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Greece
www.portoveneziano.gr/ crete-map-en.jsp
Geographically
 Southern part of the
Balkan Peninsula
 Greece is on a
peninsula (accessible
by land and sea!)
 Most Greeks were
fishermen and traders
Minoans
www.cretashop.gr/br/ imagesbr/minoan%20fresco.gif
 Located on island of Crete
 Architecture: Buildings
contain private rooms,
plumbing, and artwork on
walls
 Language: Linear A, has
yet to be interpreted
 Economy – trade
 Volcano erupts in 1628 –
empire starts to decline
 Defeated by the
Mycenaeans
Mycenaeans
www.wsu.edu:8080/.../ MODULES/MINOA/TITLE2.GIF
 Controlled Greece from
1600-1200 B.C.
 Traded with Minoans &
copied Minoan writing
system to develop their
own system
 Mycenaean writing has
been translated
 Society based on:
– Intense competition
– Frequent warfare
– Powerful kings
Characteristics of city-states
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Known as a Polis (city-state)
Small (in terms of land)
Populations of < 10,000
Fort (Acropolis)
Agora
Independent
Greek speaking
Saw non-Greeks as barbarians
Ruled by chieftain
Governing City-States
 Each city-state ruled by a chieftain from hilltop
fortresses
 Needed wealthy nobles because they had money
to buy chariots, horses,and weapons to fight
 Thus, the aristocracy (rule by the upper class) was
born
Sparta vs. Athens
Sparta
 Located on
Peloponnesus
 Militaristic
– Whole life built around it
 Class system
– Equals – decended from
invaders – rulers
– Half-Citizens
– Helots - slaves
 Ruled by two
kings/Council of Elders
Athens
 Located on the Attic
Peninsula
 Mostly sea traders
 Society
– Citizens – All Athenian
born men
– Metics – born outside –
paid taxes – but could
not participate in gov’t or
own land
– Slaves
 Early government
– Governed by nine
archons
The Classical Age
 Democracy (form of government run by the
people) comes to Athens
 How did democracy come to Athens?
– Early on Athens is a monarchy (ruled by a king)
– Kings then replaced by aristocrats (people who had both
power and money)
– Most of Athenians were poor and had little power,
conflicts began
– To help resolve this issue Draco reformed law in Athens
Draco
www.auburn.edu/~downejm/ sp/alpcontents.html
 Believed to have
created Athen’s first
code of law
 Law harsh and severe
 Any laws now
considered harsh
today are referred to
as “Draconian”
 Draconian law did not
settle class disputes
Solon
www.nimispauci.com/ Laerce/SeptSages/Solon.jpg
 Overturns Draconian
law in 590s BC
 Outlawed debt slavery
 Reduced poverty
 Allowed ALL men to
serve in Athenian
Assembly
 Relieved some tension
Peisistratus
www.learnline.de/angebote/ realideal/apotheose...
 Ruled Athens as tyrant
 Had support of lower
classes
 Pushed aristocrats out
of office
 Increased trade
 Policies improve
Economy
Cleisthenes
www.pbs.org/.../characters/ cleisthenes_p8.html
 Reforms set stage for
democracy in Athens
 Began democracy in
Athens
– Divided Athens’ citizens
into 10 tribes they
chose 50
representatives ->
formed Council of Five
Hundred
Nature of early Athenian Democracy
 Voting Requirements:
– 20 years old
– Member of Athenian military
– Free Athenian
 Women, immigrants, and children had no role
 People who could take part in Athenian government were expected to:
– Vote in all elections
– Serve in office if elected
– Serve on Juries
– Serve in military during war
 Three main bodies of government:
– Assembly
– Council of 500
– Court System
 Athens was a direct democracy (all people, allowed to, voted directly
on an issue)
Persian Wars: 509-479 BC
ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/ ~perlman/myth/lecture15.html
 Causes:
– Ionian Rebellion against
Persians
– Athens sends help to Ionia
– Persians upset at rebellion
– Ionians are punished and
get upset
 Trouble begins in Ionia
 Ionian (Greek citizens in
Asia Minor) rebel against
Persian rule.
