Download 1 Greece Notes 2016

Ancient Greece
•http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/History_n2/a.html
Geography of Greece
• Mountains: allowed for
the Greek polis or citystates to develop in
isolation and
independent of one
another.
• Seas: Greek city-states
and its people became
seafarers due to the
close proximity of the
Aegean & Ionian Seas
• The warm climate
promoted an outdoor
life.
Geography
• Mountains
• allowed (polis) city-states
to develop in isolation
• Seas
• Aegean
• Ionian
• Climate
• Warm climate (year round)
Mycenaean Civilization Develops
Mycenaean Civilization
• Some Indo-Europeans
• Indo-Europeans (c.
settled on the Greek
2000 BCE)
mainland around 2000 BC.
• Contact with Minoans
• Came into contact with the
• Preserved and
Minoans sometime after
spread Minoan
1500 BCE either by trade
culture
or war.
• Writing system
• Preserved & spread aspects
• Art
of the Minoan culture
• Literature
(writing system, art,
• Religion
literature, religion).
Cultural Diffusion
Cultural Diffusion
• Primarily
through
Trade
Spread
of ideas
orNetworks
technology
from
culture to
another. history
• Concept
willone
be repeated
throughout
Typestypes:
• Two major
• Diffusion through choice
~ diffusion through choice where the group
(want to adopt new concept)
adopts new concepts because they want to do so
• Diffusion through coercion
~ diffusion
by coercion
where
the or
group is
(forced
to adopt
by war
forced to
adopt new concepts by war and
domination)
domination of another culture
The Trojan War
• During the 1200s BCE, the
Mycenaeans fought a ten-year
war against Troy.
• Last great military campaign
for the Mycenaeans.
• Supposedly, fought over
Helen, queen of Mycenaea,
who was kidnapped by a
Trojan prince; but more likely
fought over trade conflicts.
• Not long after the war the
Dorians became the dominant
Greek civilization & a period of
decline began.
• Little is known of the
Dorians because they
kept no written records. The Dorians
• No written records
• Most of the time period’s • History passed down
history was passed down through storytelling
through story telling.
• The greatest storyteller Homer (greatest
of the time was Homer. storyteller of the time)
• Epics (narrative
Homer composed the
poems of heroic
epics the Iliad and the
deeds)
Odyssey. Epics are
• Iliad
narrative poems
• Odyssey
celebrating heroic deeds.
Greek Political Development
• By 750 BC the city-state or polis was the
fundamental political unit in ancient Greece.
• A polis is made up of a city and its
surrounding countryside, which might include
numerous villages.
• On top of a hill inside the
polis was a fortified area
called an acropolis.
• The acropolis served as a
place of refuge during an
attack and sometimes as
a religious center with
temples and public
buildings.
• Below the acropolis was
an open area called an
agora, a market place and
a place where people
could assemble.
Economics and Trade
• Between 750 and 550 BC Greeks established
many colonies around the Mediterranean Sea
• Colonies formed for
– industry and trade
– agricultural production
– raw materials
• Colonies
– expanded the Greek economy
– created new wealthy group
Forms of Government in
Ancient Greece
• Monarchy: form of government in which the ruling
power is in the hands of a single person. Power is
usually passed down through one family.
• Aristocracy: form of government in which the ruling
power is in the hands of a few by s small group of
noble, land-owning leaders.
• Oligarchy: Form of government in which the ruling
power is in the hands of a few (not necessarily
aristocratic) leaders.
Forms of Government in
Ancient Greece
• Tyranny: form of government in which the ruling power is
in the hands of an individual who has seized control by
appealing to the common people.
– When repeated clashes occurred between rulers and
the common people powerful individuals called
tyrants seized control of the government by
appealing to the common people for support.
Unlike today, tyrants were not necessarily
considered harsh and cruel, rather they were seen as
leaders who would work for the interests of the
ordinary people.
Forms of Government in
Ancient Greece
• Democracy: form of government in which the
ruling power is in the hands of all the people.
– Democracy developed in ancient Greece
around 500 BCE in the city-state of Athens,
where many people began to oppose the
rule of the tyrants. Importantly, public
officials did not have that much individual
power in Athenian democracy.
The Persian Wars
• Name given to a series of battles between the Greeks and
Persian Empire.
• The Spartan army used a military tactic known as a phalanx.
(Standing side by side)
• Victories at Marathon and Thermopylae helped the Greeks
drive out the Persian army.
• Victory in the Persian Wars led a great confidence on the
part of the Greeks and led to a brief Golden Age for Athens.
