Download would spread Greek civilization throughout the

UII. Classical Societies
III. Classical Greece
A. Geography and Greek Society
another
1. Mountain isolated Greeks from one
a. different communities developed
distinct lifestyles, traditions
b. became fiercely independent
c. cause rivalries that led to warfare
2. Access to sea created a seafaring culture
a. Aegean Sea, the Mediterranean
and the Black Sea
b. Greeks would eventually establish
colonies
-would spread Greek civilization
throughout the Mediterranean world
Sea,
B. Earliest Civilizations (Bronze Age)
1. The Minoans
a. inhabited the island of Crete btw 2700-
BCE
the Minotaur
1450
b. Used bronze to make weapons and tools
c. Named after the legendary king Minos
and
d. Main city was called Knossos
-very large palace that inspired the
myth of the Minotaur and labyrinth
wave, earthquake)?
2. Minoan civilization began to disappear around
a. Perhaps because of a natural disaster
b. Invasion by mainland Greeks?
1450 BCE
(tidal
Palace of Knossos
B. Earliest Civilizations (Bronze Age) (cont’d)
3. The Mycenaeans
a. Inhabited the southern part of mainland
Greece btw 1400 – 1200 BCE
b. Indo-Europeans that spread into the
4. Government made up of powerful monarchies
a. Each city had a king who lived in a
fortified palace center (city-states)
b. formed weak alliances that loosely
unified them
fight each other
5. Alliances began to break and the
a. this along with the possibility of major
earthquakes and invaders cause its
area
(kings)
states began to
collapse by 1100 BCE
C. The Greek “Dark Age” 1100 -750 BCE
1. After the fall of Mycenaean society
a. Population and food production decreased
b. Many Greeks left the mainland
-sailed across the Aegean
islands and Asia-Minor
2. Over time trade and agriculture picked up
a. the use of iron tools helped bring about
the positive change
b. it was during this time that Greek adopted
and began to use the Phoenician alphabet
3. Homer – epic poet
a. epic poems are stories about
heroes and their adventures
b. wrote the Illiad and the
Odyssey
to the many
D. The Greek City-State
1. By 750 BCE the polis had become the central
a. city center and main gathering place was
usually on a hill
-fortified, called an acropolis
-temples, palace, public buildings
b. the city marketplace called an
agora
2. Military
-usually located below the
acropolis
-open area with shops and
stalls for goods
a. Based on hoplites
-heavily armed infantry (foot soldiers)
-citizens, not professional soldiers
-fought shoulder to shoulder in a
formation known as a phalanx
focus of Greek life
E. The Greek Colonies
1. Between 750 -550 BCE Greece established
the Mediterranean world
a. Southern Italy and France, Eastern Spain,
and North Africa
b. Most important colony established was
Byzantium
-located in Asia Minor, modern day
Istanbul, Turkey
c. spread Greek culture, language, and political
organization
colonies throughout
Greek Philosophers
Socrates
Plato
428-347 BCE
Aristotle
384-322 BCE
*Born in Athens
*Was a stonemason and a
teacher
*Considered to be the “father” of
philosophy
*Athenian gov’t
arrested him and
put him to death
(hemlock)
*Born in Athens
*He was a student of Socrates
*Founded the Academy in
Athens, the first known
university in the Western world
*Plato’s student
*The teacher of Alexander the
Great
*Until the Seventeenth century,
science would be
based on Aristotle’s
ideas
*Developed the Socratic Method
: learning about beliefs and
ideas by asking questions
*Believed real knowledge was
already present in everyone
*Nothing written by Socrates
survives today, all we know
about him was written by his
student Plato
*Wrote The Republic
*Believed the gov’t should
control the lives of people
*He divided society into three
groups: workers, soldiers,
philosophers
*Philosophers should rule
society, stature should be based
on wisdom
*He believed one strong and
good leader should rule
*He believed people learned
through reason and analysis of
observations
*He also wrote about politics,
poetry, astronomy, geology,
biology, physics, etc.
469-399 BCE