Ancient Greece, 1900-133 BCE

The First Greek Civilization

The Greek City-States

Classical Greece

The Culture of Classical Greece

Alexander and the Hellenistic Kingdoms

The First Greek Civilizations

Objectives:

1.Describe the Mycenaean

Civilizations

2. Characterize the role models used in the Iliad and Odyssey,

which the Greeks used to present values of courage, honor, and

excellence

The Impact of Geography

Greece occupies a small area with a mountainous peninsula

and numerous islands

The mountains and the sea played especially significant roles in the development of

Greek history

In additionally, small plains and river valleys

Different communities arose according to different regions

The rivalry between the communities led to

warfare that devastated Greek society

Greece has a long seacoast dotted by bays and inlets that provided

many harbors

Seafaring people: *Aegean Sea, the

Mediterranean, and the *Black Sea

The Minoan CivilizationBy 2800 BCE, a Bronze Age

civilization emerged, particularly in Crete

Called the Minoan civilization, it flourished by 2700 and 1450—Arthur Evans (archaeologist)

named it after minos, the legendary king

They had enormous and complex structures, particularly at Knossos

The Ships of the *Minoans took them to Egypt as well as southern

Greece

The centers of Minoan civilization on Crete

suffered a sudden and catastrophic collapse c.

1450 BCE

Tidal wave triggered by a volcanic eruption

destruction was the result of invasion by

mainland Greeks known as the *Mycenaeans

The First Greek State: Mycenae

The term Mycenaean comes from Mycenae—a fortification found by archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann

The civilization, part of the Indo-European nomads, flourished between 1600 and 1100 BCE

The various centers of power probably formed a loose alliance

Among the noticeable features of these Mycenaean centers were the tombs where members of the royal

families were buried

The Mycenaeans were a warrior people who prided themselves on

their heroic deeds

Mycenaean monarchies developed as extensive commercial network—

extensive pottery trade

Military conquest of Crete and other Aegean islands — *Homer

described Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, sacked the city of Troy

Mycenaean states fought one another until waves of Greek-

speaking invaders came from the north around 1100 BCE

The Greeks in a Dark Age

Historians call the period from

approximately 1100 to 750 BCE the Dark Age,

because of the scant records

Large numbers of Greeks left the

mainland and sailed across the Aegean Sea

to various islands

Development of the Dark Age

Colonies were established along

Asia Minor and along *Ionia

A revival of trade and economic activity —Iron replaced bronze in the construction of

weapons

In the eighth century, the Greeks adopted

the Phoenician alphabet

Homer

The Iliad and the Odyssey: two

examples of *epic poetry

Both served as examples of

courage and honor; Homer’s characters

are models of heroism and honor

Objectives:

1.Describe the Mycenaean

Civilizations

2. Characterize the role models used in the Iliad and Odyssey,

which the Greeks used to present values of courage, honor, and

excellence

Greek history was influenced by Greece’s

A. rivers and deltasB. mountains and seacoastsC. deserts and plainsD. glaciers and forests

Most historians think Minoan civilization was

A. invaded and destroyed by MycenaeansB. destroyed by a tidal waveC. conquered by RomeD. invented by Homer

The teaching of Homer included

A. the Phoenician alphabetB. agriculture and tradeC. sailing and warfareD. the values of courage, honor, and excellence

During the Dark Age, some Greeks settled

A. in CreteB. in the Indian subcontinentC. in Ionia, part of Asia MinorD. in Mycenaea

Two major groups who settled within Greece itself were

A. the Aeolians and DoriansB. the Agamemnons and HomersC. the Achilles and PhoeniciansD. the Knossos and Evans

The Greek City-States

Objectives:

1.Describe the polis or city-state, which was the central focus of

Greek life

2. Explain how the search for farmland

and the growth of trade resulted in colonies and the spread of Greek culture and

politics

The Polis: Center of Greek Life

By 750 BCE, the city-state—called a *polis— became the

central focus of Greek life

It served as the center of the polis where people could

meet for political, social, and religious activities; The main

gathering place was a fortified area called an

*acropolis

Below the acropolis was an *agora, an open area that served as a place where people could assemble

Citizens of a polis had rights, but these rights were coupled with responsibilities

