Download Chapter 4 Ancient Greece

Chapter 4
Ancient Greece
1750 B.C. -133 B.C.
Section 1: Early People of the Aegean
Minoans Trade & Prosper
Minoans lived on the island of Crete, they
thrived through trade.
 Knossos- City of the island of Crete, rulers
lived in palaces
 Shrines- Areas dedicated to the honor of
gods and goddess
 Frescoes-Watercolor paintings on wet
plaster.

◦ Many Minoan frescoes focus on the importance
of the sea and women seem to be treated with
more rights than other civilizations.
Section 1: Early People of the
Aegean Continued…

After 200 years Minoans disappeared.
◦ We are not exactly sure of why they
disappeared.Volcano or an earthquake is a
possibility.
Mycenaeans-the first Greek speaking
people did invade the Minoans and
destroy some part of their civilization.
 They were sea traders that lived in citystates and they built fortresses in which
they ruled from.

The Trojan War
 Started as rivalry between Mycenaean &
Troy
 Most widely known for the Greek legend
of Paris, Helen, and the Trojan horse
 After 10 years of battle, the Greeks finally
seized Troy and burned it to the ground
Homer and the Great Legends of Greece
Homer was a blind poet that wandered
singing great epics
 Iliad

◦ Achilles, the mightiest warrior, leaves the battle
because he was insulted and treated poorly by his
commander. He refuses to rejoin and help battle
until his best friend is killed.

Odyssey
◦ Odysseus on a journey home from Troy must
battle a sea monster, one-eyed giants and, and a
sorceress in an effort to reach his wife Penelope.
Section 2: The Rise of Greek City-States
Geography Shapes Greece
 Greece is part of the Balkan Peninsula,
which extends into the Mediterranean
Sea. It is comprised of hundreds of rocky
islands as well.
 They created city-states, of the city and
surrounded lands. The city-states were
very independent and fiercely fought each
other.
Section 2: The Rise of Greek City-States
Geography Shapes Greece

Greeks traded with many different lands
because of the close proximity to the seas.
◦ They traded olive oil, wine, and marble for grains and
metals.

The Greeks adapted ideas from other
civilizations
◦ Alphabet from the
Phoenicians
Governing City-States

City-state or the polis was made up of a city and
the surrounding lands.
◦ On top of the city was the acropolis, or high city.
Temples dedicated to the gods and goddesses were
located here.
◦ Beneath the acropolis was the marketplace and
homes
Governing City-States
Citizens or free residents of the city-states
participated in festivals and free men spent time
discussing politics. The male landowners held all
of the power.
Types of Government
 Monarchy- A hereditary ruler with central
powers.
 Aristocracy- Rule by hereditary landowning
elite.
 Oligarchy- Power is in the hands of a small
wealthy elite.

Governing City-States
Citizens or free residents of the city-states
participated in festivals and free men spent time
discussing politics. The male landowners held all
of the power.
Types of Government
 Monarchy- A hereditary ruler with central
powers.
 Aristocracy- Rule by hereditary landowning
elite.
 Oligarchy- Power is in the hands of a small
wealthy elite.

Warfare
More citizens had access to iron weaponry and
protection.
 Phalanx

◦ Tactical military formation with armed foot soldiers
Sparta

Government
◦ Two Kings and a council of elders that acted as advisers to them.
◦ Assembly comprised of citizens (males native born Spartans over
the age of 30) approved major decisions.
◦ Five ephors, or officials ran the daily affairs.

Male Daily Life
◦ Newborn children were examined, if they were found to
be sick, then they were abandoned and left to die
◦ All Spartans were part of creating a strong military and
military families
◦ Boys started training at 7 for their military life.
 Moved to barracks
 Diet, hard exercise, and harsh discipline created strong soldiers
◦ At 20, men could marry but still had to live in the barracks
until 30. They had to eat meals there until they were 40.
Sparta

Spartan women
◦ They had to produce healthy sons, they were required
to exercise and strengthen their bodies to do this.
◦ They had to obey their husbands and fathers.
◦ They could inherit property and ran the estates when
the men were at war.

Spartan Life
◦ They did not trade and forbade travel. They believed
there was no need for wealth.
Athens



Started as a monarchy, morphed into an aristocracy, and
then a democracy, government run by the people.
Athenian governments were led by a series of tyrants,
people who gained power by force.
Council of 500
◦ Legislature, a law making body that debated laws before
approving or rejecting them.
◦ Comprised of all the male citizens

Democracy Participation
◦ Only citizens could participate and only landowning men were
considered citizens
◦ Women, merchants, and slaves were not allowed
Athenian Women and Education

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Women played major roles in religious ceremonies and
processions.
Rich women cared for the children, cooked, cleaned, and
made clothing. They rarely left the home to go into
public.
Poor women worked outside the home in fields, or as
weavers and potters.
Girls did not attend school, boys did if their families
could afford it.
◦ Reading, writing, poetry, public speaking,
and music were all important subjects.
Forces for Unity

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Greeks were polytheistic
Gods lived on Mount Olympus. Zeus was the God of
Sky and the most powerful of all the gods.
Athens was named for the Goddess Athena.
Barbaroi- a term the Greeks used to describe people
who did not speak Greek, as the Greeks felt superior to
everyone else. This term in fact gave us the modern
term barbarians.
Section 3: Conflict in the Greek World

The Persian Wars
Battle at Marathon
◦ The Persians had a much larger
army than Athens. However, the
Greeks were able to beat the
Persians.


