Archeology and the Ancient Greek - Essay Example

? Archeology and the Ancient Greek Introduction Human activities in the past have been of great interest. In this respect, archeology and archeologists who study past human activities employ different modes of human study. They study these activities through the recovery and analysis of past and existing material culture. These include environmental data that have long been left behind which comprise of architecture, artifacts, cultural landscapes, and biofacts. Included in the list of instruments of the things archeologists use include classical records. Classical records may not in totality provide full information needed to study past human activities. What they help archaeologies in achieving are the clues of the things they need to study. They provide a road map on what to explore and the direction to take in the study of these ancient remains. Among the clues that have been provided before are the study and the investigation of the ancient Greek world in the tradition of Schieman digging at Troy with the hand of Iliad. To enhance the understanding of the past human activities, archeologists often utilize classical texts in conjunction with archeology to understand past way of the Greek world. The study of the past is also instrumental as it helps archeologist in understanding the contemporary way of life in relation to the origin of human activities. This paper focuses on how classical text in conjunction with archeology helps in the understanding of the ancient and the elite behavior of the Greek society as well as the probable problems that are likely to be faced in the study of past and present human activities. In the endeavor to have the understanding of the Greek society, Martin hypothesizes that despite the ancient origin of the Homeric poetry, the behaviors that it portrays is just a reflection of the values that were established during the dark ages in the aristocratic society before the rise of the political systems based on the citizenship. Homeric value Walt is much driven by some two Homeric values; these are the ideas of the Greek of arete which means excellence. One of the Greeks ethics was the search of excellence in their activities and endeavors. Archeologists use classical texts to bring to us through the narrative the driving force of Walt’s desire to achieve excellence in his duties. He wanted that that entire he does to come out to be beautiful (Kardaras 2011). The narrative rivets this thought by explaining how Walt was dying for excellence. He always wanted the best products and always did awesome jobs. Through the narrative, it is also beautiful to learn that Walt’s craziness and obsession with aretes, excellence pushes him into the production of the purest meth (Ross, & Hook, 2006). During the moments of war, archeologists through the script and text analysis discovers that during the moment of greatness and war, Homeric heroes displayed the strength and the might of aretes during the war. In search of recognition and honor, Walt took his good time in the meth lab to come up with exceptional and the most refined weapons. The second value held by the Homeric that inspires Walt is Kleos: that is, the urge to personal glory and might. In other words, the Greeks wanted to be known for something. In this case the subject wanted to be known for arete. Throughout the story, it is evident that the major motive that drives one to work is the desire to achieve something significant. The Greek education and culture have been dominated by the pursuit of excellence and the urge to greatness: personal glory. The Homer’s and Illiad are paeans and pursuant of arete. These very urges and desires still dominate the contemporary Greek way of life. A noble and apos aretes in Homer, is indicated by the acuity of his prowess in war and the excellence of his weapon manufacturing. In athletics, he is seen as a person who is peaceful and admirable (Sissa, & Detienne 2000). Both of these occasions, war time and moments of peace are all of immense value in show casing the might which results to personal glory. War time was an excellent time where one displayed the strength and the excellence of the aretes whose primary mission was to win glory. This explains why most Greeks found their ways to Troy most notably to Achilles. Achilles is a classical representation of the Greek aristocrats, which preferred a life that is full of glory. The Greek did not put value in the longevity of life but rather on the life of honor and glory even if it lasted for hours. The goal is to lead a worthy life that can be remembered by many after a persons’ death (Ross 2005). This is seen and made clear in the life of Illiad when his mother urged and challenged him that as a man, he had the option of choosing between a life of honor and glory or choosing a long life of the average majority. This is a clear indication that during the Homeric period, the aristocrats valued arete more than everything in the world. Even death to them was not a threat in achieving what they desired. Classical records give the archeologists the guidelines and direction of finding out the truth to these claims. Through the discoveries of exemplary weapons one could deduce that there was a period when there was excellence of weapons. Pots were also found and burial sites which were well equipped with ornaments and glorious gargets were also discovered. The world has often studied the Greeks and the Aristocratic way of life and the world has marveled to genius