Uploaded July 2024 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
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Ancient Greece’s DNA: What Was the Origins and Genetics of Ancient Greece?
Chapters:
0:00 Ancient Greece
2:06 Origins of Ancient Greece
4:54 Ancient Greece's DNA and Genetics
8:47 Key Takeaways
Ancient Greece was a real golden age in the history of the world, but what were the origins of ancient Greece and what was the genetic makeup of this civilization? Now let’s first get a quick overview of Ancient Greece itself. The civilization emerged between the 12th–9th centuries BC, with city states rising out of the ashes of the Greek dark age after the collapse of the Mycenaean civilization, something we are going to go into in more detail later. The epic poems written by Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey, are generally dated to the 8th century BC, and were an early contribution from the ancient Greeks. One date for the end of Ancient Greek civilization was when Alexander the Great died in 323 BC, however some argue it ended much later in the 5th century AD, at the end of classical antiquity with the fall of the Western Roman Empire. We obviously know that ancient Greek civilization had a major impact on ancient Rome.
Regardless of the precise end date, it was the time around the Classical period in Ancient Greece that is the most famous and is the one that produced the most revolutionary art and ideas, including democracy of course. Classical Greece was a period of around 200 years through the 5th and 4th centuries BC, which saw the peak flourishing of democratic Athens; the Peloponnesian War fought between the forces of Athens and Sparta; the Spartan and Theban hegemonies; and the expansion of Macedonia under Philip II, which was then built upon by his son, Alexander the Great.
This period was also the time of the great philosophers, such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, and the great historians of antiquity, such as Herodotus, who divided the Greeks into four major tribes: the Achaeans, Aeolians, Ionians and Dorians. Another Greek historians was Thucydides, who is famous for the Thucydides Trap, the dynamic of a rising power challenging an existing power, something that has been applied to the current US-China dynamic. I should note as well that ancient Greece for most of its existence was obviously more a group of different city states that had some shared cultural and linguistic features rather than a unified empire, but most of ancient Greece was briefly unified for 13 years under Alexander the Great's empire.
Now what were the origins of ancient Greece? Well the answer is found in the incredible Bronze Age civilizations of this part of the world, notably the Mycenaean and Minoan civilizations. Let’s start with the older one, the Minoans. The first thing to note about the Minoans is that they are famous for their beautiful frescoes.
Sources:
Ancient Greek civilization | History, Map, Culture, Politics, Religion, Achievements, & Facts | Britannica
Ancient Greece - Wikipedia
Minoan civilization | History, Location, & Facts | Britannica
The Greeks really do have near-mythical origins, ancient DNA reveals | Science | AAAS
Lazaridis, I., Mittnik, A., Patterson, N. et al. Genetic origins of the Minoans and Mycenaeans. Nature 548, 214–218 (2017). doi.org/10.1038/nature23310
DNA clue to origins of early Greek civilization - BBC News
Haplogroup J (Y-DNA) - Wikipedia
Iosif Lazaridis et al. The genetic history of the Southern Arc: A bridge between West Asia and Europe. Science 377,eabm4247(2022). DOI:10.1126/science.abm4247
Skourtanioti, E., Ringbauer, H., Gnecchi Ruscone, G.A. et al. Ancient DNA reveals admixture history and endogamy in the prehistoric Aegean. Nat Ecol Evol 7, 290–303 (2023). doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01952-3
Greeks Are Descendants of the Mycenaeans, DNA Study Confirms - GreekReporter.com
Iosif Lazaridis et al. A genetic probe into the ancient and medieval history of Southern Europe and West Asia.Science377,940-951(2022).DOI:10.1126/science.abq0755
Hittites - Wikipedia
Haplogroup G-M201 - Wikipedia
Haplogroup J (Y-DNA) - Wikipedia
Creative Commons Imagery:
Thomas Lessman File:Alexander-Empire 323bc.jpg - Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Deed - Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported - Creative Commons
#ancientgreece #ancientcivilizations #history
Subscribe to Celtic History Decoded: youtube.com/channel/UCCS3M_uNHH2iOJkpGhkO2SA?sub_confirmation=1
Please Buy Me a Coffee - buymeacoffee.com/celtichistory
Please support this channel on Patreon and get ad-free videos and other benefits: patreon.com/historydecoded
Check out my merch store and please help support this channel - celtic-history-decoded.creator-spring.com - Full terms and conditions can be found on Spring’s website.
