Anthropological history of the civilization of ancient Greece. Indo-European race The ancient Hellenes did not physically differ from modern ones
Starting to publish chapters from the book An Anthropological History of Civilizations. Northern Caucasoids in World History, I found myself puzzled by the problem of how to reveal the problem of the book to the general reader without plunging into the depths of specific branches of science that are inaccessible without special training. In the original of the book, its entire first part is devoted to the consideration of issues of physical anthropology and racology, and only after explaining to the reader the terminology and problems of the work, the transition to the history of human civilizations followed, in the development of which representatives of the North European race played the main role.
In the publication of individual chapters, the first part of the book would become redundant and would only obstruct understanding. Therefore, in this introduction to the series of articles presented by chapters from my book, I want to briefly indicate what kind of goals I pursued when I worked on the text of the book. First of all, I wanted to rehabilitate the terms "Aryans" and "Aryan" for the scientific community. Removed from the everyday life of scientists due to the political factor, these terms narrowed excessively and turned into a designation of peoples (and their languages) directly related to those tribes of the Indo-Europeans who conquered India and settled in Persia.
I believe that it is necessary to return to these terms their original - correct interpretation. The Aryans are not only and not so much Iranian tribes, but a huge commonality of the most ancient civilization of the northern Caucasians, the first civilization on earth, a civilization whose influence we will feel all over the world from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Wherever a great civilization arose, at its origins were representatives of the northern Caucasoids (Baltic and Nordic) belonging to the large Caucasoid race.
From this follows the second task - to show the history of civilizations through racial problems. After all, as a rule, our contemporary has a very vague idea of what kind of civilization was created by which race, which races participated in their creation, which made up the majority of the population, and which were at enmity. At best, there will be mention in the books that the creators of this or that civilization belonged to the large white or yellow races, but this is the maximum information that a person can learn if you do not delve into research too seriously.
And, finally, the third task that I set for myself is the study of those signs on the basis of which we can talk about the Aryan community, about how the North European peoples manifested themselves in various historical conditions, which allows us to say that the community of Aryan nations existed for millennia ago and still exists today. After all, all civilizations created by the northern Caucasians - the Aryans had a number of common features that manifested themselves regardless of whether this was III millennium BC. or I millennium AD
I hope I managed to solve these problems to the best of my ability. I really hope that my research will be useful for everyone who is interested in the history of not only their state, but also their people, their race, who are looking for a trace of the past going back centuries and millennia. We have something to remember and something to tell about, therefore, we begin this publication, and we begin it with the history of civilization and people, about which, it would seem, if not all, then a lot is known - from Ancient Greece.
Greek civilization
White race in Greece. Racial characteristics. Reflection of racial character in Greek mythology. Achaean invasion. Dorian invasion.
The history of Greek civilization begins at the turn of the 3rd - 2nd millennium, when the Achaeans, a people belonging to the Aryan peoples, come to Greek land from the north. Before the Achaeans conquered Greece, non-Aryan tribes who spoke a non-Indo-European language lived on its territory. Greek legends brought to us the memory of the most ancient inhabitants of Greece - the Carians, Luvians and others. It was these peoples who created the early Minoan civilization, which is typologically similar to other civilizations of the Ancient East - Egyptian, Mesopotamia and Ancient India. The pre-Greek tribes were not North Europeans either, belonging to the southern branch of the Caucasian race. It can be assumed that the early Minoan period is connected with the Vinca archaeological culture (including due to geographical proximity). This is confirmed by the fact that “during the period known to us as the early Minoan, 3300-2200 BC, the number of brachycephals on the island (Crete) increased greatly, and some Minoan rulers of a later time clearly belonged to the Anatolian type. … A certain continuity can be traced in the development of culture until the arrival of the Achaeans around 1250 BC. Non-Indo-European elements characterize the Minoan culture as a whole. Therefore, we have no reason to believe that it was created by the Indo-Europeans.
But among the Asian peoples of the Carians and Luvians we meet the Pelasgians, who were no doubt a northern people who came to Greece before the Achaeans and created the civilization of the Minoan era. In the Iliad and the Odyssey, the Pelasgians are mentioned in connection with Crete and Troy, but the Greeks distinguished the Pelasgians from "genuine Cretans". This is most likely a consequence of the marked anthropological differences between the northern Pelasgi and the southern Cretans. The Pelasgians had their own script, which, judging by the surviving monument, was very similar to the runic script of the Germans and Scandinavians. The memory of the Pelasgians and their cultural achievements remained in Greece for a very long time. Herodotus reported that it was the Pelasgians who erected a wall around the Athenian acropolis. The language of the Pelasgians is close to Etruscan and Hurrian. Its Indo-European origin has not been proven, but it is also not an Afro-Asiatic, Caucasian, Uralic, Altaic, or any other language family. The Pelasgian language is one of the ancient languages whose origin is not clear. It is quite possible that he stood out from the Proto-Indo-European linguistic community, even before its final formation.
Rice. 1. Pelasgian writing (Lemnos stele)
It is assumed that the biblical Philistines are one of the offshoots of the Pelasgians (in particular, the Bible indicates their relationship with the inhabitants of Crete). The term Philistines is a typical corruption of the Hebrew "Pelishtim" in the Greek translation of the Bible. In turn, the biblical “Pelishtim” is a possible alteration of the word Pelasgi with a characteristic rethinking of this ethnonym, which acquired the meaning of wanderers, settlers. From the modified ethnonym Pelishtim, Palestine (Philistine Land) received its current name. It is interesting that Ancient Greece, before being called Hellas, according to Herodotus, was designated by the word Pelasgia. The belonging of the anthropological type of the Pelasgians to the North European race is confirmed by the research of the archaeologist and anthropologist R. Virchow, who, examining the Trojan skulls (and the Trojans, according to Greek sources, just descended from the Pelasgians), stated the predominance of dolichocephaly and mesocephaly with a very small admixture of the brachycephalic type, that is typically northern European racial traits. That is, in the case of Greece, we see the same example of how a civilization inhabited by non-Northern European races was nevertheless created precisely by the Northern European branch of the great white race.
