Athens > Athínai Attiki Greece

Cecrops II, a legendary King of Athens, dies after a reign of forty years and is succeeded by his son Pandion II.

Pandion II was later driven into exile from Athens by the sons of Cecrops II's brother (or possibly nephew) Metion, so that Metion could take power.

Pandion II fled to Megara, where he married the King's daughter and eventually inherited the throne.

After his death, Pandion II's sons return to Athens and drive out the sons of Metion.

Athens is inhabited but not wealthy.

Although Athens shows indications of occupation in the Early and Middle Bronze ages (3000-1500 BCE), the earliest buildings date from the Late Bronze Age, particularly about 1200 BCE when the Acropolis is the citadel.

Around its top is built a massive wall of cyclopean masonry (a type of construction using huge blocks without mortar).

The construction of this wall probably marks the union of the twelve towns of Attica (the department in which Athens lies) under the leadership of Athens, an event traditionally ascribed to Theseus.

The palace of the king is in the area of the later Erechtheum (but almost no traces of it have been identified.)

The town, insofar as it is outside the Acropolis, lies to the south (where wells and slight remains of houses have been found).

The principal cemetery lies to the northwest (and several richly furnished chamber tombs and many smaller ones have been discovered in the area that will later become the Agora.)

Whether through the strength of its walls, the valor of its citizens, or its geographical position away from the main route to the Peloponnesus, Athens seems to have weathered the Late Bronze and Early Iron ages, troubled times, better than other, more important centers.

Athenian tradition relates that during the time of the Dorian “invasion” of the Peloponnesus, around 1068 BCE, the Dorians had consulted the Delphic Oracle, who prophesied that their invasion would succeed as long as the king was not harmed.

The news of this prophecy, that only the death of an Athenian king would ensure the safety of Athens, quickly found its way to the ears of Codrus.

In devotion to his people, Codrus disguised himself as a peasant and made it to the vicinity of the Dorian encampment across the river, where he provoked a group of Dorian soldiers.

He was put to death in the quarrel, and the Dorians, realizing Codrus had been slain, decided to retreat in fear of their prophesied defeat.

In the aftermath of these events, no one thought himself worthy to succeed Codrus, the title of king was abolished, and that of archon substituted for it.

The first such archon was Codrus' son, Medon, who rules from 1068 to 1048; his successor is Acastus.

The later Athenian tradition varies on the exact position of this line; they held archonship for life, and exercised the sacral powers of kingship, as did the archon basileus later.

The hybrid post-Mycenaean culture of southern Greece, a blend of the formerly barbarous invaders and the remnants of the indigenous population, evolves in some areas, notably Attica, into a cohesive Greek civilization about the middle of the eleventh century BCE.

The former Mycenaeans’ close contact with the more advanced civilizations of the East is quickly elevating the level of their culture.

Athens, unlike the Peloponnese, with its tradition of Dorian invasion from the north, claims to be “autochthonous”—that is, its inhabitants have occupied the same land forever.

Though largely fiction, it helps to make up for Athens' relative poverty in religion and myth: it has nothing to compare with the great legends of Thebes (the Oedipus story) or the Peloponnese (Heracles; the house of Atreus).

There is one hero, however, who can be regarded as especially Athenian, and that is Theseus, to whom the original political synoecism of Attica is attributed.

At whatever date one puts this “Thesean” synoecism, or centralization (900?), the late Dark Age in Attica appea r to have seen the opposite process taking place at the physical level; that is, the villages and countryside of Attica are in effect “colonized” from the center in the course of the eighth century. (The process may not be complete until even later.)

This explains why Athens is not one of the earliest colonizing powers: the possibility of “internal colonization” within Attica itself is (like Sparta's expansion into Messenia) an insurance against the kind of short-term food shortages that force such places as Corinth and Thera to siphon off part of their male population.

Athens, unlike other Mycenaean centers, such as Mycenae and Pylos, had not been not sacked and abandoned during the Greek Dark Ages, and the Athenians will forever maintain that they are "pure" Ionians with no Doric element.

Athens had lost most of its power, however, and probably dwindled to a small hill fortress once again.

Traces of Dorians appear only at the start of the Geometric period about 950 BCE.

This simple pottery decoration appears to be correlated with other changes in material culture, such as the introduction of iron weapons and alterations in burial practices from Mycenaean group burials in tholos tombs to individual burials and cremation.

These can certainly be associated with the historical Dorian settlers, such as those of Sparta in the tenth century BCE.

During the time of the so-called “Dorian Invasion” of the Peloponnesus around 1068 BCE, the Dorians had consulted the Delphic Oracle, who prophesied that their invasion would succeed as long as the king was not harmed.