 Rebellion crushed – but….
Battle of Marathon
 490 B.C.
 Major upset – Athenians
although outnumbered win
 New Tactic unveiled by
Greece:
– Phalanx – a tight triangle
formation in which soldiers
held long spears out ahead of
a wall of shields
– Allowed Greeks to close in on
Persians from sides, forcing
retreat
 Messenger ran from
Marathon to Athens to tell of
victory (26 miles), He dies
of exhaustion shortly after
delivering message
Darius
home.att.net/ ~tabriz/newpage1.htm
 Wanted to punish
Athens for the
rebellion
 Invade Greece
 1st major battle…
Second Invasion
www.2frompars.com/ Xerxes%20(Khashayar%20Shah).htm
 480 B.C.
 This one led by
Xerxes, son of Darius
 Two major battles
– Battle of Thermopylae
– Battle of Salamis
Battle of Thermopylae
 Land battle which
united all Greeks
 Persian attack through
narrow mountain passeventually find way
around
 300 Spartan soldiers
killed while Athenians
returned home to save
Athens
Battle of Salamis
www.livius.org/he-hg/ herodotus/logos8_24.html
 Naval Battle of coast of
the island of Salamis
 Athens won because
their smaller ships
were more mobile than
the larger Persian
ships
 Major victory for
Athens
Effects of the Persian Wars
 Persia weakens – no longer the power of
the area
 Athenian power increases – leader of the
new Delian League (league of independent
Greek city-states) purpose was the
protection of each of the city-states
 Athens got rich – from Delian League
monies
Age of Pericles
24.24.31.212/literature/ POL-HS-Pericles.htm
 1st citizen of Greece –
world
 Began massive building
projects
– Parthenon
 Took democracy to a new
level
 Used Delian League
money for building projects
The Peloponnesian War
Sparta vs. Athens
431 B.C. – 404 B.C.
Strengths
Sparta
Had greatest army
Athens
Had the greatest Navy
Early Years of War
 Sparta begins invasion of Attica Peninsula
 Athenians withdraw behind walls of city
 Most cities would be besieged – but not
Athens
– Great Navy
– Long Walls
 Athens is decimated by a plague – killing
thousands including Pericles
Athens begins to fall
 Athens attacks Syracuse (Sicily) – driven
back – begins downward spiral of Athens
 Aristocracy overthrown – democracy
restored – government weakened
 Eventually food supply cut off – Athens
forced to surrender in 404 B.C.
Effects of the Peloponnesian Wars
 Greece becomes politically unstable
 Athens becomes second class city
 Sparta and Thebes try unsuccessfully to
unite Greece
 Will eventually be united by an outside
power
Religious Life
 Religion was used to explain nature
 Used to explain why emotions caused
people to lose control
 Benefits
– Long life
– Good luck
– Good harvests
Greece’s Golden Age
Architecture
 Showed the love of beauty in the buildings
– Temples
– gymnasiums
– Theatres
 Types of architecture are still used today
 Examples: Parthenon & Amphitheater
Theatre in Athens
www.spudles.com/travels/ Europe2002Pics/Athens...
