Ancient Greece

Chapter 5

Geography
Land & islands, many miles of coastline,
inlets, bays, deep harbors
Seas Aegean, Mediterranean, Ionian
Poor resources on land (couldnt farm)
Led to increased sea travel, trade,
imports

Geography
Land - very mountainous (Mt. Olympus)
Difficult to unite under one
government, divided the people,
became fiercely independent
Climate moderate (Mediterranean)
temperature, led to outdoor activities
shopping, civic meetings, athletics,
interaction

First Greeks
Minoans from
Crete
Wealthy traders,
large homes, fancy
clothes, jewelry
Ended by
earthquake,
volcano, tidal
wave?

Mycenaeans
Mycenae built on
steep hills
Fortified with stone
walls, bronze age
Trojan War (1200 BCE)
Greek kings attacked
Troy in Asia Minor
Greeks wife stolen by
Trojan man
Archaeological
evidence that this was
true

Dorians
1200 BCE 800 BCE
Mycenaean civilization
collapsed
From North of Greece
came with iron
weapons
Little skill, less
advanced
Trade and progress at
a stand still
Skill of writing lost
Dark Ages

Homer
Blind poet
Depended on spoken word (bards
storytellers)
Wrote long epics ideals of heroism,
excellence , courage, honor
Interested in individuals; heroes
compete for glory
The Iliad and The Odyssey (750 BCE)
about the Trojan War

Early Greek Leaders

Draco 621 BC - codified Athenian
laws provided severe punishments
(draconian = harsh or severe)
Solon 594 BC canceled land
mortgages, freed people enslaved
for debt, allowed male citizens to
serve on juries, granted
commoners right to vote in
Assembly

Leaders cont.
Cleisthenes 508 BC expanded
democracy by extending citizenship;
began practice of ostracism banishing
any citizen deemed dangerous to the
state
Pericles 461 BC popular leader;
opened government to all men, paid
salaries to public officials The Age of
Pericles or The Golden Age height of
democracy; art, science, trade,
manufacturing thrived

Types of governments in Greece

Monarchy one-man rule (king)
Aristocracy rule by a small group
of nobles
Oligarchy rule by few
Tyranny rule by one man who
seized power, favored by some
people (unlike todays definition)
Democracy rule by the people

Athens
Polis - city-state (basic political unit)
Acropolis hill, central meeting place
Agora below hill, open place for meetings
Citizens - those who took part in govt.
Hoplites heavily armed infantry soldiers
Phalanx marching formation shoulder to
shoulder

Ruins of Ancient Sparta

http://www.history.com/videos/deco
nstructing-history-the-acropolis

Athens cont.
Democratic society
The Assembly was the major political
body
All male citizens belonged; all were
equal & had freedom of speech
Jury system for court cases
Had to educate sons - participate in
govt.
2 years military service at age 18

SPARTA
Military society & aristocracy
Harsh life
Invaded other cities to fulfill needs;
greatest warriors in Greece
If a child was born sickly or
deformed, they were left in hills to
die

Sparta
At age 7, boys were sent to military;
at 60 they could retire; girls got
rigorous physical training also
Women were strong and fit to
become mothers
Suspicious of new ideas - NO CHANGE
Sparta lagged far behind other cities
in economic development

http://www.history.com/videos/spar
tans

Acropolis

Temple Athena Nike

Temple of Olympian Zeus

Sanctuary of Athena at Delphi

Amphitheater of Epidaurus

Persian Wars
499 BC Persians control largest empire
Persians want revenge for Greek support of
Ionian revolt (Greeks burned capital)
Darius attacks Greece at (1) MARATHON
Greeks outnumbered but win battle
Pheidippides ran from Marathon to Athens
(26 miles) to announce victory died;
modern day marathon
Minor defeat for Persia but showed they
could be beaten

Greek hoplite (soldier)-6th c. BC

Persian Wars
480 BC-Xerxes, son of Darius,
invades
Sparta leads the Greeks (united)
To delay Persia, the Spartans
slow them at (2) THERMOPYLAE
(a mountain pass)

Persian War cont.

