Download Chapter 10 The Ancient Greeks

Chapter 10
The Ancient Greeks
Section 2: Greek Society & Economy
As you take notes, consider these five Social Studies
topics:
1.Global Affairs, 2.Domestic Affairs,
3.Culture, 4.Economy, and 5.Human/Civil
Rights.
What are we learning in this chapter about Ancient
Greece that connects to these discussion topics?
I.Women in Ancient Greece
A.Rights of women depended on the city-state in which they lived.
1. In Sparta, they had a good deal of freedom.
2. In Athens, they had few rights.
B.
Family life
1. Man was head of the house.
2. Poor Women
a. Worked outdoors on farms
b. Sold goods at the markets
The Greek Philosopher
Xenophon described Greek Gender Roles:
“The gods have ordered and the law approves that men and women should each
follow their own capacity. It is not so good for a woman to be out of doors as in.
And it is more dishonorable for a man to stay indoors than to attend to his affairs
outside.”
4. Most Greek Women
a. Supervised the household
b. Raised the children
c. Kept track of money & spending
d. Managed the slaves
e. Many made most of the family’s clothes
f. Supervised the preparation of meals
5. Most Spartan Women
a. Had more rights & freedoms than women in other citystates
b. Could sell their property
c. Were educated & trained in sports
d. These customs shocked the Greeks of other city-states.
Why do you think the cultural customs
regarding women were so different
between the two societies?
II. Greek Society (Refer to page 308)
A.Ranking order of the complex class system
1. Rich land owners at the top
2. Farmers
3. Tenant farmers (thetes)
4. Women & children (born of citizens)
5. Resident aliens (metics)
6. Slaves at the bottom
B. Different groups/classes explained
1. The Aristocracy
a. Upper class of rulers who claimed descent from kings or gods
b. Their wealth came from owing large plots of land.
In livestock
which ways
1) They raised crops and
did the class
system affect the economy of
2) Slaves did most of the work
Greek society?
1. Citizens
a. All adult males
b. Had right to vote
1. Tenant farmers (also called “thetes”)
a. Grew the crops on property owned by wealthier people
b. Paid rent with money or crops
2. Metics (resident aliens)
a. Possibly a Greek from other city-states
b. Could be someone who was not Greek at all (foreigner/alien)
c. They were noncitizens
d. Free, but had fewer rights than native born men of the polis
3. Slaves
III. Greek Economic Expansion
A. Lack of good farmland/Greeks found other ways to feed
their growing population
1. Through conquest
a. Sparta decided not to rely on trade for growth
b. Spartan troops conquered neighboring city-state of Messenia.
c. Messenians were forced to raise crops for Spartans.
d. Spartan men could train for combat instead of doing farming
chores.
e. The Spartans formed the most feared army in Greece.
2. Through Colonization (migration to a new area)
a. Starting in 700s BC, Greek colonists sailed off the find
new places to live.
b. Voyages were dangerous and uncertain.
c. Things they looked for/needed in a new place1) A coast (could anchor ships & set up a trading port)
2) Good land for farming
3) Near exportable resources (timber and minerals)
What are two ways the Greeks look
to solve their population problem
(and feed everyone)?
Which of these two solutions do you
think made the biggest impact on
global affairs? Why?
B. The first coins
1. Around 650 BC, kings of Lydia began making the world’s first gold &
silver coins.
2. Coins led to an economic revolution.
3. Standard-sized coins gradually replaced old bartering system.
4. Trade became easier.
5. City-States made their own coins.
6. Coins were stamped with symbols of the city or gods/goddesses they
believed protected them.
C. Athens grows rich
1. Trade made the city rich.
2. They relied on commerce from the Port of Piraeus for food &
resources.
3. Exported products made by Athenian workshops brought in $$$
a. Pottery
b. Jewelry
c. Other trade goods
4. Other exported resources (shipped OUT of Athens)
a. Olive oil
D. Effects of Expansion (Greek colonization)
1. Cultural borrowing between different groups of people increased.
2. Many colonies became prosperous (successful $)
3. Introduced new foreign goods to Greece
4. Merchants grew rich and built fleets (groups of ships).
5. Government also changed (next section).