nature of the Greek society. Philosophies have been developed and investigations have been launched into the same. The archaeologist of our modern times has developed interest in this inquiry too. Through the analysis of the existing literature, speculations, and the hypothesis that have been developed, they have taken the initiative to unravel the mystery behind the might. The Greek community especially the aristocrats had values that guided them and it is through these values that they made significant achievements in history. The desire of excellence dominated their lives in all activities. In research and academics, the Greeks led and they brought the world into civilization through their philosophical speculations and systemic inquiry. In war, they desired to win than to loose and in war; they were never terrified by death. In their philosophy, life was meant to be lived for something. They were goal oriented and they were specific in their mission (Soupios, & Mourdoukoutas 2009). Archeologists have discovered fine writings of literary works, they have brought from the earth fine tools and weapons. They have further pointed out the tombs and they have shown us the remains of the dead which is a clear indication that these claims are right and valid. Greek elite women  Women in the Dark Age of history had different roles; they were given different status depending on the roles they played in the society. During the dark ages, there are women who were given higher standings in the society because of the roles they played. There are those women who were given the privilege to be schooled and some were highly educated. There are those women who by status were highly respected. However, during the Dark Age, they (women) were considered to be immature beings that could not be independent. They were therefore looked after by their brother and or their fathers. Women were not permitted to make sound decisions on their own unless there was an intervention of a man. On the other hand, women were treated as the icons of beauty. Their beauty reflected the glory of a man; they were then expected to be beautiful for the pride of a man’s heart. Most notably, women were considered by Christian doctrines of the time as the people who were responsible for the human suffering. In the tombs of women in lefkandi and toumba, there was jewelry that was found depicting the beautiful nature of women (Lefkowitz, & Fant 2005). Men held the women they loved with high esteem. In one of the tombs found in toumba there are pieces of poetic writings of men describing and lamenting over their lost love and the pride of their lives. The archeological findings prove that women were highly valued by men. In Greek, there were intellectual women who contributed notably to the dissemination of knowledge. Greek elites show reverence to the gods  Greeks had absolute respect to their gods. They demonstrated their allegiance to god in different ways. They had traditional way of worship and praising their god. They conducted a number of rituals including setting a holy place of worship. They had different gods for different occasions. For instance, when it was harvest times, they prayed and thanked their god of harvest for the good harvest. Whenever they were faced with a problem, they would contact gods for wisdom and guidance so as to be free from sinning or wrong another person. The Greeks also offered sacrifices to gods. For instance during drought, they contacted their gods for the provision of rain. Greeks both men and women had unique mode of dressings. There were dressing styles that were meant to appease gods. They also had jewelries that men alike with women were putting for religious significance. They also built temples and they further made places of worship (Martin 1989). To the question of the origin of man, they had an absolute belief that god is/was the creator and the originator of all things. An archeologist brings these facts to people’s knowledge. They have discovered worship places, and they have further found jewelries that were used as signs of religious representations. Some of these jewelries were found in the tombs. They sometimes buried their people respectfully with jewels as signs of honor to the god who transforms lives. There are also religious writings that have been found. These writings that have been found by archeologists reveal that these people had a god to whom they trusted. How Greeks lived The Greeks lived a life of superiority and marvel of great works. The Odyssey and Homer’s Illad were venerated by the very Greeks as the parameter through which they measured their civilization. Greeks took pride in the prestigious pieces of work: poetry that expressed powerful themes in the beauty of words that the average minds could not comprehend. In their lives, they did not go minus recognizing good work of bravery or any excellent work (Garland 1998). In their belief, they considered good achievements as the background of inspiration. The Greeks held the heroes of the Illad with high esteem. The heroes of the Illad were people who were endowed with the superhuman ability. The practice of hero worship was evident to be common in the ancient Greek. They lived their lives to honor heroes and men of great achievements and to the gods they offered sacrifices. According to the cultural practice and evidences presented, it is clear that the act of the hero worship is not in any way connected to the mythical stories but it is just their origin character and way of life. They