023 - THIS IS SPARTA

In this episode, we discuss the inner-workings of Sparta's unique political, economic, and social system; included are the diarchy (dual hereditary kingship), the gerousia (council of elders), the apella (assembly), and the ephors (judicial overseers); the so-called Lykourgan land reform and the devolution of Sparta's economy; the roles of the helots (slaves), the perioikoi (non-citizens), and Spartan women; the various steps of the agoge (Sparta's education and military training system) which created spartiatai (full-citizen males); and why this unique system ultimately failed

Primary Sources:

Text/Fragments of the Poems of Tyrtaeus
Text/ Xenophon's The Polity of the Lacedaemonians

Text/Aristotle's On the Lacedaemonian Constitution

Text/Plutarch's Life of Lykurgas

Text/Pausanias' Description of Greece (Book 3, Laconia)

Text/Pausanias' Description of Greece (Book 4, Messenia)

022 - Sparta Ascendant

In this episode, we discuss the early history of the polis of Lakedaimon (Sparta), including their expansion in the southern Peloponnesos with the 1st and 2nd Messenian Wars (that brought about the formation of the helot system of slavery); Spartan society's social-class tensions and civil strife that led to reform, supposedly by the semi-mythical lawgiver Lykourgos in the 8th century BC, but more likely a gradual process during the 7th and 6th centuries BC; its military growing pains as Sparta suffered a series of losses to their neighbors, Argos (in the Argolid) and Tegea (in southern Arcadia), before eventually defeating them; the life of Chilon, one of the Seven Sages, and his role in making amendments to the Spartan constitution and in guiding foreign policy; and Sparta's ultimate rise to hegemny over their Peloponnesian and Isthmian neighbors, resulting in what modern scholars call the "Peloponnesian League"

ca. 900-800 BC - The syncoecism of the four villages on the west bank of the Eurotas River  (Pitane, Limnes, Mesoa, and Cynosoura) resulted in the formation of Lacadaemon (Sparta)

ca 800-750 BC - A fifth village, the old Mycenaean town of Amyclae, found three miles from the other villages is incorporated into the polis of Sparta

ca. 780-750 BC - The reign of Eurypontid king, Charilaus (the nephew of the semi-mythical lawgiver Lykurgas who supposedly reformed Sparta)

ca. 760-740 BC - The reign of Agiad king, Teleklos

ca. 750-725 BC - The reign of Eurypontid king, Nicander

ca. 740-720 BC - A Spartan victory in the First Messenian War brought about the annexation of Messenia and the subjugation of its people as Helotes (Helots), which transformed Sparta into a slave-holding state like no other Greek polis

ca. 740-700 BC - The reign of Agiad king, Alkamenes

ca. 725-675 BC - The reign of Eurypontid king, Theopompos

706 BC - Illegitimate Spartans, known as "Parthenai", who were the sons of Spartan women and non-Spartan men, were exiled from Sparta and founded Taras in southern Italy

ca. 700-665 BC - The reign of Agiad king, Polydoros

ca. 675-650 BC - The poets Alcman and Tyrtaeus flourished at Sparta

ca. 675-645 BC - The reign of Eurypontid king, Anaxandridas

669 BC - The Spartan army was defeated by Pheidon and the Argives at Hysiae

ca. 668-650 BC - The Helots revolted with the backing of Arcadia, Argos, Elis, and Pisa, which resulted in the Second Messenian War, but the Spartans were able to put down the revolt thanks to the martial vigor of the warrior-poet, Tyrtaeus; some Messenians were able to flee to Sicily, where they gained control of Zancle and renamed it Messene

ca. 665-640 BC - The reign of Agiad king, Eurycrates

ca. 645-625 BC - The reign of Eurypontid king, Zeuxidamas

ca. 640-615 BC - The reign of Agiad king, Anaximander I

ca. 625-600 BC - The reign of Eurypontid king, Anaxidamos

ca. 615-590 BC - The reign of Agiad king, Eurycratides

ca. 600-575 BC - The reign of Eurypontid king, Archidamos I

ca. 590-560 BC - The reign of Agiad king, Leon

583 BC - Sparta may have assisted with the overthrow of the Kypselid tyranny at Corinth

ca. 575-550 BC - The reign of Eurypontid king, Agasicles

572 BC - Sparta may have helped Elis regain control over Olympia from Pisa

ca. 560 BC - The "Battle of the Fetters" resulted in a devastating Spartan loss to Tegea

ca. 560-525 BC - The reign of Agiad king, Anaxandridas II

556 BC - Sparta helped to overthrow the Orthagorid tyranny at Sicyon

ca. 550-515 BC - The reign of Eurypontid king, Ariston

ca. 550 BC - Sparta finally subdued Tegea, but instead of conquering them, they enacted diplomacy, marking the beginnings of Peloponnesian League