The racial type of the pre-Greek peoples can be attributed to the Alpinids, who in the Bronze Age came to Europe from the East, from Anatolia, as well as to the Dinarians, who in turn also came to Europe from Asia. The Trypillia archaeological culture (VI - IV millennium BC) was created by people of the Dinaric racial type. Alpine racial type, apparently, was the main one for the Vinca culture. The origin of the pre-Greek population of Crete, Peloponnese and the southern Balkans goes back to the people of Trypillia and Vinchan. A certain influence on the racial type of the early Minoan civilization was also exerted by the Mediterranean race, also belonging to the South European branch of the great white race. It was about the mixing of Alpinids and Mediterraneans that G. Child wrote when he spoke about an increase in the number of brachycephals, that is, a sign characteristic of the Alpinid race. Both of these races, the Mediterraneans and the Alpinids, were races with swarthy skin, dark hair and eyes. The culture of the Minoans also had no connection with the Aryans. Although the Minoan script has not yet been deciphered, the available evidence suggests that the Minoan language did not belong to the Indo-European languages. The center of the Minoan civilization was the island of Crete, after the middle of the II millennium BC. the Minoan civilization weakened, it was conquered by the Achaeans in the XII century BC.
Rice. 2. Invasion of the Alpine race into Europe from the east. Bronze Age 3000-1800 BC.
Around 2300 B.C. e. The Peloponnese and northwestern Anatolia survived the enemy invasion, as evidenced by traces of fires and destruction in the settlements. Under the influence of the invaders until 2000-1800. BC e. the material culture of mainland Greece, Troy, and some islands has changed. The Achaeans, like all the Aryans, brought with them the superweapon of that time - the war chariot. Fighting on this war machine, they, like other Aryan peoples, easily defeated all their opponents. The pre-Greek tribes of the Peloponnese were no exception, except for the island of Crete, where the Minoan civilization, protected by a strong fleet, continued to exist.
Rice. 3. Expansion of the Aryans - Indo-Europeans from 4000 to 1000 BC. (according to M. Gimbutas' "Kurgan theory")
The Achaeans created their own civilization, which was distinguished by a feature common to all Aryan peoples - the presence of castles - the citadels of the aristocracy, dominating the villages in which free farmers lived. This is how the Mycenaean civilization was created (it received its name from one of the largest states of Achaean Greece - Mycenae), which historians traditionally attribute to the same group as the Minoan. This classification, in our opinion, is not entirely correct, since in addition to ethnic and racial characteristics, the Mycenaeans, in contrast to the Minoan civilization, which gravitated towards the eastern despotism, the society was typically Aryan - military-aristocratic.
The Achaeans in everyday life retained the customs they brought from the north, so in particular their characteristic difference from the Mediterranean peoples were mustaches and beards. In contrast to the pampered Minoan civilization, the newcomers cultivated severity and masculinity, which found artistic expression in the art monuments of Mycenaean Greece. A favorite theme of the Achaean palace paintings were scenes of war and hunting. Symbols of the power of the kings were massive fortifications on elevated places, surrounded by strong walls. The design of these fortifications differs markedly from Cretan architecture.
The racial type of the Achaeans was northern European, the main race was the Nordic race, but the northern Cro-Manid race, common among the Aryans, was also quite widely represented. Anthropologist K.S. Kuhn directly connects the Achaeans with the Nordic representatives of the Corded Ware culture (Corded). On the fresco of the Peloponnesian city of Tiryns, we see a white Achaean surrounded by red-skinned Minoans. The Achaeans brought with them the Aryan pantheon, where, unlike the ancient European Mother Goddess, male deities played the leading role. The gods of the Achaeans had not a chthonic but a heavenly character, which was also a common phenomenon for the Aryans. The chthonic deities, although they entered the Greek pantheon, carried many archaic features in their features, which allows us to conclude that they were the result of the influence of more ancient pre-Aryan cultures on the Achaean civilization. It is also interesting that all the heavenly, solar gods of the Greeks are blondes, and the chthonic gods are brunettes. Thus, in the mythology of the people, its racial history was reflected. The heavenly gods of the Greeks are shown in their mythology as fighters against chthonic evil - giants, snakes, various monsters.
Rice. 4. Culture of Corded Ware (Corded) in the Chalcolithic period
The connection of the Greek gods with the north is also obvious. So Apollo every year flies to the country of the Hyperboreans on a chariot drawn by swans. Apollo, on the other hand, is closely associated with the wolves that accompany him, and the wolf should be noted as a typically northern European animal that left a lot of traces in the mythology of the Scandinavians, Germans and Slavs, but is practically not represented in southern mythology. Apollo, in Greek mythology, acts as the bearer of the main Aryan Indo-European myth - the struggle for a snake, Apollo also fights with chthonic monsters - giants, cyclops. Apollo patronized the city of the Pelasgians - Troy. But what is even more interesting - Apollo in the description of Homer is a typical alien from the north - he does not cut his hair and uses a bow and arrows in the war.
Translated from Greek, "Hyperboreans" means - "those who live beyond Boreas (North wind)", or, more simply, "those who live in the North." The existence of Hyperborea and the Hyperboreans was reported by many ancient authors. Pliny the Elder - wrote about the Hyperboreans as a real people who lived near the Arctic Circle and connected with the Hellenes through the cult of Apollo Hyperborean. Not only Apollo, but also the demigod heroes Hercules and Perseus, had the epithet Hyperborean. Another fact that brings the Greeks closer to the inhabitants of the north is the spread of labyrinths in the region of the Kola Peninsula and the coast of the White Sea, which are extremely similar to the labyrinths of the Minoans. Perhaps this indicates that the ancestors of the Pelasgians lived in the North of Europe before coming to Greece. The sages and servants of Apollo Abaris and Aristaeus, who taught the Greeks, were considered to come from the country of the Hyperboreans. They taught people new cultural values - music, philosophy, the art of creating poems, hymns, the ability to build temples. As the Greek poet Pindar wrote, the Hyperboreans are among the peoples close to the gods and loved by them. Just like their patron Apollo, the Hyperboreans are artistically gifted. A happy and carefree life is accompanied by the Hyperboreans with songs, dances, music and feasts; eternal joy and reverent prayers are characteristic of this people - the priests and servants of Apollo.
