Thought is changing as philosophy rises in the 6th century and literature develops as we see the emergence of Homer and Hesiod’s works. This is the time of Solon, Lycurgus, Draco, Peristatos and Thrasybulus, and it is a time where great wars were fought such as the First Messenian War and the Greco-Persian War. The polis starts to develop, democracy is established in Attica and Greek colonies continue to grow. Now the Archaic period is an exciting time in Greek History, the ‘Dark Ages’ are over and a ‘structural revolution’ (Snodgrass 1980:13) is occurring. While it appears somewhat in the Classical and Hellenistic periods, we find a large amount in Archaic Greece. The most notable evidence of the use of the swastika is at Hisarlik most commonly known as the site of the city of Troy, where swastikas were found by Schliemann decorated upon ‘spindle whorls’ (Schliemann 1881: 350 D’Alviella 1894: 60). From excavations at the House of Tiles on Lemnos, we can find swastikas on some of the seals that were excavated there and there is evidence of it being found in the Minoan period. The Swastika is not exactly new to the Aegean. Now with the swastika appearing almost everywhere, it is hardly surprising that we find it in Ancient Greece. Some writers have been ascribed as being linked to deities such as the god Baal and Agni (Wilson 1894: 771-772). However in all of these cultures, the swastika possessed a different meaning, whether it was another symbol for \ in Hinduism or, in some Native American cultures, it was a representation of the four winds.Ĭardiff University, Ancient History, Graduate Student It has been carved onto 30,000 year old mammoth tusks, it has been found on Neolithic Serbian tablets, its use has been noted in West Africa, the Indian sub-continent, Scandinavian and Germanic cultures and it was even employed during the period of Roman Christianity. It has been found among hundreds of the cultures around the world. The Swastika is one of the most common and enigmatic symbols in human history.
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