547 BC - The Spartans entered into an alliance with the Lydians against the Persians, but they never provide aid as they still have Argos to deal with

546 BC - The "Battle of Champions" resulted in a Spartan defeat of Argos and the annexation of the region of Kynuria from Argive control

525-522 BC - The Spartans and Corinthians jointly depose the Samian tyrant, Polycrates

520-490 BC - The reign of Agiad king, Kleomenes

515-491 BC - The reign of Eurypontid king, Demaratos

515-512 BC - Kleomenes' half-brother, Dorieus, tried to found the colony of Cinyps on the Libyan coast but he was ultimately driven out by the Carthaginians

510 BC - Dorieus was killed in battle agains the Carthaginians, as he tried to establish a second colony, this one in western Sicily in Punic territory

Primary Sources:

Text/Fragments of the Poems of Tyrtaeus
Text/ Xenophon's The Polity of the Lacedaemonians

Text/Aristotle's On the Lacedaemonian Constitution

Text/Plutarch's Life of Lykurgas

Text/Pausanias' Description of Greece (Book 3, Laconia)

Text/Pausanias' Description of Greece (Book 4, Messenia)

021 - Athletics and the Panhellenic Games

In this episode, we discuss the culturally unifying importance of the four major Panhellenic festivals in the Greek world (Olympic, Pythian, Isthmian, and Nemean); the history and evolution of the athletic program of the Ancient Olympic games; how the various athletic events that the Greeks participated in were performed; and some famous athletes and their larger-than-life qualities

776 BC - the Olympic Games for Zeus at Olympia were instituted with the only event being the stadion foot race

724 BC - the diaulos was introduced

720 BC - the dolichos was introduced; the games were first performed in the nude

708 BC - wrestling and the pentathlon were introduced

688 BC - boxing was introduced

680 BC - chariot racing was introduced

648 BC -  single horse equestrian races and the Pankration were introduced

ca. 600-575 BC - the Herean Games for Hera at Olympia were instituted, which allowed women to participate prior to the games for the men

582 BC - the Pythian Games for Apollo at Delphi were instituted following their victory against Krissa in the First Sacred War

581 BC - the Isthmian Games for Poseidon at Corinth were instituted following their expulsion of the Cypselid tyranny

573 BC - the Nemean Games for Zeus were instituted

566 BC - the Panathenaic Games at Athens were instituted by the tyrant Peisistratos 

540-516 BC - brilliant wrestling career of Milo of Kroton

520 BC - the hoplitodromos was introduced

020 - The Intellectual Revolution

In this episode, we describe the new schools of thought that began to percolate in the 6th century BC about our existence and role in this universe absent from the gods, and we detail the lives, influences, and various theories put forth by the earliest of these so-called "Pre-Socratic" philosophers; included among them are Thales, Anaximandros, Anaximenes, Pherekydes, Pythagoras, Xenophanes, and Heraklitos

Earliest "Pre-Socratic" Philosophers:

Thales of Miletus (624-546 BC)

Anaximander of Miletus (611-546 BC)

Anaximenes of Miletus (585-528 BC)

Pherecydes of Syros (ca. 580-520 BC)

Pythagoras of Samos (ca. 570-495 BC)

Xenophanes of Colophon (ca. 570-470 BC)

Heraclitus of Ephesus (ca. 535-475 BC)

