Hellenic

Based on Hellenic mythology and art and stereotypes of modern Hellenics, many people think of the Hellenics as a fun-loving people who indulged themselves in the good life: they drank lots of wine, cherished the sun and the sea, and participated in wild Dionysian festivals. Even so the Hellenics regarded overindulgent people as possible traitors who might put their appetites before their loyalty to the state.
Different states had different personalities: Sparta was the land of warriors. Sybaris was known for its love of luxury.
Important virtues included: style, grace, eloquence and self control. The Hellenics looked down on conspicuous consumption and lack of self-control. The historical James Davidson wrote: "The Hellenics imposed few rules from outside, but felt a civic responsibility to manage all appetites, to train themselves to deal with them, without trying to conquer them absolutely... The true gentleman manages his appetites. He is in charge of himself...Those who consume immoderately are the true slaves, being slaves to their appetites. It is the profligate and inconsistent who really engage in menial tasks as they are forever running back and forth trying to fill their leaky jar with desire."
The Hellenics were very competitive. They were obsessed with battles and sports and even made speech making and poetry-reading into competitive events. The key piece of advise that Achilles was given by his father was: “Always to be the best and outdo the others."
Hellenic had a deep sense melancholy and pessimism based on submission to fate. The historian Jacob Burckhard wrote : “The hero of myth scrupulously directs his whole life according to obscure sayings of the gods, but all vain; the predestined infants (Paris, Oedipus among ethers) left to die of exposure, are rescued and afterwards fulfill what was predicted for them." Some Hellenics believed it was best not to be born. The great sage Solon even went as far as saying: “Not one mortal is happy; everyone under the sun is unhappy."

Culture

Shared customary codes and values

Hellenic Society and the rich and the poor, and middle class

Hellenic aristocrats were not very fond of the masses. One member of the ruling elite used to walk through the streets clubbing people he disliked. Aristotle classified humanity into two kinds of people: The few, smart people destined to be masters: and the multitudes of less talented people designated to be slaves.
It is also Customary that The Ancient Egyptians, Asian, Hellenics and later on, the Persians and Romans showed respect by kissing the hand, feet or hem of the shirt of important people.
As people were able to make a living by trading and selling crafts, a fledgling middle class emerged.
The state was ruled by a king, the wanax (ϝάναξ), whose role was religious and perhaps also military and judicial. The wanax oversaw virtually all aspects of palatial life, from religious feasting and offerings to the distribution of goods, craftsmen and troops. Under him was the lāwāgetas ("the leader of the people"), whose role appears mainly religious. His activities possibly overlap with the wanax and is usually seen as the second-in-command.[77] Both wanax and lāwāgetas were at the head of a military aristocracy known as the eqeta ("companions" or "followers").
The land possessed by the wanax is usually the témenos
A number of local officials positioned by the wanax appear to be in charge of the districts, such as ko-re-te (koreter, '"governor"), po-ro-ko-re-te (prokoreter, "deputy") and the da-mo-ko-ro (damokoros, "one who takes care of a damos"), the latter probably being appointed to take charge of the commune. A council of elders was chaired, the ke-ro-si-ja (cf. γερουσία, gerousía). The basileus, who in latter Hellenic society was the name of the king, refers to communal officials.
In general, Mycenaean society appears to have been divided into two groups of free men: the king's entourage, who conducted administrative duties at the palace, and the people, da-mo[80] These last were watched over by royal agents and were obliged to perform duties for and pay taxes to the palace.[76] Among those who could be found in the palace were well-to-do high officials, who probably lived in the vast residences found in proximity to Mycenaean palaces, but also others, tied by their work to the palace and not necessarily better off than the members of the da-mo, such as craftsmen, farmers, and perhaps merchants. Occupying a lower rung of the social ladder were the slaves, do-e-ro, (cf. δοῦλος, doúlos).[81] These are recorded in the texts as working either for the palace or for specific deities.[76]
One of the offices which refer to Pylos was the damokoro, a complex adjective deriving from demos and the korete. The damakoro were employees appointed by the wanax. The word κerosija, which refers etymologically to the geronsia of Classical Athens, is mentioned only once. During the Mycenaean period, the geronsia must have been a local council presided over by the local chief.
The tablets of Pylos, Knossos and Thebes often refer to the title of the qasireu,, which means king. All the evidence show that in the Mycenaean period this title had not yet acquired the meaning it has in the later Homeric epics. The Mycenaean kings were probably regional leaders and their authority did not surpass the frontiers of a small area or town. In one case, a qasireu is the chief of a group of bronzesmiths. Another view suggests that the qasireu, were persons who derived exclusively from the workshops and had no relation with the administration.
The title Kamaeu, occurs in the Pylos and Knossos tablets. It refers probably to specific persons and not to titles. The persons that bore this title belonged to the lower social classes and included a "slave of the god" and a baker. The words doero and doera of the palace texts mean the slaves or the slaves who worked in the service of different individuals or the palace.

