Most interesting is the view of the ancient Greeks themselves on their past. They had the idea of at least one flood in Greece which swept away everything (Deucalion), and this was their interpretation for the Late Bronze Age Collapse and the following Dark Ages, the separation line between the age of heroes (Trojan War), and the age of "normal" men. Later, Plato searched for the truth in these myths (or, for hime these were no myths at all, as they are for us) and established his idea of a cyclical history, with repeating floods. Before the third-last flood, he said, there was the war between Atlantis and primeval Athens. How did he "know" this? He had the idea that the floods are not world-wide floods, and that especially Egypt was always spared. This was common "knowledge" in ancient Greece, also Herodotus thought so and opined that Egypt is 11,340 years old. Therefore, no one should be surprised to hear that Atlantis allegedly existed 9,000 years before the classical age. For Plato and his contemporaries, this all made much sense. For us modern researchers, it is an interesting puzzle to find out what the ancient authors really meant, and what was an error, and what was the reality behind the error. At least one thing is certain: Although Herodotus thought that Egypt is 11,340 years old (and even older), which is clearly nonsense, Egypt nevertheless does exist!
Great summary, but worthwhile to bear in mind that the Hellenistic Period continues further east after the Roman ascendency on the Greek mainland in 146 BCE. The traditional dating for the end of the Hellenistic Period is 31 BCE with the defeat of Cleopatra VII at the Battle of Actium.
Most interesting is the view of the ancient Greeks themselves on their past. They had the idea of at least one flood in Greece which swept away everything (Deucalion), and this was their interpretation for the Late Bronze Age Collapse and the following Dark Ages, the separation line between the age of heroes (Trojan War), and the age of "normal" men. Later, Plato searched for the truth in these myths (or, for hime these were no myths at all, as they are for us) and established his idea of a cyclical history, with repeating floods. Before the third-last flood, he said, there was the war between Atlantis and primeval Athens. How did he "know" this? He had the idea that the floods are not world-wide floods, and that especially Egypt was always spared. This was common "knowledge" in ancient Greece, also Herodotus thought so and opined that Egypt is 11,340 years old. Therefore, no one should be surprised to hear that Atlantis allegedly existed 9,000 years before the classical age. For Plato and his contemporaries, this all made much sense. For us modern researchers, it is an interesting puzzle to find out what the ancient authors really meant, and what was an error, and what was the reality behind the error. At least one thing is certain: Although Herodotus thought that Egypt is 11,340 years old (and even older), which is clearly nonsense, Egypt nevertheless does exist!
How or where do you place Homer?
Love this perspective, thank you!
As a proud Greek-American, I’d add modern YouTube philosopher Mr Panos is keeping it real, Hellenic (American) style, lol…
https://youtu.be/VF1HZMAZh0A
Great summary, but worthwhile to bear in mind that the Hellenistic Period continues further east after the Roman ascendency on the Greek mainland in 146 BCE. The traditional dating for the end of the Hellenistic Period is 31 BCE with the defeat of Cleopatra VII at the Battle of Actium.
Great