Download The Greeks

The Greeks
Minoans
• Around 2,000 B.C.E. the Minoan civilization
developed on the Mediterranean island of Crete
• They were influenced by the Egyptians and the
Phoenicians, but they were very different in many
ways
• At Knossos they build lavish palaces with
plumbing and drainage systems for their rulers –
these palaces indicate a very sophisticated
society
• We know a great deal about the Minoans from the
frescoes they painted
• They developed a style of writing called Linear A,
which uses symbols to form syllables.
• Gradually Crete became the center for
Mediterranean trade
• About 1700 B.C.E. an earthquake destroyed the
Minoan society
• The Cretans rebuilt their palaces, but their wealth
attracted foreign invaders
• By 11000 B.C.E. the Minoans had been taken over
by invaders
Mycenaean
• About 2,200 B.C.E. an Indo-European group of
nomads settled the Greek peninsula
• The Mycenaeans emerged in present day Greece
and transformed Linear A to Linear B.
• They expanded their influence and ventured
beyond Greece to Sicily, southern Italy, and Crete
• About 1,200 B.C.E. they became involved in a
struggle with the city of Troy in Anatolia
• This war was the source of Homer’s Iliad
• After 1,100 B.C.E. the Mycenaean civilization fell
into decline
• Between 1,100 and 800 B.C.E. is known as the
Dark Ages
Archaic Period 800 – 480 B.C.E.
• With no central authority the Greeks developed
independent city-states
• Unlike the Chinese or Persians the Greeks did not
develop a centralized state – they preferred poleis
• These poleis became the centers for population
and trade
• By the end of the dark Ages several had emerged
as large and powerful
• Most notably Athens and Sparta
Sparta
• Sparta, located in the Peloponnesus, used their
prisoners as helots, or slaves, and these slaves
soon outnumbered the Spartans.
• The helots were not chained but they were not
free either
• The role of the helot was to provide the
Spartans with a constant food supply
• Due to this, the Spartans were forced into a life
dictated by military stature to ensure their
power and minimize the chance of slave
revolts.
• The Spartans maintained a simple, austere
lifestyle
• They did not accumulate wealth, nor did the
women wear jewelry
• Success in Spartan society came from military
endeavors and heroism
• Boys left their families at seven to live in military
barracks
• At 20 they became soldiers and remained soldiers
until they retired
• At 30 they could leave the barrack and live with
their wife
Athens
• Both Athens and Sparta grew rapidly. However,
Athens was dominated by a government for the
people and was not driven by discipline and
sacrifice like the Spartans
• The political process was limited to a small
number of the people, making their democracy
very different than modern day democracies.
• Only a few adult males could participate in politics
and not all Athenians were citizens
• Gradually, to ease social problems more people
were allowed to participate
• Democracy– Demos (People) and Cracy (Rule)
• With a limited amount of farmland the Athenians
were forced to use the sea and establish colonies
• Athenians prospered because of trade which
made the wealthy even wealthier
• Gradually the aristocrats purchased all the small
plots of land
• Poor people who fell into debt could sell
themselves into slavery to pay off the debt
• With a growing population and increasing social
problems Athens was forced to address the
problems debt and land shortages
Solon
• Athens grew very rapidly, as did the gap between the
rich and poor.
• In response, Solon negotiated a compromise that
cancelled all debts of poor farmers and outlawed the
process of selling yourself into slavery, but he let the
aristocracy keep their land
• He also gave the lower class more political rights, setting
examples for future peoples
• He allowed any person with enough time the
opportunity to participate on the councils – in reality
only the wealthy had the spare time!
• Eventually commoners did receive payment for
participation in the government
Classical period 480 – 323 B.C.E.
• Solon’s reforms help move Athens towards a
democracy, but the greatest changes would be
made by Pericles
• Pericles was an aristocratic leader committed to
democratic ideals. He appointed hundreds of
ordinary people to government positions.
• He was the leader of Athens from 443 B.C.E. until
his death in 429 B.C.E.
• Under his leadership Athens flourished
Greek Expansion
• The Greeks grew rapidly and thus
branched out across the Mediterranean,
often staying close to the sea.
• They exchanged ideas on the coastal
waterways through trade.
• This had a huge effect on the rest of the
world as Greek ideologies and language
spread throughout the world.
The Persians
• The Persians had also created a large empire
in Anatolia and felt threatened by the Greeks.