Persian Wars
• Battles between Greeks & Persian Empire
• Spartans used the phalanx
• The Battles
• Marathon
• Thermopyalae
• Greeks won
• Victory gave Greeks confidence and
led to the Golden Age of Greece
Greek Golden Age
• Occurs during the leadership
of Pericles in the 5th Century Greek Golden Age
BCE.
• Centered in Athens
• The achievements were
• Led by Pericles
mainly confined to the city• Strong
states of Athens where a
economy
strong economy and good
government created the
• Good
conditions necessary for such
government
advancements.
• Direct
• During this time Athens was a
Democracy
direct democracy
Government
• The Ancient Athenians were the first to use
democracy as a form of government.
• Under Pericles, male citizens in Athens participated
in the daily running of government.
• This form of direct democracy excluded all noncitizens, such as women and slaves.
• Today, many governments around the world
practice some form of democracy.
Athenians first to use democracy
• Only citizens could vote
• Male
• Born in Athens
• 18 or older
Could NOT vote
• Women
• Slaves
The Peloponnesian War
• Fought by Athens and
its empire against the
Peloponnesian League,
led by Sparta.
• More than 1/3 of the
Athenians, including
Pericles, died as a
result of disease.
• Won by Sparta.
Philosophy
• Greek philosophers, or "lovers of
wisdom," used observation and
reason to study the world around
them.
• Socrates encouraged Greeks
to question themselves and
their moral character.
(Socratic Method). Tried for
“corrupting the youth of
Athens” & put to death.
• Plato wrote
The Republic & favored
a strong central government.
• Aristotle favored human
reason as a way to solve
problems. (Teacher of
Alexander the Great)
Socrates
Literature
• Early Greek literature was in the form of
plays developed for religious
ceremonies.
• Famous writers, such as Aeschylus and
Sophocles, wrote tragedies and
comedies about human conflict and
interaction between the gods and man.
Drama and History
• Greeks invented drama as an art form and built the
first theaters in the west.
• Tragedy – a serious drama about common themes
(love, hate, war, betrayal) and featured a tragic hero
(important person and often gifted with
extraordinary abilities). The hero’s downfall was
often a tragic flaw such as hubris (excessive pride).
• Comedies contained scenes filled with slapstick
situation and humor. Playwrights often made fun of
politics, respected people, and ideas of the times.
• Herodotus – a Greek who lived in Athens for
a time, pioneered the accurate reporting of
events. His book on the Persian Wars is
considered the first work of history.
• Greatest historian of the classical age was
Thucydides.
The approaches Thucydides
used in his work
still guide historians today.
Art & Architecture
• Greek artists portrayed the human figure in idealized
realism. Paintings and sculptures show humans in the
perfect form.
• Greek architects build elaborate buildings using marble
and the Greek column. The most famous example of Greek
architecture is the Parthenon in Athens.
• Many buildings around the world today use Greek
architectural ideas.
Medicine
• Hippocrates, a 5th century
BCE physician, studied the
causes of illnesses and
experimented with various
cures.
• He is also credited with
creating a set of ethical
standards for doctors called
the Hippocratic Oath.
Math & Science
• Greek mathematician Pythagoras,
developed a formula to calculate the
relationship between the sides of a right
triangle, a method still in use today.
• Aristarchus, a Greek astronomer,
discovered that the earth rotated on its
axis, and revolved around the sun.
• Eratosthenes discovered that the earth was
round, and accurately calculated its
circumference. Euclid wrote a book called
The Elements, which is the basis for modern
geometry.
• A Greek scientist named Archimedes tried to
use science for more practical matters, he
showed how the use of a lever and pulley
system could lift just about any weight.
Ancient Sparta
Sparta Government & Society
• Spartan citizens elected officials who made
up the Council of Elders which made laws.
• The major social classes of Spartan society
were made up of citizens with history in
Sparta, then non-citizens who were free
and owned land and lastly the helots who
were servants and slaves.
Daily Life
• The military was the central focus of Spartan
society. They were the most advanced military of
their time.
• At the age of 7 all males were sent to live in army
barracks where they were trained to read, write and
fight.
• At age 30 they were sent home to marry then they
reported to the military front.
• At age 60 they were allowed to retire.
Daily Life Cont.
• Spartan women were also
given military training
and were fed more food
than their Athenian
counterparts.
• Spartan women had
considerable freedom
especially in running the
household.
• Spartan women were
strong both physically
and mentally telling their
husbands:
“come back with your
shield or on it.”
• Crash Course in World History: Greece