The Archaic Period

      Several significant developments mark the end of the Dark Ages in Greece and point to a great new culture. First was the appearance of a new national literature, epitomized by Homer's work. this not only provided Greeks with a glorious past, whether real or imagined, but also gave them a common view of their god,s almost like a national religion. Second was the resurgence of trade as the Greeks again regularly plied the waters beyond the Aegean Sea. Their first destinations were in the eastern Mediterranean, probably to exchange food or metal for manufactured goods. But more important than the objects they bought were the skills and ideas they soon acquired: shipbuilding and metal-working techniques, better knowledge of geography and navigation, artistic and religious ideas, and not least, an alphabet. The alphabet we use today for English and many other languages came for the Greeks by way of the Romans. The Greeks themselves learned it from the Phoenicians, a seafaring people who lived in the region of present-day Lebanon. The new script had only 27 letters, and was easy enough for almost anyone to learn.
      Soon after their voyages to the east began, the Greeks also began sailing westward, establishing contacts and settlements in Italy. They now had access to the iron and other metals found to the north of Rome, where a people known as the Etruscans were beginning to flourish. This led to the third development, colonization. Trading expeditions soon brought news to Greeks at home about the rich agricultural lands in Italy, Sicily, and other locations on the coasts of the Mediterranean. Since pressures to find better land were building in Greece, the trickle of groups emigrating from the Aegean soon became a flood. Hundreds of new Greek settlements were established abroad over a 200-year period, making much of the Mediterranean and Black Sea coasts an extension of the Greek homeland. While theses settlements are often called colonies, for the most part, they were new, independent Greek city-states.
      A fourth development, though minor at first, later became more important. The first Olympic Games in honour of the god Zeus were held in 776 BCE. This is the first date we have in Greek history, the starting point from which later Greeks marked their own past. The Olympic festival was one of four Panhellenic ("all Greece") games that drew competitors and spectators from every corner of the Greek world. Since the prizes at these prestigious festivals were treasured crowns of sacred tree branches, they were called Crown Games. There were some 300 other local athletic games around Greece where winners received very valuable rewrads. These were called Prize Games. They Olympic Games continued until 393 ACE when the Roman emperor Theodosius I, a Christian, ordered all pagan sanctuaries closed.

Colonization

      Towns in Greece wanting to establish new settlements abroad often consulted the oracle of Apollo at Delphi, a sacred place where priestesses or priests could answer questions put to the god about the new territory (or anything else). Then with the oracle's blessing, a group of several hundred men equipped with ships and all the tools and equipment they would need ( at great expense) and promises of further help, would sail away in excitement and anticipation. Whether women and children went out these expeditions or came later, we do not know. We do know that many Greek men took native wives in their new homes,but many more probably brought their Greek wives with them.
      Below is an inscription discovered in Cyrene, Libya, that preserves the original foundation agreement between the colonists of Cyrene and their mother city, Thera. In this case, famine was forcing the mother city to send some of its hungry citizens away. Part of the agreement reads:

Agreement of the Founders

Decided by the assembly. Since Apollo has given a spontaneous prophesy to Battus and the Theraeans ordering them to colonize Cyrene, the Theraeans resolve that Battus be sent to Libya as leader and king: that the Theraeans sail as his companions: that they sail on fair and equal terms, according to family; that one son be conscripted from each family; that those who sail be in the prime of life; and that, of the rest of the Theraeans, any free man who wishes may sail. ...But he who is unwilling to sail when the city sends him shall be liable to punishment by death and his goods shall be confiscated. And he who receives or protects another, even if it be a father his son or brother, shall suffer the same penalty as the man unwilling to sail... 

      Once colonists had arrived at their destination, they had to choose the best location for their new home, usually a harbour site. Besides the endless work of dividing the land, planting the first crops, and building their homes, settlers also had to contend with the native peoples whose land they were taking. The colonists of Cyrene, for example, were often helped by the native Libyans, but there were also bitter wars. In one battle, says Herodotus, the Libyans killed 7000 Greeks. The number of dead sounds unbelievably high but it points out the seriousness of the problem of conflict between Greek colonists and the natives of the lands they colonized.

 Writing: ECHOES from the past published by McGraw-Hill Ryderson Ltd.