in contemporary Syria, emanated from Euboea, which traded with the east. By the mid archaic period, Greece was an influential trade element in the whole of the Mediterranean region. In fact, before the polis, there were no business empires amongst other developments, an era was marked the dark ages (Van der Vliet 122).
Independent and Divided States
Greece’s mountains caused the emergence of city-states, the two major ones being Athens and Sparta (Raaflaub 88). The ragged terrain meant difficulty in communication between people, leading to the advent of the different polis. Athens became known for its ‘think-tank ’ability while Sparta emerged as a military base. Philosophy, history and science emerged from Athenians who also heavily emphasized on literature, arts and architecture (Raaflaub 96). The citizens erected statutes to symbolize their appeal for beauty.
On the other hand, another part of Greece, Sparta, depicted a totally different lifestyle from Athens. This polis emerged as a militaristic society which was ruled by an oligarchy as well as two kings. Lycurgus, one of the Spartans, formed a strong rule of law that required every citizen to strictly adhere to their authoritative demands (Raaflaub 91). The main goal of these policies was training citizens to transform into hard-core soldiers with the aim of fighting the polis’s potential enemies. In Sparta, boys remained in military bases until they attained 30 years of age (Raaflaub 95). Men were expected to be ready and assist in war unless they were over 60 years ld. Women were not spared either; they underwent through physical training and were not allowed to vote. Finally, this separation of polis led to several battles between Athens and Sparta after the Archaic period. (Raaflaub 95).
Education
The development of polis and its division into independent city-states led to the establishment of diverse forms of education within the different empires (Raaflaub 22). Spartans began getting educated when they were born. Their first test was being dipped inside wine to gauge how they would endure the ordeal. On the other hand, Athenians children were introduced to school at about the age of 6 (Raaflaub 22). Athenian education had its basis on subjects like philosophy, mathematics, politics and sculpture. For Spartans, studies inclined towards letters were minimized as much as possible (Raaflaub 23). The city-state majored in teaching about superhuman endurance, utmost obedience and allegiance and tactics of winning in wrestling. Spartans were a war-loving community; so their education was alienated towards this vice. The common factor in these two communities’ education system was that they wanted to teach their future citizens to preserve their culture and to maintain some form of hierarchy (Raaflaub 25).
Politics and Democracy
The Greek word ‘polis’ paved way for the word ‘politics’ as it is called today (Koparal 98). Despite the divisional controversies, the city-states were the domain of collaboration enhancing good life. Political theories were argued out, contesting on people best suited for politics, civic battle arguments and provision of logical framework. These arguments were addressed through the ideology of justice, which became fundamental to Greece as it grew during the Archaic period (Koparal 98). Philosophers, lawgivers and poets created civic bonds and addressed conflicts.
In the attempt to define justice, a political fault-line emerged, leading to the development of oligarchic regimes in Greece (Koparal 107). This group considered the elite only, who were usually wealthy landowners then. Archaic poetry and literature, aspects that will later be discussed, also shaped Greek politics. The regime was organized in a manner such that there were strategically placed (in terms of authority) wise men (sophoi) and nature students (physikoi) who were largely respected and had a touch on politics.
Amongst the more than one hundred Greek democracies, none was as strong as in Sparta and Athens (Koparal 109). However, Sparta championed oligarchy while Athens portrayed democracy, long after it had graduated from oligarchic inclinations. Athens democratic tendencies originated from Solon who was a sophoi in Greece according to Koparal (110).
Interests in peoples’ will was a matter that Spartan leaders did not welcome easily. According to them, people were meant to work consistently for the state’s good. Spartans hybridized their government after the original rule by monarchs. Kings remained in the city-state. However, there were two kings at a time so that one of them could attend to war matters while the other remained to oversee administrative issues (Koparal 109). In addition to this, Sparta had 5 ephors who were elected every year. Moreover, the kingdom held a council team compiled of twenty-eight elders. An additional lower hierarchy was put in place for the peoples’ assembly. The kings signified monarchial elements while the oligarchic components consisted of ephors and Gerousia. The assembly formed the democratic element.
Despite the fact that Solon never lobbied for ‘democratika’ or ‘peoples’ power’, the intellectual formed laws that initiated primary democracy. ‘Shaking-off burdens’ was a system he established which canceled outstanding debts for Greeks as pointed out by Koparal (110). This latter policy meant to eliminate slavery from Athens. Solon sub-categorized political positions into classes from which hierarchy and right to politics was attached. Solon did not create democracy per se as it is today but paved way for it through restriction of aristocrat-based system as well as freeing people and naming them citizens. His constitution was a starting juncture for the democracy of Athens. Later this ‘freedom’ would assist to form classical governments that consisted of ‘The Assembly of Demos, people’s court and ‘The 500 Council’ (Koparal 110).
Literature and Poetry
The Archaic period was the foundation of the earliest Greek literature and majorly shaped its politics as already discussed. ‘Iliad’ as well as ‘Odyssey’ were both composed in 700 BC, the period associated in which the polis development was at its peak (Raaflaub 88). Lyric and epic poetry became common genres as well as poets of the nine lyrics in archaic eras. Additionally, early elegy was also invented as well as Greek drama and poetry in their earliest form (Raaflaub 107).
Conclusion
Archaic Greece, the period between the years 800 BC and 480 BC, was the advent of many forms of future civilizations. Marked by the initiation of literature and poetry, religion, and architecture to Greek alphabet, city-states, international trade and art, the polis development era paved way for further innovations and innovativeness. Athens and Sparta were the stronghold areas of polis states and grew during the Archaic era into the strongest of the more than one hundred Greek polis states. As a result, the Dark Ages became an aspect of the past and the classical ages began later on.
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