City-states fought one another for control of land and trade—early one, with aristocratic

cavalry soldiers

By 700 BCE, the military system was based on *hoplites, who were heavily armed infantry

soldiers forming a *phalanx

Greek Colonies

Each colony became a new polis—this new polis was usually

independent

Thrace, southern Italy, southern France, eastern Spain, and

northern Africa

Established colonies along the shores of the Black Sea,

*Hellespont, and the *Bosporus

The most famous colony was *Byzantium—the spread of Greek culture and politics

Tyranny in the City-States

New groups of rich men arose from these colonies,

fostering the rise of tyrants in the 7th and 6th

century BCE

These tyrants seized power—both the rich and the peasants were tired of the aristocratic dominance

of city-states

Tyrants used hired soldiers—and built marketplaces,

temples, and walls

Tyrants fell out of favor by the 6th century BCE

This transition led to the development of *democracy

in some places, in others *oligarchy

Athens and Sparta are examples of each

Sparta

They needed more land, but instead of starting new colonies, the Spartans

conquered the neighboring Laconians

They also conquered their neighboring Messenia

Both groups became serfs and made to work for the

Spartans, calling them *helots (capture)—creating a

military state

A Military State Between 800 and 600 BCE, the lives of Spartans were rigidly

organized and tightly controlled

Males spent their childhood learning military discipline

Husbands lived in barracks while wives lived at home

Women had greater freedom of movement and greater power in

the household

Spartan women reinforced the military structure—”with the

shield or on it”

Government of Sparta

Oligarchy headed by two kings—a group of five men, known as the *ephors, elected each

year and were responsible for the

education of the citizens

Except for military reasons, Spartans were not allowed to travel abroad; the art of war was the Spartan ideal

Athens

Athens had become a unified polis on the peninsula of Attica, by the 7th century

Athens had become an oligarchy

Near the end of the seventh century BCE, Athens faced political turmoil because of serious economic problems

The ruling Athenian aristocracy to its aristocracy, by giving power to *Solon

Solon’s reforms included the cancelation of land debt, freeing

people from slavery

These did not solve the political strife, leading to the

establishment of a tyranny—particularly by Pisistratus, who

seized power in 560 BCE; Rebellion emerged, led by

*Cleisthenes

He created a new council of 500 which supervised the state—

these reforms led to the foundation for Athenian

democracy

Objectives:

1.Describe the polis or city-state, which was the central focus of

Greek life

2. Explain how the search for farmland

and the growth of trade resulted in colonies and the spread of Greek culture and

politics

A Spartan warrior was told to return from war

A. with lots of black brothB. before he turned 20C. to repay his debtsD. with his shield or on it

Aristocrats in Athens did all of the following except

A. reject SolonB. own the best landC. control political lifeD. run the oligarchy

The reforms of Cleisthenes

A. supported tyrannyB. created a dual kingshipC. laid the foundations of democracyD. laid the foundations of a palace

The word spartan has come to mean

A. highly self-disciplinedB. oligarchicalC. lover of literatureD. democratic

Greek tyrants were

A. all oppressive and wickedB. supporters of aristocratsC.rulers who seized power by forceD. hired soldiers

Classical Greece

Objectives:

1. Examine the Age of Pericles, when Athens became the center of

Greek culture

2. Analyze how the creation of an Athenian empire led to war with

Sparta

The Challenge of Persia

As the Greeks spread, they came into contact with the Persian

Empire to the east

Ionian Greeks led an unsuccessful revolt against *Darius, the Persian

ruler

Persians responded by attacking Greece at Marathon in 490 BCE;

The Persians were defeated—”Victory, we win”

After Darius died, *Xerxes became the new monarch and vowed

revenge

By the time the Persians invaded again, the Greeks had

rebuilt their ships

Xerxes led a massive invasion—180,000 troops and

thousands of warships

The pass of Thermopylae protected by 7,000 Greeks,

including 300 Spartans—”We fight in the shade”

The destruction of Athens and the Battle of Salamis, the final

blow to the Persians

The Growth of the Athenian Empire

After the defeat of the Persians, Athens took leaderships—In 478

BCE, an alliance called the *Delian League was created to defend

against the Persians — island of Delos

The Delian League liberated all the Greek States in Asia Minor, but moved the treasury to Athens

Under *Pericles Athens expanded its new empire abroad—*the Age of

Pericles

The Age of Pericles

The Athenians became attached to

their democratic system—*direct

democracy, the people participate directly in government decision

making

Most residents of Athens were not citizens and thus

could not vote

The assembly passed all laws, elected public officials; ten officials

known as generals were the overall directors of

policy

The Athenians also devised the practice of

*ostracism from ostrakon

Athens became the center of Greek culture, set in

motion by Pericles massive rebuilding

program

The Great Peloponnesian War

After the defeat of the Persians, two major camps emerged: The Athenian Empire and Sparta; These two centers

cause the outbreak of the *Great Peloponnesian War in 431 BCE

The Athenians planned to remain behind its city’s walls; Sparta and her

allies surrounded Athens—Plague broke out, putting an end to

Athenian resistance after 25 years of war

The next 66 years, Sparta, Athens, and Thebes sought to dominate

Greek affairs but *Macedonian power arose at this time

Daily Life in Classical Athens

Slavery was common in the ancient world—most

Athenians owned at least one slave

Most Slaves in Athens worked in the fields or in

the home as cooks and maids

This slavery was not based on race (in part) but culture

and wealth (ex. helots)