Common Dress code

Clothes

Although the first information on the art of weaving dates to the Neolithic period, the first evidence on dresses on mainland Hellas are of a much later period. This is due to the fact that until the Late Bronze Age human figures are depicted infrequently. The first human dressed figures are depicted in the Mycenaean art.
What is clear is the preferences of the Mycenaeans in Minoan Crete dressing. The Minoan clothes and particularly the official female costume gradually supplanted the local Helladic costume in the framework of a more general trend of adopting the Minoan customs. The parallels occur in the kind of clothes but also in their manufacture. But the Mycenaean clothes are generally more simple and more conservative.
In parallel to the Minoan influences the men's garment and the long loincloth survived in the regional clothes. Both these types are considered to represent an older dressing tradition on mainland Hellas. The iconographic representations and the grave goods of the Mycenaean graves show us that men and women wore impressive jewellery made of base or precious materials according to their social class. Some jewellery were sewn on their clothes.

Common Customs, traditions and rituals

HELLENIC CUSTOMS

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Hosting

Making Toast

The custom of making a toast to one's health dates way back. A host would take a drink of wine from a decanter to show it was safe to drink before his guest took a drink. Later the act became associated with pledge of friendship.

Xenia

Xenia is the Hellenic concept of hospitality, the generosity and courtesy shown to those who are far from home and/or associates of the person bestowing guest-friendship. The Hellenic god Zeus is sometimes called Zeus Xenios in his role as a protector of guests. He thus embodied the religious obligation to be hospitable to travelers.
Xenia was considered to be particularly important in ancient times when people thought gods mingled among them. If one had poorly played host to a stranger, there was the risk of incurring the wrath of a god disguised as the stranger.

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The Origins of plate smashing

In its earliest form, plate smashing may be a survival of the ancient custom of ritually "killing" the ceramic vessels used for feasts commemorating the dead.
The voluntary breaking of plates, which is a type of controlled loss, may also have helped participants in dealing with the deaths of their loved ones, a loss which they could not control.
Similar offerings may also have been presented at other times to include the dead in festival proceedings, with the result that this custom for the dead began to be tied in with all kinds of celebrations.

Step Lively, Children

Here is a phrase used by children about sidewalk cracks: "Step on a crack or you'll break the devil's dishes." (Today, it's less common than the "break your mother's back" threat.) In early Crete, ritual offerings and vessels were thrown into cracks and fissures located near peak sanctuaries.
Since the children's chant is actually a caution to avoid stepping on cracks, it may refer back to ancient associations with these dishes. So breaking plates during a performance may be a way of protecting the dancers and musicians by destroying supposedly evil influences present in the poor plates.

You Break My Heart, I'll Break Your Plate

One Hellenic singer occasionally breaks plates against his head while he sings a song of the pain of love. He enhances the rhythm of the piece with the smash of the plates and, in character for the song, tries to ease the pains of romantic love by countering them with physical pain.
Usually, breaking plates in praise of a musician or dancer is considered a part of kefi, the irrepressible expression of emotion and joy.
A plate might also be broken when two lovers parted so they would be able to recognize each other by matching the two halves even if many years passed before they met again.

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Sports-

The iconographic representations of the Mycenaean period reveal that, as the Minoans, the Mycenaeans went in for sports as well. The main sports were wrestling and boxing. The athletic games were organized during the religious ceremonies and were probably performed, as in Crete, in special rooms where the public could attend the games. However, mainland Hellas provides very little information on the athletic events in comparison to the rich evidence of Cretan athletic games. This information is drawn mainly from the frescoes, pottery and seal representations.
As for bull-leaping, the Minoan sport, It is likely that the Mycenaean bull-leaping scenes are imitations of Cretan representations. Moreover, the scenes of the capturing of the bull with a net suggest the preparation of this sport.

