Download Greece Quick Notes

The Greek City States
I. Early Greeks
A. Land & Sea
1. Balkan Peninsula
Divided by short mountain ranges
Seas provide for trade
B. Early Greek Peoples*
1. Minoans – earliest known peoples
2. Traders and sailors
3. Accomplishments:
a. Writing system
b. Frescos
c. Running water
C.. Polis (City-States)*
1. Centered around a fort
2. Consisted of city, lands & farms surrounding
3. Represented
a. Geographical territory
b. Community
c.. Political & economic independence
4. Similarities
1). Citizenship: males born in Greece
2). fort built on acropolis (hill)
3). agora (marketplace)
5. Separate identity
1). Government & laws
2). Calendar
3). Money
4). Weights & measurements
6. Same traits
1). Language (Greek)
2). Religious practices
3). Festivals
II. Greek Society
• A. Greek Culture
• 1. Religious beliefs
• a. Purposes
• 1). Explain nature
• 2). Explain irrational actions
• 3). Benefits for living
• 4). Afterlife is unimportant
• b. Myths*
• 1). Rationalization of world
• 2). Oracles - priests & priestesses
• a). Translate the wishes of the gods
• c. Pleasing the gods*
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1). Show strength & bravery
• a). Olympic Games honor Zeus
2. Literature*
• a.Homer: Iliad
• 1). Trojan War
• b. Homer: Odyssey
• 1). Post war story
• B. Government
• 1. Aristocracies*
• a. Ruled by privileged class / group of nobles
• 3. Hoplite
• a. Wealthy non-aristocrat soldiers
• 4. Tyrants
• a. Took control w/ people’s support
• c. Increased trade
• d. Became unjust
• e. Tyrant: someone who abuses power w/ brutality
• 5. Popular government
• a. Democracy - government by the people
• b. Limited participation
III. Sparta & Athens
• A. Sparta
• 1. . Government
• a. 2 kings
• 1). Lead army
• 2). Conduct religious ceremonies
• b. Ephors*
• 1). 5 yearly elected men
• 2). Charged w/ public affairs
• 3). Guide education
• 2. Social Classes
• a. Aristocrats (equals)
• b. Peroicci (half citizens)*
• 1). Free, tax paying
• 2). Artisans & Merchants
• 3). Served in military
• c. Helots - “captured”
• 1). Worked the land
• 2). Enslaved people owned by city-state
• 3). 1/2 crops to land owner (aristocrats)
• 4. Basic beliefs
• a. Change is bad
• b. Be the strongest military power
B. Athens
1. Government
a. Monarchy
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b. Oligarchy
1). Small wealthy ruling class
2. 508 bce – Cleisthenes
• 1) Direct Democracy*
• 2) Council of 500
• a) 10 tribes - 50 men
• b) 1 yr term - no more than 2
• c) Proposed laws to assembly
• d) Athenian born men only
IV. Daily life in Athens
A. Athenian Economy
1. Farming
2. Trade
3. Public works*
1. Money spent on public buildings
B. Social Structures
3. Men
a. 7 y.o. – schooling
b. Pedagogue taught manners
c. 18 y.o. - formal citizen
4. Women*
a. No rights:
1. No property rights
2. Not in public w/o permission
C. Education
1. Memorization
2. Sophists - open schools for older boys*
• a. Ethics: good/bad, moral duty
• b. Rhetoric: public speaking / debate
V. Greek Expansion
• A. Persian Wars
• Persians attempt to expand west
• Battle of Thermopylae – story of 300 Spartans (Greece loses)
• Battle at Salamis – Persians defeated by Athenian navy*
• B. Delian League
• 1. Defensive league
• 2. Members gain benefits, lose independence
• 3. Pericles uses money to benefit Athens*
• D. Peloponnesian War (431 bc)
• 1. Athens & Corinth fight over trade
• 2. Athens & Sparta rivals
• 3. Sparta lays siege to Athens
• a. Sparta joins with Persia to stop Athenian supplies
• 4. No unity for Greece
VI. Greek Art
The Golden Age
“Beauty for the sake of beauty.”
A. Architecture
• 1. Parthenon - temple to Athena atop the Acropolis
• a. Perfectly balanced
• B. Painting
• 1. Subject
• a. Mythological events
• 2. Style
• a. Contour & depth (light/shade)
• b. Showed simplicity and balance*
• C. Sculpture
• 1. Realistic & proportionate*
• D. Greek Ideals
• 1. Glorified the human being
• 2. Pride in city-states
• 3. Belief in harmony, balance, order & moderation
• 4. Belief in combining beauty & usefulness
VII. Philosophers & Writers*
• Philosophy: the study of basic questions of reality and human existence
• Began a new way of thinking about the world and society
• Cosmologists – studied nature of the universe*
• A. Socrates
• 1. Education is key to personal growth
• 2. Socratic Method - learning through questioning
• 3. Students should learn to think for themselves*
• B. Plato
• 1. Student of Socrates
• 2. Government should be aristocracy*
• (intellectual upper class)
• C. Aristotle
• 1. Student of Plato
• 2. Logical study leads to truth
• 3. Ethics - what brings happiness
 D. Writing history
 1. Herodotus - Father of History
 a. Noted observed vs. retold
 2. Thucydides
 a. History should be fair and accurate*
 E. New Ideas
 a. Hippocrates – bases medicinal treatment on reason not magic*
 b. Thucydides VIII. Alexander the Great
• A. Alexander the Great
• 1. Desires to spread Greek culture*
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2. Student of Aristole
• a. Science & philosophy important
B. Alexander’s Empire
• 1. Unifying Macedonians, Greeks & Persians
• 2. Builds Alexandria
• 3. Rules known world until death
• a. 3 generals split kingdom
C. Greek Influences*
• 1. Greek methods for banking & business
• 2. Art, architecture, and literature spread throughout known world*
IX. Hellenistic Culture
• Hellenistic: Greek-like: a blend of Greek, Mediterranean and Asian cultures
 A. Contributions:
 1. Women’s rights to property
 2. Increased the middle class*
 3. Medicine
 a. autopsy criminal bodies
 b. learned from Egyptian practices*
 c. Hippcrates – believed in medicinal practices based on reason not on
magic*
• Lasting Impacts*
• Democracy
 Things to know for the test!!!*
 Cultural diffusion
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