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Greeks
Period 2
I.
Early Greek Civilizations
A. The mountains and the seas
were important geographic
influences on Greece.
The many mountain ranges
separated the small,
independent Greek
communities, causing them to
develop different ways.
B. The long seacoast encouraged
sea trade.
Mycenaean (my see knee an)
civilization was named for the
fortified site, Mycenae (my see nay).
The Mycenaean civilization
flourished between 1600 and
1100 B.C.
C.
Powerful monarchs lived in
fortified palaces built on hills
and surrounded by stone
walls.
Homer recorded the military
adventures of the
Mycenaeans in his epic
poems, the Illiad and
Odyssey.
D.
Mycenaean civilization
collapsed around 1100 B.C.
Greece then entered a Dark
Age when population declined
and there was less food.
Few records remain from this
period, which lasted from
1100 to 750 B.C.
E.
The works of Homer appeared at the
end of the Dark Age.
The Illiad and Odyssey are
epic poems.
They tell the story of the
kings of Troy and Mycenae,
the Trojan War, and several
Greek heroes.
F.
The Greeks regarded the
Illiad and Odyssey as history.
Homer gave the Greeks an
ideal past full of heroes.
Generations of Greek males
used these poems as models
of heroism and honor.
II.
A.
The Polis: Center of Greek Life
By 750 B.C., the polis, or
city-state, had become the
central focus of Greek life.
People met for political,
religious, social, and
economic activities.
B.
The main gathering place was
usually on a hill, topped with a
fortified area called the
acropolis.
This was a refuge and
sometimes a place for
religious or other publics
buildings.
C.
City-states varied in size.
Most were between a few
hundred and several thousand
people.
Athens was one of the largest,
with a population of more
than 300,000 by 400 B.C.
D.
The polis was a community of
people who shared a common
identity and common goals.
There were three classes:
citizens with political rights
(adult males)
Citizens without political rights
(women and children)
Non-citizens (slaves and foreigners)
E.
Greek states developed
different forms of government.
Some city-states became
democracies, ruled by many.
Others became oligarchies,
ruled by few.
Two of the most powerful
city-states, Athens and
Sparta, illustrate the differences.
III.
Sparta
A. Between 800 and 600 B.C.,
the lives of the Spartans were
rigidly controlled and
disciplined.
Boys learned military discipline (7),
entered the military at age 20, and
lived in the barracks until they were
30.
B.
At 30, Spartan males were
allowed to vote in the
assembly and live at home,
but remained in the army
until the age of 60.
Spartan women lived at home
while their husbands lived in
the barracks.
C.
Spartan women had more
power than women in other
Greek city-states.
Spartan women supported
Spartan values, expecting
their husbands and sons to be
brave in war.
D.
A council of elders, made up
of two kings and 28 citizens
senior males, decided on
issues the assembly of male
citizens would vote on.
The assembly did not debate,
but only voted.
E.
Sparta closed itself off from
the outside world.
Foreigners and travel were
discouraged.
Spartans frowned upon new
ideas and the arts. Only the
art of war mattered.
IV.
Athens
A. A king ruled early Athens.
By the seventh century B.C. it
was ruled by an oligarchy of
aristocrats who owned the
best land and controlled politics.
B.
Near the end of the seventh
century, economic problems
led to political turmoil.
Many Athenian farmers were
sold into slavery for
nonpayment of their debts to
aristocrats.
Protest resulted to cancel the
debts and give land to the poor.
C.
The aristocrats gave power to
Solon in 594 B.C., Solon (So Lon)
favored reform.
He canceled the debts but did
not give land to the poor.
This left the aristocrats in
power and the poor unable to
obtain land.
D.
In 508 B.C., Cleisthenes
(cli sten knees), another reformer,
gained the upper hand.
He gave the Athenian
assembly the authority to
pass laws after debate.
Cleisthenes reforms laid the
foundation for Athenian democracy.
V.
Classical Greece
A.
Classical Greece is the name
given to the period from
500-338 B.C.
During this time, the Greeks
fought two wars.
The first war was against the
Persians, who were defeated
by the unified Greeks.
B.
Pericles created a direct democracy.
Every male citizen could participate
in the general assembly and vote on
major issues.
This period was called the
Age of Pericles.
C.
The Greek world was divided
between the Athenian Empire
and Sparta.
Athens and Sparta had built
very different societies and
they distrusted each other.
After a series of disputes, the
second war of the Classical
Greece period, the Great
Peloponnesian War broke out
in 431 B.C.
D.
The Great Peloponnesian War
weakened the Greek city-states and
ruined any hope of unity among
them.
For the next 70 years, Sparta
and Athens struggled for domination.
These internal struggles
caused the Greeks to ignore
the growing power of Macedonia.
VI.
The Culture of Classical Greece
A. Classical Greek art was
concerned with expressing
eternal ideals.
Art was meant to civilize emotions.
B.
The most important
architectural form was the temple.
The greatest example is the
Parthenon, dedicated the
goddess Athena.
The classical style of Greek
sculpture depicted nudes.
C.
Greek dramas were presented
as part of religious festivals.
The original Greek dramas
were tragedies, used to
examine the theme of good vs. evil.
D.
Philosophy “love of wisdom”
refers to an organized system of
rational thought.
Early Greek philosophers
were concerned with the
nature of the universe.
E.
Socrates developed the
Socratic method.
This was a question-and-answer
format to lead pupils to understand
things for themselves.
Plato was one of Socrates’
students and considered the
greatest Western philosopher.
F.
Plato explained his views of
government in The Republic.
Plato established a school in
Athens called the Academy.
His most important pupil was
Aristotle, who studied at the
Academy for 20 years.