Unit 3: Day 1 Classical Greece

Outcome: Geography & Early Culture

Essential Question
1. In what ways did the
geography of Greece help
shape Greek culture?

What are we going to learn?

1.

Greek Geography

2.

Early cultures that influenced Greece (Minoans,

Mycenaeans, Phoenicans, and Dorians)

3.

Early Greek Culture

Where is Greece?

Geography & Early Culture

2. Geography Shapes Greek Life

a.

Ancient Greece most consisted of a mountainous peninsula jutting out

into the Mediterranean Sea

Ancient Greek Culture

Cut off by mountains and the seas
Isolated

Led to the formation of city-states

Limited interaction and unity of Ancient Greece
Created fierce rivalries

Sea became a vital link

Hundreds of bays to provide safe harbor for ships
Skilled sailors

Greek City-States

City-States
Contained the city and the surrounding

countryside with an agora or acropolis for men to

conduct business
Agora: central spot or gathering place
Acropolis: raised area; usually has a building at
the top where government officials met

Geography & Early Culture

3.

Early Cultures Influence the Greeks

a. The Minoans
i.

Gave the Greeks architecture, burial customs, and religious

rituals

ii.

Were athletic like the Greeks

The Phoenicians

Geography & Early Culture

b.

The Phoenicians
i.

Gave the world the Phonetic Alphabet

ii.

Were excellent merchant ship builders influenced Greek ship

building

Geography & Early Culture

Due to the sea the Greeks were master ship builders
Built Triremes: sturdy ships with battering ram in front for
battle

The Mycenaeans

Geography & Early Culture

c.

The Mycenaeans
i. Influenced Greek religious practice, art, politics, and
literature
ii. Fought in the Trojan Wars

Geography & Early Culture

Greek epics, or narrative poems, celebrated heroic deeds and characters

Homer wrote the Iliad (story of the Trojan Wars) and the Odyssey

Greek Architecture
Where do you see similar structures today??

Take a moment and summarize your

notes by answering the EQ.

1. In what ways did the

geography of Greece help
shape Greek culture?

Possible Answers
5. Greek Culture
a.

Due to terrain, the Greeks created city-states

b.

Due to city-states, the Greeks were a civilization but not an empire

c.

The Greeks shared similarities in culture but politics and military differed by
city

d.

Greeks would pioneer democracy, philosophy, warfare, and

architecture

The Athenian Golden Age

Setting the Stage

1.
a.

The Greek Civilization was a collection of city-states

b.

Athens and Sparta were two of the most powerful cities for different reasons

Athens Today

Ancient Athens

Ancient Athens

Athens
Location

Southeast peninsula

Society
Very involved in the arts
Education
Focus on physical and mental skill
Government:
Democracy (rule by the people)
Direct participation

Athenian Acropolis

Sparta

Sparta
Location

Southwest peninsula

Society

Focused on the military; mandatory

involvement

Education

Men: military
Women: athletic; all things Sparta

The Athenian Golden Age

Sparta

3.

c.

Sparta was a military city-state

Sparta had a better army than Athens; Athens had the better navy
Werent Builders

d.

Due to its inland location, Sparta could not be attacked by sea

e.

Many men in Sparta were soldiers for life

a.
b.

The Parthenon

The Athenian Golden Age

2.

Athens
a.

From 477 to 431 B.C., Athens experienced a growth in intellectual and

artistic learning. This was known as the Golden Age of Athens.

b.

Pericles: held power in Athens for 32 years

i.

Goals:
1.

Strengthen Athenian Democracy

2.

To hold and strengthen the empire

3.

Glorify Athensa.

Architecture: The Parthenon on the Athenian Acropolis

b.

Direct Democracy was introduced under Pericles

c. Head of Delian League, an alliance system created after the

defeat of the Persians

The Athenian Golden Age

4.

Peloponnesian War: Athens vs. Sparta

a.

As Athens grew, city-states viewed it with hostility

b.

Sparta declared war in 431 B.C.

c.

Sparta marched to Athens and burned food supply

d.

Plague hits Athens in 2nd year of the war- 1/3rd die including Pericles

e.

421 B.C. a truce is signed but doesnt last long

f.

In 413 B.C Athens navy is decimated at Syracuse (Spartan ally)

g.

Athens survives for 9 more years but surrenders to Sparta in 404 B.C.

Peloponnesian War

The Athenian Golden Age

Philosophers

5.
a.

After the Peloponnesian War, many Athenians lost confidence in democracy

b.

Great thinkers known as philosophers began to seek truth

c.

Philosophers (lovers of wisdom) had two assumptions

i.

The universe is put together in an orderly way, and subject to absolute

and unchanging laws

ii.

People can understand these laws through logic and reason

The Athenian Golden Age

Important philosophers

d.
i.

Socrates
1.

The unexamined life is not worth living

2.

In 399 B.C. brought to trial for corrupting the youth of Athens

3.

Jury condemned him to die: drank hemlock (poison)

The Athenian Golden Age

ii.

Plato
1. Student of Socrates
2. Wrote The Republic perfectly governed society
3. Pupil- Aristotle

The Athenian Golden Age

iii.

Aristotle
1. Questioned the nature of the world
2. Invented method of arguing according to rules of logic
3. His work provides basis of the scientific method today
4. Pupil- Alexander the Great