Panhellenism
An important aspect of colonisation was the rise of the concept of a Greek national identity, or Panhellenism. Although each Greek state developed in widely different ways during the Archaic period, they had in common certain possessions and customs that were distinctly ‘Greek’ which set them apart from non-Greek peoples (barbaroi) and gave them a sense of belonging to the same race: (i) the Greek language, spoken in many dialects over a wide area; (ii) worship of the same gods; (iii) participation in three Panhellenic cult centres – Olympia (with its games), Delphi and Delos; (iv) the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Epic Cycle (a collection of ancient Greek poetry), giving the Greeks a glimpse of their heroic past; and (v) the veneration of Panhellenic heroes, especially Heracles.
Tyranny
Greeks used the term ‘tyranny’ to describe the individuals who had usurped the legal monarchy in many city-states during the seventh to fifth centuries BC, the ‘age of tyrants’. It was not a special constitution or a reign of terror; the bad sense was attached to it later. Usurpers, though often of the aristocracy, or just outside it, exploited discontent with aristocratic exclusiveness and misbehaviour. A general increase in prosperity undermined the claims of birth, while the emergence of the hoplite army meant that aristocrats could no longer claim to be the city’s only defenders. As several of the tyrants are said to have been successful military leaders the acquiescence of the new army may be assumed in most cases. Other usurpers appealed to an ethnic minority, or pursued populist policies, including public works. Tyrants intermarried and lent each other material and moral support, but when discontent lessened, their popularity tended to diminish and their sons, lacking in legitimacy, found power hard to retain without suppression; few tyrannies extended to the third generation.
The best known of the tyrants were Pheidon of Argos (seventh century BC), Cypselus (r.c.657-c.625 BC) and Periander (r.c.625-c.585 BC) of Corinth, Cleisthenes of Sicyon (r.c.600-570 BC), Pisistratus of Athens (r.c.561*527 BC), and Polycrates of Samos (r.c.538-c.522 BC). The last representatives of this early period of tyranny were the Sicilian tyrants Gelon (r.485-478 BC) and Hieron-I (r.478-467 BC) of Syracuse, and Theron of Acragas (r.c.488-473 BC).
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