019 - Poets and Wise Rulers

In this episode, we discuss part 2 of 2 on the influential poets whose writings give us insight into the economic, social, and political happenings that reshaped Archaic Greece; in particular, we look at the turbulent history of late 7th and early 6th century BC Mytilene, which finds itself at the intersection of two great poets (Alkaios and Sappho), tyranny, and one of the so-called "Seven Sages” (Pittakos), making it a perfect case study; and the phenomenon of the lawgiver that arose in many city-states in response to all of these economic, social, and political changes

ca. 625 BC - the Penthiliadai, the ruling family of Mytilene, were ousted, leading to rival factions competing for power on Lesbos

ca. 610 BC - the tyrant Melanchrus was ousted by a faction that included Alcaeus' brothers and Pittacus; Myrsilus became the next tyrant

ca. 605 BC - Myrsilus dies, Athens challenges Mytilene for control of Sigeion in the Troad, an event which was arbitrated by Periander in favor of Athens

ca. 600 BC - political unrest once again took root on Lesbos, which forced both of the poets Sappho and Alcaeus into exile

ca. 590 BC - the Mytileneans entrusted Pittacus with absolute power to heal the sores of the city; in doing so, he recalled all exiles and enacted a general amnesty

ca. 590-580 BC - Sappho instituted a school of music and poetry for upper-class women on Lesbos, and she became so close with her pupils there that it later gave rise to the homoerotic notion of "Lesbian"

578 BC - Pittacus lays down absolute power and retires from political life

Poets/Sages Discussed:
Pittacus of Lesbos (648-568 BC)

Sappho and Alcaeus of Lesbos (ca. 630-570 BC)

Bias of Priene (fl. 6th century BC)

Cleobulus of Rhodes (fl. 6th century BC)

Aesop (620-564 BC)

Stesichorus of Metauros (ca. 630-555 BC)

Earliest stages of the Gortyn legal code (ca. 600-525 BC)

Theognis of Megara (fl. 550 BC)

Phocylides of Miletus (fl. 550 BC)

Hipponax of Ephesus (fl. 550 BC)

Anacreon of Teos (ca. 570-485 BC)

Ibycus of Rhegium (fl. 525 BC)

Primary Sources:

Text/Fragments of Sappho

Text/Fragments of Alcaeus

018 - From Epic to Lyric

In this episode, we discuss the literary changes that took place in the 7th and 6th centuries BC (moving away from grand epic to the more personalized lyric, elegiac, and iambic forms of poetry); and part 1 of 2 on the influential poets whose writings gives us insight into the economic, social, and political happenings that reshaped archaic Greece

ca. 800-700 BC - The "Epic Cycle" was constructed, which includes the works of "Homer"

ca. 750-700 BC - Hesiod flourished

ca. 700-675 BC - Terpander and Thaletas instituted musical schools at Sparta

ca. 680 BC - Archilochus wrote the first non-epic poetry on the historical record

ca. 675-650 BC - Alcman, Tyrtaeus, Callinus, and Semonides all flourished

ca. 630-600 BC - Mimnermus flourished; Arian introduced the dithyramb to Corinth


Primary Sources:
Text/Fragments of the Epic Cycle
Text/Primary Sources for Earliest Poets
Text/Fragments of Alcman

017 - Archaic Art and Architecture

In this episode, we discuss the innovation taking place during the 7th and 6th centuries BC in the realm of vase painting (Orientalizing, Korinthian, and Attic black-figure and red-figure), statuary (kouros/kore and reliefs), and architecture (Doric/Ionic temples, treasuries, and stoas) by looking at some notable works of Archaic art and architecture

016 - The "Age of Tyranny"

In this episode, we discuss the new political phenomena arising in various parts of the Greek world in the 7th and 6th centuries BC, called tyranny, by focusing on four poleis in the Peloponnesos in particular as case studies for its cause: Pheidon of Argos (the military cause), Kypselos and Periandros of Korinth (the economic cause), Kleisthenes of Sikyon (the ethnic cause), and Theogenes of Megara (the unsuccessful attempt)