• Darius, a Persian king, sent a force to
destroy the Greeks but was defeated at the
Battle of Marathon.
• His successor Xerxes also set out to destroy
Greece, but after he successfully burned
Athens he was defeated at the Battle of
Salamis.
The Delian League
• After the Persian War Athens was supreme
a) strong navy
b) democratic institutions
c) excellent cultural life
d) prosperous trade
• Sparta withdrew returned to isolationism
• Athens assume control of the Delian League
a) liberate Ionian cities
b) be prepared for war
• Athens supplied 200 ships
Others paid cash
• Other city-states that protested were
punished by Athens
• Pericles even used Delian League
money was used to build the Parthenon
in Athens
• The situation continued to get worse
until several of the poleis combined to
fight back
The Peloponnesian War
• The two powerful leaders were Athens and Sparta.
• The war started in 431 B.C.E. but neither side
could gain an advantage
• Athens controlled the seas and could continually
supply the city – Sparta controlled the land but
could not force the Athenians to fight
• Sparta lay siege to Athens and in 404 B.C.E. a
massive plague hit the city, the Athenians was
forced to surrender. However, the Spartans soon
realized that their government was not well suited
to oversee such a large area.
Philip of Macedonia
• Philip II rose to power in 359 B.C.E.,
building up the military to make himself the
undisputed king of the Macedonians.
• He was power hungry and soon attacked
the Greek city-states one by one. Slowly,
they fell and all of Greece was under the
control of Macedonia.
Alexander the Great
• After the assassination of Philip II, his son,
Alexander succeeded him as king.
• Alexander loved Greek culture and had been
tutored by Aristotle
• He soon amassed an empire from Macedonia to
the Himalayas in India, controlling Egypt, Greece,
and Persia.
• After taking his troops to India he was forced to
return when they mutinied and refused to go any
further
• In 323 B.C.E. Alexander died at the age of thirtythree
• He had created the greatest empire the world had
seen
Hellenistic Age 323 – 30 B.C.E.
• Alexander had spread Greek culture and influence
as far as India and opened the door to the
Hellenistic Age
• After his death the empire was divided into three
large states
• Antigonid – Greece and Macedonia
Ptolemaic – Egypt
Seleucid – the Persian empire
Greek Rationale Thought
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Thales - water was the source of all things
Empedocles - earth, air, water, fire
Democritus - atoms
Heraclitus - constant motion theory
Pythagoras - all things were mathematical
relationships
• Protagoras - “man is the measure of all
things”
• Movement away from the supernatural
•Hippocrates of Cos - Father of Medicine
stressed observation and experimentation
treated the symptoms
•Sophists - turned from the natural to the
human
itinerant teachers
lectured on rhetoric and composition
Socrates
• Socrates, a famous philosopher, employed the
Socratic method in which he asked his pupils
questions, making them think to gain the answer.
• Not a sophist - stonemason
• Basic views of western philosophy
• “The unexamined life is not worth living”
• Arrested for corrupting the youth and not
believing the gods
• Socrates believed in arete - excellence
• Socrates committed suicide by drinking hemlock
Plato
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Student of Socrates
Founded the academy
Disliked democracy
Wrote republic
“Good life”
Aristotle
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Student of Plato
Tutored Alexander the Great
Good man-good life
Moderation in all things
Wrote Politics - polis
Systemization of knowledge
Theories lasted until the 17th century
History
• Herodotus - Father of History, wrote
History of the Persian War
• Thucydides - more analytical and
honest
Greek Society
• Greek trade relied heavily on wine & olive
oil because these grew easily in areas with
little fertile soil in the mountains.
• The Olympic games, first held in 1896,
were a huge part of the culture, allowing
individuals to maintain their identity.
• Women were not really free
• They had to raise children and manage the
house
• Men spent their time at the gymnasium
• Divorces and marriages arranged by males
• Girls were not usually educated at the
Academy
• Boys also had two years of military service
• sound in mind and body
Religion
• The Greeks were polytheists
• Elements of nature were represented by gods
• Unlike the Egyptians the Greeks did not worry
about life after death
• Greek deities had human form and had to deal
with human emotions such as love
• The gods often fought each other in heavenly
battles
Slavery
• Slavery was very popular in Greek society.
• They were highly prized, especially those
with educated backgrounds.
• Though slaves were not considered
citizens, they could purchase their own
freedom and petition for citizenship.