Chapter 3 Classical Greek Civilization
City-State
• A city & the immediate rural area
• Less than a few hundred square
miles
• Ancient Greece was made up of
many city-states
TO BE A CITIZEN OF A
CITY-STATE:
• The ancient Greeks referred to
themselves as citizens of their individual city-states.
• Each city-state (polis) had its own personality, goals, laws and customs. Ancient Greeks were very loyal to their city-state.
• The city-states had many things in common. – All believed in the same gods. – Spoke the same language.
TO BE A CITIZEN OF A
CITY-STATE:
• Ancient Greeks were extremely loyal
to their city-state – Greeks would not say, "I live in
Greece." – They would say, "I am a Spartan.”
or "I am Athenian." • The city-states might band together
to fight a common foe. But they also went to war with each other.
• Ancient Greece was a collection of Greek city-states.
CITY-STATES
• Because Greece was not yet one
country, there was no central
government in ancient Greece.
• Each city-state had its own form of
government.
• Some city-states, like Corinth, were
ruled by kings. Some, like Sparta,
were ruled by a small group of men.
Others, like Athens, experimented
with new forms of government.
Types of Government
Four Forms of Government
• Monarchy: Rule by a king
• Oligarchy: Rule by a small group
• Tyranny: Rule by a dictator
• Democracy: Rule by the citizens,
voting in an assembly
Democracies
• Direct-the citizens make all of the
decisions
• Representative-the citizens elect
representatives to make decisions
for them
Athens
• Athenians thought of themselves as the
shining star of the Greek city-states. They
were famed for their literature, poetry, drama,
theatre, schools, buildings, and government.
• Athens started as a small village, home to a
tribe of Ionian people. It grew rapidly until
Athens was one of the two most powerful city-
states in the ancient Greek world. Athenians
were famed for their commitment to the arts
and sciences.
• The Greeks believed that each city-state in ancient
Greece had a god or a goddess in charge of it,
their special patron.
– For Athens, the patron was Athena, goddess of
wisdom.
– Therefore, Athenians put a great deal of
emphasis on education.
• Most Greek city-states were ruled by kings. The
men of Athens experimented with government.
For about 100 years, Athens was a direct
democracy!
Athenian Education
• Boys were educated quite differently.
– Until age 6 or 7, boys were taught at home by their mothers.
– From 7-14, boys attended a day school outside the home, memorizing Homeric poetry, learning to play the lyre, drama, public speaking, reading, writing, and math.
– After, they went to a four year high school and learned more about math, science, and government.
– At 18, they attended two years of military school.
• Girls learned at home from their mothers.
– Learned how to run a home, and how to be good wives and mothers.
Sparta
• Sparta began as a small village of Dorian people. The Dorians were warriors. So were the Spartans. Spartans endured unbelievable pain and hardship to become a superior Spartan soldier and citizen!
• Sparta's government was an oligarchy. The people were ruled by a small group of warriors. The Spartans spoke Greek, wrote Greek, thought of themselves as Greeks, but they were very different from the other Greek city-states, and proud of it.
– Sparta’s patron was Aries – god of war
• As adults, men did not live with their families. They visited their families, but men lived in soldiers barracks.
• Women, unlike women in the rest of Greek world, had a great deal of freedom.
– Women were educated to be fighters. Some women became warriors. Many ran businesses. They were free to move about.
• Life was very different in ancient Sparta than it was in the rest of ancient Greek city-states. The Spartans were proud, fierce, capable warriors. No great works of art came out of Sparta. But the Spartans, both men and women, were tough, and the Greeks admired strength.
Spartan Education • Sparta’s educational system was certainly very different.
– The goal of Spartan education was to create a strong warrior.
• Boys were taken away from their parents at age 7.
• They lived a harsh and often brutal life in the soldiers barracks.
• Younger children were beaten by older children to help make the younger boys tough and strong.
• Children were often were whipped in front of groups of other Spartans, including their parents, but they were not allowed to cry out in pain.
• Children, during their training process, were given very
little food. They were encouraged to steal food, instead. If
caught stealing, they were beaten. To avoid severe pain,
children learned to be cunning, to lie, to cheat, to steal,
and how to get away with it!
• Children who did not become soldiers became members
of the Spartan secret police.
– They were to spy on people, especially slaves. If they
found a slave who showed any signs of leadership,
their job was to kill that slave immediately.
Acropolis
• Means ‘high city’ in Greek
• Most of the city-states had their city
center built on a rocky mound or hill
• This is where they built their
temples and could retreat if they
were under attack
• The most famous one is in Athens
Greek Columns
PERSIAN & PELOPONNESIAN
WARS
The Greeks at War!
•Between 500 and 400 B.C. the
Greeks fought several wars.
•Two were against the powerful
Persian Empire to the east of Greece.
•Then a civil war broke out among the
city-states of Greece.
The Persian
Wars
490 B.C.E. – 479
B.C.E. Greek City-States vs.
Persians (Ionia, Athens, etc.)
Why did the Persians invade Greece?
In 519 B.C. the Persians
conquered a group of
people who lived in Asia
Minor called the Ionian
Greeks.
In 499 B.C. the Ionian
Greeks asked the
mainland Greeks to help
them rebel against the
Persians.
Help!
Athens sent warships
to help them, but they
were not strong enough
to defeat the Persian
army.
We’re on the way
The made the Persian King, Darius, very angry with
Greece.
AGH! Those Greeks will pay for this
In 490 B.C. Darius sent 600 ships and thousands of soldiers to invade Greece. He wanted to punish the Athenians for helping the rebels.