747 BC - the last king of Corinth, Telestes, was overthrown, resulting in the city being ran by a royal clan, called the Bacchiadai
733 BC - the Corinthians founded Syracuse and Corcyra
ca. 725-700 BC - the trireme was developed at Corinth
ca. 700 BC - The Megarians drove out hostile invaders (possibly Corinth?) from their city
685 BC - the Megarians founded Chalcedon on the Asiatic side of the Bosporus
669 BC - The Argives defeated the Spartans at the battle of Hysiae, possibly the event that allowed Pheidon to become tyrant of Argos
668 BC - The neighboring city-state of Pisa gained control of the Olympic sanctuary from Elis, with the help of Pheidon and his newly minted hoplite army; the Megarians founded Byzantion (Byzantium) on the European side of the Bosporus
664 BC - the first Greek sea-battle took place between Corinth and its colony, Corcyra
657-627 BC - Kypselos overthrows the Bacchiadai ruling clan (of which he was a marginalized member) and establishes himself as tyrant of Corinth
ca. 650-625 BC - Demaratus, an exiled Bacchiadai, flees to Italy, where he settled at the Etruscan city of Tarquinii and introduced many aspects of Greek culture to central Italy (his son Lucius would eventually move to Rome and become king)
ca. 650 BC - Orthagoras becomes tyrant of Sicyon; Theagenes becomes tyrant of Megara
632 BC - An Olympic victor, Cylon, unsuccessfully attempted to install himself as tyrant of Athens, with the aid of his father-in-law, Theagenes of Megara
627-585 BC - Periander succeeded his father as tyrant of Corinth, and established Corinth as the most economically prosperous city-state in the Greek world, although paranoia set in and his rule grew harsher and harsher towards his people
ca. 600-570 BC - Cleisthenes becomes tyrant of Sicyon
595-585 BC - Cleisthenes of Sicyon and the Amphictyons led the defense of Delphi against the Phocian town of Krissa in the First Sacred War
585-583 BC - Periander's nephew, Psammetikos, ruled as tyrant, but he felt the brunt of Corinthian anger towards his uncle's harshness and was deposed
582 BC - the Corinthians established the Isthmian Games to celebrate the end of the Cypselid tyranny; the Delphians established the Pythian Games to celebrate their freedom from Krissa following the First Sacred War
570-556 BC - Cleisthenes' successor, Aeschines, ruled as tyrant of Sicyon until he was expelled with the help of the Spartans

015 - Colonization and the East

In this episode, we discuss the Greek emigration northeastwards into the Chalkidiki, Thrace, Hellespont, Bosporus, Black Sea, and southwards into northern Africa during the 7th and 6th centuries BC; the reigns of the Lydian and Egyptian kings of the 26th Saite Dynasty and their relations with the Greeks until around 550 BC; and the development of coinage (first in Lydia and then its widespread adoption and adaptation by the Greeks in the 6th century BC)

ca. 1050-950 BC - Phrygians migrate from Thrace into central Anatolia; Phrygian kings establish capital at Gordium and unite the central Anatolian plateau

ca. 700 BC - The Euboeans (particularly Chalcis), as well as Corinth, establish colonies on the coasts of Macedon and the Chalkidiki Peninsula

ca. 700-690 BC - Cimmerian invaders (nomads from the Black Sea) come down and overrun the Phrygian kingdom, whose king Mita (Midas?) then commits suicide; Phrygian power over central Anatolia is shattered and Lydia becomes an independent kingdom

685 BC - The Megarians found Chalcedon on the Asiatic side of the Bosporus

ca. 680 BC - Gyges overthrows Kandaules, establishing the Mermnad dynasty of Lydia

ca. 680-645 BC - Gyges sets the Lydian pattern of trying to control the coastal Greek cities for tribute and access to the sea; he captures Kolophon and Magnesia and brings the Troad under his control, but he is unable to defeat Smyrna, Miletus, and Ephesus and thus enters into alliances with them; he send gifts to Delphi, and the Lydians mint the first electrum coins

ca. 675-600 BC - The Milesians found colonies in the Troad and on the southern (Anatolian) and western (Thracian) shores of the Black Sea region

