Download Classical Greece 477

477431 BC
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Very popular political leader
In power 461-429 BC
3 goals
◦ Strengthen Athenian democracy
◦ Hold and strengthen empire
◦ Glorify Athens
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Before politicians were not paid
◦ This only allowed wealthy Athenians to hold
political positions
◦ WHY?
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Now those elected or chosen by lot were paid
◦ What were the results of this?
◦ More citizens engaged in the government than any
other city-state in Greece
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form of government in
which citizens rule directly and
not through representatives
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Male citizens serving in the assembly
established all important policies that
affected the polis
◦ Is this truly a 100% Direct Democracy?
R I M A RY SO U R C E
 Our constitution is called a democracy because
power is in the hands not of a minority but of
the whole people. When it is a question of
settling private disputes, everyone is equal
before the law; when it is a question of putting
one person before another in positions of
public responsibility, what counts is not
membership in a particular class, but the actual
ability which the man possesses. No one, so
long as he has it in him to be of service to the
state, is kept in political obscurity because of
poverty. PERICLES,
“The Funeral Oration,”
from Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War
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 How
is this different from the
United States’ form of democracy?
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(page 135)
◦ How accurate do you consider
Pericles’ statement that Athenian
democracy was in the hands of
“the whole people”?
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How would this help to ensure the safety of
the empire?
◦ Protect coastline
◦ Protect merchant vessels
◦ Control the important waterways
Architecture and art thrive during
Pericles’ reign
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Greatest architectural achievement during the
Golden Age
◦ Used a style that was over 200 years old, however,
it spread this style throughout the world
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Values of harmony, order, balance, and proportion
◦ Faces of statues showed neither joy nor anger
◦ Tried to capture the grace of the idealized human body
in motion
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Theatrical productions in Athens were both
an expression of civic pride and a tribute to
the gods
Wealthy citizens bore the cost of producing
the plays
What types of modern entertainment can you
think of that serve the purpose of Athenian
drama’s?
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Tragedy- a serious drama about common
themes such as love, hate, war, or betrayal
◦ A play dealing with tragic events and having an
unhappy ending, especially one concerning the
downfall of the main character.
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Comedy- a drama of light and amusing
character and typically with a happy ending
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Many of these plays made fun of political
issues and respected people of the day
What does this tell us about Athenian culture?
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No written record during the Dorian period
◦ Homer’s epics
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Thucydides- Athenian historian
◦ Belief that certain types of events and political
situations recur over time
◦ Studying these events will help understand the present
◦ Why do you think we study history?
Greek Drama
Activity
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Both city-states were trying to assert their
dominance in the region
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Many thought war was inevitable
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Sparta declares war in 431 BC
◦ Athens; stronger navy, Sparta; stronger army
 What geographical features lead to these two diff.
strengths?
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Spartans invade Athenian territory
◦ Besiege the city
◦ Athens can still get supplies from the sea
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Disaster strikes Athens
◦ 430 BC a plague breaks out in the city
 About 1/3 of people killed
 Pericles dies
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421 BC truce signed
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415 BC Athens sends 20,000 men to attack the
city-state of Syracuse in Sicily
◦ Sparta’s wealthiest ally
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413 BC crushing defeat for the Athenians
Athens defends against 9 years of Spartan
attacks
◦ 404 BC Athens finally surrenders
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Losing the Peloponnesian War did not doom
democracy in the Mediterranean, Spartan
Authoritarianism did not take over. What can
you conclude about democracy from this?
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Consequences of losing the Peloponnesian
War
◦ Athenians begin to lose confidence in Democracy
◦ Question values and beliefs
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Sophists emerge
◦ Question peoples unexamined beliefs and ideas
about justice and other traditional values
◦ Protagoras: questioned existence of the gods
 No universal standard for truth
 “Man [the individual] is the measure of all things”
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Critic of the Sophists
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Absolute standards did exist for truth and justice
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Encouraged Greeks to question themselves and
their moral character
In 399 BC he was sentenced to death for
“corrupting the youth of Athens”
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Socrates’ student
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Socrates did not record his philosophies
◦ After his death Plato began to record his teachers
ideas
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Wrote The Republic
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Describes the perfectly governed society
◦ NOT a democracy
◦ All citizens fall naturally into three groups:
 Farmers and artisans
 Warriors
 The ruling class
 Philosopher-king
 The person with the greatest insight
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Questioned the nature of the world, human
belief, thought and knowledge
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Arguing based on the rules of logic
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Created the basis for the scientific method
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Alexander the Great was one of his students
There
is only one good,
intelligence, and one
evil, ignorance
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Peloponnesian War severely weakened many Greek
city-states
Macedonian King, Philip II took advantage of the
weakened city-states
◦ Unify Greece and then conquer Persia
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Kingdom North of Greece
◦ Similar terrain to Greece but the climate
was much colder
◦ Lived in small mountain villages rather
than city-states
◦ Nobles thought of themselves as Greeks
 Greeks did not see them as such, they
looked down on them
 Their culture was not as “sophisticated”
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359 BC becomes king of Macedonia
 Read
142
Philip’s Army on page
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Demosthenes tries to warn of invasion
338 BC Athens and Thebes finally joined
forces
To little to late
◦ Battle of Chaeronea Greeks defeated
◦ Ended independent Greece for centuries
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Philip II is killed at his daughters wedding
◦ Former guardsman
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336 BC
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Son of Philip II
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Declares himself king immediately after death
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20 years old
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Student of Aristotle
 Aristotle
taught science,
geography, and literature
◦ Especially liked Homer’s epics
 Extensive
military training
◦ Ride a horse, command, hand to hand combat
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City-state of Thebes rebels
Completely destroys the city
◦ 6,000 Thebians killed
◦ All other Greek city-states quickly fell in line
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334 BC takes 35,000 soldiers to Anatolia
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Persians counter with 40,000 troops
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Met at the Granicus River
◦ Alexander attacks first and crushes the Persian
defenses
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Persian king raises an army of 50,00075,000
Alexander was outnumbered
◦ Sent best troops to attack Darius directly
◦ He flees in panic and his army follows
◦ How is this different from a modern battle field?
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Read Conquering the Persian Empire (pg.
143)
◦ Identify the following important concepts
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Egypt
Alexandria
Darius raises yet another army
Gaugamela
Which cities did he conquer?
Persepolis
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Determined to rid the world of Darius
Alexander pursued him across the Persian
empire
◦ Darius died but Alexander continued East
◦ Pushing through desert wastes and mountains
Alexander reached Central Asia
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Finally after 11 years on campaign
Alexander's army was exhausted
◦ They had marched 11,000 miles
◦ Decides to head back to Greece
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326 BC reaches the Indus River
◦ Defeated massive Indian army at the Hydaspes River
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323 while in Babylon Alexander dies of a
fever
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Three generals struggle for control
◦ Antigonus, Ptolemy, Seleucus
 Antigonus eventually takes the Greek citystates
 Ptolemy seizes Egypt
 Seleucus gains the old Persian empire
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These three Generals ruled with absolute
authority
Democracy was temporarily gone from the
Mediterranean