Ancient Greece

1
Ancient Greece
2
Geography of Greece

• Mountainous allowed for the Greek City-States,
  or Polis to become isolated and independent of
  one another.
• Seas Greek city-states and its people became
  seafarers due to the close proximity of the
  Aegean Ionian Seas
• Each Polis had an acropolis, agora, and citizens

3
Early Settlers

• Minoans
• 1st Greek civilization under King Minos
• est. Greek Mythology Earth Mother creator of
  life
• peaceful society focused on sea trade
• Mycenaean
• from Central Asia conquered Minoans
• adopted Minoan religion and technology
• more warlike than the Minoans
• conquered by Dorians in 1100s BCE b/c of
  superior iron weapons
• Dorians
• Greece enters a Dark Age many fled to Ionia
  on Asia Minor
• Bards kept culture alive through storytelling
  Homers Iliad and Odyssey
• Ionians reintroduced culture ending the dark
  age

4
Ancient Greece

• Spans two different eras.
• Greek Golden Age Occurs during the leadership of
  Pericles in the 5th Century BCE. The achievements
  were mainly confined to the city-states of Athens
  where a strong economy and good government
  created the conditions necessary for such
  advancements.
• Hellenistic Age occurs under the leadership of
  Alexander the Great, who conquered an empire
  stretching from the Greek mainland all the way to
  the Indus River Valley.  Hellenistic society was
  a blending of Greek, Egyptian, Persian, and many
  other cultures that gave rise to advancements in
  math, science, art, and literature.

5
Religion

• Polytheistic
• Greeks used myths and gods to explain nature
• Mt. Olympus- home of the gods
• Supreme god - Zeus
• Greeks held festivals to honor gods, i.e. Olympic
  Games

6
Athens vs. Sparta

• Athens
• dev. Democracy
• eventually all free, Athenian-born men were
  citizens could participate in govt.
• women, slaves, and foreign-born men were
  excluded
• focused on trade, agriculture, overseas
  colonization
• Sparta
• invaded neighboring states and enslaved local
  people to gain resources - instead of trading
• After a slave revolt, Sparta est. a military
  society
• men became soldiers, women became the mothers
  of soldiers best military in Greece
• boys began military service at 7 and retired
  at 60
• govt. run by a few men - Oligarchy

7
Government

• First to use democracy as a form of government. 
• Under Pericles, male citizens in Athens
  participated in the daily running of government. 
  
• This form of direct democracy excluded all
  non-citizens, such as women and slaves. 
• 4 forms of govt. existed in Ancient Greece

8
Philosophy

• Greek philosophers, or "lovers of wisdom," used
  observation and reason to study the world around
  them.  Famous philosophers

Socrates Plato Aristotle
Socratic Method of questioning as a learning tool. Wrote The Republic Favored a strong, controlling government Developed ideas on governmentFavored the one strong and wise rule as best form.
Considered to be first western philosopher Society has three classes Philosophers, Soldiers, and Workers Human Reason was the key to learning
9
Literature

• Early Greek literature was in the form of plays
  developed for religious ceremonies.
• Famous writers, such as Aeschylus and Sophocles,
  wrote tragedies and comedies about human conflict
  and interaction between the gods and man. 
• Became the basis for modern literature. The
  Greeks were also the first. 
• Herodotus, known as the Father of History, wrote
  books chronicling historical events, such as the
  Persian War.

10
Art Architecture

• Greek artists portrayed the human figure in
  idealized realism. 
• Paintings and sculptures show humans in the
  perfect form. 
• Greek architects build elaborate buildings using
  marble and the Greek column. 
• The most famous example of Greek architecture is
  the Parthenon in Athens. 
• Many buildings around the world today use Greek
  architectural ideas.

11
Math Science

• Greek mathematician Pythagoras, developed a
  formula to calculate the relationship between the
  sides of a right triangle, a method still in use
  today. 
• Aristarchus, a Greek astronomer, discovered that
  the earth rotated on its axis, and revolved
  around the sun. 
• Eratosthenes discovered that the earth was round,
  and accurately calculated its circumference.
• Euclid wrote a book called The Elements, which is
  the basis for modern geometry. 
• Archimedes tried to use science for more
  practical matters, he showed how the use of a
  lever and pulley system could lift just about any
  weight.

12
Medicine

• Hippocrates, a 5th century BCE physician, studied
  the causes of illnesses and experimented with
  various cures.  He is also credited with creating
  a set of ethical standards for doctors called the
  Hippocratic Oath.