Download Ancient Greece Notes

Ancient Greece Notes
The Geography of Greece
Greece is very mountainous
– Separated the different city-states from one another
Had many peninsulas
– 2 main ones
Peloponnesus
Balkan
Had many different waterways
– Seas
– Straits
– Islands
– Harbors
Dardanelles
– Strait that connects Aegean Sea to the Black Sea
–
Strait- thin area of water connecting two other waterways
Physical geography shaped the economic, social, and political development of
Greek Civilization
Sea (trade & cultural diffusion by boat)
1. Shift from barter to money (coins) economy
2. Skilled sailors, poor in natural resources
Land (mountainous, ¾ Greece mountains)
1. Mountainous terrain helped and hindered development of city-states
2. Rival city-states developed (couldn’t unite under single government)
3. Colonization related to overpopulation & search for arable land
4. Agriculture: limited arable land (20%): small streams not suitable for
irrigation projects
Commerce and spread of Hellenic culture
Homer
Blind poet, had great influence on Greek religion and thought
Famous for his two epics: long poems that tell the adventure of heroes during
the time of the Trojan War
Wrote the Iliad and The Odyssey
The Iliad is the story of the 10 year Trojan War and tells of the heroism of Hector
and Achilles.
The Odyssey is the story of Odysseus’ ten year journey back to home Ithaca after
fighting against the Trojans.
Greek Mythology
Traditional stories about gods
Explain natural phenomena, human qualities (love, hate), & life events
Based on polytheistic religion that was integral to culture, politics, and art of
ancient Greece
Many of Western civilization’s symbols, metaphors, words, images, and
architecture come from ancient Greek mythology
Greek gods and goddesses
Zeus: ruler of the gods (god of Gods)
Hera
1. Wife of Zeus
2. Goddess of marriage
Apollo: God of poetry and music
Artemis: Goddess of the hunt
Athena
1. Daughter of Zeus, born from his head
2. Goddess of wisdom
Aphrodite: Goddess of love
Greek Religion
Believed gods lived in Mt. Olympus
Greeks gave offerings to oracles: priests who predicted the future
Greek Political Structures
Polis: city-state (Greece was not a country but a collection of city-states)
Acropolis: Public center
1. Fortified hill where male citizens gathered to conduct business
2. Built forts on hill for protections: people went there when attacked
Polis had three groups
1. Citizens (Free adult males): Had political rights and the responsibility of
civic participation in government
2. Women and foreigners had no political rights
3. Slaves had no political rights (non-citizens, 1/3 pop)
Sparta builds a military state
Occupied Peloponnesus, southern peninsula of Greece
Built military state: aimed to produce fearless men & women
Militaristic and aggressive society
Had rigid social structure
Government was an oligarchy: rule by small group
Education:
1. Age 7 boys moved into military barracks
2. Lived there 23 years to toughen body, learn discipline, and train for war
3. Learned to be brave & endure pain in silence
4. Age 30 left barracks returned to become full fledged citizens
Women wanted to have strong babies: sickly babies left on hilltop to die
Children were told to win or die trying: “Come home with shield on or on it”
No braver warriors than Spartans
1. Admired for courage and obedience
2. Criticized for one-sidedness
3. Always sacrificed self for the good of Sparta
Athens
Political, commercial, & cultural center of empire
Felt people who did not use minds led an empty life
Stages in evolution of Athenian government
1. Monarchy (King & Queen)
2. Aristocracy (rich, those thought to be best qualified)
3. Tyranny (one person)
4. Democracy (government rule by the people)
Tyrants worked for reform
Draco
– Asked by Aristocrats to write down city’s laws
1. Meant to prevent uprising by poor
2. Laws were harsh: meant to make society more just
3. Many had to sell themselves into slavery
Solon
– Statesman & poet known to be wise and fair
– Cancelled debts of poor, made slavery for debt illegal
– Made legal system in which all citizens could serve as jurors
– Increased power of middle & lower classes: displeased Aristocrats
Athenian Democracy
Greeks 1st to establish democracy
Greece became the foundation of modern democracies although not everyone
got to participate in decision making process
Government in which free citizens rule themselves
Direct Democracy
1. Citizens participated directly
2. Only free adult males
Public Debate
Duties of the citizen
The Persian Wars 499-449 B.C. (B.C.E.)