The mythology of the Greeks gives us one more confirmation of the direct and immediate connection of the Achaeans with the Aryans. “The legendary titans were the sons of the ancient Aryan god, known in India - in the Vedic texts his name is Varuna - who was revered by the ancestors of the white race, and whose name the Hellenes have preserved for many centuries: this is Uranus. The Titans, the sons of Uranus, the most ancient god of the Aryans, were also Aryans and spoke a language that bears great resemblance to Sanskrit, Celtic and Old Slavonic. The descendant of the titan Prometheus was the hero Deucalion, whom the Achaeans considered their ancestor, that is, the Achaeans directly traced their kinship to the times when the Aryan community was still united and did not have time to split into separate peoples.
The largest historical event of the Mycenaean civilization was the Trojan War, which in the XII century BC. the union of the Achaean states led against the Trojan state. Homer's poems have left us with the richest source of knowledge on Greek civilization and especially the military affairs of the Dorian period. The aristocracy went to battle on two-wheeled chariots harnessed by a pair of horses.
The warriors were protected by bronze armor and helmets, and a large shield covered with leather and painted with various images was also a protective weapon. The main weapon was a spear, with which a warrior from a chariot struck opponents. Two warriors rode in the chariot, one controlled the horses, the second attacked the enemies and defended himself.
The armament of ordinary community members was much simpler. Bone-reinforced leather helmets were used as protective equipment, and the body was often protected by linen clothing and a shield. The weapons were darts and swords. In battle, at first they threw darts, and then, coming close, they fought with swords. Many battles began with duels between the noblest warriors, who specifically looked for each other to measure their strength.
Rice. 5. Mycenaean image of warriors and a chariot
The social structure of the Achaean society, as already mentioned above, was military-aristocratic in nature. At the head of the state was a ruler with the title of "vanaka", who was also the largest landowner in the state. The second most important role was played by the army commander, who bore the title "lavagetas". The aristocracy was made up of "teret" probably ordinary nobles and a smaller estate "hepetai" who were the king's retinue. There was a council of elders for consultation and probably as a means of preserving traditions.
Unprivileged estates - artisans, farmers, pastoralists were free community members and often kept slaves who helped them in their economic activities. Also, free Achaeans were the basis for the army. Slaves, according to sources, came from other ethnic and racial groups and were represented by the inhabitants of Asia Minor or the Minoans, who were captured as prisoners during the war. This is confirmed by the very name of the slaves - "Raviya", which means - military booty.
The Achaeans had temples and priests, although there was no developed temple economy characteristic of the eastern despotisms. The king was the high priest. Management was carried out by the king, who convened a meeting of noble people for advice. From time to time, to resolve the most important issues, a people's assembly was assembled. Warriors, having gathered, sat down in rows, aristocrats were placed on a special dais. The king led the meeting, he also determined what opinion was supported by the majority, which was decided by the strength of the cry of approval or indignation. In the national assembly, we see a trace of the times of the military democracy of the ancient Aryans, the elements of which existed for thousands of years and were known to us in the Slavic veche and in the German Things.
The military nature of the Achaean society led to the fact that the Mycenaeans constantly carried out external expansion into the rich lands of the south and east. So Knossos in Crete was captured, plundered and destroyed, Cyprus was invaded, and conquests in Egypt gave the Achaeans the name of the peoples of the sea. The Trojan War was one of these campaigns, its worldwide fame is due to the fact that the great poem of Homer has been preserved about it, while the songs of lesser known poets have not survived to our time. By the way, it should be noted that the song culture of the Achaeans was also very close to the Aryan tradition and finds its closest analogue in nothing else than in Russian epics. Even the performance of Greek epic songs in its manner was similar to the manner of Russian storytellers of telling epics, accompanying them with string music.
In search of living space, the Achaeans turned to the colonization of nearby lands. Coming from the north to the fertile climate of Greece, the Achaeans increased their numbers, and they began to miss the small lands of the Peloponnesian Peninsula. The main directions of colonization of the Mycenaean era were the south - to Crete, Cyprus and the islands of the Mediterranean and Aegean Sea, and the east - to Asia Minor, where many Greek colonies formed on the coast. The conquests of the Achaeans are reflected in Greek mythology. Both Perseus and Achilles were typical colonizers, developing new lands for the Mycenaeans. In the process of colonization, the racial unity of the Achaeans was eroded. The displacement with the Asian and Mediterranean races led to the gradual loss of the northern European anthropological type, as a result, the people of the Ionians, the Greeks who lived in Ionia, formed on the coast of Asia Minor. The Ionians not only formed a separate Greek nation, but also differed in their dialect, which, however, was quite similar to the Achaean. The Greek language very early stood out from the Indo-European community (only the Hittite and Tocharian languages are earlier). In the late Achaean period, the Greek language was represented by 2 main dialects, Aeolian and Ionian.
The Achaeans did not stop at the conquest and colonization of nearby lands and rushed further south, where the territories of rich Egypt were located. Around 1400 BC Egyptian sources record incursions by Achaean tribes. For almost two hundred years, Greek raids threatened the Egyptian shores and ravaged the country. Only through the efforts of the outstanding ruler Ramesses III the onslaught of the peoples of the sea was stopped. I will note here an indicative historical parallel of the expansionism of the Achaeans, with the regular raids of the Normans on Europe, which took place more than two millennia later. There is no doubt that the ethnic and racial stereotypes of the Aryan peoples turned out to be so strong that they acted among the Achaeans and their relatives by race - the Norman Vikings.
In the XII century BC. Greece was invaded by the Dorians, another Aryan people who came from the north. Despite the attempts of some researchers to present the Dorians as less developed than the Achaeans, they stood at a higher level of civilization, as they knew and used iron, which made the Dorian army more effective against the Achaeans who used bronze weapons. From other Greek tribes, the Dorians differed in strict military discipline, militancy, stable tribal traditions, pride and simplicity of lifestyle. They avoided luxury and excesses. The highest embodiment of the Dorian virtues was found in the Spartans, the creators of the Spartan state, which was admired by all of Greece. The cultural achievements of the Dorians were also great, so it was the Dorian dialect that formed the basis of the literary Greek language.
