Essay on Ancient Greece A History in Eleven Cities

Ancient Greece: A History in Eleven Cities is a concise and surprisingly refined assessment of the Ancient Greek world, from the early dark ages to late Antiquity, told uniquely through the history of eleven city-states or â€Å"polis†. Paul Cartledge’s Ancient Greece: A History in Eleven Cities, details the cultural traditions, trade, and politics that laid the foundation of the sprawling Aegean civilization. By examples of the successful polis Cnossos on the island of Crete, and continuing through to the rise of iconic Sparta, it is easy to trace the development of Greek civilization. The emergence of Classical Greece is examined in the accounts of Athens, Syracuse, and Thebes while the descriptions of Alexandria are symbolic of the†¦show more content†¦It is believed Mycenae eventually achieved supremacy, and that considerable amount of Minoan cultural tradition spread to the mainland. The idea of an extensive separation of the Mycenaean Age from the histori cal age of Greece has received worldwide acceptance since it was first advanced. Since there was an absence of literary documents little signs of culture could be found for that long period, and thus became known as the Greek Dark Ages. The emergence of Argos, Miletus, Sparta, and Massilia helped piece together the timeline of Greek civilization. First and foremost there was Argos, which according to legend claimed to be one of the centers of the Greek people, the Dorians. This was revolutionary for many reasons and Cartridge ultimately states, â€Å"This was new not just topographically or architecturally, but ethnically: a newly evolved linguistic grouping of Greeks calling themselves Dorians†(Cartridge pg38). This was astonishing because a different kind of Greek had emerged onto the scene. Additionally this means cultures, weapons, tools, and traditions previously held by the peoples of Cnossos and Mycenae most likely varied greatly. The influence of Miletus spread far an d wide through its central role in two phases of Greek migration and colonization. Nevertheless unlike Miletus, little is know about the political system of the polis Massalia, although it was a key settlement for trade and the economy. The separating differences between the city-states andShow MoreRelatedLysistrat A Play Written By A Man Named Aristophanes1175 Words   |  5 Pages Lysistrata is a play written by a man named Aristophanes around 400 B.C.E. in Athens Greece. Aristophanes, a contemporary of the Greek philosopher Socrates, was the last and greatest of the Old Attic comedians. He wrote many plays, however, only eleven of his plays have survived until today. Lysistrata, being one of these plays, is a is an extremely bawdy anti-war fantasy. 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