Ancient Greece

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Ancient Greece
Unit 5
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The Environment

• CLIMATE
• Mild climate
• Warm and Dry Summers
• Heavy rain during winter months
• Mountain areas snow.

• SEA
• Water. Water. Water.
• Aegean Sea
• Ionian Sea
• Mediterranean Sea
• Sea of Crete

• MOUNTAINS
• Small mountainous peninsula about the size of
  Louisiana
• Mountains isolated Greek communities

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Aegospotami
Mt. Olympus ?
Troy
Aegean Sea
Ionian Sea
Athens
Sparta
Sea of Crete
Crete
Mediterranean Sea
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First Greek City-StateMycenae
ARETE

• Early Government
• Monarchy
• Monarchs lived within fortified palace centers
• People
• Warrior people
• Major Leader
• King Agamemnon

• Early Writings
• Epic Poems
• Long poem telling the deeds of a great hero.
• The Iliad
• The story of Agamemnon possibly sacking the city
  of Troy
• The Odyssey
• Struggle of husbands journey
• Works by Homer

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Early Mycenaean Social Classes
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The Dark Ages in Greece1100 750 B.C.

• WHY DARK AGE?
• Declining population
• Declining food production
• Many left mainland and sailed to coastal regions

• IS IT REALLY
• A DARK AGE?
• Iron came to use
• Adopted Phoenician alphabet

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The Greek Polis The Basics750 500 B.C.

• Polis- a town or city in Greece
• Central meeting point in polis was called an
  acropolis
• Acropolis- the upper fortified part of the city.
• Below the acropolis was the agora.
• Agora- open place that usually served as the
  market.

• People in the Polis
• Adult males (had political rights)
• Women and Children (No political rights)
• Slaves and outsiders lived within the polis but
  werent considered citizens

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Athens, Greece
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Military in Greece

• Hoplites- heavily armed foot soldiers who carried
  round shields, a short sword, and a spear.
• Phalanx- the rectangular formation created by the
  hoplites
• Trireme- Naval vessels with tremendous speed used
  for ramming other ships.
• Ballista- Device shooting
• Projectiles-Crossbows etc.
• Greek Fire- Flame throwing
• Device usually used on boats
• Biological warfare-
• Sulfer dioxide gas

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Military Pictures
Hoplite
Phalanx
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Colonization and Tyranny

• Tyranny
• The newly rich wanted to have more political
  power but couldnt.
• This group became tyrants
• Tyrants seized power and used their wealth to
  maintain it.
• The tyranny didnt last, but left a major impact
  on Greece.
• It opened the door for more people to be involved
  in government

• Colonization
• Many Greeks sought better farmland and avenues of
  trade.
• While away, new colonies traded with mainland
  Greece.
• The expansion of trade created a new rich and
  powerful group of individuals.

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Early Athens

• Early Governments
• Monarchy ? Oligarchy ? Democracy
• Oligarchy was led by a council
• The council members were called archons.
• Learning from Mistakes
• Sharecropping system
• Leads to never-ending cycle of debt
• Leads to Revolt
• Greek leader, Solon, clears land debt, but didnt
  take away land from aristocratsBIG PROBLEM

• New leader, Pisistratus took away land from the
  rich. What happened?
• REVOLT by aristocrats
• Inequalities are recognized by new leader,
  Cleisthenes.
• His idea was to create a council of 500 to have
  equal representation of the people. What does
  this sound like?
• Cleisthenes had created the early foundation of
  democracy

EARLY ATHENIAN LEADERS
1)Solon Clears land debt for helot 2)
Pisistratus Takes land from R-N 3) Cleisthenes -
Democracy
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Adult AthensThe Age of Pericles
? Courtesy of Michael Chan ?

• The Feud with Persia (Darius-Xerxes)
• The creation of the Delian League (Resemblance?)
• City-states were forced to pay tribute
• Greek Empire is formed
• Democracy flourished under Pericles.
• Bad politicians No problem Ostracizeem
• If a politician received a large number of votes,
  he could be banned from the city up to ten years!

• With the Persian threat in the Aegean subsided,
  many of the city states wanted to withdraw from
  the League.
• Since Athens controlled the Delian League, money
  went to the rebuilding of Athens
• Athens became, in short, The Powerhouse of
  Greece
• This created jealousy between two of the major
  city states, Athens, and its rival, Sparta.

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Athens and Sparta

• ATHENS
• Democracy (Rule by many)
• symbolized the desire of freedom
• SPARTA
• Oligarchy (Rule by few)
• symbolized the desire of order

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SPARTA

• Strong military city-state
• Numerous territories as colonies.
• Used the conquered as helots (peasant-slave work
  force)
• Boys were taken from their mothers to serve in
  the military

• Come home carrying your shield or be carried on
  it
• Government was run by two kings and five ephors.
• The Ephorate were elected individuals who were
  responsible for education.