After the death of the Persian
leader Darius I, his son
Xerxes, sent a larger Persian
army to attack the Greeks.
Battle at Thermopylae
◦ Sparta and Athens joined
together. King Leonidas led
the Spartan army but the
Persians defeated them and
continued marching until
they reached and burned
Athens, the Athenians had
already left the city though.
Section 3: Conflict in the Greek World
The Persian Wars
 Battle at
Salamis

◦ Athenian ships
were able to
lure the navy
into a narrow
strait and
attack the
Persian ships.
The following
year, the Persians
were defeated on
land and then
ended the
Persian invasions.
Delian League

Greeks realized their
uniqueness after defeating
the Persians, and Athens
began creating alliances
with other city-states.
◦ Alliances are formal
agreements between two or
more nations to come to
each others defense.
Age of Pericles and Direct Democracy

Athenian Golden Age
◦ Pericles led a direct
democracy where
citizens took part in all
parts of the government.
◦ All men were able to
participate in the
government and receive
a stipend, or salary for
doing so.

Culture Thrives
◦ Parthenon-temple to
Athena was built on the
Acropolis.

Peloponnesian War

Sparta along with other of
Athens's enemies created
the Peloponnesian League, in
response to the Delian
League.
Sparta and Athens went to
war and fought for 27 years.
◦ Athens became overcrowded
with people from the country
coming into the city for safety.
The number of people caused a
plague killing thousands and
Pericles.
◦ Sparta joined with Persian to
attack Athens

By the end of the war Athens
was no longer the most
powerful. However, after
time the economy did come
back and Athens continue to
be the cultural center of
Greece.
Section 4: The Glory That Was Greece

Philosophers: Lovers of
Wisdom
Socrates was an Athenian
stonemason and philosopher.
◦ Socrates would ask people a
number of questions and then
challenge them to examine
their answers.
◦ Many Athenians thought this
was threatening and put
Socrates on trial when he was
70 for corrupting young people
and not respecting the gods.
◦ He was found guilty and
sentenced to death. Socrates
then drank a cup of Hemlock,
poison.
Philosophers

Plato
◦ Knowledge of Socrates comes from him,
his most famous student
◦ Set up the Academy, a school where he
taught and wrote about rational thought.
◦ Most famous book was The Republic. He
distrusted democracy and thought the
state should handle all aspects of
citizen’s lives.

Aristotle
◦ Plato’s most famous student, also set up
a school, the Lyceum.
◦ His school focused on politics, ethics,
logic, biology, and more. The first
universities were based on Aristotle's
ideas.
◦ Golden Mean- good conduct and a
middle ground between the extremes.
Architecture and Literature

Architecture
focused on
perfect balance
and harmony.

Dramas
Tragedies
Comedies

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Section 5: Alexander and the Hellenistic Age
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Alexander was 20, when he took over for his assassinated father Phillip II.
Alexander wanted to conquer the Persian empire. The emperor, Darius III
was weak and there were rebellions often.
For 11 years, Alexander marched east conquering cities never losing a
battle. ,After being gone for so long, his troops wanted to turn back, he
died at 32 from a fever before ever making it back home.
The Legacy of Alexander
Even after his death, his legacy was
the Greek culture that reached all
parts of his empire.
 Many cities were named after him,
with many temples and statues as
citizens assimilated or absorbed
Greek ideas.
 The Hellenistic civilization is a
mixture of Greek, Persian,
Egyptian, and Indian culture.

Alexandria, Egypt was a cultural
captial with museums, a zoo, a
library and more focusing on
knowledge.
 Women were learning to read and
write, be philosophers and even
reign with power, Queen
Cleopatra VII is one example.

Hellenistic Arts and Sciences

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Pythagoras: A formula to calculate the
relationship of the sides of a right
triangle.
Astronomers had many ideas and
discussions about the Earth’s location,
axis, size, and shape.
Archimedes: Used physics to make
inventions and he mastered the lever
and pulley.
Hippocrates: A physician that studied
illnesses and worked to find cures. The
Hippocratic oath that doctors take
today, is similar to one that he swore to.