Download Chapter 4 Section 1 The Early Greeks

Chapter 4
The Early Greeks
Section 1
By
Deborah Thompson
Main Idea: The Geography of
Greece influenced where
people settled and what they
did.
It is surrounded by the
Ionian Sea to the west,
the Mediterranean Sea
to the south, and the
Aegean Sea to the east
Greece is a
Mountainous land
Framed by sparkling
Blue water.
The
Geography
Of
Greece
Greece is made up of
many rocky islands
which stretch across
the Mediterranean Sea
to Asia
The Greek mainland
makes up a peninsula
or a body of land with
water on three sides
Many ancient
Greeks
made a living from
the sea and became
fishers, sailors, and
traders.
Others settled in
farming communities
Although Greece’s rocky soil was not ideal
for growing crops, in some places people
could grow wheat, barley, olives, and
grapes. They also raised sheep and goats.
The Greek islands were divided by
mountains and seas
and the early Greek communities
grew fiercely
independent of one another.
• Main Idea:
The Minoans
earned their
living
by building ships
and trading.
The Minoans were
not Greeks, but
their civilization was the first
to arise in the region that
later became Greece.
The Minoans lived on the island of Crete which
lies southeast of the Greek mainland.
In 1990, Arthur Evans uncovered the ruins of the
palace at Knossos which had been the center of
Minoan civilization.
The palace at Knossos revealed the riches
of an ancient society.
It contained
1.
Storerooms packed
with oil, wine, and
grain
2.
Private
quarters
for the royal
family
3.
Twisting
passageways
5.
Workshops
for
making jewelry,
vases, and
small ivory
statues
4.
Bathrooms
Minoan Fresco at the Palace of Knossos
http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~tjmoore/myth.html.
The bull was a
symbol of power,
strength, and
virility for the
ancient Minoans.
Minoans made their wealth from trade.
Carried goods as
Far away as
Egypt and
Syria
Built ships from
Oak and
Cedar trees
Traded pottery
and
Stone vases for
Ivory and
metals
Controlled the
eastern
Mediterranean
Sea by
2000 B.C.
Kept the sea free
Of
pirates
Minoans created and traded pottery, leather, bronze armor, and
metal jewelry. They also enjoyed sports such as boxing and bull
leaping.
http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~tjmoore/Myth3web/05atheseusmincan.jpg
About 1450 B.C., the
Minoan civilization
suddenly collapsed!!
Why! Why! Why!
Possible reasons
Undersea
earthquakes
Tsunami waves
Mycenaean invaders
from mainland
Greece
RUN
FOR
YOUR
LIFE!!
The fall of Minoan civilization is described in the legendary
fight of Theseus, a young Greek prince and the Minotaur.
Relief Sculpture of Theseus and defeated Minotaur
http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~tjmoore/Myth3web/05atheseusmincan.jpg
Main Idea: Mycenaeans built the
first Greek kingdoms and spread
their power across the
Mediterranean region.
 Originally from central Asia, the Mycenaeans
invaded the Greek mainland around 1900 B.C. and
conquered the people living there.
Mycenaean leaders became the first Greek kings.
The ruins of a walled palace in Mycenae were found
in the 1800’s by Heinrich Schliemann who named
their civilization the Mycenaeans.
Contained a fortified
palace on a hill at the
center which was the
home of the ruler
Palace was
surrounded
Large farms,
or estates,
outside the palace
walls that belonged
to the nobles
by giant stone walls
Slaves and farmers
lived on the
estates
Everyone took shelter
inside the fortress
In times of danger
1. Tanned leather
2. Sewed clothes
3. Made jars for wine and
olive oil
4. Made bronze swords
and ox-hide shields
1. Kept track of the
wealth of every person
2. Collected wheat,
livestock, and honey
as taxes and stored
them in the palace
Minoan traders visited the Mycenaean kingdoms
and set up trade.
Mycenaeans learned much about Minoan culture
and copied many Minoan ways such as:
1.
Bronze
making
2.
Ship
Building
3.
Using the sun
and stars to
find their
way at sea
4.
Worship of
the Earth
mother
goddess
By 1400 B.C., Minoan civilization declined and the
Mycenaeans replaced them as the major military
and trading power on the Mediterranean Sea.
The Mycenaeans conquered Crete and many
other Greek island kingdoms.
Their most famous victory was the Trojan War led
by their legendary king, Agamemnon.
• Civil wars broke
out following
Trojan War
• Dorians conquered
Mycenaeans
• Aegean world
began era of
“wandering and
killing”
• Independent
communities
Layered view of nine major settlements of Troy
developed
http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~tjmoore/myth4web/05troygold.jpg
by Christopher Haussner based on archaeological
excavation.
By 1200 B.C., the Mycenaean civilization
Collapsed.
Why?
1200 B.C.
THE GREEK DAILY NEWS
____________________________
BAD NEWS FOR MYCENAE
Collapse to take place
Due to:
1. Earthquakes
2. Fighting among the
Greek kingdoms
Between the years of 1100 B.C. and 750 B.C.,
there was a period of instability and very
little progress called a “dark age”.
WHAT
Happened
1.
Overseas trade
slowed and
poverty took
hold.
2.
Farmers grew
very little
Food.
3.
People stopped
teaching others
how to write
or do
craftwork.
4.
Many forgot
their written
language.