Chariot Racing

The widespread use of the horse and later of the chariot by the Mycenaeans brought a new sport: chariot races. Chariot races took place during the official social events while it is likely that they were also organized during burial ceremonies. This possibility suggests the references of Homer to the athletic games which were organized to honour the deceased Patroclus.
The two-wheeled chariot, a vehicle which was used until then only by the Hittites was used from the Mycenaeans initially in war, races and hunting wich was the favourite occupation of the kings and nobles and may constituted an exclusive privilege.
The sports trained the body and entertained the athletes while they were also an opportunity to demonstrate the combative abilities of the soldiers. The use of the chariots and equipment in athletic events underlined the military and heroic spirit of the Mycenaean period and presumably aimed at creating a legend around the strength of the Mycenaean power.

Funerary and Memorial customs

Burial Customs

The Bronze age Hellenic burial customs are known to have relatively large number of cemeteries or independent graves which have been later subjected to archaeological research. The cemeteries were situated at a small distance from the settlements. In many cases, the cemeteries are known and the settlements to which they belonged remain unknown. The general picture of the cemeteries reveals a harmonic evolution from the burial customs of the Middle Helladic period.
For a small period the construction of cist graves , the main burial type of the Middle Bronze Age, continues. But, three new and completely different grave types dominate: the shaft graves, the tholos tombs and the chamber tombs which are destined for more than one burials. The earliest type of shaft grave is known from the royal Grave Circles of Mycenae and has given its name to the transitional period for the Middle to the Late Bronze Age. The shaft graves and the chamber tombs are hewn out of the rock while the tholos tombs, most likely an evolution of the tholos tombs of Crete are of the most admirable burial buildings of Mycenaean architecture.
The Hellenics placed in the graves rich grave goods, mainly jewellery, weapons and serviceable vessels which were always comparable to the social status of the dead. But when the corpse was decomposed no effort to conserve the unity of the skeleton was made. The bones of the previous burials were put aside to gain place for the new burials and the grave goods were moved. Thus, it is usually only the last burial that remains intact. Despite the fact that the impact of Crete on the Mycenaean empire is generally intense, the offering of sumptuous grave goods was not a feature of the Minoan burial customs. This shows that the Mycenaeans adopted the custom of valuable offerings presumably from Egypt. But the fact that they did not assure the conservation of the body and the unity of the skeleton after inhumation reveals that they did not believe in life after death as the Egyptians did.
Thanks mainly to the iconographic representations of the larnakes of Tanagra we know some of the Mycenaean funerary ceremonies. These representations depict the procession of the dead, ritual dances and processions of dirge-singers. The larnakes also reveal that during the funerary ceremonies athletic games took place to honour the dead: chariot races and even bull-leaping known from Crete. The organization of the funeral games to honour the dead associates the Mycenaean burial customs with the relative evidence of Homer which includes descriptions of the athletic games that Achilles organized for Patroclus.

Common Taboos

Hellenic Jokes

The "egghead", or absent-minded professor, is a particular figure of fun, along with the eunuch, and people with hernias or bad breath. "They're also poking fun at certain types of foreigners---people from Abdera, a city in Thrace, were very, very stupid, almost as stupid as [they thought] eggheads [were]," “An egg-head doctor was seeing a patient. “Doctor”, he said, “when I get up in the morning I feel dizzy for 20 minutes." “Get up 20 minutes later, then?”
the residents of three Hellenic towns---Abdera, Kyme and Sidon---are ridiculed for their “how many Abderites does it take to change a light bulb?” style of stupidity. Why these three places in particular, we have no idea. But their inhabitants are portrayed as being as literal-minded as the egg-heads, and even more obtuse. “An Abderite saw a eunuch talking to a woman and asked if she was his wife. When he replied that eunuchs can't have wives, the Abderite asked, “So is she your daughter then?” And there are many others on predictably similar lines.
Ridicule was a standard weapon in the ancient courtroom, as it is only rarely in our own. Cicero, antiquity's greatest orator, was also by repute its greatest joker; far too funny for his own good, some sober citizens thought.