668 BC - The Megarians found Byzantion on the European side of the Bosporus

ca. 665-610 BC - Psammetichos (Psamtik) overthrows the Assyrian yoke over Egypt and establishes native rule (26th Saite Dynasty), and with the help of Ionian and Carian mercenaries, he consolidates his hold over the Nile Delta

ca. 650 BC - Klazomenai founds Abdera on the Thracian coastline in the northern Aegean

ca. 645-625 BC - The Lydian king, Ardys, pushes out the Cimmerians from his land and extends Lydian power eastwards to the border of the Halys River; wars with Miletus unsuccessfully but is able to defeat Priene

ca. 630 BC - The Therans founded Cyrene on the African coastline in Libya

ca. 630-600 BC - Battos rules over Cyrene

ca. 625-610 BC - The Lydian king, Sadyattes, sacks Smyrna, suffers a huge defeat against Klazomenai, and leads yearly campaigns against Miletus

ca. 610-560 BC - The Lydian king, Alyattes, due to the cunning of the Milesian tyrant Thrasyboulos, sues for peace after 17 years of war; Alyattes also falls for a trick by Bias that leads him to sue for peace with Priene too

ca. 600 BC - The Egyptian pharaoh, Necho, sends out an expedition of Phoenicians, who sail from the Red Sea westwards entirely around the coast of Africa, returning through the Pillars of Hercules to the mouth of the Nile River

ca. 600-550 BC - Greek settlements spring up in the more remote parts of the Black Sea in Colchis and Scythia by the Milesians

600-583 BC - Arkesilaos rules over Cyrene

585 BC - The Battle of the Halys River in Cappadocia between the Lydians under Alyattes and the Medes under Cyaxerxes ends in a draw due to the total eclipse of the sun (predicted by Thales); the Halys River is established as the boundary between Lydia and Media

583-560 BC - Under the rule of Battos II, an influx of Greek migrants reinforces Cyrene at the behest of the Delphic oracle; this leads the local Libyan tribes, fearful of their intentions, to seek an alliance with the Egyptian pharaoh, Apries 

ca. 570 BC - The Cyrenaeans under Battos II defeat the Egyptians under Apries, resulting in the overthrow of Apries and the ascendency of Amasis II; the Greeks establish Naukratis in the Nile Delta; the use of silver coins reaches the Ionian Greeks via the Lydians and it quickly spreads to the rest of the Greek world

560-550 BC - The Cyrenean king, Arkesilaos II, is a brutal ruler, leading to a revolt, assisted by the Libyans, and the ascendancy of Battos III

560-546 BC - The Lydian king, Croesus, subdues the Carians and Ephesians

014 - Colonization and the West

In this episode, we discuss the various causes of Greek colonization (population growth, shortage of land, trade opportunities, civil strife, and new adventures); the Greek emigration westward into southern Italy and Sicily, the coasts of southern France and eastern Spain, and on the islands of Corsica and Sardinia during the 8th, 7th, and 6th centuries BC; the development of the trireme by the Phoenicians/Corinthians in order to protect their maritime trade networks from roving bands of pirates looking for ships laden with exotic goods; and the growing tensions in the central and western Mediterranean Sea between the western Greeks and the Etruscans and Phoenicians (specifically the Carthaginians) until around 550 BC

ca. 775-750 BC - a group of colonists from the Euboean cities of Chalcis and Eretria and from Cyme in Aeolus, together with the Phoenicians, established a colony/emporion at Pithekoussai on the island of Ischia in the Bay of Naples

ca. 740 BC - the Euboeans alone established a colony/apoikia at Cumae, directly adjacent to Ischia on the Italian mainland, making it the oldest Greek-only colony in the west and gave them access to trade with the Etruscans of central Italy

734 BC - the Chalcidians founded the first Greek colony in Sicily at Naxos

733 BC - the Corinthians founded Syracuse and Corcyra

728 BC - the Chalcidians founded Leontini and Catana

726 BC - the Megarians founded Megara Hyblea

ca. 725-700 BC - the trireme was developed at Corinth

725 BC - the Chalcidians founded Zancle

720 BC - the Chalcidians founded Rhegium; the Achaeans founded Sybaris

710 BC - the Achaeans founded Kroton

706 BC - the Spartans founded Taras

ca. 700 BC - the Achaeans founded Metapontion

688 BC - the Rhodians and Cretans founded Gela

ca. 680 BC - the Locrians founded Locri (legal code drew up by Zaleucus)

ca. 630 BC - the Greeks began to move away from eastern Sicily, as Zancle founded Himera in north-central Sicily and Megara Hyblea founded Selinus in southwestern Sicily, bringing the Greeks into contact with the Elymians and Phoenician colonies in west Sicily