Greeks lose (betrayed) & Athens
burned; all Spartans die
Greeks lure Persian navy into the
shallow waters of (3) SALAMIS Greeks victorious
(4) PLATAEA war finally ends

Leonidas & the Spartans hold

the Persians at Thermopylae
pass

Battle of Salamis, 480 BC

Thermopylae

Leonidas

Persian War: Turning Point

End of Persian expansion west
Persians dont conquer Europe
Ushers in the Golden Age of Athens
Classical age begins art,
literature, commerce flourish
Greek city-states maintain their
independence; Athens dominates

Golden Age of Athens

Pericles led Athens in this period (461 BC)
Delian League defensive alliance; Athens
led
Peloponnesian League led by Sparta
Athens stood for all that was the best in Greek
civilization
Deeply committed to democracy; Assembly

The Agora

Classical Greece

Writers
Philosophers
Pottery
Olympics
Religion
Philosophers
Historians
Sculpture
Architecture

Philosophy Love of Wisdom

Socrates used questioning

method (Socratic method)
Examine ones life
Convicted of corrupting youth; killed
(drank hemlock)

Plato Student of Socrates (427347 BC) started The Academy

The Republic first book on political
science (did not favor democracy )

Philosophy cont.
Aristotle (384-322
BC) wrote on
philosophy,
science, & govt.
Tutored Alexander
the Great.

History
Herodotus father of history
described the Persian invasion;
embellished with fable and
superstition; not very accurate
Thucydides accurate account of
Peloponnesian War; eyewitness
accounts; facts

Theatre
Dramas, outdoor amphitheatres
Tragedies:
Aeschylus Agamemnon; Persian
Wars; gods provided justice
Euripedes Medea, criticized war,
prejudice, greed

Comedies:
Aristophanes satirized political
leaders

Architecture
Parthenon most famous; temple
to Athena (Wisdom) atop the
Acropolis in Athens
Use of columns Doric, Ionic,
Corinthian (elaborate, curly)

Science and Math

Pythagoras important principals
of geometry
Hippocrates father of medicine,
attributed disease to natural, not
superstitious causes
Hippocratic Oath uphold medical
standards do no harm

Amphora Vase

The Olympics
776 BC; held every 4 years
Athletes traveled to Mt. Olympus to
honor Zeus
Glory in athletic competition
Pentathlon most important event (5)
long jump, javelin, discus, foot
race, wrestling
Men only (naked)
Prize honor and fame for your city

Religion The Greek Gods

Lived on Mt. Olympus (12)
Were immortal
They were human-like fought,
had human weaknesses
Oracles to worship the gods

Democracy
GREECE
Direct Democracy
citizens were
members of
legislature
Citizenship based
on Athenian
ancestry
Women denied
political rights
Slavery permitted

U.S.
Representative
Democracy
citizens elect
representatives
Citizenship based
on American birth
or naturalization
Women equal
rights
Slavery prohibited

Peloponnesian War (431 BC-404 BC)

Series of battles between Athens and Sparta
Sparta eventually wins (military superiority)
Greece weakened over next century by
fighting
Growing power to the North, Macedonia goes
unnoticed
End of classical Greece

Alexander the Great

Philip II of Macedonia, Alexanders
father, had
conquered most of Greece by the time of
his death
336 BC-Alexander from Macedonia
(north of Greece) becomes King (age 20)
334 BC - Alexander invades Persian
empire & wins major victory in Asia Minor

Alexander the Great

Conquered Syria, Palestine, Egypt
founded Alexandria
331 BCE defeated Persians again
and ended Persian rule
327 BCE Wants to reach Indus
River after 3 years his men have
had enough!
323 BCE Dies at age 32

Alexander the Great Hellenistic

Age
Global view believed non Greeks were
equal; encouraged men to marry Persians
Hellenistic mix of Greek and Middle
Eastern culture (Indian too)
Alexandria, Egypt key city; home to
poets, scholars, writers, scientists,
philosophers; great library
Built temples, baths, theatres, statues, etc.

Contributions - Hellenistic
Aristarchus Proposed that earth
revolved around sun (not widely
supported)
Ptolemy Earth at center of
universe
Eratosthenes believed earth was
round, computed circumference
Euclid - basis of geometry
Archimedes pi, lever and pulley

Hellenistic contributions cont.

Epicurianism (philosophy) humans
were free to follow self-interest,
pursuit of pleasure and happiness,
virtuous conduct, absence of pain
Stoicism founded by Zeno; live in
harmony with god; daily problems
would not disturb you, bear
whatever life offers (stoic)
Sculpture Colossus of Rhodes 100
ft. bronze