Download Chapter 6: Greek Civilization 2000 BC to 323 BC

Chapter 6: Greek Civilization 2000
BC to 323 BC
Mr. King
J110
Vocabulary
polis – city-state
independent – self-governing
acropolis – hill where the main
temple was built
theaters – place where people
present plays
aristocrats – member of the
powerful ruling class
tyrant – leader who rules by force,
not by law
democracy – rule by the people
vote – choose leaders and pass laws
direct democracy – government
where each citizen votes on
every law
assembly – a meeting or group of
people who meet to pass
laws
lottery – system of randomly
picking names giving each
person an equal chance
public – having to do with
government; having to do
with the people
Vocabulary
bribe – to pay someone to do
something
jury – group of people who listen
to court cases and give a
decision
migrating – to move from one
place to another
enslaving – force people to
become slaves
helot – slave in Sparta
patriotic – loyalty/love toward a
country
architecture – art of building
fleet- group of ships
outnumber – to have more
soldiers/ships than the
opposition
independence – ability to be
free/govern one’s self
maneuver – to move around
column – tall structure used to
support a building
goddess – a female god
Vocabulary
chorus – group of actors who talk
about what is happening
in a play
tragedy – Greek play where the
hero has too much pride
and is defeated
comedy – Greek play where the
writer makes fun of
important people
philosopher – person who seeks
answers
astronomy – study of the stars
biology – study of living things
ethics – study of what is good/bad
logic – study of how to think
physics – study of matter
politics – study of government
Hellenism – blend of eastern and
western cultures by
Alexander the Great
Hellenistic Age – time period
when Greek culture
influenced the world
geometry – study of measurement
Geography of Ancient Greece
Early Civilizations of the Aegean Sea
 The Minoans first settled in Crete
 They had a population of 100,000 people
 Minos was the King of
Knossos and the son of Zeus
 Zeus was the “Father of
Gods and man”
Early Civilizations of the Aegean Sea
 Every year King Minos picked 7 men and women to go to the
labyrinth which was located in Crete
 There they would be fed to the Minotaur who was half man,
half bull; this was to appease the gods
Minos was
later tricked
and killed:
He was
scalded by
hot water
2000 BC
 People from the north begin to move to the south
 They built cities/raided territories
 Warrior kings ruled these areas
 These people were called Achaeans
 Their most important city was Mycenae, so they were often
called Mycenaeans
1200 BC
 Mycenaeans attack the city of Troy
 Trojans were original settlers of Troy (NW Turkey)
 The Trojan war begins: Trojans vs. the Mycenaeans
 The Iliad and the Odyssey was written by Homer, a blind
poet; these epic poems describe the Trojan War
 The Trojan War lasted 10 years
End of the Trojan War
 The Mycenaeans attempted
to get back Helen, wife of
Menelaus, ruler of Sparta
 Helen was stolen by Paris,
son of the King of Troy
 A Trojan Horse tricked
Paris: the gates of the sealed
palace were opened and the
Mycenaean army destroyed
everything
Greek City-States
 Greeks built their polis around the acropolis
 Below the acropolis: homes, theaters, and markets
Government
 800 BC Kings ruled and passed power to their sons
 700 BC Aristocrats take over
 600 BC Tyrants take over
Democracy is Born in Athens
 Solon (a leader) suggested a new form of rule: democracy
 Only about 40,000 out of 300,000 Athenians had the right to
vote
 Voting was restricted to men only: no women, slaves, or
people from other city-states were allowed to vote
 Direct democracy was first introduced; later an assembly was
formed
Democracy is Born in Athens
 A council of 500 citizens was created
 People were picked from a lottery
 Members served for only 1 year
 Members carried out all public, government, and business
affairs in Athens
Athenian Justice
 Juries were used instead of judges
 6,000 citizens were chosen by a lottery each year to serve on
the jury
 Between 201-501 people served on each jury
 Some court cases had over 1,000 citizens; this was done to
ensure that nobody could bribe a large jury
Athenian Jury
