Homer and the Dark Age of Greece

By 1200 BC, the Mycenaean realm had diminished, primarily due to Dorian invasion. The Dorians did not have the artistic abilities of the Mycenaean people, nor did they record any written information. As a result, we have little knowledge of that era in history, which we now call the Greek Dark Age. However, the Dorians preserved the stories of Mycenae through poetic sagas, which were extensive poetic tales of legend, myth, and battle. These sagas were recited by professional poets called bards, who were often hired by the richer class to entertain at parties. One particularly famous bard, Homer, wrote the two popular poems, The Iliad, and The Odyssey.

Homer lived around 900 BC and is believed to have been blind. Both of his poems focused on the time period of the Trojan War; the Iliad telling of the ten-year battle for Helen of the fair cheeks and the Odyssey of the war leader Odysseus and his adventures home from the war. Homer’s poems became a primary means of education in ancient Greece as well as ancient Rome. A man was not considered educated unless he knew Homer’s poems by heart.

But today there is conflict on the subject of Homer. Was it truly him who wrote the poems? Some believe that they might be a collection of works from various poets, combined into one story, although no one is absolutely positive. Was he actually blind? Truthfully, we do not know for sure. Whatever the case may be, Homer’s poems have been inspiration for poets, story-tellers, play-writers and authors ever since they were first told.

In 800BC, the art of writing returned to Greece. The country began to flourish and the culture became vivid once more as Greece entered the Archaic Period, soon to be followed by the Classical and Hellenistic periods. At the turn of each period, the arts and styles changed, but throughout the history of Greece, Homer’s poems were not forgotten, and they are still preserved to this day.

-Grayce, South Carolina

Mycenaean Pottery

By 1450 BC, a group of Greeks, known as the Mycenaean people, had established themselves in the region from Thessaly to southern Peloponnesus. They were feared and respected by neighboring countries because of their aggressive nature and dominating power. However, the Mycenaean people were artistic, and they had a vivid culture. There were many different crafts, including metal working and architecture, but perhaps the most important was pottery.

Mycenaean potters were greatly inspired by the Minoan and west Asian styles. The designs varied from geometric lines and patterns to battle scenes and imaginary beasts. The background of their pottery was light tan and the design was painted on in black, or sometimes red, paint. Occasionally potters were hired by the king and had their workshops on the acropolis, where the vases, pitchers and pots they produced went out to be traded or given as pay to other craftsmen.

In c. 1200 BC, Dorian invaders came in and sacked Mycenae, causing the thriving civilization to end. The town was forgotten, and was believed just to be a legend from Homers Iliad. But, in 1870, an archeologist named Heinrich Schliemann discovered the city. Because the pottery styles were constantly changing and developing, archeologists have a reliable way to date Mycenaean periods chronologically. Thanks to their pottery, we can learn a lot more about the Mycenaean people.

-Grayce, Charleston

The Great Pyramid

Have you ever wondered how or why the Great Pyramid was built? Well, the Ancient Egyptians believed in ‘afterlife.’ They believed that in order to exist for all eternity the body would have to be preserved. And Pharaohs were supposed to be the Egyptian god Horus on Earth. But when Cheops (or Khufu) became Pharaoh, he claimed to be the god Ra (also known as Re) on earth. This was big news. Ra was the sun god, “the most powerful god.” Now that Khufu was ‘Ra’ on earth he would need a nice place to stay once he died and went on to the afterlife. He would build a pyramid. But not just any pyramid, of course, he would build a magnificent pyramid, the Great Pyramid. Khufu wasn’t known to be a very nice person, and he taxed the people heavily so that he could build this enormous pyramid.
This huge landmark would take only 20 years to construct, but used 100,000 workers for every 3 months. Carefully, the workers put each block of stone in place. These stone blocks were very heavy, weighing about 2.5 tons each. Every day about 285 stone blocks were set in place. Every year about 100,000 blocks were set in place. When the pyramid was finished, about 2.3 million blocks were in place. The Great Pyramid was the tallest building in the world until 1887 when the Eiffel tower was built. That is the story of the Great Pyramid, one of, if not the most amazing structure ever built.
-Grayce, South Carolina

Egyptian Jewelry

Have you ever wondered why ancient Egyptians wore elaborate bangles, anklets, earrings, rings and necklaces? Or why they had different designs such as beetles, eyes and flowers? Well, there is more to the ancient Egyptian jewelry than meets the eye.
Some jewelry was used to tell who you were or where you were ranked: If you were royalty, if you were poor, or if you were well off. A poor person would wear clay beads. A wealthier person would wear exquisite turquoise, glass beads and gem stones. Other jewelry, Egyptians believed had ‘magical powers.’ Some of these jewels include the scarab beetle and the eye of Horus. The scarab was thought to bring good luck to the wearer. Egyptians used the scarab for all kinds of jewelry. The eye of Horus or wadjet in Egypt resembles protection, power and eternity.
These are only some of many jewelry designs that the ancient Egyptians used thousands of years ago. The tradition of ancient Egyptian jewelry continued until Roman times. Although this is only a brief summary of Egyptian jewelry, I hope you have learned something new about the ancient Egyptians and the many different reasons they wore jewelry.
-Grayce, South Carolina

