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Early People of the Aegean
Minoans
• Island of Crete
• Height of Civilization
is 1600-1500 BC
• Based on trade not
conquest
• Trade with Egypt and
Mesopotamia
• 1400 BC they
disappear
Palace at Knossos
Mycenaeans
• 1400-1200 BC
• First Greek speaking
people we have
record of
• Sea traders; Sicily,
Egypt, Mesopotamia
• City-states on
mainland; warrior-king
• Trojan War 1250 BC
Dorian Greeks
• Attack from the north
• Mycenaean’s already
in decline
• 750 BC-Homer
• Illiad-gods,
goddesses, talking
horse, Trojan War,
and Achilles
• Odessey-Odysseus
going home to
Penelope
Geography of Greece
• Balkan Peninsula
• Mediterranean Sea
• Mountains divide land
into isolated valleys
• Rugged coastline
• Rocky islands
City-States
• Not a large empire;
small, isolated citystates
• Trade and make war
on each other
• Seas link them to
outside world
• Trade olive oil, wine
for grain, metals, and
ideas
Phoenician Alphabet
Polis
• Major city or town and
surrounding
countryside
• Small population
• Citizens had
rights/responsibilities
• Rights unequal; male
land holders have
power
• Monarchy,
aristocracy, oligarchy
Greek Unity
• Sparta-warrior
• Athens-democracy
• What holds them
together?
• Religion-polytheistic
• Mt. Olympus
• Zeus, the King of the
gods
Around the Mediterranean
• Trade brings contact
with people like the
Phoenicians and
Egyptians
• Greeks see these
people as barbarians
• Feel superior and
unique
Persian Wars
• 499 BC-Ionian
Greeks rebel against
Persian rule
• Athens sends ships to
help
• Persians crush
rebellion
• Darius wants to
punish Athens
Victory-Round One
• They land near
Marathon in 490 BC
• Athens asks for help
• Outnumbered, they
beat the Persians
This Is Sparta
• Darius dies
• 480 BC-his son
Xerxes sends a large
force
• Sparta agrees to help
Athens
• Thermopylae
• Persians march
south; burn Athens
• Warships sink Xerxes’
fleet
The Delian League
• Athens most powerful
city-state
• Start league as a
defensive alliance
• Athens dominates it
• Uses league money
to rebuild the city
• Uses force to keep
other members from
leaving
Golden Age
•
•
•
•
•
460-429 BC Athens
Pericles
Direct democracy
All citizens participate
Trial by jury
Peloponnesian War
• Sparta and Athens’
other enemies form a
counter to the Delian
League
• 431 BC Athens and
Sparta go to war
• Lasts 27 years
• Sparta wins; ends
Athens’ domination of
the Greek world
The Age of Philosophers
• Math; music; logic
• Reason and
observation
• Ethics and morality
• Sophists-success is
more important than
rhetoric
• There is no one truth
Nothing Exists.
If anything existed, it could not be
known.
If anything did exist, and could be
known, it could not be
communicated.
Gorgias of Leontini (483-378 BC)
Socrates
• Critic of the Sophists
• Socratic method:
Question everything
• Know thyself; only the
pursuit of good brings
happiness
• Seen as a threat to
values and tradition
• At 70 he’s put on trial
for corrupting youth
Plato
• Student of Socrates
• Rational thought and
ethical values
• Distrusts democracy;
rejects Athens’
version of it
• The Republic-ideal
state
• Workers; soldiers;
philosopher-king
Aristotle
• Plato’s student
• Logic; scientific
method
• The Golden Mean:
Everything in
moderation
• The Lyceum
History
• Herodotus-Father of
History; traveled the
world interviewing
people
• Wrote ‘The Persian
Wars’
• Thucydides
• Wrote ‘The
Peloponnesian War’
The Hellenistic Age
• 338 BC Athens falls
to Macedonian army;
other city-states
follow
• Phillip II 359 BC
unites the Greeks
• Wants to conquer
Persia
• Assassinated; son
Alexander takes over
Alexander the Great
• Takes Persia; moves
through Asia Minor,
Palestine, Egypt
• 331 BC-he takes
Babylon
• Crosses Hindu Kush
• At 32 he gets a fever
and dies
• Empire divided
Alexander’s Empire
Alexander in Persia
Alexander’s Legacy
• New cities-Alexandria
• Greek Temples
• Spreads Greek
culture
• New culture blends
Greek, Persian,
Egyptian, and Indian
elements-Hellenistic
The Lighthouse
at Alexandria