Another argument about the high development of the Dorian culture can be considered that it was shortly after the Dorian conquest in Greece that writing began to be used, which appears in the 9th century BC. The model for Greek writing was the Phoenician writing, but this did not mean that the Semites played the role of the creators of the Greek alphabet. From the Phoenician writing, the Greeks borrowed only the idea of signs that would convey not words or concepts, not syllables, but sounds. Also, one cannot ignore the possibility that the Greek script inherited the runic script of the Pelasgians and, in turn, it was the Pelasgian script that the Phoenicians used to develop their alphabet. At the same time, the Phoenician writing was very archaic, since letters were used only to convey consonants, which did not provide absolute accuracy in conveying meanings in writing. The Greeks were the first of all civilizations to use letters to convey both vowels and consonants, which made their alphabet the most accurate for expressing any meaning. We can say that the first step towards science was taken by the Greeks after they created their own alphabet.
The Dorians were close in origin to the Achaeans, but, being isolated from ties with the southern lands, they retained their racial Nordic type unchanged. Ethnic proximity was confirmed by the similarity of language and mythology, since the Dorians were considered the descendants of Dora, the son of the progenitor of the Greeks, Deucalion. The Dorians themselves believed that they were descended from Hercules, the semi-divine hero of the archaic era. Hercules was perhaps the most archaic demigod of the Greeks, since his weapon was a wooden club, and instead of armor and a helmet, he used the skin and skull of a lion. In the image of Hercules, the Dorians retained the most ancient signs of the Aryan civilization of the Neolithic.
The racial appearance of the Dorians is well known. It is presented in many monuments of ancient Greece, in literary descriptions, primarily in the poems of Homer, created at a time when racial mixing had not yet affected a significant part of the Greeks. If we turn to written sources, we will see that Homer describes the appearance of the Greeks (based on the appearance of the Dorians, whose contemporary he was), using adjectives such as: “light-eyed”, “fair-haired”, “light”, “tall” . In the text we will find the following descriptions:
"The bright-eyed daughter of Egioch was spoken to the son of Peleus"
“... Odysseus the city fighter rose
With a scepter in hand; and with him a bright-eyed maiden, Pallas"
“Bright Atrid, and now, as before, you are firm in soul”
"... and the fair-haired Meleager is dead"
"... in battle Menelaus the fair-haired will strike"
"... and henceforth with the fair-haired son of Atreev"
"... fair-haired Adrasta"
"... fair-haired wife of Agameda"
Rice. 6. Greek sculpture of the archaic era. Good light hair color
Anthropologically, the Dorians were represented by two main types of North Caucasian races: the Nords and the massive Northern Cro-Manids. The predominance of these two types is not accidental: the Nordic racial type was the main racial type for the Corded Ware archaeological culture, and the massive northern Cro-Magnid racial type was the main racial type for the Yamnaya archaeological culture. It was the Yamnaya culture that became the birthplace of the Proto-Aryans, and the Corded Ware culture (from which the Proto-Balto-Slavs and Proto-Germans subsequently formed) inherited the Yamnaya culture and was the first archaeological culture created by the Nordic race. Even in the later times of the era of classical Greece (VII - II centuries BC), at least 27% of the Greeks carried Nordic features in their phenotype, this is a very large indicator, today in most European states, the percentage of people of the Nordic race is significantly less.
The warlike Dorians quickly subjugated the Achaeans to their power, partially subjugating and partially forcing them into the mountainous less fertile lands of Attica, Achaia and parts of the islands of the Aegean Sea. The advent of the Dorians opened the Dorian period in the history of Greece, which is also called the Homeric period, since the great poet wrote his works in the region of the 8th century BC. Homer's poems are also a source for the history of the Achaean period, since they describe many archaic elements that disappeared from the life of the Greeks after the Dorian conquest, and at the same time often describe life in Greece in the later period, after the Dorian orders had established themselves on throughout the peninsula.
What changes took place in Greek society? Firstly, the Dorians further strengthened the aristocratic specificity of the Greek state. Instead of the hereditary kings of the Mycenaean era, power increasingly becomes the prerogative of kings chosen from among the aristocracy. Either the power of the king is supplemented by the introduction of higher government posts that dealt with issues of military administration and the court. So in Corinth the aristocracy began to choose a king from their midst. In Athens, which, although not conquered by the Dorians, but experienced their strong cultural influence, the king was given the supreme commander - polemarch, regent - archon and a panel of judges - femosphetes. And over time, the power of the hereditary king was completely replaced by the power of an elected ruler who bore the title of archon-basileus.
Secondly, the Dorians finally approved the political organization of the Greek states as city-states - policies. The policies were a political organization of free Greeks, formed as a result of the union of several genera (a phenomenon called Sinoikism). The policy carried a strong tribal principle, since belonging to the policy was inextricably linked with the origin of one of the clans included in the policy. The citizenship of the policy was impossible to buy, the right of blood, and not the right of property, ensured the existence of this system. The policy was, as it were, a means that raised the position of even the poorest of its citizens to the status of a noble person, warrior and ruler.
Thirdly, the aristocracy of Greek civilization reached its peak after the Dorian conquest. Within the framework of the polis system, not only the power belonged to the aristocracy, but also the power turned the whole people into an aristocracy. At the head of the policy, as a rule, was the council of the elders, the heads of the clans. The highest positions in the state administration system were occupied by persons of noble birth, but at the same time, the people's assembly was preserved, in which all male citizens of the policy participated. For the first time in history, therefore, already within the framework of the state, and not before state systems of military democracy, all representatives of the people were constituted as the ruling class. Free residents of the policy who did not have a tribal (that is, ethnic and racial) connection with the phyla (kinds) of this policy did not have civil rights, although they could live in the city and own property. Thus, in Dorian Greece, a phenomenon appeared that later became known as racial and ethnic segregation. Newcomers from the north were afraid to dissolve in the local population and lose the purity of blood. and sney and their characteristic features.
This was also written by such a researcher as V.B. Avdeev: “The Greeks divided the whole world into their own, that is, Hellenes, and all others, that is, barbarians. Already this division, which goes back to pre-philosophical times and does not have a specific author, indicates the original racial and, most importantly, the specific character of the thinking of the ancient Greeks. "Friend or foe" - this rule, then raised to the rank of a cultural absolute, leaves us no chance of error. In turn, J. de Gobineau, as if continuing his thought, made a conclusion about the aristocratic foundations of Greek civilization: “Thus, the Greek Aryan, sovereign in his house, a free man in the square, a real feudal lord, reigned supreme over his slaves, children, serfs and bourgeois.