Minorities and Racism in Hellas

The word barbaros, from which “barbarian” is derived did not originally have pejorative connotations. It simply meant people who didn't speak Hellenic and their speech sounded to the Hellenics like bar-bar-bar.
There is no doubt at all that the Hellenics often treated outsiders badly. The idea of the “barbarian” (someone whose speech is just an incomprehensible “ba ba”) is a well known Hellenic invention. But the cultural identity of both societies was even more pervasively based on what we would now see as an unhealthy distrust of anyone different from themselves. Xenophobia in other words.
But is it all quite so simple? Probably not. In modern society, the key natural characteristic has been skin colour, but not so for the ancient Hellenics. The Hellenics were not colour-prejudiced; instead they were geographical, culture and environmental determinists.
To over-simplify a bit, the Hellenics were seen as “proto-racists” in the sense that they believed that the characteristics which certain races derived from their (inferior) environment and from the climate in which they lived---the rain and fog of Northern Europe, for example -- were fixed and irreversibly inferior. The list of unnatural things that foreigners were supposed to get up to is a long one. It ranged from peculiar eating habits (not just frogs legs or poppadoms, but at its worst cannibalism) to strange regimes of hygiene (women standing up to piss was a notable source of wonderment and/or disdain) and topsy-turvy ideas of sex and gender.

Labor and slaves in Hellas

Hellenic citizens abhorred physical labor and came to rely on slaves. Even the tireless classifier himself, Aristotle, believed that the goal of a civilized man was to attain a life of leisure so that he was free to pursue the higher things in life. How was this life of leisure attained?...With slaves, of course.
Aristotle believed that the laws of nature dictated that free men should rule and dominate slaves. Slaves were bought at the market and were used in mining, agriculture, construction and as household slaves. They could be craftsmen, entertainers, teachers, secretaries or even businessmen trading for themselves. One thing a slave was not was a citizen. For the status of a slave was often closer to that of an animal than a human being.
More on the subject [Here

Common Myths and Legends

Religeon

Small shrines have been identified in Asine, Berbati, Malthi and Pylos, while a number of sacred enclosures have been located near Mycenae, Delphi and Amyklae.
Linear B records mention a number of sanctuaries dedicated to a variety of deities, at least in Pylos and Knossos. They also indicate that there were various religious festivities including offerings.
Written Mycenaean records mention various priests and priestesses who were responsible for specific shrines and temples.[113] The latter were prominent figures in society, and the role of Mycenaean women in religious festivities was also important, just as in Minoan Crete.
Poseidon (Linear B: Po-se-da-o) seems to have occupied a place of privilege. He was a chthonic deity, connected with earthquakes (E-ne-si-da-o-ne: Earth-shaker), but it seems that he also represented the river spirit of the underworld.[117] Paean (Pa-ja-wo) is probably the precursor of the Hellenic physician of the gods in Homer's Iliad. He was the personification of the magic-song which was supposed to "heal" the patient.[118] A number of divinities have been identified in the Mycenaean scripts only by their epithets used during later antiquity. For example, Qo-wi-ja ("cow-eyed") is a standard Homeric ephithet of Hera.[119] Ares appeared under the name Enyalios (assuming that Enyalios is not a separate god).[120]Additional divinities that can be also found in later periods include Hephaestus, Erinya, Artemis (a-te-mi-to and a-ti-mi-te) and Dionysos (Di-wo-nu-so).[121][122][123][124] Zeus also appears in the Mycenaean pantheon, but he was certainly not the chief deity.
A collection of "ladies" or "mistresses", Po-ti-ni-ja (Potnia) are named in the Mycenaean scripts. As such, Athena (A-ta-na) appears in an inscription at Knossos as mistress Athena, similar to a later Homeric expression, but in the Pylos tablets she is mentioned without any accompanying word.[125] Si-to po-ti-ni-ja appears to be an agricultural goddess, possibly related to Demeter of later antiquity,[119] while in Knossos there is the "mistress of the Labyrinth".[126] The "two queens and the king" (wa-na-ssoi, wa-na-ka-te) are mentioned in Pylos.[127][128] Goddess Pe-re-swa mentioned may be related to Persephone.[119][125] A number of Mycenaean divinities seem to have no later equivalents, such as Marineus, Diwia and Komawenteia.

Ideals

Beauty Ideals

The Mycenaean Hellenics shown particular interest in body hygiene and beauty care. The lists of objects on the tablets but also of the excavation finds reveal that the Mycenaeans used cosmetics and bathing vessels. The tablets refer to a great variety of scented oils which were put in special containers and exported on a large scale. The beauty articles which were made mainly of copper and less frequently of ivory sometimes accompanied the dead in the grave. Thus, among other grave goods, razors, tweezers, mirrors and combs are included.
A group of archaeological finds as the coloured limestone mask from Mycenae and a number of clay figurines reveal that, as the Minoan women, the Mycenaean women as well painted their eyes, lips and face. These indications derive to date only from finds of a religious content thus leading to the assumption that the painting of the face was not of a decorative but of a ritual character.