One positive result of the Dark Age was a
population shift
Many Greeks left the mainland and settled on
Islands in the Aegean Sea or moved to the
Western shores of Asia Minor in what
Is called Turkey today.
Dorians
Eventually, a group of
Greek speaking people from
the north known as the
Dorians, moved south and
settled in the
Peloponnesus
The Dorians brought iron
weapons and
farm tools that were
stronger and cheaper than the
bronze used by other
Greeks
With this new technology, people began to farm again and
produce surplus food which helped revive trade.
Phoenicians
Increased trade led the Greeks
to pick up a new way of
writing from the Phoenicians,
who lived on the eastern
Mediterranean
The new Greek alphabet had 24
letters that made reading and
writing much simpler and led to
people writing down tales that
had been passed down by
storytellers for generations.
Colonies and trade spread Greek
Culture and spurred industry
700
B.C.
After the Dark Age, the population of
Greece rose quickly and farmers couldn’t
grow enough food for the people. Cities
sent people to create new colonies.
By
550
B.C.
Between 750 B.C. and 550 B.C., Greeks
created a huge trading network that included
the coasts of Italy, France, Spain, North Africa,
and western Asia. Greek culture spread.
Colonists traded with their “parent” cities
exchanging:
Colonists
sent
grains,
metals, fish,
timber, and
enslaved
people to
Greece
Mainland
Greece sent
pottery, wine,
and
olive oil to the
colonies
In the 600’s B.C., the
Greeks began to mint
coins and
merchants began
exchanging goods
for money
rather than
other goods
The growth of trade
led to the growth
of industry as the
demand for goods
grew and people
began
specializing in
making certain
products
The idea of citizenship developed in
Greek City-states.
By the end of the Dark Age, many nobles had
Overthrown the Greek kings and created
City-states which included the town or city
And the surrounded countryside.
A Greek city-state known as a
polis was like a tiny independent
country.
The main gathering place in the
polis was the top of a hill or
fortified area called an acropolis.
The Acropolis was:
1. A safe refuge in case of attacks
2. A religious center with temples and altars to honor
The many Greek gods and goddesses
Below the acropolis was an open space
called an Agora which served as:
1. A market
2. A place where
people
could meet and
debate issues
Athens had nearly 300,000 people by 500 B.C.
City-states varied in size and population
Each city-state was run by it’s citizens or members
of a political community who treated each other
as equals and who had rights and responsibilities.
Greeks were the first people to develop the
idea of citizenship
In most Greek
city-states, only
free native-born
men who owned
land could
be citizens
They believed
that the city-state
was made up of
their lands and it
was their
responsibility
to run it
Some city-states, like Athens, eventually
dropped the land-owning requirement
for citizenship
Women and children might qualify for
citizenship but had none of the rights
that went with it
Developed idea of Democracy
A government where the people have the right to
make decisions about leaders and laws
Greek word meaning
“power of the people”
Athens developed the
first democracy
The U.S. government is based
on Athenian democracy.
Next Slide
1. Had the
Right to
vote
3. Could
gather in the
agora to
choose their
officials and
pass laws
2. Could
Hold office
4. Could
own
property
3. To fight
for their
polis as
citizen
soldiers
1. To Serve
in
government
2. To attend
assembly
meetings and
vote on
issues
Democracy in Athens
Athens had the first democratic
constitution (a set of rules for how the
government should run)
All men over 20 years old could
participate in the Assembly (the
lawmaking group)
Each year 500 names of citizens were
drawn to be on the Council of Five
Hundred who ran the daily business of
Athens
As the idea of citizenship
developed, the city-states had begun to
to depend on armies of ordinary
citizens called hoplites
1.
Could not afford
horses and
fought on foot
2.
Went into battle
heavily armed
with a round shield, a
short sword, and
a 9 foot spear
HOPLITES
3.
marched forward
into battle in rows
shoulder to
shoulder
4.
Used their shields to
create a
protective wall
A Greek foot soldier was called a
hoplite. He wore a linen shirt with
metal armour plates on the shoulders.
A bronze breastplate covered his
chest and stomach, and greaves (shin
guards) covered his legs. He wore a
bronze helmet with a tall crest on his
head. The hoplite carried a shield and
a spear. Around his waist was a belt
with a short sword. Hoplites fought in
close formation. Greek soldiers had to
pay for their own armour and
weapons. If you could not afford to
buy armour and weapons you could still
serve in the army as a stone-thrower
or archer.
http://www.gridclub.com
http://www.educate.org.uk/
The soldiers wore
breastplates,
helmets, and greaves
to protect their legs.
Their shields were
carefully packed away
until needed. This
vase painting shows a
boy bringing a shield
in ready for use while
another helps a
soldier with his
greaves.
http://www.gridclub.com
• New form of warfare
– Units of armed infantry working
together as a block
– Replaced old dependence on the
military chieftain
– Security of community no longer
depended on power and skill of a
chieftain but on the massed
strength of the hoplites
• What counted now was the
willingness of citizens to
cooperate together in battle
for the greater good of their
city
– Numbers and community
spirit became more
important than individual
bravado
Why were the
hoplites good
soldiers?
Because
they took pride in
fighting for their
city-states
How did the
hoplites loyalty
to their city-state
affect Greece?
“Hometown” loyalties
divided the Greeks and caused
them to distrust one another,
which led to a lack of
unity