Homeric poetry depicts for us the psychological types of the aristocratic environment: the ruler Menelaus, the military leader Achilles, the colonizer Odysseus - all these types were familiar and close to contemporaries who recognized themselves in them. Homer's ideals are aristocratic ideals and he refers to the bearers of aristocratic culture and self-consciousness. They were most close to the lines dedicated to the great warriors and rulers - the streams of the gods or the story of the punishment of the rebel, the plebeian Thersites, by the way, described with typical features of the southern races, that is, even from the point of view of physical anthropology alien to the Nordic Greeks. The highest goal of the noble is not profit or momentary success, although the heroes of Homer are not alien to the desire for wealth, but most of all they are concerned about posthumous glory, the eternal memory of the hero and his exploits.
The Indo-Europeans are not many, nor few, the largest part of humanity. However, not only in modern times, but also in the ancient period, the Indo-European group was the most significant.
The Indo-Europeans include: Celts, Slavs, Germans, Thracians, Iranians, Armenians, inhabitants of the Baltic lands, Greeks, Indians, Hittites, Tocharians, Phrygians and Dards, as well as all modern peoples who came out of these.
The Prussians, who have now disappeared, belonged to the same race, as well as some other ethnic groups, which also disappeared today.
Let us analyze in more detail the connection between modern peoples and the ancient ones belonging to the Indo-Europeans.
Germanic peoples- the British, extinct and assimilated with other Goths, ancient Germanic tribes that grew into Germans, Austrians, etc., as well as Danes, Icelanders, Frisians, Swedes, Norwegians.
Iranian origin among the Indo-European peoples: Persians, Ossetians, Kurds, Pamirs, Tajiks, Mazenderans, Tats and others.
italics were Latins, part of the Latins were Romans. And then other Romance language groups originated from their language: Italian, Retro-Romance, Spanish, Romanian, Catalan, French, Provencal, Portuguese, and also Moldavian.
Celts now are Irish, Scots, Welsh and Bretonians.
Slavic peoples- Belarusians, Lusatians, Poles, Macedonians, Slovaks, Serbs, Slovenes, Ukrainians, Czechs, Croats, Polabian and Pomeranian Slavs, who today are considered Germanized.
Thracians in the modern world are embodied in the Albanians.
All these peoples speak the language of their group, but only the Basques, a people living in Western Europe, are the only ones of their kind who do not speak an Indo-European language.
There are several models and hypotheses for the origin of the Indo-European race. Conventionally, all these versions can be divided into Asian and European. Of the latter, the most widespread among archaeologists and linguists is the so-called kurgan hypothesis. According to it, the ancestral home of the ancestors of the current Indo-European race is the land of the Northern Black Sea region. This is the name of the northern territories of the Black Sea basin. Steppes and forest-steppes are common here, in terms of relief this region is flat and partly steppe, the climate is quite warm. Thanks to good terrain, the Northern Black Sea region was a transit corridor for various nomadic ethnic groups, and in the modern world this place belongs to Moldova, Russia, Ukraine and, a little, Romania.
According to the same hypothesis, initially the ancestors of modern Indo-Europeans were a nomadic or semi-nomadic tribe that lived in the interfluve of the Volga and Dnieper in the fifth millennium BC. Most likely they belonged to the Samara, Sredny Stog and Yamnaya cultures. In the Bronze Age, when people tamed the horse, rather intensive processes of migration of tribes in various directions and parallel assimilation of languages began. That is why today the carriers of different ethnic groups are so different in anthropological type.
The second wave of Indo-European migration began during the Great Geographical Discoveries. Then people settled in America, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Asia.
There are several more hypotheses about the origin of the Indo-Europeans: Armenian, Anatolian, Balkan and Indian. Which of them is one hundred percent reliable is still not known.
It must be said right away that until the 1920s, very little was known about Pharaoh Tutankhamun. Many serious researchers of Ancient Egypt believed that there was no such ruler at all. Archaeologists could boast of only two seals with the mention of this name. But they could be...
Terracotta Army
The first clay warriors were discovered within the boundaries of the necropolis in 1974. Large-scale excavations were carried out intermittently from 1978 to 1986. Currently, archaeological work is ongoing, but anyone can contemplate the clay army in its entirety, stunning the human imagination ...
What was the class essence of the Roman legionnaires? It is quite difficult to define it. Without any doubt, they belonged to the ruling class, as they maintained and defended the existing order. At the same time, they cannot be called slave owners, since they did not have any slaves. Served…
What is a race? This is a relatively stable biological characteristic of the human species. Combines their general appearance and psychophysical features. At the same time, it is important to understand that this unity does not in any way affect the form of the hostel and the ways of living together. Common signs are purely external ...
It is generally accepted that the centaur was a mythological creature invented by the ancient Greeks. He was a hybrid of a man and a horse. The torso of a horse, and instead of a neck and a head with a mane, a human torso towered above it. This creature lived in mountainous and forested areas ...
In the first book of Moses' Genesis, it is said: "The whole earth had one language and one dialect. People who moved from the East found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to each other: Let's make bricks and burn them with fire. And they became bricks instead of stones and earthen tar instead of lime.” And they said,
To put it quite simply, the ancient Egyptian "Book of the Dead" was an instruction for a deceased person. Following it, he could overcome many dangers that awaited him in the next world, and find peace and prosperity in the realm of shadows. Nobody thinks of it these days...
The Olmecs appeared in the south of the Gulf of Mexico 3 thousand years ago. It was a numerous and highly educated people. Where he came from to the fertile lands of southern Mexico, where his roots were, is unknown. Over time, the mysterious civilization has sunk into oblivion, and others have settled on its lands...
The giant Buddha statue is located east of the city of Leshan in the Chinese province of Sichuan (southern China). A huge figure is carved into the sandy cliff, considered one of the greatest monuments of the Ancient World. Its age is over 1200 years. She is listed among the…
Is it possible to live underground? It is possible if there is air, water, food and light. Without the presence of one of these factors, existence in the underworld is highly doubtful. However, talk that there is some kind of underground civilization has been going on since the 50s of the XX century. Some researchers claim...
What is time? Where is its source, and where does the endless temporary river flow? What category can be attributed to the continuous course of things and events? A number of scientists believe that our world is not three-dimensional at all, but four-dimensional in relation to space. Time is called the fourth dimension...
