Download Quaestio: How did victory in the war with Persia change Greece

Quaestio: Was Herodotus the
Father of History or the Father
of Lies?
Nunc Agenda: Take out your
Three Battles worksheet from
yesterday.
Three Major Battles
• Marathon
– After the Ionian Revolt, Darius sent ships
and troops Marathon, 26 miles N of Athens
– Outnumbered (20,000 to 9,000!),
Athenians went to Marathon to stop
Persians before reaching Athens
– Athenians had only infantry (foot soldiers)
– Persians had cavalry (horse-back soldiers)
– Persian plan: Take the cavalry on ships to
attack Athens (only infantry left)
– Athenian hoplites attack remaining
Persians and crush them!
Three Major Battles
• Thermopylae
– Darius dies, son Xerxes = new ruler, want
to conquer all Greece
– 250,000 PERSIAN SOLDIERS marched
down from N Greece conquering poleis
– Spartans met Persians at Thermopylae, a
narrow path on the side of a mountain
– Even though there were so many Persians,
the narrowness of the path made the
Persian numbers meaningless
– Then, a Greek traitor showed the Persians
a secret path to attack the Persians, and
they lost
Three Major Battles
• Salamis
– Athenians fled to Island of Salamis, and Persians
destroyed Athens
– Athenian General Themisticles convinced other
Greeks to help them fight the Persians together
– The Plan: Lure the Persian ships into a narrow
channel where it would be hard to sail their big
ships and their numbers would not matter (JUST
LIKE WITH THERMOPYLAE!)
– Themisticles sent a message to Xerxes saying he
wanted to join forces, and when Persian ships
entered the channel, the Greeks surprise attacked
– Spartans on land killed Persians who swam to
shore
– 479 BCE- Greeks finally defeat the Persians!
Greeks win! Now what?
• PENSA: Read the Peloponnesian War
handout and answer the questions on a
separate sheet of paper.
Guided Mini-Seminar
• Working in pairs, read the excerpts from
Herodotus and answer the questions on
a separate sheet of paper.
• When everyone has had time to analyze
the selections, the class will use
examples to discuss the topic:
–“Herodotus: Father of History
or Father of Lies?”