The Athenian Economy

The Athenian economy was largely based on farming and trade—

grapes and olives

Athens imported 50 to 80 percent of its grain, a basic

item in their diet

The building of a port at nearby Piraeus helped

Athens become the leading trade center of the

5th century

The Family and the Role of Women

The family’s primary social function was to produce new

citizens

Women could not own property beyond personal items and

always supervised by a male guardian

The woman’s chief obligation was to bear children, especially male

children

She did the household work or supervised slaves

Objectives:

1. Examine the Age of Pericles, when Athens became the center of

Greek culture

2. Analyze how the creation of an Athenian empire led to war with

Sparta

In Athens, by the mid-fifth century BCE, every male citizen

A. was lower classB. voted on all major issuesC. was in the militaryD. broke pottery

Greek city-colonies in Asia Minor

A. welcomed the PersiansB. conquered SpartaC. provoked a Persian invasion of GreeceD. ransacked Athens

After losing the battle of Thermopylae to the Persians, the Athenians

A. abandoned their cityB. colonized IoniaC. fled to ItalyD. traded wine with Xerxes

In 479 BCE, a large, unified Greek army

A. defended the passB. assisted Ionian citiesC. defeated the PersiansD. voted its own leaders

During the Age of Pericles, all of the following were true except

A. not all residents were citizensB. Athens took over leadership of the Greek worldC. office holders were were paidD. the Delian League moved to Persia

Culture of Classical Greece

Objectives:

1. Discuss the Greek philosophers and their

concern with the development of critical

or rational thought about the nature of the

universe

2. Summarize the Greek belief that

ritualized religion was necessary

Greek Religion Religion affected every aspect of Greek life

Twelve chief gods and goddesses were thought to live

on Mount Olympus—Greek Pantheon; Zeus, Athena, Apollo,

Ares, Aphrodite, Poseidon

Greek religion did not have a body of doctrine, nor a focus on

morality

*Rituals were at the center of the religious practice; prayers and sacrifices; Festivals and athletic

games

The Greeks also had a great desire to learn the will of

the gods

*oracles, sacred shrine where a god

or goddess revealed the future or some knowledge through a priest or

priestess

Apollo at Delphi and the story of

Socrates

Greek Drama “Drama” was created by the Greeks, played out in outdoor theaters

*tragedies, often presented in trilogies

The best example is *Aeschylus, Oresteia—these plays relate the fate of Agamemnon, the Trojan War, and his

return home

*Sophocles, Oedipus Rex

Greek tragedies dealt with universal themes still relevant today: the nature

of good and evil, rights of the individual, nature of divine forces,

the nature of human beings

Greek Philosophy

*Philosophy—”the love of wisdom” developed among

Greeks as a critical or rational thought system about the

nature of the universe

*Pythagoras taught that the essence of the universe could

be found in music and numbers

By the 4th century, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle has

emerged—fathers of classical philosophy

SophistsThe Sophists were a group of traveling teachers in ancient

Greece who often argued that it was beyond the reach of the

human mind to understand the universe

Selling their services, there teachers stressed the importance of rhetoric but denied absolute

truth

To them, true wisdom consisted of being able to perceive and pursue

one’s own good

SocratesOne of the critics of the Sophists

was *Socrates, a sculptor philosopher

He wrote nothing, Plato—his student—collected his teachings

The goal of education was only to improve the individual—*Socratic

method

He questioned authority in an age when debate and challenging

authority was distrusted —he was sentenced to death by drinking

hemlock

Plato

Plato or Socrates?

A higher world of eternal, unchanging

Forms—the ideal Forms make up

reality

Tree (senses) and Treeness (ideal form)

The Republic

Aristotle Plato established a school in Athens known as the Academy

*Aristotle did not accept Plato’s theory of ideal forms—

forms are a part of things themselves

Treeness is known by examining trees

Aristotle’s interests lay in analyzing and classifying

things based on observation and investigation: ethics, logic,

politics, poetry, astronomy, geology, biology, and physics

The Writing of History History as we know it was created in the Western world

Herodotus—History of the Persian Wars: conflict between the

Greeks and the Persians, Greek freedom and Persian despotism

*Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War—not

concerned with divine forces or gods as causal factors in history

War and politics were in purely human terms, an activities of

human beings

The Classical Ideals of Greek Art

Classical Greek art was concerned with expressing

eternal ideals: reason, moderation, balance, and

harmony

Some of the finest examples of Greek classical architecture were built in Athens in the 5th century

—Parthenon, dedicated to Athena

Greek sculptors did not seek to achieve realism, but rather a

standard of ideal beauty

Objectives:

1. Discuss the Greek philosophers and their

concern with the development of critical

or rational thought about the nature of the

universe

2. Summarize the Greek belief that

ritualized religion was necessary

The other peoples, Greeks considered religion

A. unnecessaryB. important only for menC. necessary to the well-being of the stateD. to be based on doctrine

Greeks used rituals to

A. encourage the gods to be generousB. find a route to ChinaC. elect kingsD. show the power of humans

Greek tragedies examined all of these topics except

A. good and evilB. individual rightsC. human natureD. criticism of intellectuals

The sixth-century philosopher Pythagoras taught that

A. truth was to be found in music and numbersB. there was a higher world of Ideal FormsC. we should classify things by observationD. war and politics were purely human

Herodotus wrote what is considered

A. the first novelB. the first tragedyC.the first comedyD. the first real history in Western civilziation

Alexander and the Hellenistic Kingdoms

Objectives:

1. Analyze how, under Alexander, Macedonians and Greeks conquered

the Persian Empire

2. Characterize Hellenistic cities

The Threat of Macedonia

The Greeks viewed their northern neighbors, the Macedonians, as

barbarians; They were a rural people organized in groups, not city-states

*Macedonia, by the 5th century, emerged as a powerful kingdom

In 359 BCE, *Philip II came to the throne, he built a powerful army—

wanting to unite all of Greece under Macedonia, defeating Athens at the

Battle of Chaeronea

Philip quickly gained control of all Greece and planned an invasion of

Persia

Alexander the Great

*Alexander the Great was 20 when his father

was assassinated, becoming the king of

Macedonia

Alexander, motivated by the desire for glory and empire, executed

Philip II’s plans for invasion

Alexander’s Conquests

Although weakened, Alexander entered Asia

Minor with an army of 37 thousand Macedonians

and Greeks

Alexander had freed the Ionian Greek cities of

western Asia Minor from the Persians

He built *Alexandria as the Greek capital of Egypt after

its’ conquest

In 331 BCE, Alexander turned east and

fought the decisive battle with the

Persians at Gaugamela

Over the next three years, Alexander moved east and

northeast, as far as modern Pakistan—

though he attempted to conquer Indus

River

Alexander ultimately died, exhausted from wounds, fever, and

too much alcohol

He was a great military leader, a master of strategy and tactics, but

also benefited from his father’s plans

Alexander sought to imitate Achilles—he extended Greek and

Macedonian rule over a vast area

Alexander’s successors tried to imitate him, using force and the claim of divinity; others created

monarchies following new patterns

The Legacy of Alexander

The Hellenistic Kingdoms Greek language, architecture, literature, and art spread

throughout Southwest Asia and the Near East

From Alexander, a *Hellenistic Era was created

The united empire that Alexander created fell apart after his death leading to the creation of four

kingdoms: Macedonia, Syria, the kingdom of *Pergamum, and

Egypt

Alexanders dream was to fuse the Macedonians, Greeks, and Persians

Hellenistic CultureAlexandria became home to poets, writers, philosophers, and scientists

The library in Alexandria became the largest in

ancient times, with more than

5 thousand scrolls—Museum

Architecture, Sculpture, and Literature

Both Hellenistic kings and rich citizens patronized sculptors—thousands of

statues were created

produced an enormous quantity of literature

Appolonius of Rhodes wrote the epic poem called Argonautica—Jason and the

Golden Fleece

ScienceConsiderable advances in the sciences—Astronomy and mathematics

Aristarchus of Samos—developed the theory that the sun is at the center of

the universe and the earth rotates around

*Eratosthenes—determined that Earth was round and calculated it almost

exactly as it is

*Euclid, Elements— a textbook on plane geometry

*Archimedes of Syracuse—geometry of spheres and cylinders, Pi

Philosophy Athens remained the center of Philosophy in the Hellenistic world

*Epicureanism, established a school in Athens arguing that human beings were free to follow self-

interest as a basic motivating force

*Stoicism, created by Zeno, was also concerned with how to find

happiness

To them, happiness could be found only when people gained inner peace by living in harmony but

embraced politics

Objectives:

1. Analyze how, under Alexander, Macedonians and Greeks conquered

the Persian Empire

2. Characterize Hellenistic cities

Epicureanism taught all of the following except

A. pleasure means physical satisfactionB. pleasure is freedom from worryC. freedom comes from a mind at restD. happiness is the goal of life

Stoicism taught that

A. self-interest should drive peopleB. friendship is an idea C. inner peace comes from following God’s willD. public service is evil

Archimedes is associated with all of the following except

A. geometry of spheresB. value of piC. specific gravityD. Earth’s circumference

After Alexander’s death, all of the following happened except

A. four Hellenistic kingdoms emergedB. his united empire continuedC. Greeks and Macedonian became the ruling classD. non-Greek government officials learned Greek

Alexander’s empire extended as far east as

A.PakistanB. BabylonC. JapanD. Rome