Ancient Greek History Page 3

'Definition' of an Ancient Greek

Greece travel tourism Ancient Greek is an Indo-European Language and its speakers first started to enter the Aegean area circa 1950 BC. The 'Greek Speakers' were invaders. The Minoan's did not speak Greek and neither did the Pelasgians or early Cycladic islanders.

What does seem to define being an ancient Greek, if you are a historian, was the language spoken and that fact that you lived in an overcrowded area where most everyone around you was extremely competitive, and often violent. It also helped if you left a lot of stuff laying around. Pottery, statues and inscriptions. Books such as later ancient Greeks left are even better but early marble or clay tablets are good too! That's how they know the Macedonians were ancient Greeks albeit "from up north" .They didn't leave much in the way of writings but they did leave funery or funeral epitaphs on grave stones with Greek names on them and written in Greek.

Even though Homer wrote all about them in the Iliad, scholars know the Mycenaean's were Greek because of Linear A & B tablets found in Mycenae written in an early form of ancient Greek.

map ancient greece These fascinating tablets contained lists of food stuffs and tribute owed to or already received by the citadel/palace of the Mycenaean 'wanax'. It further proves that accounting ranks up there among the worlds oldest professions.

These linear A & B script manifests are very similar to tablets discovered in Minoan Cretan ruins too and both were probably borrowed from the Phoenician merchant sailors who traded with both.

The Minoan's, depending on who you read, were, or were not, Greeks, and since they didn't leave any engraved tablets or much written down, a whole heck of a lot isn't know about them. Oops! I take that back! The Minoans did leave some Linear A tablets but so far no one has been able to translate them but I'll give you three guesses what they consist of! Accounts!

It is known that they preceded the Mycenaean's and were supplanted by them with or without the help of a cataclysm earth quake or tsunami concurrent with the eruption of the still active volcano of Santorini in the Cyclades. Its further speculated that they traded with Egypt and were influenced by Egyptian art and sculpture. Cycladic art also shows such similarities.