Download Classical Greece

By: Mr. Mark Gonzalez & Ms. Susan Pojer
Bradenton Christian School
Bradenton, Florida
Period 2 (600 BC-600 AD)
Organization and Reorganization of
Human Societies (also called the Classical
Age)
How does this Period Differ from Period 1?
• States developed and larger empires
• More complex cultures-new religions
and philosophies emerged
• More numerous and better written
records
• More complex long-distance tradeSilk Road and Indian Ocean Trade
Period 2 (600 BC-600 AD)
Organization and Reorganization of
Human Societies (also called the
Classical Age)
How does this Period Differ from Period 1?
• More contact between nomads and
sedentary people
• More direct influence on modern
civilizations-Roman and Greek law
codes, Islamic law, Buddhism and
Christianity
New Empires
• The Mediterranean-Greeks followed
by the Romans
• SW Asia-the Persians
• The Indian Sub-Continent (South
Asia)- Maurya and Gupta
• East Asia- Qin and Han Dynasty
• Americas-Maya
The Geography of Greece
•Too mountainous for
major agricultural devel.
•result: Seafaring people
•Most commercial activity
occurred by boat
•Limited geographic area
contributed to its
dominance
•Since land was tight the
Greeks were always
looking to est. colonies to
ease overcrowding and get
raw materials
Bronze Age Greece
Crete: Minoan Civilization
(Palace at Knossos)
Knossos: Minoan Civilization
Minoan Civilization
•Influenced by Egyptian culture
•Diffusion- Allowed later
Classical Greece to dev.
monumental architecture
The Mycenaean Civilization-located in Southern Greece
influenced by Crete’s Minoan civ.
Homer: The “Heroic Age”-his epics about
the Trojan Wars
The Greek City-States
(The Poleis)
•Based on the creation of
complex city-states like
Athens and Sparta
City-states not unified at
first (due to geography)
•Olympic games
•Shared a common culture
ATHENS and SPARTA
•Polis—greek word for “city
state” (poleis-plural)
•Polis of Spartaagricultural/militaristic capital
•Polis of Athenspolitical/commercial/cultural
capital
•Practiced direct democracy in
ATHENS and SPARTA
Gender Relations
•Sparta-men and women
equal…espec. in physical
strength…pretty much ran the
city (men were at war a lot)
•Athens-gender
inequality…women no political or
property rights…confined to
Greek Religion
•Polytheistic
•Most educated Greeks not serious about
worship of gods
•Secularism ruled-answers for life in govt or
philosophy-similar to Chinese Confucianism
Zeus
Hera
Apollo
Persian Wars: 499 BC – 449 BC
The Persian Empire
Darius the Great
(526 – 485 B. C. E.)
 Built Persepolis.
 He extended the
Persian Empire to the
Indus River in northern
India. (2 mil. s.q. mi.)
 Built a canal in Egypt.
Darius the Great- Persia
(526 – 485 B. C. E.)
 Established a tax-collecting
system.
 Divided the empire into districts
called SATRAPIES.
 Built the great Royal Road
system.
 Established a complex postal
system.
 Created a network of spies
called “the King’s eyes and ears.”
Ancient Persepolis
Persepolis
The People of Persepolis
Persian “Royal Road”
Zoroastrianism religion- a
Dualistic Battle of Good vs.
Evil….2 gods
Ahura Mazda
“Holy Spirit”
Represents good
and truth
Triumph over
chaos!
Angra Mainyu
“Destructive
Spirit”
Zarathustra [Zoroaster], 6c BCE:
Good Thoughts, Good Deed, Good
Words
“Tree of Life”
Zoroastrianism-faded when the Persian Empire fell
Extent of Zoroastrianism
Persian Wars: 499 BC – 449 BC
•United the Greek
city-states against
an invading common
enemy
• much of Athens
destroyed, but
Greece held on to
control of Aegean
Sea basin
•War ended in a
stalemate
•Allowed Greece to
develop in age of
prosperity
Persian Wars: Xerxes watches his forces crushed by Greeks
Persian Wars: Famous Battles
$
Marathon (490 BCE)-Greek victory
 26 miles from Athens
$
Thermopylae (480 BCE)-Persian victory
 300 Spartans v 1000s of
Persians at the Mountain pass
$
Salamis (480 BCE)-Greek victory
 Athenian navy victorious
Some historians-this conflict the trigger for future
east v west clashes (espec. Islam v western society)
Golden “Age of Pericles”:
460 BC – 429 BC-ushered in by victory over
Persia
Pericles
Pericles as leader of Athens
organized an alliance of Greek citystates called the Delian Leaguediscourage future Persian invasion
Pericles
$
Socrates
Great Athenian Philosophers
 Know thyself!
 question everything
 only the pursuit of
goodness brings happiness.
Advocate of “philosopher-kings”
$
Plato
 The Academy
 The world of the FORMS
 The Republic  philosopher-king
Great Athenian Philosophers
$ Aristotle
 The Lyceum
 “Golden Mean”
[everything in
moderation].
 Logic-rational
thought
 Scientific methodcareful observation
Athens: The Arts & Sciences
$ DRAMA (tragedians):

Aeschylus-greek comedy

Euripides-greek tragedy
$ THE SCIENCES:

Pythagoras>>> mathematics
(geometry)

Democritus  all matter made up of
small atoms.

Hippocrates  “Father of Medicine”
Pericles Construction Projects
The Rebuliding of Athens after
Persian Destruction
1. Acropolis (Hill)
The Acropolis Today
The Parthenon
The Classical Greek “Ideal”
Olympia
The Ancient Olympics:
Athletes & Trainers
Olympia: Temple to Hera
The 2012 Olympics in London
SPARTA v. ATHENS
Peloponnesian Wars (431-404 BC)
•Caused by a trade
dispute between Athens
and Sparta
•Athens surrounded and
cut off
•Plague ravaged the cityPericles killed
•Athens declined-its navy
destroyed at Sicily
•Sparta spared Athens,
but itself declined paving
the way for the rise of
the Macedonians
Macedonia Under Philip II
•Philip II of
Macedon ruled
359-336 BC
• invaded Athens
and conquered all
of Greece
•Respected Greek
culture and
encouraged it to
continue to
flourish
•Father of
Alexander the
Great
Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great’s Empire
Alexander the Great’s Conquest of Persia
•Educated by Aristotle
•Conquered the mighty
Persian Empire
•Hoped to merge Greek and
Persian civilizations
•Married a Persian princess
•Killed his best friend
Cleitus over a drunken
argument over Persia
•Stretched west all the
way to the Indus Valley
•Died at age of 33
•Led to Hellenism-adoption
of Greek culture and art
over the conquered area
The Hellenization of Asia
Pergamum: Hellenistic syncretism w/
Persia
The Economy of the Hellenistic World
Hellenism: The Arts & Sciences
$ Scientists / Mathematicians:
 Aristarchus  heliocentric theory.
 Euclid  geometry
 Archimedes  pulley
$
Hellenistic Art:
 More realistic; less ideal than
Hellenic art.
 Showed individual emotions,wrinkles,
and age!
The Breakup of Alexander’s Empire
The Kingdom of Ptolemy
•the richest of the 3
Hellenistic Empires
• Alexandria-the capital
•Greek rulers let
Egyptian culture/society
continue
•Cultural CenterAlexandria Museum and
Library-most scrolls in
the world
•Last of the Ptolemaic
pharoahs was Cleopatra