Archaic Age
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23716303 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Hans Van Wees (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Publication date | 2011-02-04 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/9781444350302.wbhe0127 |
| OpenAlex | W4238068437 |
| ISBN | 9781444350302 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 7 |
Archaic Age From about 750 BCE onwards, the Greek world developed and expanded at a rapid rate: city-states with republican governments, militia armies, and a distinctive material and intellectual culture emerged, and Greeks began to travel and settle all over the Mediterranean. The composition of the ILIAD and ODYSSEY is most often dated near the start of these developments, 750-650 BCE, though some would argue that the epics remained fluid until they began to be performed at the Panathenaia festival, ca. 550-530 BCE (see ATHENS AND HOMER). Either way, the Archaic Age is a crucial period in the history of the epics. To what extent the poems reflect the time of their composition remains a matter of debate. Traditionally, scholars have looked to the Bronze and Early Iron Ages as models for the world of the heroes (see MYCENAEAN AGE; DARK AGE), and acknowledged only a few Archaic elements, which they have often dismissed as later "INTERPOLATIONS." More recently, the trend has been to identify many more late 8th-and 7thcentury elements, and to argue that the epics drew heavily on their contemporary world, as well as on older ORAL TRADITION.
| Highly cited | No |
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