also led religious lives as they offered sacrifices to gods either when there was a bad thing that had happened or in the event of a good happening. Greeks lived in harmony with each other. This is seen as it is evident in their lives of life admiration. They had a belief that the success of one person brought glory to the whole community. They admired those who excelled in something. They detested mediocrity and rejected any act of laziness. It is in their lifestyle to appreciate goodness. Archeologist attests to this claim by analyzing Illiad and Odyssey. Elite behavior; xenia The Greek elites practiced love at its best. They expressed an attitude of generosity to people and strangers as well. They felt indebted to their god Zeru who was a god who protected people travelling as well as strangers who are in a foreign land. In their Xenic character, they practiced two rules. The first is respect from host to the guest. The host is often charged with the responsibility to provide the guest with the basic necessities. For instance, it is the responsibility of the host to give food, water, shelter, and drinks to the guest. In their belief, they often ask the guest questions only after the guest has stated his problems. It is also stated that the guest must be courteous to the host and he must not be a burden. This act of generosity was considered to be a good thing that came with blessings especially from the visitors. They believed that gods often mingled with the visitors. In the Illiad of Homer, the King of Mycenaean Sparta transgressed the practice of xenia by abducting his guest’s wife. This was condemnable act and revenge to this bad act was necessitated. However, in Homer’s The Odyssey, xenia is a seen to be the dominant theme. Suitors inhibit the house of Odysseus with demands beyond the requirements of Xenia. These acts of generosity are praised in the analysis of the texts and archeologist evaluated how they are further practiced and how they help in understanding the ancient Greek. Generosity was considered to be a virtue and the fact that they welcomed strangers is enough testimony to prove that they led a generous lifestyle. Difficulty Experienced when Homeric texts and Archeology are combined Homeric texts are majorly poetic texts which represent the historical events that had taken place. These events are put in narratives, they could be performed, and also they are majorly presented in poetry. Some of the themes and issues of concerns raised could be personal opinions or ones thought. It would be difficult when using them (Homeric texts) to come up with exact dates of events. Archeology would want to deal with concrete substances that can be quantified and verified. When using both of these approaches to actualized speculations, it may be a little challenging to come up with a conclusion supported by both. Narratives are bound to change and they can be changed to fit particular situations so are poetries. They can be biased in the information they give thus creating conflict and confusion with archeology. Archeology would seek the presence of tusk, helmet, evidence of the use of chariots, and the presence of bronze weapons (Redfield 1994). The presence of such things can be used by archeologists to prove the existence of a people and their way of life can be deducted from the evidence of their existence. Homeric’s being an art that is to communicate to the feelings of people, there can be instances where there is exaggeration of wealth, monsters, we can even wittiness things like talking rivers, and the like. Some of these things are just mere imaginations which cannot be practical in human life. It may be very difficult to date and locate the time from which the story took place. Conclusion Human history is rich and it covers a long past of time. Investigating the events that had taken place in the past to is of vital value. Such investigations make the contemporary world to know the origin of things. The study of archeology brings this into being successfully. The life of the ancient Greek has been that which is marked by excellent work. Just ranging from art, literature, and philosophy, they have heard no equal measure of history. The values that they held over time propelled their desire to achievement. The ancient Greeks valued excellence and the urge to glory above everything. They worked toward archiving these ends no matter what come their way. In the search and pursuit of glory and excellence, even death could not deter them. The ancient Greeks prayed to their gods and they offered various sacrifices to god. Their values were guided by the religious belief in their god. They used various means to show respect to their god. Among the ways they used to show respect to their gods was the use of special jewels on special occasions and also offering sacrifices to the gods. The Greeks further had good belief systems that just promoted harmonious living. They believed in generosity and that kindness was to be shown to those in need. In the event that a visitor knocked on somebody’s door, they were to be treated with respect. They were so partly because it is just good to do so and others welcomed visitors and showed them kindness because gods sometimes meddled their ways into peoples’ homes with visitors. Coming up with these knowledge requires a deep study into the past. The reliance into archeology helps in getting facts about the past way of life to the understanding of the contemporary world. 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