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ANCIENT GREECE- THE DARK AGES

The Storytellers: The ancient Greeks loved stories. During the Grecian Dark Ages, some
people became professional storytellers. They went from town to town, earning a living
telling stories. They told the same stories over and over, and they told them in the same
language, Greek. It was not long until nearly everyone in ancient Greece knew all the
stories by heart. They also knew the Greek language by heart, as it was the language of
the storytellers.

The storytellers told three kinds of stories - fables, legends, and myths.

1. A fable is a story that ends with a lesson to be learned. Probably the most famous
of all fables came out of ancient Greece during the Greek dark ages - the stories of
Aesop.

2. A legend is a popular story that has been told over and over again about
something that happened in the near or far past. To be a legend, there can be no
proof that the story is true. That does not mean that it is not true. It only means
that to be a legend, there cannot be proof that the story is true. One of the most
popular legends was the story of the Trojan Horse.

3. A myth is a story about one or more magical deities. The Greeks believed in many
gods and goddesses and magical monsters and mythical animals. The Greek
myths are still enjoyed today.

Before the dark ages, many different tribes of early people lived on the Greek peninsula.
They did not have a common language. They did not have a common history. They did
not use metal tools or weapons. Their tools and weapons were made of stone.

During the 400 years of the Greek dark ages, thanks to the traveling storytellers, the
Greeks developed a common spoken language, a common history composed of fables,
legends, and myths, and the ability to make tools and weapons out of metal. The
Mycenaeans, Dorians, Ionians, Greeks, and other tribes who lived in scattered villages
throughout the Greek peninsula had gradually became one people.

When the early Greek people began to organize themselves into defensible units called
city-states, the days of Dorian rule came to an end.

After the dark ages, things began to get interesting.

After the Greek dark ages, exciting things began to happen in ancient Greece. Villages
started to band together to form strong trading centers. These groups of villages that
banded together were called city-states. Soon, hundreds of city-states had formed in
ancient Greece.

TO BE A CITIZEN OF A CITY-STATE: The ancient Greeks referred to themselves as

citizens of their individual city-states. Each city-state (polis) had its own personality,
goals, laws and customs. Ancient Greeks were very loyal to their city-state.

The city-states had many things in common. They all believed in the same gods. They all
spoke the same language.

But if you asked an ancient Greek where he was from, he would not say, "I live in
Greece." If he was from Sparta, he would say, "I am a Spartan." If he lived in Athens, he
would say, "I am Athenian." The city-states might band together to fight a common foe.
They also went to war with each other. Greece was not yet one country. Ancient Greece
was a collection of Greek city-states.

Because Greece was not yet one country, there was no central government in ancient
Greece.

Each city-state had its own form of government. Some city-states, like Corinth, were
ruled by kings. Some, like Sparta, were ruled by a small group of men. Others, like
Athens, experimented with new forms of government. Sometimes these city-states
cooperated, sometimes they fought each other.

Five of the most powerful Greek city-states

Athens

Sparta

Corinth

Megara

Argos
Reading For Comprehension:

1. What are the main differences between the Greek dark ages and the time period
after?

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2. What was the government of Greece like? How is this different from the United
States?

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3. What is a myth? How were they communicated to others?

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4. What is a common myth or legend from your culture or that you have heard?

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