The “Plantheon” j 183183 183
the Odyssey.^1 The mainland population was divided into independent mini- states, each of
which was called a demos (plural, demi). A demos typically included several settlements,
each of which consisted of a town or village plus adjoining farm and pasture lands. The larg-
est town within a demos was referred to as the polis (plural, poleis), from which the words
“policy” and “politics” are derived. The basileus resided in the polis and ruled with the aid
of a council of lesser chiefs. Policy decisions were usually discussed with a citizen assembly
to ensure their cooperation. These assemblies were restricted to men of fighting age or older
and can be viewed as Dark Age precursors to the more complex democratic institutions of
Classical Greece.
An important technical advance around this time, one that facilitated communication
both within poleis and between distant poleis, was the adoption of the Greek alphabet
around 750 bce. Greeks improved the consonant- only Phoenician script by adding five vow-
els, making it the first true alphabet capable of recording everyday speech. The Greek alpha-
bet soon stimulated a creative outpouring in the arts and sciences, providing posterity with
unprecedented access to the thoughts of some of the greatest minds of the ancient world.
The lasting cultural achievements of the Mycenaeans were primarily material in nature—
cyclopean walls, palaces, and tombs laden with gold. In contrast, the enduring legacy of the
Dark Age in Greece was political. For the first time, ruling oligarchs were forced to consult
small, but assertive, citizen assemblies before implementing public policies or engaging in
battles with neighboring groups. Over the centuries, such citizen assemblies grew into for-
midable democratic institutions. The prickly tendency of Greek citizens to question, chal-
lenge, and debate public policy (dramatized by Homer in the war councils of the Iliad)
helped to define a new, self- confident Greek character, which eventually manifested itself in
every facet of Greek life, leading some Greeks— those who called themselves “philosophers”
or “lovers of learning”— to risk heresy by questioning the very existence of the gods.
Yet, despite the best efforts of the philosophers, the vast majority of Greeks continued to
adhere to traditional beliefs, praying to the same deities and celebrating the same religious
festivals as their ancestors had done. Even philosophers participated in important religious
festivals, and although some rejected the concept of personified deities, they retained the
ancient belief in the divinity of heavenly bodies. Their proto- scientific views on an array
of topics, including plant sex, must therefore be considered against the backdrop of Greek
mytholog y and religion.H e siod’s Theogony and the Genealogy of the Gods
We know from translations of the Linear B tablets that the Mycenaean pantheon included
such familiar names as Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hermes, Athena, Artemis, and possibly
Apollo, Ares, and Dionysus.^2 Additional deities were probably absorbed from Near Eastern
sources between 750 bce and 650 bce during the artistic period known as the “oriental-
izing” phase.^3 By the beginning of the eighth century bce, the Greek pantheon was essen-
tially complete.
He sio d ’s Theogony, written near the end of the eighth century bce, has been called “a
basic textbook of Greek religion.”^4 It presents a genealogy of the Greek gods and goddesses
and chronicles the ascension of Zeus to the position of ruler of the universe. This collection