A Greek State in Formation : : The Origins of Civilization in Mycenaean Pylos / / Jack L. Davis.

• VerfasserIn: Davis, Jack L.,
• Place / Publishing House: Berkeley, CA : : University of California Press,, [2022]; ©2022
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Series: Sather Classical Lectures ; 75
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (166 p.)

A free open access ebook is available upon publication. Learn more at www.luminosoa.org. Although the Mycenaean civilization of the Greek Bronze Age was identified 150 years ago, its origins remain obscure. Jack L. Davis, codirector of excavations at the Palace of Nestor at Pylos, takes readers on a tour of the beginnings of Mycenaean civilization through a case study of this important site. In collaboration with codirector Sharon R. Stocker, Davis demonstrates that this ancient place was a major node for the exchange of ideas between the already established Minoan civilization, centered on the island of Crete, and the residents of the Greek mainland. Davis and Stocker show how adoption of Minoan culture created an ideology of power focused on a single individual, celebrating his military prowess, investing him with divine authority, and creating a figure instantly recognizable to readers of Homer and students of Greek history. A Greek State in Formation makes the powerful case that a knowledge of the Greek Bronze Age is indispensable to the classics curriculum.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Illustrations -- Prologue -- About the Aegean Bronze Age -- About the Palace of Nestor -- 1 Mycenaean Origins and the Greek Nation-State -- 2 Farm, Field, and Pylos -- 3 A Truly Prehistoric Archaeology of Greece -- 4 Preserving and Conserving Nestor -- 5 Science and the Mortuary Landscape of Pylos -- 6 Minoan Missionaries in Pylos -- Epilogue -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index