Ideas on Friendship in Gilgamesh

Four specific relationships stood out to me in Gilgamesh. First, we have Gilgamesh, who is the great ruler of Uruk, and Enkidu, Enkidu and Shamhat, Enkidu and the animals, and Gilgamesh and Ishtar.
Gilgamesh and Enkidu's friendship is the principal relationship in the book. When Enkidu first met Gilgamesh, "Gilgamesh met Enkidu in his rage. At the marital threshold they wrestled... the doorposts shook...and then the rage of Gilgamesh subsided... then Enkidu and Gilgamesh embraced and kissed." What a way to meet! After that, Gilgamesh and Enkidu were companions until death. The key to their success of conquering evil was because they willingly stayed together in good times and bad. During the times Gilgamesh and Enkidu were together, Gilgamesh was confident but when he was without his companion, Enkidu, he got worried and discouraged. By reading about this relationship, we learn about two people who always encourage, confide and protect one another and always stick together.
Enkidu and the animals form the second relationship from which we can benefit. Enkidu took great care of the animals. Loving and protecting the animals is what made them be at ease with Enkidu. Everyone wants a friend who they can trust even when times are tough.
The third relationship was between Enkidu and Shamhat, who is a harlot. For Enkidu, this relationship was a distraction. When he was with shamhat, everything was at peace for him, but it cost him the relationship he had with the animals. Shamhat and Enkidu were captivated with each other but it was not a beneficial relationship. Clearly, we see from this relationship that we can't be overly careful with whom we form friendships.
Ishtar also wanted to form a friendship with Gilgamesh. To Gilgamesh, however, it would not be a worthwhile relationship because of what Ishtar's former relationships looked like.
Gilgamesh is full of relationships that demonstrate how to have a good relationship with someone. Opening your eyes a little is all you need to do in order to see them. Hopefully, you will walk away from this book a wiser friend.
-Shelby in Michigan

Honor and Glory

Honor and glory were worth alot in ancient cultures. We see honor and glory strived for in all three of the books we have read so far.
In Gilgamesh, there is a desire to be known and remembered. It is why he and Enkidu went to kill Huwawa. Gilgamesh specifically told enkidu, "If I should fall, my fame will be secure." He didn't even care as long as he received fame. Honor and glory was the motivation for taking on the bull of heaven: "The life of men is short, let us contend with the bull of heaven and win." Their thinking was so messed up! The book ends with Gilgamesh boasting about the city he had made. Why'd he build the city? I bet you can guess! He wanted to be remembered and glorified for it.
In the Odyssey, we also see this motive. It was the cultural importance of honor and glory that drove him to fight in the battle of Troy. When Odysseus went down to Hades and talked to Achilleus, Achilleus requested news of his son. He asked, "Whether or not he went along to war to fight as a champion"- meaning has he made his mark and received glory and honor for it?
In "Histories," Solon of Athens speaks of Tellus who died a glorious death in battle and was given great honor by the Athenians. This is why Solon says Tellus was the happiest man he had ever come across. Again, it's all that counted!
Honor and glory alone are not unbiblical principles. However, you have to ask yourself, "Who am I bringing honor and glory to? We are instructed to glorify God. Colossians 3:23 says "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men."There are many men and women throughout christian history who died to give us the privileges we have now. That is honorable. These people died an honorable death, but they did it to honor and glorify God. That is what we are here for, the very reason we were created, to honor and glorify Him.
-Myriah in Michigan

Reading Ancient Works

Throughout our study of ancient civilizations we had read various books that are quite different from those that most of us are used to. Some parts are against our belief. You must respect the fact that they have some pieces of the truth.
The people believed in numerous gods. They thought that certain gods ruled specific areas such as the sun. Christians understand that there is one God, who is ruler of everything. In fact, Jeremiah 10:10a and Acts 4:12 talk about there being one God who is able to save and help us.
In "Epic of Gilgamesh," we see another contrast. The purpose of Gilgamesh's heroic expeditions were to secure his fame. He wanted to be remembered. When Christians do heroic deeds they know it is only possible because of christ giving them the power to do so. they credit god so that He will be remembered so that people will turn to Him, admire Him, respect Him, love Him and become saved.
The last contrast is this. we make it our goal to abide by his commands and follow His examples. The people in 'Gilgamesh' and'The Odyssey' and 'Histories' all live in fear of being destroyed. their belief is that if they make one small error that the gods will become furious and severly punish them. All we have to do is bring our faults before the Lord, admit them, and He will forgive us because our God is very compassionate. Thank goodness!
These ancient texts show us that the people were similar to us in some ways and different in others. They were very religious, their thoughts were practically always focused on pleasing the gods. They didn't have everything right. Christ would have made them an amazing generation who were on fire for Him.
-Shelby in Michigan