Have giant people ever lived on Earth? Judging by the archaeological finds, this question can be answered in the affirmative. So huge human remains were found in Oceania, Mexico, in the United States, in North Africa. Australia, Philippines, Europe. So on the territory of Kharagaulsky ...
Vikings are sailors from Scandinavia. In the VIII-XI centuries, they made sea trips, accompanied by robbery and robbery. The bulk of these people were former peasants who lived on the lands of such modern states as Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Some of them became impoverished, and some were strong ...
Carpet from Bayeux - a huge linen cloth embroidered with woolen threads of 8 colors. Its width reaches 53 cm, and its length is 68.38 meters. For the sake of objectivity, it should be noted that this masterpiece of the early Middle Ages is not a tapestry carpet. This is embroidery with multi-colored threads. She refers to…
We learn about the unusual life of the peoples who inhabited Egypt, Greece, India, China thousands of years ago from written, graphic, and architectural sources. Especially a lot of information was collected by scientists about the legendary Olympic Games, which were regularly held on the lands of ancient Greece ...
We know about the justice of the Greek gods from the myths and traditions of ancient Greece. Therefore, it is not known whether this was actually practiced or was invented by the Hellenes in the days of fabulous antiquity. But be that as it may, the rule of law among the inhabitants of Olympus was extremely ...
It is difficult to speak briefly about Ancient Greece. After all, this country had a huge impact on the formation of not only Western culture, but the entire world civilization. The ideas of Europeans about politics, philosophy, architecture, geometry, literature, medicine, astronomy, art are based on ideas ...
Sparta of Ancient Greece existed in the southern lands of the Peloponnese from the 9th to the 2nd century BC. e. It is notable for the fact that it was ruled by two kings. They passed on their power by inheritance. However, the real administrative power belonged to the elders. They were chosen from among respected Spartans aged ...
Ancient Athens was considered the main city in Attica (Central Greece). Urban settlements were located a few kilometers from the sea. They were grouped around a high hill with a citadel rising above it. It was called the Acropolis. This area was extremely picturesque, and the Acropolis ...
"Forty-one Late Helladic skulls, dated between 1500 and 1200 BC, and originating again from Argolis, may also include the skulls of "divine" conquerors. Of these, one-fifth is brachycephalic, and apparently mainly belongs to the Cyriot Dinaric type. Of the long-headed skulls, a considerable number are larger and more distinctly marked, and a minority are of the Mediterranean type. The resemblance to the northern types and especially to the Corded type is even stronger than before. This strengthening of non-Minoan features may be due to the arrival of the Homeric ancestors heroes.
This image carries us through the entire Bronze Age."
"Greek literature and art provide abundant evidence of the pigmentation and characteristic facial features of the ancient inhabitants of Hellas. The Olympian gods, the ancestors of the half-heroes, were for the most part fair-haired, with ivory shins and golden hair. Athena had blue eyes, but Poseidon was black-haired According to Homer, these gods did not differ much from their descendants, most of whom had white skin and golden hair.
The herald of Odysseus, Eurybates, had swarthy skin and curly hair; Achilles' son Neoptolemus was red, and his mother may have been a brunette. Spartans were described as fair-haired, and in the 5th century, Athenians, in search of a light ideal, dyed their hair golden yellow with herbs. Vase-painting artists from the 6th to the 4th century BC could distinguish between light and dark colors by conditional types of glaze and used this distinction to represent both living models and heroes.
Greek terminology included both the names of blue and brown eyes, as well as green (the color of the olive leaf); in the color of the skin, pinkness, pallor, reminiscent of cream cheese or the skin of unripe apples, the color of honey and dark color were distinguished. Phoenician merchants and swarthy sailors of other nationalities were given the name "phoinix" - this color was compared with the color of a mature date or bay horse. Thus, both in Greek society and beyond, one could find all the variants of pigmentation known to modern Europeans.
"In general, from the portraits of the Athenians and the clay masks of the Spartans, one can get the impression that they resembled modern Western Europeans. However, this similarity becomes less distinct in the art of Byzantium, where modern Middle Eastern faces are more frequent"
But this is already a late period.
Here is what Kuhn writes about the earlier one, in which there was also a Nordic element.
"twenty-five Middle Helladic skulls represent the period after the arrival of the Corded or "mound population" from the north and during the seizure of power by the Minoan conquerors from Crete. Of these, 23 come from Asia, and two from Mycenae. Needless to say, the population of this time was in to a great extent mixed. Only two skulls are brachycephalic; both are male, and both are associated with very short stature. One of them is of medium size, with a high vault, narrow face and narrow nose; the other is chameric and with a very wide face. Apparently, they represent are two different broad-headed types, both of which are likely to be found in Greece today.
The long-headed type is not uniform: some skulls with large vaults and strongly pronounced superciliary ridges, with deep notches in the region of the nose, resemble the type of Neolithic dolichocephals - both the type of long mounds and cords. Furst believes that a large number of them are very similar to Late Neolithic skulls from Scandinavia of approximately the same age ...
...the rest of the long-headed skulls, which probably more accurately represent the bulk of the Middle Greek population, are of the high-nosed, slightly protruding skull type familiar from Crete and Asia Minor of the same period. They are also short in stature, while a few specimens are of the large-headed type, as expected above."
Aristotle 
Aeschylus 
Euripides 
Homer 
Solon 
Theophrastus
Origin of the Greek people
Where did he come from, this people, who neither on the Mycenaean tablets nor in the Homeric poems called themselves "Greeks", because not he himself, but the Italians, having come into conflict with the inhabitants of Epirus, extended the nickname of a little-known tribe to the entire Greek archipelago, in the 4th century BC e. living in the vicinity of Dodona. The author of the Catalog of Ships (Iliad, II, 530) uses the term panhellenes to refer to all the inhabitants of Hellas, that is, a small region south of Thessaly, as well as the valley of Sperhei. Most often, the soldiers gathered near Troy are called Achaeans ( akhaios), Argives ( argeios) or Danes ( danaoi), this is clearly not a self-name. Historians point to the presence of Achaean tribes in half a dozen regions of Greece - from Thessaly to Crete. The name Argos ("White City") was borne by eight cities or settlements from the middle basin of Heliakmon (Vistritsa) and northern Thessaly to the island of Nisyros. The name of the Danaans is associated not only with the subjects of the mythical king Danae from Argolis, the father of Danaides, but also with the name of a large river in Thessaly - Apidanos. So, most likely, the four names by which the most ancient written sources known to us designate the Greeks - Hellenes, Achaeans, Argives, Danaans - belonged to the tribes that inhabited the rich Thessalian plain. But where did they come from?
