Download The Ancient Greeks

The Ancient Greeks
The Geography
• A Mountainous
peninsula
sticking out
into the
Mediterranean
Sea
Geography
• Much of Greece is small plains and river
valleys separated by mountains
• This kept Greek city-states isolated from
each other
• Each city-state develop independent of
other city-states
• Close proximity to the sea made the
Greeks a sea fairing people
The Bronze Age
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Began around 2800 B.C.
Located on the island of Crete
The civilization was called the Minoans
They were not Greek but they influenced the
Greeks
Bronze Age
• Arthur Evans discovered the ancient city of
Knossos and named the civilization after
the cities legendary King Minos
• The city was a huge complex showing a
rich sea going culture involved in trade
Minoan Civilization
• Arthur Evans
discovers hundreds
of tablets with an
ancient form of what
looks like Greek
• He named this form
linear A
Minoan Civilization
Minoan Civilization
Minoan Civilization
• Much of the city was decorated with
frescos and murals
Minoan Civilization
Minoan Civilization
We know that the Minions worshipped the Bull
Minions
• The legend of the
Minotaur
• Statue of Theseus
killing the monster
Minoan Civilization
• Somewhere around 1450 BC the Minion
culture suffered a sudden collapse
• Some archeologist say it was the result of
a massive volcanic eruption, earthquake
or a tidal wave.
• Some believe is was from an invasion
from the sea possible a group of early
Greeks called the Mycenaeans
Mycenaeans
• For centuries the Mycenaeans were
thought only to be a legend
• The only knowledge we have about them
was from a Greek epic poem written by a
poet named Homer
• The name of the poem was the Iliad
Agamemnon’s
death Mask
The Lion’s
gate, the
entrance to
the ancient
city of
Mycenae
Mycenaeans
• We originally know about this culture from
Homer’s poem the Iliad
• The poem describes how the king of Mycenae,
Agamemnon led the Greeks to attack the city of
Troy in Asia Minor
• The wife of Agamemnon’s brother had been
seduced and taken away by the Prince of Troy,
Paris
• By using the Trojan Horse the Greeks were able
to sneak into the city and destroy the city
Paris and the Golden
Apple
The End of The Mycenaeans
• By 1300 BC constant warring between the
city-states weaken Greece
• BY 1100 BC a new wave of Greek
speaking people invaded from the North
and the Mycenaeans culture collapsed
Greek Dark Ages
• 1100 BC to 700 BC is called the Greek
Dark Ages
• Much of what the Greeks learned was lost
• Two major city-states dominated this
period Athens and Sparta
• Those Greeks that settled in the area
around Athens were called Ionians
• Those who settled around Sparta were
called Dorians
Greek Dark Ages
• As Athens population increased they
needed to reduce pressure on the city by
colonizing
• The Ionians from Athens set up city-states
along the coast of Asia Minor
• These city-states were possessions of
Athens
Greek Dark Ages
• During the later part of the Dark Ages, the
Greeks adopted a new system of writing
• It was called Linear B and goes on to
become modern Greek
• The Greek Dark ages start to end
somewhere around 750 BC when Homer
wrote his two epic poems the Iliad and the
Odyssey
The Epic Poems
• These tales are about the period before
the Greek Dark Ages
• These tales provide the heroes and the
role models for latter Greeks
• They also portray the Gods with very
humans qualities
The Greek City-State
• Referred to as a polis
• Usually build on a hill
• A fortified building or temple called an
acropolis is built on the hill
• Just below the acropolis is the market area
called the agora
• The agora is where people in the polis
meet
Greek Military
• The Greeks
developed
the concept
of a heavily
arm foot
soldier called
a hoplite
Greek Military
• Greeks fought in
a formation
called a phalanx
The Greek Dark Ages
• Mycenae collapsed somewhere around
1100 BC
• Greece began a decline in technology
• Many Greeks fled to the cities
• As the city became over populated they
started founding colonies
The Greek Dark Ages
• A group called the Dorians invade the
Peloponnesus
• They were a warrior like people and
conquered the Greeks already living there
The Greek Dark Ages
• By 750 BC the Greeks started coming out
of their dark age
• Developed a new writing style call Linear
B
• Based their alphabet on the Phoenician
Alphabet
• Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey
The Hellenic Greeks
• Greek polis started to expand after 750 BC
• Each polis develop its’ own concept of
Government
• Two Rival cities developed Athens and
Sparta
Sparta
• Conquered their neighboring Greeks the
Laconians (helots)
• Warrior group
• Boys were raised to be soldiers
• Set up an oligarchy
• Sparta had two kings
• A group of 5 men called ephors were
elected from the population
• Council of elders decide political issues
Athens
• Athens was ruled by a king in the beginning
• End of the 7th Century many Athenian
farmers fell into debt and were sold into
slavery
• Civil war looked like a possibility until a
series of reformers changed Athens
Athenian Reformers
• Dracos 621 BC He writes down the laws of
Athens on three panels shaped like a pyramid.
