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GREECE
THE RISE OF THE CITY STATE
GEOGRAPHY
• Greece has a number of small
mountain ranges that divide
cities and make contact
difficult
• Lots of small rivers help locally
but not much for long
distance trade
• This leads to the rise of the city
state
THE CITY STATE
• Polis: This is a city state and
was usually developed
around a fort
• Acropolis: The hill in the
middle of a city consisted of
a temple, fort and political
buildings
• Agora: The market place
where goods were
exchanged surrounded the
Acropolis
THE CITY STATE
• Most city-states had three things in common:
• They covered a small amount of land
• Had a population fewer than 10,000 people (most of whom
were slaves)
• Had a central identity (Athens was intellectual Sparta
warlike)
Each city state took pride in its own polis and was
independent
GREEK CULTURE/RELIGION
• Most people learned about history through epics
(long poems depicting heroes and great events)
• Homer was a blind poet in the 700’s BC that wrote
two of the most famous epics
• Iliad
• Odyssey
ILIAD
• The Iliad covers the story of
the Trojan war.
• Paris of Troy falls in love with
Helen of Greece
• Paris kidnaps Helen
• Mycenaean Greeks attack for
10 years to get her back
• Wooden horse is constructed by
Greeks and hides soldiers
• Notable characters include
Agamemnon, Hector, Achilles,
Particles, Paris and a bunch of
gods
ODYSSEY
• After the Trojan War Odysseus travels home but gets
into a lot of trouble
• Back home in Ithaca a bunch of punks are wasting
Odysseus’ stuff and arguing who gets to marry Penelope.
(Telemachus is angry at this treatment but too young to stop
it)
• Defeats Polyphemus the cyclops
• Beats lotus-eaters
• Fights cannibal Laestrygonians
• Deals with Circe a temptress
• Sirens etc.
• Makes it home and kicks butt!
MYTHS AND RELIGION
• Greeks were polytheistic: Believed in many gods
• Greek gods lived on Mt. Olympus and fought
regularly between each other and mortals
• Myths were collections of stories that Greeks saw as
true
• Oracles (at Delphi) could tell you the will of the
gods
GREEK GOD ASSIGNMENT
• In class today you will be heading to the computer
lab and creating a caricature about one of the
Greek Gods listed on my separate Greek Mythology
power point. The caricature must include at least 4
characteristics incorporated into the pic and must
have an explanation on the back.