ca. 600 BC - the Sybarites founded Poseidonia; the Phocaeans founded Massalia--the first Greek settlement in France, but in order to do so they had to defeat the Carthaginians in a naval battle in the waters just south of France

ca. 580 BC - the Greeks first engaged in hostilities with the Elymians of Segesta and the Phoenician colonists on Sicily, who in turn formed a military alliance with the powerful Etruscans of central Italy; as a result, the Greeks founded Lipara, the largest of the Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the northern coast of Sicily, to keep a watch against the Etruscan pirates; Gela founded Akragas on south-central Sicily

ca. 575 BC - the Phocaeans founded Emporion on the northeastern coast of Spain, further encroaching on Carthaginian-owned territory in Spain

570-554 BC - the tyrant Phalaris quickly turned Akragas into a regional power

ca. 560 BC - the Phocaeans gained a foothold in the Etruscan "network", by founding Olbia on the northeastern coast of Sardinia and Alalia on the eastern coast of Corsica

546 BC - Cyrus the Great of Persia sacked Phocaea, forcing the Phocaeans to flee westward to their colonies; some founded Elea on the Tyrrhenian coastline, making it the last of the Greek settlements in Italy during this great period of Greek colonization

013 - Hoplite Warfare

In this episode, we discuss the revolutionary changes in warfare that took place in the 8th and 7th centuries BC that were strictly Greek and reflect the development and abstract nature of the polis; the type of armor worn and weaponry employed by a typical hoplite; the organization and training of Greek military forces; the general rules surrounding the conduct of Greek warfare and how armies campaigned; the application of tactics in a typical battle sequence; the cultic practices of the bloodlust god, Ares, who personifies the grim and horrific aspects of warfare; and the Lelantine War, the first large-scale war on the Greek record after the mythical Trojan War and the first instance in which these military changes were employed

ca. 725-650 BC - the Lelantine War took place pitting Eretria, Miletus, Aegina, Megara, and Chios versus Chalcis, Samos, Corinth, Erythrai, and Thessaly

ca. 700 BC - Lefkandi was destroyed, probably by Chalcis

ca. 650 BC - the Chigi vase is the earliest depiction of hoplite warfare in Greek art

012 - Oligarchs and Hesiod

In this episode, we discuss the transitional governments in the early stages of the centrally unified polis (those of oligarchia and aristokratia), as the waning power of the basileis becomes supplanted by a small landowning group of nobles; the economic and social divisions between the nobles and commoners brought on by a spike in population in Greece; and the second great author of ancient Greece, a man named Hesiod, who speaks to us about life and society in the emerging polis from the point of view of the ordinary citizen, in his Works and Days

Primary Sources:
Text/Hesiod's Theogony
Text/Hesiod's Works and Days

Text/Hesiod's Catalogues of Women
Text/Hesiod's Shield of Heracles
Text/Miscellaneous Fragments Attributed to Hesiod

011 - From Oikos to Polis

In this episode, we discuss the community (demos) and household (oikos) in the late Dark Age; their socio-political and geographical unification (through a process called synoikismos), which lead to the city-state (polis) and brought about the transition from the Dark Age into the Archaic Period; and later Greek philosophical thought on the polis and polis identity and what it meant to live in a polis beyond just its physical space

010 - Religion and Panhellenism

In this episode, we discuss early Greek religion as it was formalized in the writings of Homer and Hesiod; the various rituals that were performed when the Greeks worshipped their deities; the evidence for the earliest sanctuaries and hero cults in the 8th century BC that developed hand-in-hand with the city-state and their increasing wealth (as seen through votive offerings); the early developments of the idea of Panhellenism (a sense of a common Greek identity); and the foundation myths, archaeological evidence, and importance for the four predominant Panhellenic sanctuaries that gained massive popularity in the 8th and 7th centuries BC (Zeus and Hera at Olympia, Apollo and Artemis at Delos, Apollo at Delphi, and Zeus and Dione at Dodona—with the latter two having popular oracular shrines)

ca. 900-700 BC - stone defensive walls appear throughout the cities of Greek Anatolia, the Aegean islands, and mainland Greece (attesting to the probability of increased warfare between communities over securing the growing wealth in the period)
ca. 800-700 BC - an increase in religious sanctuaries and shrines led to the building of the earliest temples in all parts of the Greek world