There are three options for resolving this issue. The first of them, literary, is no worse and no better than the other two. It consists in taking into account the opinion of Greek historians, because who, if not them, knows the origin of their own ancestors. The ancients considered Hellenes, the hero-eponym of their race, the son of the northerner Prometheus, or Deucalion ("White") and Pyrrha ("Red"). The last ones were washed up on the mountains of Thessaly after the Great Flood. Therefore, they came from somewhere north of Mount Olympus and, according to tradition, this was around 1600 BC. e., Hellen married the nymph Orsea, thereby giving life to the four ancestors of the Hellenic tribes.
The linguistic solution was prompted by a search among the most ancient toponyms of peninsular Greece and Crete for a series of names that undoubtedly preceded the Greek ones, and an attempt to find correspondences for them in Europe and Asia. Meanwhile, among the pre-Hellenic proper names, there are two types: those that cannot be explained according to the laws of the Indo-European languages, such as the names of certain mountains (Mala, Parna, Pindus) and rivers (Arna, Tavros), and others that are ubiquitous on the banks of Aegean, with roots and suffixes comparable to those found in the Indo-European languages, although their phonetics violates the laws of the Greek: say, Corinth and Kurivanda, Pedas and Pedassa, Pergamon and Larissa. As a result, the conclusion suggests itself that before the appearance of the Hellenes in Thessaly, at least two different peoples lived on the Greek archipelago: the first was pre-Indo-European, and the second was formed from various Indo-European elements, and its speakers used words ending in - eus, - tpa, - nthos, - ssos-ssa etc. Such words are widely represented on our maps, from the shores of the Sea of Marmara to Crete, including in Thrace, Eastern Greece and the Peloponnese.
As for the Proto-Hellenic region proper, linguists who study the names of rivers and mountains locate it in Pieria, north of Epirus, that is, approximately on the territory of present-day northwestern Greece: here all toponyms are of ancient Greek origin. Scientists conclude that the ancestors of the mythical Hellenes roamed between the Grammos massif, the copper mines near Grevena and the Ion River basin. On their migrations to the southeast, driving or driven by flocks, hungry and too numerous to feed themselves, they encountered a mixed population, cultured higher than their own, and called them Pelasgians. It has been noted that during the Trojan War, only the eastern parts of Greece, the Balkan Peninsula and the adjacent islands were considered as Hellenic, as if the people of Hellene were dissolved among the shepherds of Pindus and Parnassus and the Aegean sailors. In all likelihood, the name "Achaeans", akhaios, - Pelasgic, that is, of pre-Hellenic origin, and means warrior men, "comrades."
However, the archeological approach to solving this issue is now in vogue. After the excavations of Orchomena, the Minoan capital of Boeotia, the discovery of many cities of Argolis, including Lerna, and most importantly, after a comparative study of burial mounds in southern Russia, called barrows, and similar burial grounds in the Mediterranean, from Albania to Asia Minor, most archaeologists admit the possibility of an invasion of the Balkans by several successive waves of Indo-European aliens from the beginning of the Bronze Age, that is, from about 2500 BC. e. You should not think that they fell in droves: probably there were no more than a few tens of thousands of people who roamed with their herds in search of pastures, living space and a place in the sun. Along the way, they caused a lot of disasters, but they brought something new with them both to the land of Greece itself and to the region of Troy. The settlements of the more ancient inhabitants of those places probably burned to the ground more than once between 2500 and 1900 BC. e .: conflagrations are characteristic of Troy, the towns of Thessaly, Etresi and Lerna, and in the years 2300-2200 the same fate befell many settlements on the Cretan shores.
The steppes brought with them the features of a completely different civilization: burials under mounds, original ceramics with wicker ornaments, very smooth and imitating metal, the ability to combine copper with many other elements - arsenic, zinc, lead, silver, tin - to make battle axes, daggers and swords that grew longer and stronger, spears with tips and peculiar armor that covered the whole body, as well as the feudal system of dividing society into three or four classes, and among the latter - a caste of professional warriors capable of harnessing a horse to a war chariot.
The most ancient remains of a domesticated horse found in Macedonia date back to the Early Bronze Age. At the end of the 17th century BC. e. noble conquering warriors demanded that in Greece they be buried under huge mounds along with horses - this fact has been proven by excavations in Marathon. It is not difficult to imagine what horror seized the peaceful farmers and shepherds who lived on the plains of Thessaly, Boeotia and Attica, at the sight of war chariots, these terrible war machines, on which archers and spearmen rushed without a miss. The natives, or rather, those who had come here before - the Pelasgians, Lelegs, Lapiths or Aons - had only to flee or submit.
Archaeologists also confirm what has been dimly seen from literary analysis as well as from comparative study of place names: from 1600 to 1200, the Mycenaean world experienced a phase of impressive economic and demographic expansion. New settlements appeared everywhere and cities were built. Finally, the instability of the early and middle Bronze Ages is opposed by the constancy of the customs of the Late Bronze Age. Neither in Marathon, nor in Arkhani in Crete (ancient Akanans) during the 16th-13th centuries, no changes were observed in the funeral rites. All these considerations come down to a few dates and symbolic facts:
1600–1500: Construction of a circle of royal tombs at Mycenae IN, then circle A Appearance of similar burials from Lefkada to Marathon.
1500-1400: Laying of the most ancient palaces in Mycenae, Tiryns and Thebes. The appearance of royal domed tombs, tholoses.
1400–1300: Construction of Cyclopean fortifications and new palaces in twenty cities of Greece and on the coasts of Asia.
1300–1200: Build-up and improvement of means of defense. Massive colonization of islands and outlying coasts.