Painting & Sculpture
 Painting
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Painted on vases, plates, and other vessels
Used two colors red and black
Created Murals (wall paintings)
Most ancient Greek art has been lost or destroyed
 Greatest sculptors
– Myron
 The Discus Thrower
– Phidias
 Zues
– Praxiteles
 Showed Greek love for the human body
Greek Ideals
 Expressed in Art in four ways:
1. Greek art glorified human beings
2. Art of Golden Age symbolized Greek pride
in their city-states
3. Expressed Greek beliefs in harmony,
order, and moderation
4. Expressed the Greek belief in combining
beauty and usefulness
Greek Philosophers
Lovers of Wisdom
Socrates
lilt.ilstu.edu/jhreid/frenchculture/socrates.jpg
 Sought truth about the
following concepts:
– Truth, Justice, Virtue
 Socratic method: People
can learn best by asking
questions
 Study behavior to learn
how to improve society as
a whole
 Fell victim of frustrations of
Athens’ loss in the
Peloponnesian War
 Forced to drink hemlock
Plato
www.uh.edu/~cfreelan/courses/Plato.JPEG
 Taught: Philosophers are
best suited to govern other
people
 Every material object in
the world is only the
reflection of perfect ideal
 Began school called the
Academy – continues for
900 years
 Believed in an aristocracy
Aristotle
www.hao.ucar.edu/.../ sp/images/aristotle.html
 Student of Plato
 Based everything on
logical thought and
processes
 Pioneer of the use of
reason and logic
 Greatest good people can
perform is practice of
rational thought
 Contributed to
development of science,
mostly biology
Mathematics Advancements
www.uncletaz.com/norsktaz/pythagoras.jpg
 Pythagoras
 Came up with the
Pythagorean Theory
 A2 + B2 = C2
Medicine
historical-studies.ncl.ac.uk/images/aux_images/hippocrates.jpg
 Hippocrates
 Father of Medicine
 Hippocratic Oath
Historians
www.losttrails.com/media/Herodotus/athens35-30b.jpg
 Herodotus
– First known historian
Thucydides
www.livius.org/a/1/greeks/thucydides.jpg
 Historian whose
greatest works
surround the
Peloponnesian War
Drama
Tragedies
- Aeschylus: writer of plays based on
Ancient Greek Myths and
Greek history
- Sophocles: writer of plays based on
suffering that people brought upon
themselves; most characters had
fatal flaws that brought tragedy
- Euripides: writer of plays in which tragedy was
brought on by chance or irrational
behavior
Comedies were also written by Greek playwrights
Macedonian Conquests of
Greece
Phillip II of Macedon
etc.usf.edu/clipart/1200/1254/philip2_1_lg.gif
 Called on by Isocrates
(Greek Philosopher) to
invade Greece for the
purposes of unification
 Became Macedonian
king in 359 B.C.
 Builds great army
– New phalanx
 Begins take over of
Greece
Downfall of Phillip II
 337 B.C. Phil divorces wife and mother of
Alexander and marries daughter
of high ranking noble who has
son to challenge Alexander’s right
to throne
 Former guardsman, Pausanias stabs Phillip
 Alexander takes the throne
Alexander the Great
murugan.org/research/alexander-m.jpg
 Builds great empire
– Conquers Persians
– Conquers areas South to Egypt
and east to India
– Proclaimed as Pharaoh by
newly liberated Egyptians
 Spreads Hellenistic culture
– Combination of Greek and
eastern customs
 Dies in 328 B.C., at age 33,
after ruling only 12 years and 8
months
 Alexander did not name an heir,
Empire begins to dismantle
Alexander’s Empire
www.ancientanatolia.com/historical/maps/Image1b.gif
Hellenistic Greece
 Hellenistic – Greek-like
 Cultural diffusion took place in Greek lands
(cultures were blended together)
 Alexandria, city built at mouth of Nile river;
becomes Egypt’s capital and a major trade
port in the Mediterranean
Architecture
Alexanderia, Egypt
www.touregypt.net/village/alex3.jpg
Hellenistic Achievements
 Philosophy
– Cynicism: people who follow this are called cynics, rejected ideas of
pleasure, wealth, and social responsibility. People should live according to
nature
– Epicureans: People should seek out pleasure and try to avoid pain
– Stoicism: Emphasized reason, self-deiscipline, emotional control, and
personal morality
 Art/Literature
– Art conveyed emotion
– Art portrayed women more often
– Literature began to be about daily life
 Science/Technology
– Euclid: formulated many ideas about geometry
– Erasthones: Calculated size of the world
– Archimedes: worked with math and physics to make life easier; developed
compound pulley to life heavy loads, mechanical screw to draw water out
of a ship’s hold or well
– A tiny steam engine used to power mechanical toys