Page 47 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Greek Islands

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The Dark Ages and Archaic Period 1 A 17th-century
Between 1200 and 1100 BC Mycenaean society was harried by navigational chart of
invaders known as the Sea Peoples, triggering the Dark Ages the Mediterranean.
across the islands. This period of decline con tinued until the 2 The famous Agía
birth of city-states such as Athens and Sparta in about 800 BC. Triada sarcophagus,
The ensuing cultural renais sance was accompanied by the dated to 1400 BC, with
founding of colonies from the Black Sea to North Africa, but, in frescoes depicting
492 BC, Darius the Great of the Persian Empire attacked Athens Minoan funerary rituals.
and Sparta. Two years later Athens defeated the Persians at 3 Illustration depicting
Marathon, a defining moment marking the start of a golden age. King Darius I of Persia
fighting the Greeks at
Classical Greece the Battle of Marathon.
The pinnacle of Greek civilization, the Classical period saw the 4 Sketch illustrating the
building of the Acropolis and other great temples; the creation great Temple of Demeter
of great tragedies by Sophocles, Euripides and Aeschylus; and on Naxos, built in Ionic
the founding of famous schools of philosophy by Aristotle and style around 530 BC
Plato. This was also a time of bloodshed; the Peloponnesian during the late
War between Athens and Sparta began in 431 BC and ended Archaic Period.
with Sparta subjugating Athens after 27 years, only to be
defeated by Thebes in 371 BC. Divided and weakened, the
city-states were conquered by Philip II of Macedonia in 338 BC.

461–429 415 BC
Pericles reigns over Athens A disastrous Athenian
during its golden age. expedition to Sicily leads to
Sparta’s eventual defeat of
480–79 BC Athens in 404 BC.
Athens and its allies
finally defeat Xerxes
the Great and his 371 BC
Persian army at
the naval battle of The Theban victory at
Salamis and the land Battle of Leuktra brings
battle of Plataea. an end to Sparta’s power.
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