It should not be imagined that the phenomenon of invasions and the merger of invaders with local residents is characteristic exclusively of Greece, and most importantly, that all this ceased in 1200 BC. e. Since that time, every century has witnessed how in the Balkans, not afraid of either the Tempe Gorge or Thermopylae, hordes of conquerors from the farthest corners of Europe march, and sometimes settle on the peninsula. Dorians, Thracians, Macedonians, Celts, Goths, Slavs, Crusaders, Albanians, peoples of the Caucasus and so on - all of them, who earlier, who later, set foot on the land of Greece. But what is most striking in the legendary campaign of the Achaeans to the shores of Asia, or rather, to Troy, is that they met there, according to ancient sources, languages, customs and religions similar to their own, as if they were brothers, or at least relatives of Priam and his vassals. For 100 years, archaeologists have noted that the sixth layer of the Trojan ruins contains the same "Minoan" ceramics - gray, then red and cream, the same types of vessels, buildings, fortifications as the Greek cities contemporary to this layer (c. 1900-1360 .). On the other hand, the Mycenaean pottery found in Troy VII A testifies to the close ties between this city and the Achaean world. And you begin to seriously wonder if Troad was not filled with the same nomadic tribes as the Greek peninsula at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC, and if the Achaeans, who became masters of Greece 500 years later, tried to subjugate the Asian "Minoans" how did they conquer the "Minoans" of Europe?
Anything, of course, happens in the world, but it is hardly worth considering the abduction of the Greek woman Helen from Sparta by the Trojan Paris-Alexander as an indisputable historical fact. It might have been more of a provocation. casus belli(6) capable of justifying a long-planned military campaign. In the end, they did not hesitate, but in 1645 A.D. e. the Turks of Istanbul to throw 400 warships to Crete and capture it, allegedly in retaliation for the hijacking of a galley with a princess from the Seraglio by Maltese corsairs? This is indeed a historical fact, and people have often unleashed wars under much less serious pretexts.
From the book Myths and Legends of China author Werner Edward From the book Rhythms of Eurasia: Epochs and Civilizations author Gumilyov Lev NikolaevichThe origin of the Turkut people The Turkic-speaking peoples in the western part of Central Asia are known in the deepest antiquity, starting from the 3rd century BC. BC, but the term "Turk" did not exist then. At the dawn of history (3rd century BC) they were called "Xiongnu", later, in the 4th - 5th centuries,
From the book Sexual Life in Ancient Greece author Licht Hans6. An Analysis of the Greek Ideal of Boys After presenting the Greek ideal of beauty as expressed in boyish traits, and after attempting to make it easier for the modern reader to understand, we should dwell in more detail on the details of the Hellenic ideal.
From the book Judgment of Time. Issues #35-46 author Mlechin Leonid Mikhailovich42. Fidel Castro: policy against the people or for the benefit of the people? Part 1Svanidze: Hello! In Russia, as you know, the past is unpredictable. Each time perceives the past in its own way. On the air "Court of Time". Our focus is on historical events, characters,
From the book Ancient Greece author Lyapustin Boris SergeevichTHE BIRTH OF THE GREEK POLIS The archaic era was a unique period in ancient Greek history. In just three centuries, completely new, never-before-existing types of civilization, society and statehood appeared in Hellas. Their starting point
From the book Ancient Greece author Lyapustin Boris SergeevichTHE CRISIS OF THE CLASSICAL GREEK POLIS The crisis of the classical polis that began after the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC) is an extremely complex and multi-valued phenomenon. He determined the entire development of Greek society in this century. It is no coincidence that in
From the book History of the City of Rome in the Middle Ages author Gregorovius Ferdinand5. Ignorance of Rome. - liber pontificalis Anastasia. - Origin and character of this book. - Translations of Anastasius from Greek. - The Life of Gregory the Great, written by John the Deacon If Anonymous of Salerno visited Rome under Nicholas I, he, of course, would never have been able to find here
From the book The Conquest of America by Ermak-Cortes and the rebellion of the Reformation through the eyes of the "ancient" Greeks author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich5. The origin of Yermak and the origin of Cortes In the previous chapter, we have already reported that, according to Romanov historians, information about Yermak's past is extremely scarce. According to legend, Yermak's grandfather was a townsman of the city of Suzdal. His famous grandson was born somewhere in
From the book 100 great secrets of archeology author Volkov Alexander Viktorovich From the book Three Disappeared Peoples author Gumilyov Lev NikolaevichThe origin of the Turkut people The Turkic-speaking peoples in the western part of Central Asia are known in the deepest antiquity, starting from the 3rd century BC. BC, but the term "Turk" did not exist then. At the dawn of history (3rd century BC), they were called "Xiongnu", later, in the 4th-5th centuries -
From the book Diplomacy of Svyatoslav author Sakharov Andrey NikolaevichOnce again about the "Note of the Greek toparch" In connection with the formulation of the question of the situation in the Northern Black Sea region, in our opinion, it is advisable to return once again to the repeatedly studied so-called "Note of the Greek Toparch". This "Note", as shown by its first
From the book of Jesus. The Mystery of the Birth of the Son of Man [compilation] by Conner JacobThe Emergence of Greek Influence The beginning of Greek influence in this region dates back to 332 BC, when the soldiers of Alexander the Great discovered excellent but sparsely populated lands on the east side of the Jordan. They immediately occupied them, but they still had to
From the book Mysteries of the Roman genealogy of the Rurikovich author Seryakov Mikhail LeonidovichChapter 12. THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME OF Rus' AND THE ORIGINAL HOMELAND OF OUR PEOPLE Along with the Norman hypothesis, there were several versions about the Slavic origin of the name Rus. Since not far from Kyiv, in the Middle Dnieper, there is the river Ros, the temptation was great
From the book 50 great dates in world history author Shuler JulesThe Origin of the People of Israel The Jewish people belong to the numerous Semitic-speaking peoples of the Middle East. Leaving Lower Mesopotamia (the founding ancestor Abraham allegedly came from the upper city of Ur), he penetrated with his herds into Palestine and received the name
From the book History of the Ros people [From the Aryans to the Varangians] the author Akashev Yuri§ 2. The origin of the name of the Russian people In the problem of the origin of the Russian people, one of the main ones is the question of the origin of its name. The answer to some other important questions also depends on the solution of this issue: about the antiquity of this people, about its ethnic
From the book General History [Civilization. Modern concepts. Facts, events] author Dmitrieva Olga VladimirovnaSparta as a type of Greek polis Along with Athens, ancient Sparta was one of the largest polises of Greece in archaic and classical times. Just as in Athens, in Sparta there is an ancient form of property as the collective property of fellow citizens -