The news of this prophecy, that only the death of an Athenian king would ensure the safety of Athens, had quickly found its way to the ears of King Codrus.

In devotion to his people, Codrus disguised himself as a peasant and made it to the vicinity of the Dorian encampment across the river, where he provoked a group of Dorian soldiers.

He was put to death in the quarrel, and the Dorians, realizing Codrus had been slain, decided to retreat in fear of their prophesied defeat.

In the aftermath of these events, no one thought himself worthy to succeed Codrus, the title of king was abolished, and that of archon, or chief magistrate, substituted for it.

The first such archon was Codrus' son, Medon.

Megacles, though probably legendary, was possibly an archon from 922 BCE to 892 BCE.

Geometric Art, a phase of Greek art characterized largely by geometric motives in vase painting, begin to flourish in about 900 BCE at the end of the Mediterranean Dark Ages.

Its center is in Athens, and it diffuses among the trading cities of the Aegean.

Besides abstract elements, painters of this era introduced stylized depictions of humans and animals which marks a significant departure from the earlier Protogeometric Art.

In this period, artists begin to use geometrical schemes such as squares, circles and lines to decorate amphorae.

Vases in the Geometric style are characterized by many horizontal bands about the circumference covering the entire vase.

Between these lines the geometric artist used a number of other decorative motifs such as the zigzag, the triangle, the meander and the swastika.

Megacles, Archon of Athens from 922 BCE to 892 BCE, is succeeded in office by Diognetus; both rulers are possibly legendary.

Most of the Greek city-state governments begin to be run by archons, state magistrates of the highest order.

Athens, initially, has three archons: one each to exercise civil, military, and religious authority.

The tenure of the three Athenian archons, typically ten years in the eighth century BCE is reduced to one year by 683.

The six junior archons (thesmotetai), or magistrates, are said by Aristotle to have been instituted in Athens after 683 BCE to record the laws.

Trade begins to flourish beginning in the eighth century BCE between the developing city-states of Greece and Italy, many of which, like Athens, are building states that include wider sectors of society in their political activity than had any previous society, laying the basis of democracy.

Athens becomes the largest polis, combining several regions of the peninsula of Attica; its huge size and favorable configuration makes it unusual by any standards among Greek poleis.

Its territory is far larger than that of Corinth or Megara; while Boeotia, though in control of a comparable area, resorts to the federal principle as a way of imposing unity.

Like Corinth but unlike Thebes (the greatest city of Classical Boeotia), Athens has a splendid acropolis (citadel) that has its own water supply, a natural advantage making for early political centralization.

Athens is, moreover, protected by four mountain systems offering a first line of defense.

Second, Attica has a very long coastline jutting into the Aegean, a feature that invites it to become a maritime power (one may contrast it with Sparta, whose port of Gythion is far away to the south).

This in turn is to compel Athens to import quantities of the shipbuilding timber it lacks, a major factor in Athenian imperial thinking.

Third, although Attica is rich in certain natural resources, such as precious metal for coinage—the silver of the Laurium mines in the east of Attica—and marble for building, its soil, suitable though it is for olive growing, is thin by comparison with that of Thessaly or Boeotia.

Athens, whose territory became more densely populated after the post-Mycenaean depopulation, which had affected all Greece, had had to look for sources of grain outside Attica: to secure those sources, it had to act imperialistically.

Animal representations, floral motifs, and, by the eighth century BCE, human figures in stylized silhouettes, have intruded gradually into the traditional abstract geometric decorations of Greek pottery, particularly abundant in Attica.

The contemporary “Dipylon Krater”, a large vase originally used as a grave monument, depicts dancers, processions of horsemen and chariots, battle scenes, and men and women lamenting the dead.

Animal representations, floral motifs, and, by the eighth century BCE, human figures in stylized silhouettes, have intruded gradually into the traditional abstract geometric decorations of Greek pottery, particularly abundant in Attica.

The contemporary “Dipylon Krater”, a large vase originally used as a grave monument, depicts dancers, processions of horsemen and chariots, battle scenes, and men and women lamenting the dead.

Most of the Greek city-state governments begin to be run by archons, state magistrates of the highest order.

Athens, initially, has three archons: one each to exercise civil, military, and religious authority.

In the eighth century BCE, the archons' tenure is typically ten years.

By 683, the tenure of the three Athenian archons has been reduced to one year.

The six junior archons (thesmotetai), or magistrates, are said by Aristotle to have been instituted in Athens after 683 BCE to record the laws.

Beginning in the eighth century BCE, trade flourishes between the developing city-states of Greece and Italy and …