776 BC - traditional date for the first Olympic Games
ca. 750 BC - numerous ancient tombs began to receive votive offerings, an indication that their anonymous inhabitants were now being worshipped as hero cults
ca. 750-700 BC - votive offerings in the form of pottery, bronze statuettes, and bronze tripods were being dedicated at Delphi in ever increasing numbers by Greek city-states
ca. 700-600 BC - the much older oracle of Zeus at Dodona (in northwestern Greece) developed into an important religious center for the southern Greeks too 
ca. 650-600 BC - the oracle of Apollo at Delphi was being respected by many countries around the periphery of the Greek world, such as Lydia, Caria, Egypt, and Rome

009 - Greek Resurgence

In this episode, we discuss the archaeological evidence for the late "Dark Age" during the 9th and early 8th centuries BC, especially the Heroon at Lefkandi and the Keremeikos at Athens; Greece's cultural reawakening and reconnection with the Near East thanks to their contact with the Phoenicians; the development of the Greek alphabet and its impact on Greek cultural development; the establishment of three trading posts/colonies at El-Mina (in the Levant) and Pithekoussai and Kyme (central Italy); and the evolution of "Geometric" vase painting, especially on kraters and amphoras and their role in the funerary process

ca. 1050 BC - the Phoenicians adopted the linear script rendered in cuneiform in the Ugaritic language to fit the Semitic languages of the Levant
ca. 900-850 BC - the early Geometric period, in which Greek potters added new shapes and motifs to their repertoire, by featuring sharp angles, zigzags, repeating patterns, and what would later be consider the classic Greek meander pattern

ca. 850-750 BC - the middle Geometric period, in which Greek potters gradually fill the entire surface of the vase, and they become larger and more ambitious

ca. 825 BC - evidence of early Greek-Phoenician-Cypriot cooperation can be seen in the establishment of a trading post at Al-Mina in northern Syria

ca. 800 BC - the economic recovery of Greece was in full effect; the Greeks adapted the Phoenician script into the first alphabetic script with vowels

ca. 775-750 BC - a group of colonists from Chalcis and Eretria in Euboia and from Cyme in Aeolos, together with the Phoenicians, established a trading post at Pithekoussai on the Italian island of Ischia in the Bay of Naples, meaning that there now was a trade route stretching from the Near East to the territory of the Etruscans

ca. 750-700 BC - the late Geometric Period, in which Greek vase painters began to depict living creatures once again in group scenes that told a kind of story

ca. 740 BC - the Euboeans established a colony at Kyme (Cumae) on the central Italian mainland, directly adjacent of Pithekoussai (island of Ischia), making it the oldest Greek-only colony in the west and giving them access to the Etruscans

008 - The "Dark Age" and Homer

In this episode, we discuss the archaeological evidence for the early "Dark Age" during the 11th and 10th centuries BC, particularly at the site of Nichoria in Messenia and the pottery of the Sub-Mykenaian and Protogeometic periods; the emigration of mainland Greeks to the Aegean islands and the western coast of Anatolia; and the first great author of ancient Greece, the mysterious Homer, who gives us insight into early Dark Age society and culture through his two great epic poems—the Iliad and the Odyssey

ca. 1200-1000 BC - following the collapse of the Mycenaean palace economy, famine and emigration set the stage for a massive population drop in Greece 

ca. 1125-1050 BC - the period following the Mycenaean Period is known as Sub-Mycenaean since the pottery is still recognizably Mycenaean but much inferior in quality

ca. 1050-900 BC - renewed artistic vigor can be seen in the pottery of the Protogeometric style, so-called because the designs are simple abstract geometric shapes like horizontal and wavy lines, circles, and semicircles within bands around the neck and belly

ca. 1050-900 BC - Numerous waves of emigration began eastwards into the Aegean islands and the western coast of Anatolia (Aeolia and Ionia)

ca. 900 BC - weapons and tools were beginning to be made with iron (i.e. the Iron Age), foreign trade resumed (at a small scale), small villages began to appear, and populations began to inch upwards at a steady pace
ca. 850-750 BC - composition of Iliad and Odyssey by "Homer"

Primary Sources:

Text/Homer's Iliad
Text/Homer's Odyssey
Text/Homeric Hymns