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Chapter 3
The Civilization of the
Greeks
Early Greece
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Geography
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Mountains
Sea
Minoan Crete (c. 2000 – 1450 B.C.E.)
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Knossus
Catastrophic collapse (c. 1450 B.C.E.)
Early Greece
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The First Greek State: Mycenae
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Flourished between 1400 – 1200 B.C.E.
Indo-Europeans
Powerful monarchies
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Warrior society
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Fortified palace complexes
Trojan War, c. 1250 B.C.E.
Mycenae destroyed c. 1190 B.C.E.
The Greeks in a Dark Age
(c. 1100 – c. 750 B.C.E.)
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Period of Decline
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Farming revived (c. 850 B.C.E.)
Migrations to Ionia
Revival of some trade
Use of iron
Adoption of Phoenician alphabet
Homer
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The Iliad and the Trojan War
The Odyssey
Heroes and values
The World of the Greek City-States
(c. 750 – c. 500 B.C.E.)
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The Polis
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Town or city and surrounding countryside
Acropolis
Agora
Citizenship
Rights and responsibilities
A new military system
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Hoplites and phalanx
Military and political repercussions
The World of the Greek City-States
(c. 750 – c. 500 B.C.E.)
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Colonization and the Growth of Trade
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Causes: poverty, land hunger, and trade
The effects of colonization
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Diffusion of Greek culture
Development of Greek identity
Increased trade and industry
Tyranny in the Greek Polis
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Seized power by force
The example of Corinth
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The Bacchiad family
Sparta
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Unification and domination of Laconia
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The New Sparta
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Perioikoi and helots
Conquest of the Messenians, 730 B.C.E.
Lycurgan reforms
Barracks and military life
Spartan women
Spartan social structure
The Spartan State
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Oligarchy: kings, ephors, elders, and assembly
Isolationism
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Peloponnesian League
Athens
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Unification in Attica, 700 B.C.E.
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The Reforms of Solon
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Compromise economic and political reforms
The Move to Tyranny
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Economic problems and political turmoil
Pisistratus
The Reforms of Cleisthenes
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Ten tribes – cross section of population
Council of Five Hundred(50 from each tribe)
Democracy: power to the people
Greek Culture in the Archaic Age
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Revitalization of Greek Art and Literature
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Kouros
Lyric poetry
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Sappho
Hesiod
Theognis
The High Point of Greek Civilization:
Classical Greece
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The Challenge of Persia
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Ionian Revolt (499 – 494 B.C.E.)
The First Persian Attack (490 B.C.E.)
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Battle of Marathon
Themistocles and the development of an Athenian
navy
The Invasion of Xerxes
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Battle of Thermopylae (480 B.C.E.)
Battle of Salamis (480 B.C.E.)
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Trireme
Battle of Plataea (479 B.C.E.)
The Growth of an Athenian Empire
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Delian League (organized 478 – 477 B.C.E.)
The Age of Pericles
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The growth of democracy
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The assembly
Magistrates
Ostracism
Athenian Imperialism
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Control over Delian League
Skirmishes with Sparta
The Great Peloponnesian War
(431 – 404 B.C.E.)
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Causation: Spartan Fear of Athens
Strategies
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The Impact of Plague (430 B.C.E.)
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Athens – Naval Power; Sparta – Land Power
Death of Pericles (429 B.C.E.)
Destruction of Athenian Fleet (405 B.C.E.)
Athens Surrenders (404 B.C.E.)
The Decline of the Greek States (404338 B.C.E.)
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Continuing Warfare Among the Greeks
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Spartan leadership in Greek affairs
The “Thirty Tyrants” and restored democracy
in Athens
The influence of Persia
The Rise of Thebes
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Epaminondas and the defeat of Sparta
Culture and Society of Classical Greece
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The Writing of History
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Herodotus (c. 484 – c. 425 B.C.E.)
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Thucydides (c. 460-c. 400 B.C.E.)
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The Persian Wars
History of the Peloponnesian War
Greek Drama
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Tragedy
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Aeschylus (525-456 B.C.E.)
Sophocles (c. 496-406 B.C.E.)
Euripides (c. 485-406 B.C.E.)
Themes: good/evil, self/society, humanity/divinity
Comedy: Aristophanes (c. 450-c. 385 B.C.E.)
The Arts: The Classical Ideal
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Architecture
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Temples
The Athenian rebuilding program
Sculpture
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A standard of ideal beauty
Mathematical ratios found in nature
The Greek Love of Wisdom
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Philosophy (“Love of Wisdom”)
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Socrates (469 – 399 B.C.E.)
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Questioning and the Socratic method
Plato (c. 429 – 347 B.C.E.)
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Early speculation on the nature of the universe
Sophists and the study of human behavior
The Forms
The Republic
Aristotle (384 – 322 B.C.E.)
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Politics
Greek Religion
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Intricate Connections to Daily Life
Festivals and the Poleis
The Twelve Olympian Gods and Goddesses
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The will of the gods
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The oracle of Apollo at Delphi
Olympic festivals (began in 776 B.C.E.)
Life in Classical Athens
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Exclusion: 150,000 citizens – 43,000 adult
males with political power
Slavery and the Economy
Agriculture
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Trade
Artisans
A Simple Lifestyle
Family and Relationships
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Women: opportunities and limitations
Male homosexuality
Discussion Questions
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What role did geography have on Greek history and
civilization?
What brought about the Dark Ages in ancient Greece?
How did Themistocles save Greece from the Persians?
Why was the polis the preferred form of government in
ancient Greece?
How did the Persian Wars lay the seeds for the
Peloponnesian Wars?
What were the defining features of Greek art?
How did Plato’s Republic challenge democratic ideals?
What impact did Greek philosophers have on the Western
intellectual tradition?
What function did festivals and public rituals play in Greek
religion?