Ancient Greece’s DNA: What Was the Origins and Genetics of Ancient Greece?
Chapters:
0:00 Ancient Greece
2:06 Origins of Ancient Greece
4:54 Ancient Greece's DNA and Genetics
8:47 Key Takeaways
Ancient Greece was a real golden age in the history of the world, but what were the origins of ancient Greece and what was the genetic makeup of this civilization? Now let’s first get a quick overview of Ancient Greece itself. The civilization emerged between the 12th–9th centuries BC, with city states rising out of the ashes of the Greek dark age after the collapse of the Mycenaean civilization, something we are going to go into in more detail later. The epic poems written by Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey, are generally dated to the 8th century BC, and were an early contribution from the ancient Greeks. One date for the end of Ancient Greek civilization was when Alexander the Great died in 323 BC, however some argue it ended much later in the 5th century AD, at the end of classical antiquity with the fall of the Western Roman Empire. We obviously know that ancient Greek civilization had a major impact on ancient Rome.
Regardless of the precise end date, it was the time around the Classical period in Ancient Greece that is the most famous and is the one that produced the most revolutionary art and ideas, including democracy of course. Classical Greece was a period of around 200 years through the 5th and 4th centuries BC, which saw the peak flourishing of democratic Athens; the Peloponnesian War fought between the forces of Athens and Sparta; the Spartan and Theban hegemonies; and the expansion of Macedonia under Philip II, which was then built upon by his son, Alexander the Great.
This period was also the time of the great philosophers, such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, and the great historians of antiquity, such as Herodotus, who divided the Greeks into four major tribes: the Achaeans, Aeolians, Ionians and Dorians. Another Greek historians was Thucydides, who is famous for the Thucydides Trap, the dynamic of a rising power challenging an existing power, something that has been applied to the current US-China dynamic. I should note as well that ancient Greece for most of its existence was obviously more a group of different city states that had some shared cultural and linguistic features rather than a unified empire, but most of ancient Greece was briefly unified for 13 years under Alexander the Great's empire.
Now what were the origins of ancient Greece? Well the answer is found in the incredible Bronze Age civilizations of this part of the world, notably the Mycenaean and Minoan civilizations. Let’s start with the older one, the Minoans. The first thing to note about the Minoans is that they are famous for their beautiful frescoes.
Sources:
Ancient Greek civilization | History, Map, Culture, Politics, Religion, Achievements, & Facts | Britannica
Ancient Greece - Wikipedia
Minoan civilization | History, Location, & Facts | Britannica
The Greeks really do have near-mythical origins, ancient DNA reveals | Science | AAAS
Lazaridis, I., Mittnik, A., Patterson, N. et al. Genetic origins of the Minoans and Mycenaeans. Nature 548, 214–218 (2017). doi.org/10.1038/nature23310
DNA clue to origins of early Greek civilization - BBC News
Haplogroup J (Y-DNA) - Wikipedia
Iosif Lazaridis et al. The genetic history of the Southern Arc: A bridge between West Asia and Europe. Science 377,eabm4247(2022). DOI:10.1126/science.abm4247
Skourtanioti, E., Ringbauer, H., Gnecchi Ruscone, G.A. et al. Ancient DNA reveals admixture history and endogamy in the prehistoric Aegean. Nat Ecol Evol 7, 290–303 (2023). doi.org/10.1038/s41559-022-01952-3
Greeks Are Descendants of the Mycenaeans, DNA Study Confirms - GreekReporter.com
Iosif Lazaridis et al. A genetic probe into the ancient and medieval history of Southern Europe and West Asia.Science377,940-951(2022).DOI:10.1126/science.abq0755
Hittites - Wikipedia
Haplogroup G-M201 - Wikipedia
Haplogroup J (Y-DNA) - Wikipedia
Creative Commons Imagery:
Thomas Lessman File:Alexander-Empire 323bc.jpg - Wikimedia Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Deed - Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported - Creative Commons
#ancientgreece #ancientcivilizations #history
