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ANCIENT
GREECE
GREECE GEOGRAPHY
*A peninsula in the northeastern Mediterranean Sea.
*Deep harbors allowed them to become merchants and traders.
Exported wine, olive oil, pottery, and cloth.
*A land of high mountain ranges enclosing fertile valleys which were
isolated because transportation over the mountains was tough. This led
the Greeks to organize my independent city-states.
*City-state – a political unit that includes a town or a city and the
surrounding land controlled by it.
THE MINOANS OF CRETE
*Minoan Civilization developed on Crete, an island in the
Mediterranean Sea, as early as 3000 BC and lasted
nearly 2000 years.
*Poor soil and good harbors led them to become
seafaring merchants, sailing all over the Aegean Sea.
*Built solid building, with excellent plumbing systems,
using drains and pipes.
*Civilization collapsed in 1400 BC when Knossos was
destroyed by the Mycenaeans.
THE
MYCENAEANS
*CIVILIZATION’S NAME COMES FROM MYCENAE, A
FORTRESS THEY BUILT, MYCENAE.
*MYCENAE SOCIETY WAS DOMINATED BY INTENSE
COMPETITION, FREQUENT WARFARE, AND POWERFUL
KINGS.
*KINGS TAXED TRADE AND FARMING TO RAISE MONEY
TO BUILD PALACES AND HIGH WALLS FOR SECURITY.
*DROUGHTS, FAMINES, AND INVASION LED TO THE
DOWNFALL OF THE MYCENAEANS BY THE END OF THE
1100S BC
SPARTA
*LOCATED IN SOUTHERN GREECE ON THE
PELOPONNESIAN PENINSULA.
*GREATEST WARRIORS OF ANCIENT GREECE.
*EMPHASIZED MILITARY, WHICH CAUSED THEM TO
NEGLECT ART, LITERATURE AND SCIENCE.
*CHILDREN TRAINED FROM BIRTH TO BECOME WARRIORS
AND EVEN WOMEN TRAINED IN GYMNASTICS SO THAT
THEY COULD BEAR STRONG CHILDREN.
ATHENS
*ATHENS WAS THE THE LEADING GREEK CITY-STATE, DUE TO ITS EFFECTIVE
GOVERNMENT.
*WORLD’S FIRST DEMOCRACY, FORM OF GOVERNMENT RUN BY THE
PEOPLE. ESTABLISHED AROUND 500 BC.
*SOLON, A LAWMAKER, REWROTE THE LAWS TO 1) END DEBT SLAVERY, 2)
ALLOW ALL MALE CITIZENS TO SERVE ON JURIES AND 3) GRANT ALL
COMMON MALES THE RIGHT TO VOTE IN LEGISLATURE.
*PERICLES – LED ATHENIAN GOVERNMENT DURING THE “GOLDEN AGE OF
ATHENS”. OPENED GOVERNMENT SERVICES TO ALL MEN. ARTS AND
SCIENCES THRIVED, MANUFACTURING AND TRADE PROSPERED.
GREEK
RELIGION
*SHARED A POLYTHEISTIC RELIGION (BELIEF IN MANY GODS)
*MOST IMPORTANT GODS WERE: ZUES (GOD OF THE SKY),
APOLLO (GOD OF THE SUN) ATHENA (GODDESS OF WISDOM)
ARES (GOD OF WAR) AND MR DOWDY (THE GODS FAVORITE GOD).
*THESE GODS SUPPOSEDLY LIVED ON TOP OF MOUNT OLYMPUS.
*GREEKS BELIEVED THEIR APPEARANCE AND CHARACTERISTICS CAME
FROM THE GODS.
PERSIAN
WAR
*THE PERSIANS CONTROLLED THE ENTIRE MIDDLE EAST, INCLUDING GREEK
COLONIES ON THE COAST OF ASIA MINOR. IN 500 BC, THESE COLONIES
REVOLTED AND RECEIVED MILITARY AID FROM ATHENS. KING OF PERSIA,
DARIUS, DETERMINED TO PUNISH ATHENS AND INVADE GREECE.
*490 BC, DARIUS’ ARMY INVADED GREECE BUT WAS DEFEATED BY ATHENS
AT THE BATTLE OF MARATHON. TO PREVENT FURTHER ATTACKS, ATHEN
CONSTRUCTED SHIPS AND FORMED AN ALLIANCE WITH THE OTHER CITYSTATES, INCLUDING SPARTA.
*480 BC, PERSIA LAUNCHED ANOTHER ATTACK AND DEFEATED A SMALL
SPARTAN ARMY AT THE PASS OF THERMOPYLAE IN NORTHERN GREECE AND
CAPTURED ATHENS. BUT THE GREEKS WON TWO BIG NAVAL BATTLES AND
THE PERSIANS WITHDREW, SAVING THEIR POLITICAL INDENDENCE AND
FREEDOM.
GREEK
PHILOSOPHY
*SOCRATES: 1)SOUGHT TRUTHS ABOUT CONCEPTS SUCH AS TRUTH, JUSTICE AND
VIRTUE. 2)THOUGHT PEOPLE COULD LEARN BEST BY ASKING QUESTIONS. 3)
BELIEVED THAT PHILOSOPHERS COULD STUDY HUMAN BEHAVIOR TO LEARN HOW
TO IMPROVE SOCIETY.
*PLATO: 1) THOUGHT PHILOSOPHERS WERE BEST SUITED TO GOVERN OTHER
PEOPLE. 2) BELIEVED THAT EVERY MATERIAL OBJECT IN THE WORLD WAS ONLY THE
REFLECTION OF A PERFECT IDEAL. FOR EXAMPLE, ALL THE TREES GROWING IN
GREECE WERE ONLY REFLECTIONS OF A SINGLE TREE THAT DID NOT ACTUALLY
EXIST.
*ARISTOTLE: 1) USED REASON AND LOGIC TO STUDY THE WORLD.
2) BELIEVED THAT THE GREATEST PEOPLE COULD PERFORM WAS THE PRACTICE OF
RATIONAL THOUGHT. 3)CONTRIBUTED TO THE SCIENCES, ESPECIALLY BIOLOGY.
ARCHITECTURE
*GREEKS BUILT MAGNIFICENT TEMPLES, THEATERS, AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS
THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
*GREATEST BUILDING WAS THE PARTHENON, A MASSIVE TEMPLE TO ATHENA
THAT STOOD AT THE CENTER OF THE ACROPOLIS. TOOK 14 YEARS TO BUILD.
**********MOST IMPORTANTLY, THE GREEKS MAIN FEATURE IN BUILDING WAS
THE USE OF COLUMMS*************************************
THE
HELLENISTIC
PERIOD
*THIS PERIOD WITNESSED TREMENDOUS ADVANCES IN SCIENCE,
TECHNOLOGY AND MATH.
*EUCLID: A MATHEMATICIAN WHO FORMULATED MANY OF THE IDEAS
ABOUT GEOMETRY THAT WE STILL USE TODAY.
*ARCHIMEDES: MATHEMATICIAN AND PHYSICIST. DISCOVERED IMPORTANT
PRINCIPLES REGARDING THE LEVER, THE PULLEY, AND SPECIFIC GRAVITY.
*THALES: MATHEMATICIAN AND PHILOSOPHER. USED GEOMETRY TO
CALCULATE THE HEIGHTS OF PYRAMIDS AND THE DISTANCES OF SHIPS
FROM THE SHORE.