Download Early Greece and Beyond

Early Greece and Beyond
Be able to Know
 What are the most important contribution that
ancient Greece has given to the world and
what impact did it have on later civilizations?
 What are the main differences between
Athens and Sparta?
 What was the Hellenistic Age, how did it lead
to cultural diffusion and what advances were
produced as a result of it?
Greece
 physical geography:


located in the eastern Mediterranean
mainland and many islands
 Archipelago

A large group of islands
 Peninsula

A body of land surrounded by water on three sides.
Geographic Characteristics
 Greece is surrounded by the Aegean Sea and
the Ionian Sea.
Geographic Characteristics
 Greece has rough mountains, narrow valleys,
and no navigable rivers.
 The mountains and seas
divide Greece into many
small sections.
 It was difficult for people
to travel from one part of Greece to another.
This also helps to explain why early Greece was
divided into individual City-States
Minoans (c. 2500 – c. 1450 BC)
 on Crete and nearby islands
 Greece’s 1st civilization
 seafaring traders
 wealthy
 weakened by a massive volcano and later
earthquakes
Mycenaeans (c. 1600 – c. 1150 BC)
 Greece’s 1st mainland civilization
 glorified warfare
 overtook the Minoans as the dominant power
in the eastern Mediterranean
Mycenae
Reconstruction of Mycenae
Troy
 city in Asia Minor
 German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann
discovered ruins in the late 1800s
 site of the Trojan War
Troy VI from the North
In Search of the Trojan War, pp. 204
Trojan War (c. 1200 BC)
 war between Trojans
and mainland Greeks
during the Mycenaean
period.
 The Greeks tricked the
Trojan Army with the
Trojan Horse.
 The Greeks won the
war and burnt Troy to
the ground.
Homer (8th century BC)
 Greek poet
 blind (according to legend)
 composed the Iliad and the Odyssey
Iliad
 epic poem by Homer
 tells of a 50-day period in the 10th (final) year
of the Trojan War
 topic: the rage of Achilles
Odyssey
 epic poem by Homer
 topic: Odysseus’ 10-year journey home from
the Trojan War
Mythology
mythology
 ancient Greek religion
 collection of stories
about Greek gods and
heroes
 Greek gods are
human-like
 Reside on Mt.
Olympus
Greek Life
 Greece has a Mediterranean
climate, mild or temperate
temperatures.
 The Greek way of life was
primarily outdoors
 Men gathered at the agora,
or market to discuss politics,
theater, and civic and
religious celebrations.
 Taking a part in civic life
was both a duty and a virtue.
Greek Schools
The Greeks believed that educated people made good
citizens.
But only Greek men were allowed to be citizens.
Education in Greece was mainly for boys.
The Greek schools were private, and families had to pay
to have their sons attend school.
Boys attended school from age six to age fourteen.
They learned reading, writing, arithmetic, poetry, music,
and athletics.
If a boy’s family was rich, he continued his studies with a
private teacher and learned geometry, astronomy,
grammar, and public speaking.
After finishing these studies, a young Greek was ready
to become a useful and active citizen of his city-state.
Greek Government
 Greece is divided into many very
small nations, or city-states or
Polis.
 Each city-state was like a small
nation.
 It had its own king, laws, and
army of free citizens.
 The Greeks who lived in these
city-states thought of themselves
as citizens of their own city, not
as citizens of Greece.
Architecture
Greek
Columns
The Acropolis of Athens
GREEK PHILOSOPHY
philosophy
 the word means “love of wisdom”
 before philosophy, people appealed to the
gods for explanations
 based on the idea that the universe is logical
and understandable
 nearly all fields of study developed from
philosophy
Socrates (470-399 BC)
 Greek philosopher from
Athens
 considered one of the
most influential thinkers
in history
 famous for the Socratic
Method

ask questions and
pointed out flaws in the
answers
 left no writings
trial of Socrates (399 BC)
 Socrates was put on trial in Athens at age 70
 official charges:


corrupting the youth
neglecting the gods
 real motives:


scapegoat for Athens’ defeat in the
Peloponnesian War
important men of Athens did not like him
 found guilty and executed (Hemlock – poison)
Plato (428-347 BC)
 Greek philosopher from
Athens
 student of Socrates
 most
of what we
know about
Socrates and
many of the preSocratic
philosophers is
thanks to Plato
 founded the world’s 1st
university
 called
the
Academy
 wrote The Republic
The Academy (487 BC – AD 526)
The Republic
 Plato’s most important
book
 discusses the ideal
society:

rejects democracy as
the best form of
government
Aristotle (384-322 BC)
 Greek philosopher from Macedonia
 student of Plato (at the Academy)
 founded a university in Athens

called the Lyceum
 teacher of Alexander the Great
 taught that the way to find truth was through a combination of
the minds and the senses
Olympics
OLYMPIC GAMES
(776 B.C. to about 400 A.D.)
 Held every four years in honor of Zeus
 Cultural interaction between city-states
 Athletes came to Greece from all over to compete
at the Olympia.
 Games lasted five days, the pentathlon was the
supreme event (five events total: broad jump,
discus hurl, javelin throw, stadium sprint, and a
wrestling match.)
 Olive wreath for each winner
 Winners received odes; cash; pensions; statues;
triumphal processions at city-states
Drama
drama
 invented in Athens
 world’s first actor: Thespis
 two main categories:


tragedy
comedy
Drama
- Greek plays were presented in
large, outdoor theaters.
- The comedies were plays that
made fun of leading Greek citizens.
- The tragedies were plays that dealt
with serious matters, such as the
meaning of life and the struggle
between good and evil.
Athens
 Greek city-state
 gained wealth through trading olive oil
 birthplace of democracy
 center for the arts and philosophy
 powerful navy
democracy
 rule by the people directly or through representatives
 decisions made by voting
 invented in Athens
 only Citizens were allowed to participate
 Citizenship requirements were:
1. had to be male
2. both parents Athenian born
 Only about 10% of the population qualified for citizenship.
Direct Democracy
Citizens rule directly without representatives
Pericles (495-429 BC)
 greatest political leader of Athens during the “Golden
Age” (5th century BC)
 perhaps the greatest period of achievement in the
history of civilization
 promoted the arts and great building projects
 responsible for the construction of the Parthenon
 Pericles had three main goals:
to strengthen Athenian democracy
2. to build a commercial empire
3. to glorify Athens.
1.
Sparta
 Greek city-state
 Not all city-states became a democracy.
 Sparta was ruled by two kings and a Council
of noblemen.
 militaristic government
 powerful army
phalanx
 Greek military formation
 soldiers stood side-by-side holding shields
and spears
 enabled smaller Greek forces to defeat much
larger enemy forces
Phalanx
Hoplite
Athenian
Spartan
Persian Wars
Persian Empire (550-330 BC)
Persia
 powerful ancient empire
 invaded Greece in the early 5th century BC
 2 wars in early 5th century BC
 the Greek city-states united to stop the
invasion of the Persians
 the “Golden Age” of Greece began as a result
of the Greek victory over the Persians
Themistocles (c. 527 – 460 BC)
 Athenian general and political leader
 the person most responsible for the Greek
victory in the 2nd Persian War


prepared Athens by building a great navy
devised the strategy that brought victory at the
Battle of Salamis
BATTLE OF THERMOPYLAE(300)
 Thermopylae was narrow pass through mountains
Greeks hoped it would nullify Persian numerical
advantage
 7000 men held pass commanded by King Leonidas of
Sparta
 Persians could not make any headway against Greeks for
several days
 Greek traitor led Persians around pass and they came in
behind Greeks
 Eventually wiped out by Persians
 Heroic Battle

BATTLE OF SALAMIS
 Athens evacuated
population to nearby
seaside fort of Salamis
 Persians hesitated to
attack because Bay of
Salamis was full of
Athenian ships
 Athenians tricked
Persians into entering
bay with their navy
 Smaller, more
maneuverable
Athenian ships then
destroyed Persian fleet
PROBLEMS AMONG THE GREEKS
 Sparta should have led an
alliance designed to protect
Greece
 But
this did not
happen
Persians still a Threat
 Naval power required
to handle this threat
 Athens therefore became the
head of new Greek alliance
Known as Delian League

Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC)
 27-year war between Athens and Sparta
 Athens was weakened by a plague
 Sparta eventually won
 Athens was no longer the dominant city-state
history
 the Greeks were the first to write history
 world’s first historians:


Herodotus (484–c. 425 BC)
 considered the father of history
 wrote the history of the Persian
Wars
Thucydides (c. 460–c. 400 BC)
 wrote the history of the
Peloponnesian War
Greek Conquest
Philip (382-336 BC)
 king of Macedonia
 conquered Greece
in the 4th century
BC
 father of Alexander
the Great
Alexander the Great (356-323 BC)
 son of Philip of Macedonia
 taught by Aristotle
 conquered the largest empire in
history (up to that time)
 many consider him
the greatest general
in history
 spread Greek culture
throughout his
empire(Cultural
Diffusion)
 died at age 32
Hellenistic
Hellenistic period
 The Hellenistic age is the period between
the death of Alexander the Great and the
rise of the Roman Empire under Augustus
 improvements in areas of science and art.
 arts: sculptures became more realistic
 philosophy became accessible to a much
wider audience than it had previously
been.
Hippocrates (c. 460–c. 370)
 Greek physician
from Athens
 considered the
father of medicine
 his basic statement
on medical ethics,
the Hippocratic
Oath, is still used
today
Euclid (c. 287-212 BC)
 Greek
mathematician who
lived in Alexandria,
Egypt
 considered the
father of geometry
Archimedes (c. 325–c. 265 BC)
 Greek mathematician,
physicist, and engineer
from Sicily
 some consider him to
be the most influential
mathematician in history
Ptolemy (c. AD 90–c. 168)
 Greek astronomer
who lived in
Alexandria, Egypt
 believed in a
geocentric (earthcentered) universe
 his view of the
universe was
accepted for over
1000 years
Pythagoras
 philosopher and mathematician
 In geometry the great discovery was the
Pythagorean theorem.
a² + b² = c²
Greek contributions on later peoples
Architecture
Art
Democracy
Drama
History
Literature
Mathematics
Pythagorean
Theorem:
a² + b² = c²
Mythology
Olympics
Philosophy
Science