This made all of Athens’ laws available to all
people
• Solon 594 BC Cancelled all debts and freed the
poor people who had been sold into slavery
• Peisistratus 560 BC Expanded Athens trade
through the Mediterranean and took land from
the aristocrats and gave it to the poor
Athenian Reformers
• Cleisthenes 510 BC Created the
council of 500 and elected assembly
that made laws over saw the running of
the Athenian government
The Persian War
• By the 6th century BC all the Greek citystates in Asia Minor had been conquered
by the Persians
• Several tried to revolt and Athens tried to
assist those city states
• The revolt failed but Persian was not
happen about the Athenian interference
• Darius decided to teach the Athenians a
lesson
Persian War
• Darius launches an attack at Athens in
490 BC
• The Persian army lands at the plain of
Marathon on the Greek coast
• The Athenians did not march directly into
battle and the Persians returned to their
ships
• While boarding their ships the Athenians
attacked destroying the Persian army
Persian War
• Pheidippides ran
all the way from
Marathon back to
Athens (26 miles)
to announce the
Athenian victory
• As he ran into the
city he yell “Nike”
(victory) and then
collapsed dead
Persian War Round 2
• Darius dies in 486
BC
• His son Xerxes is
plans to revenge his
father’s defeat
• He planned on using
a major land and
naval force
Persian War Round 2
• Under the
leadership of
Themistocles,
Athens had
developed a huge
navy
• The Athenian navy
consisted of over
200 war ships
called trimerenes
Persian War Round 2
Persian War Round 2
• Xerxes invaded the Greece with a force of
over 180,000
• Greeks need time to organize
• The Greeks will try to delay the Persians
at a narrow pass call Thermopylae
Battle of Thermopylae
• An are of 7000 Greeks
from the various city
states will hold the
Persian off for 2 day
• After two day all the
Greeks worries about their
city-states and left to
protect their polis’
• 300 hundred Spartans
remained to cover the
retreat of the other Greeks
and delay the Persians
further
Battle of Thermopylae
• The Spartans
held until a
traitor showed
the Persians a
secret pass
called the west
gate
Persian War Round 2
• With the defeat at Thermopylae, Greece
was open to the Persian invasion
• Themosticles started to prepare Athens for
a defense
• During the night Themosticles had a
dream that Athena told him to surround his
city with a wall of wood
Persian War Round 2
• Themistocles reasoned that he need to
evacuate his city to their ships
• He orders the city abandoned and the
entire city Athens retreated to their navy
• Xerxes arrived at Athens and found a
deserted city. His army plunders and
destroyed Athens
The Battle of Salamis
• Themosticles decided to engage the
Persian navy
• He hid the Athenian trimerenes behind the
island of Salamis
• That night he sent a message taunting
Xerxes
• Xerxes decides to charge into the straits
the next day to attack the Greek fleet
Battle of Salamis
• Xerxes navy came rushing into the
narrows and could not maneuver
• The Athenian ships flanked the Persians
and by the end of the day the ENTIRE
Persian fleet had been destroyed
Persian War Round 2
• Without his navy Xerxes could not support
his army
• He started to retreat northward out of
Greece
• The Greeks emboldened by the victory
formed a HUGE army and pursued the
Persians
Battle of Plataea
• The Persians retreated to a place
northeast of the Greek city of Plataea
• The Greeks pursued and the Persians in
camp
• The Persian commander thought that he
could easily beat the Greeks
• He left most of his best troops (heavily
armored) in camp
Battle of Plataea
• The Greek line broke apart as the
advanced.
• Thinking the Greeks were preparing for a
retreat, the Persian general ordered and
all out attack
• While 5 groups of Greeks defeated the
light armored Persians in the field 3 other
groups attacked the Persian Camp
Battle of Plataea
• Not expecting the attack the Persians in
camp were quickly slaughtered and the
supplies capture and the camp burned
• The Persian army was destroyed and the
Greeks have won the second Persian war
Now What????
• The Greeks have been attack twice by the
Persians. Could it happen again???
• The Persian war forced the Greeks to
unite to fight a common enemy. Could
they remained united????
• Who is going to lead the Greeks