Sparta
 Located on a peninsula in southern Greece called
Peloponnesus
 Around 1100 BC, Spartans enslaved native farmers and
gathered slaves called helots
 For every Spartan there were 5 helots; eventually helots
would rebel but were defeated by the powerful Spartan Army
Map of Sparta
Typical Life in Sparta
 During times of war, women told their men:
Come back carrying your shield or come home dead being
carried on your shield
 Sick/weak children were left to die on a hill
 At age 7, boys began training as soldiers and were taken from
their families; their duty was to serve their country
 Men became citizens at 20; married at 30; lived in military
camps until 60 years of age
War Tests the Greeks
 Between 500 BC and 400 BC, the Greeks fought several wars
against the Persian Empire
 519 BC the Persians conquer the Ionian Greeks
 490 BC Darius sends 600 ships and thousands of soldiers to
invade Greece
 Persians land in the Bay of Marathon; Persians heavily
outnumber the Athenians
War Tests the Greeks
 Persians attack Athens by sea
 Athenians attack while the Persians are loading their ships
 Persians are defeated
 Pheidippides runs 25 miles from Marathon to Athens to
announce victory and collapses; today we run marathons like
he did
The Persian Wars
Thermopylae
 480 BC Xerxes, the son of Darius, sends 200,000 soldiers
and 1,000 ships to fight the Greeks
 20 city-states join to battle the Persians
 Spartans control the army
 Athenians controlled the navy
Thermopylae
 Thermopylae was a narrow mountain pass
 300 Spartan warriors and 7,000 Greek soldiers, step up to
battle the Persians
 A huge battle begins:
1.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukhc5SV2mb4
Persians Move to Salamis
 Persians march south and destroy Athens
 Athenians have already left Athens and moved
to a small island, Salamis
 Here the Persian army of 800 ships is
defeated: their ships could not maneuver
through the ocean
 King Xerxes returns to Persia
Peloponnesian War
 Athens forms an alliance with Greek city-states
 City-states agree to give Athens money and supplies in




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exchange for protection
Athens is rebuilt ; this makes Sparta angry
431 BC war breaks out between Sparta and Athens
Sparta destroys Athens
371 BC Thebes, a city-state, defeats Sparta
King Phillip II conquers Greece
Greek Culture Contributions
 The Parthenon was constructed after the Athenians defeated
the Persians
 Art and the search for truth were two major contributions of
the Greeks
Greek Cultural Contributions
 The Statue of Athena: 39
feet high
 Greek plays: tragedies and
comedies
 Plays were performed in
outdoor theaters
Greek Cultural Contributions
 Lyre and the pipes came from the gods
 Orpheus was a skilled musician
 Music was a big part of special occasions
Greek Cultural Contributions
 Socrates , Plato, and Aristotle were important philosophers
from Greece
 Socrates questioned the Athenian government which made
many people dislike him
 Plato’s Republic, a fictional book, described an ideal society
that was not a democracy
 Aristotle studied astronomy, biology, ethics, logic, physics,
and politics; his book Politics explained that no form of
government was perfect
The Spread of Greek Culture
 Alexander the Great was the son of Phillip II of Macedon
 After Phillip conquered the Greeks, he planned to conquer the Persians
next; he died before this happened
 Alexander moved 35,000 soldiers to Asia and defeated the armies of
Darius III (Persian king)
 Alexander freed Egypt from Persian rule and built Alexandria near the
Nile River
 330 BC Alexander defeats all remaining Persian armies and becomes the
King of Persia
The Spread of Greek Culture
 323 BC Alexander develops a fever and later dies
 His empire begins to fall apart
 Generals divide his empire
into three kingdoms:
Macedon
Egypt
Syria
The Spread of Greek Culture
 The Greek culture slowly moved east; this movement of eastern
and western cultures became Hellenism
 Hellenistic Age lasted from 323 to 31 BC
 Great cities were constructed:
Antioch in Syria had streets that were paved and lighted
Alexandria had over 500,000 residents and a vast library
 Euclid of Alexandria developed geometry and used math to create
pulleys