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SPARTANuggets

• When babies were born in ancient Sparta, Spartan
  soldiers would come by the house and check the
  babyIf the baby did not appear healthy and
  strong, the infant was taken away, and left to
  die on a hillside, or taken away to be trained as
  a slave (a helot).
• At age 18, if a Sparta girl passed her skills and
  fitness test, she would be assigned a husband and
  allowed to return home. If she failed, she would
  lose her rights as a citizen
• In Sparta, citizen women were free to move
  around, and enjoyed a great deal of freedom, as
  their husbands did not live at home.

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ATHENS

• Educate the Citizens
• Teaching of the Arts
• Drama, public speaking, government, art, reading,
  writing, math, and music.
• Trade was very important to Athenians.
• Early Athens was an oligarchy, but later would
  bring about the foundation of democracy
• Be familiar with Daily life in Athens.
• Be familiar with Greek Drama

Theater of Arts, Athens
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ATHENSNuggets

• Books were very expensive and rare, so subjects
  were read out-loud. Boys had to memorize
  everything. To help them learn, they used writing
  tablets and rulersAnd you think you have it
  rough! ?
• An Athenian by the name of Pheidippides, ran from
  Marathon to Athens (a distance of 26 miles) to
  announce the Greek victory over Darius. (Persian
  War) Today, the marathon race, comes from this
  story.

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The Peloponnesian War (431 B.C.)

• ATHENS PLAN
• Remain behind walls
• Navy would supply Athens and ward off the
  Spartans

• SPARTA PLAN
• Create a naval blockade to prevent supplies from
  entering the walls
• Force Athenians in open field battles

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The Peloponnesian War (431 B.C.)

• Sparta attacked Athens in 431B.C.
• 1/3 of the Athenians died shortly after the war
  began, but not because they were defeated in
  battle! (?)
• When Sparta attacked, the Athenian people crowded
  behind the walls of the city. The cramped and
  dirty living conditions were an easy target for
  disease.
• A plague, or great sickness, spread through the
  city. Sickness claimed the life of Pericles as
  well. Once Pericles died, the people began to
  listen to demagogues.
• Demagogues were bad leaders who appealed to
  peoples emotions rather than logic.
• Sparta eventually defeated Athens by building
  blockade around the walls of the city. This is
  called a siege.
• The people of Athens could not leave to get
  supplies or food from the countryside.
• Faced with starvation, Athens surrendered to
  Sparta in 404B.C. thus ending the brutal
  27-year-long Peloponnesian War.

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The Peloponnesian War Lasting Effects

• Great thinkers and teachers lived in Athens
  during and after the war. However, the era of
  support for new ideas and the spirit of democracy
  had passed.
• The war weakened the major Greek states.
• Eventually, All Greek citizens freedom will be
  compromised.

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Alexander the GreatThe Hellenistic Kingdom

• Becomes King after Phillip II is assassinated.
  (Plot by him?)
• Became king of Macedonia Age 20
• Was educated by Aristotle (Deep love for Greek
  culture)
• Attacks Persian Empire
• Cavalry (outflanking) became key strategy in
  overtaking Persia
• Built cities named after him.
• Pushed further into Pakistan, Iran, and
  eventually India
• Soldiers wanted to halt advancement east.
• Story of the water in the helmet
• While attempting to return, exhaustion-illness
  will take a toll. Alexander dies at age 32

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ALEXANDER THE GREAT
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GREAT Advancements
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Alexander the GreatImpacts

• Created the New Age- Hellenistic Era- To imitate
  Greeks
• The Spread of Hellenistic Culture is a byproduct
  of Alexanders conquests
• Greek language, art, architecture, and literature
  spread throughout the Middle East
• Unlike the rest of the world however He
  envisioned a world in which mixed cultures could
  live together.
• Is it possible to escape ethnocentrism?
• He married two Persian Princesses.
• Many could not handle the mixing.
• Racism and ethnic differences created vast
  hostilities

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The Greek Love of Wisdom

• Sophists
• One cannot understand the universe.
• Time must be spent on improving themselves
• Stressed the importance swaying an audience in
  debate.
• No absolute right or wrongs
• Many believed the sophists could be troublesome
  to Greek society

• Socrates
• Education is to improve the lives of individuals
• Socratic Method- Question and Answer format to
  see things for themselves by using their own
  reason.
• Taught individuals to challenge ideas by thinking
  critically.
• He later will be tried and killed for his actions
• Other notables Next Page

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Philosophy continued. Hellenistic Kingdom

• Epicureanism
• Belief that human beings were free to follow self
  interest as a basic motivating force.
• Happiness was the goal of life
• Freedom from emotional turmoil and worry
• Life was complete when it was centered on ideals
  of friendship

• Stoicism
• Lifes problems could not disturb a stoic.
• A stoic believes that people gained inner peace
  by living in harmony despite hardships.
• Stoics were considered to be good citizens
  because of their high toleration.

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The Greek Love of Wisdom
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Hellenistic CultureScience

• Astronomy
• Aristarchus-Theory that the sun is the center of
  the universe.
• Eratosthenes- determined that Earth was round.
  Estimated 24,675 miles an estimate within 200
  miles of the actual figure!

• Mathematics
• Archimedes- geometry, spheres, cylinders, pi, and
  buoyancy.
• His intelligence struck fear in rival
  civilizations!