Greece vs. The Persian Empire
1. United Athens and Sparta against The Persian Empire
2. Were competing city-states prior to war
3. Although different did share some things
1. Same language
2. Believed in same gods
3. Read & recited poems of Homer
4. Competed in same athletic contests
Battle of Marathon
Persians landed at Marathon: 25 miles from Athens
Persians outnumbered Greeks (25K to 10K) but Greeks better trained
Reported casualties: Persians 6,400, Athenians 192
Greeks win: send messenger to Athens to tell of victory
1. Pheidippides (returned from Sparta 150 mi away)
2. Got to Athens cried out “Rejoice we are victorious” then fell over dead
3. Modern marathon is 26 miles & named in his memory
Victories in Marathon and Salamis helped maintain control of the Aegean Sea
Consequences of the Persian Wars
The Greeks defeated the Persian Empire and preserved their political
independence
Athens preserved its independence and continued innovations government and
culture
Delian League
1. Created by Pericles
2. Created to keep out foreign invaders
3. Sparta did not join
Had Persians succeeded western development would be much different
Golden Age of Pericles
Pericles had three goals for Athens
1. Strengthen Athenian democracy
• Most adult males had an equal voice
2. Hold & strengthen Athenian empire
• Use money from Delian League’s treasury to build Athens's 200
ship navy
• Delian League established under Pericles
3. Glorify Athens
• Bought gold, ivory, and marble
• Pericles had Athens rebuilt after destruction in Persian Wars:
Parthenon is an example
The Parthenon
Built to honor Athena-goddess of wisdom
Sculpted by Phidias
Greek Drama
Greeks 1st to write plays: tragedy & comedy
Aeschylus: wrote only complete trilogy that exists today from the 1st Greek
dramas, Orestia: plays about the Trojan War
Sophocles: Greek dramatist: most famous play was Oedipus Rex: An oracle
predicts Oedipus will kill his father and marry his mother which Oedipus
unwittingly does in this play
Greek History
Historians concerned with the truth
Herodotus
1. Known as “Father of History”, thought by some to be 1st Greek historian
2. Wrote about conflicts between Greeks & Persians in his History of the
Persian Wars
Thucydides
1. Greek historian who was an Athenian General during the Peloponnesian
War
2. After he lost in battle he was exiled where he wrote his History of the
Peloponnesian Wars
3. Strove for accuracy and objectiveness in his works
Greek Architecture
Types of columns
1. Doric (Parthenon): most basic and non-decorative
2. Ionian
3. Corinthian: most decorative of all
Science
Archimedes
1. Mathematician who was an inventor of many practical objects including
pumps for irrigation and mines and weapons for war
2. Known for work in geometry with cylinders and spheres and for
computing value of pi
Hippocrates
1. Greek doctor who believed diseases were caused by natural causes
2. Hygiene, sound diet, and plenty of sleep
3. Developed Hippocratic Oath which is a code of ethics doctors still take
today
Mathematics
Euclid
1. Brought about much of the knowledge that is known as geometry
2. Defined abstractions such as points and lines
3. Set down general rules called axioms
Pythagoras
1. Described as first pure mathematician
2. Developed Pythagorean Theorem
Philosophers: Lovers of Wisdom
Socrates
1. Spent life in pursuit of true knowledge
2. Socratic Method: back up your answers with clear logical arguments:
question & answer approach
3. Accused of teaching students to think for themselves: sentenced to death
by drinking the poison hemlock
Plato
– Student of Socrates, gathered his ideas and wrote them down
Aristotle
– Believed goal of humankind was to achieve happiness
Peloponnesian War 431-404 B.C.
Competition between Sparta & Athens for control of Greece helped cause war
(Sparta resentful of Athens)
Athens & Delian League vs. Sparta & the Peloponnesian League
Athens strongest power by sea; Sparta by land (phalanx)
Two events spell disaster for Athens
1. Plague killed 1/3 to 2/3 Athenian population, including Pericles
2. Total destruction of Syracuse: ally of Athens
Sparta wins war
Resulted in slowing of cultural advances and weakening of political power
Macedonian Takeover
The Macedonian conquest of Greece followed the weakening of Greek defenses
during the Peloponnesian War
Phillip II
1. King of Macedon
2. Brilliant general
3. Conquered most of Greece: respected culture: let it flourish
4. Dies: son Alexander takes over
Alexander the Great
Student of Aristotle
Became King at age 20
Conquered Persian Empire, invaded Egypt (named a Pharaoh)
Established an empire from Greece to Egypt and the margins of India
Extended Greek cultural influences throughout his vast empire
Hellenistic Age
Diffusion of Greek ideas eastward
Blend of Greek and oriental elements
Spread of Hellenistic culture through trade