遠古希臘（Archaic Greece，800-490BC）時代，古希臘半島上開始形成了大大小小的城邦（Polis 或者poleis），作為相對獨立的政治單元。那個時代，城邦遍布在歐洲和中亞的其他地方，Polis在英文中又被稱為City State或Citizen State，這也是為什麽我們稱其為城邦了。每個城邦實質上都有自己的國傢機構，他們或許會由於外敵入侵而團结起來，諸如公元前480左右年共同抵抗薛西斯（Xerxes）的波斯入侵，留給我們後人的便是那些300斯巴達壯士的英勇傳說，但這些城邦之間也會戰爭不斷，諸如雅典（Athens）和斯巴達(Sparta)這兩個對後人影響最大的城邦之間長達三十年的伯羅奔尼撒半島戰爭（The Peloponnesian War，431–404 BC)。
The archaic period in Greece (650 BC – 480 BC) is a period of Ancient Greek history. The term originated in the 18th century and has been standard since. This term arose from the study of Greek art, where it refers to styles mainly of surface decoration and plastique, falling in time between Geometric Art and the art of Classical Greece. As it is transitional to the latter it is considered "archaic." Since the Archaic period followed the Greek Dark Ages, and saw significant advancements in political theory, and the rise of democracy, philosophy, theatre, poetry, as well as the revitalization of the written language (which had been lost during the Dark Ages), the term archaic was extended to these aspects as well.
Most recently Anthony Snodgrass embraced and extended this holistic approach suggesting that "historians extend their interests from political and military events to social and economic processes" and "classical archaeologists turn from the outstanding works of art to the totality of material products ...." The Archaic Period is thus a "rapprochement" of various threads and is not just "archaic" but is "a complete episode in its own right." Michael Grant also objects to the term archaic "because it possesses the dictionary significance of 'primitive' and 'antiquated.' No such pejorative epithets are appropriate for the early Greeks, whose doings and sayings added up to one of the most creative periods in world history."
Snodgrass defines the termini of the Archaic Period as a "structural revolution", meaning a sudden slope up of population and material goods that occurred with mid-point at 750 BC, and the "intellectual revolution" of classical Greece. The end of archaism is conventionally defined as Xerxes' invasion of Greece in 480 BC. It should not be thought for a moment, however, that all the various threads begin and end on these dates. For example, red-figure pottery, which characterized the classical Greek period, began in the archaic. Snodgrass says: "... it must always be borne in mind that such demarcations of history ... although reasonably acceptable for the convenience of later ages, are entirely artificial categories