The Persian army landed
at Marathon, north of
Athens, in 490 B.C.
The Persians greatly
outnumbered the Greeks.
Marathon
The Persians were
amazed at the strong
will of the small
Athenian force.
They had no horses
or archers, only
fierce foot soldiers.
Persian Empire
Athens
Sparta
After a few days, the
Persians decided to
attack Athens by sea. While they were loading their ships, the
Athenians attacked and defeated them.
The Persians Retreated.
Highlights of Persian Wars Battle of Marathon (490
B.C)
• Persians crossed the Aegean Sea and attacked the Athenians on a plain called Marathon outside of Athens
• Greeks outnumbered, but WON!
• Sent Pheidippides their fastest runner to carry home the news of victory!
• He sprinted 26.2 miles to Athens — “Rejoice, we conquer,” he gasped and then died!
• In honor of Pheidippides’ run, marathon runners still run 26.2 miles!
The Athenians used clever war tactics to win the Battle of Marathon including the use of hoplites manning phalanxes.
Battle of Thermopylae (480
B.C) • King Darius I died, but his son Xerxes took up the fight against Greece
• 300 Spartans and allies vs. 150,000 - 1 million Persians
• Spartans held their ground for 2 days guarding the narrow mountain pass of Thermopylae but were defeated by the Persians
• Persians marched south and burned down Athens but the city was empty
Statue of
Spartan King Leonidas
at Thermopylae
Battle of Salamis 480 B.C. • Turning point in Persian War
• Greeks defeated Persians by sea under the guidance of General Themistocles
• Athenian warships drove into Persian boats with underwater battering rams
• After win at Salamis, the Greeks went on to defeat the Persians on land—End of War!
Effects of Persian Wars
• Athens emerged as most powerful and
prosperous city-state in Greece
• Athens organized the Delian League =
alliances with other city-states
• Athens used its influence over other city-
states to build an Athenian Empire!
• Many other Greek city-states resented
Athens and split from the Delian League
• Sparta created the Peloponnesian
League
• Athenians great at sea, Sparta great
on land!
Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C.)
• Delian League v. Peloponnesian League
• Democracy (Athens) v. Oligarchy (Sparta)
• Athenians provided most of the ships and
sailors and asked the other city-states to
contribute money. Sparta feared this
increase in Athenian power.
• Fought for 27 years to determine which
city-state would control southern Greece.
Highlights of War
• Athens faced a serious geographic disadvantage!
• Sparta was located inland, so it could not be attacked by sea.
• Yet Sparta only had to march north to attack Athens by land.
• In 404 B.C. with the help of the Persian navy (longtime enemy), Spartans captured Athens.
Good Thought, Bad Result!
• When Sparta invaded
Athens, the Athenian leader
Pericles allowed people from
the surrounding countryside
to move inside the city walls
for protection.
• The overcrowded conditions
soon led to disaster: a terrible
plague broke out!
• 1/3 of the Athenian
population (including Pericles)
were killed.
• The Spartan victors stripped
Athenians of their naval fleet and
empire.
• However, Sparta rejected calls
from its allies to destroy Athens
(perhaps out of respect for
Athen’s role in the Persian Wars).
Effects of Peloponnesian War
• An end to Athenian domination of the Greek world.
• More in-fighting occurred amongst Greek city-states, weakening them.
• Weakened Greek city states were easier to conquer later on by the Macedonians and Alexander the Great!
The Aftermath of War •The Peloponnesian war ended Athenian greatness.
•In Athens Democratic government suffered: Corruption and selfish
interests replaced order.
•Fighting continued to disrupt the Greek world.
•Sparta itself suffered defeat at the hands of Thebes, another Greek
city-state.
•Greece was left vulnerable to invasion.
•Cultural development was arrested.
Macedonia and
Alexander the Great
•In 338 B.C. King Phillip II of
Macedonia led his army from the
north and conquered Greece.
•After his death his son, Alexander the
Great, went on to conquer the entire
Greek world.
Why did the Greeks have these
contests?
Held the contests to honor the gods.
To show their gods how strong, fit and graceful their bodies were.
They also tried to get on the good side of the gods by: exercising, eating right, oiling their skin and create a beautiful body.
The Greek tendency was to turn everything into an agon (competition) , they had a lot of athletic competitions in Greece.
The most famous competition is called the Olympic Games.
Athlete Expectations • Each participant had to follow a set of
strict rules and regulations.
• The young men in most Greek cities spent ten months training for the competition under strict supervision.
• The best of the young men were chosen to compete against the other best young men from other cities.
• They were put under strict tests to see if the athletes were worthy of the games.
Athlete Expectations • The last month of this training had to be spent
at Elis, in one of their extremely well kept gymnasiums.
• The greatest care of personal hygiene as well as keeping in top performance shape were enforced.
• After the ten months of training and testing, those who were left, were allowed to compete in the Olympics.
• Athletes would be considered professionals today.
• Athletes were showered with riches and gifts as well as women when they were winning.
The Competition
• The young men would meet at the Olympics
and compete for prizes and for the favor of
the gods.
• These games were also used to train the
men for when they join the army and become
soldiers.
• The events they preformed were similar to
the ones we perform today: running,
jumping, throwing a javelin, and throwing a
discus.
• Only men could compete.
• The Olympics were named after the location
they took place in Olympia.
•
Time Line of the 5-day event
1st Day 2nd Day 3rd Day 4th Day 5th Day
Used for
sacrifice and
religious
ceremonies
Used for
sacrifice and
religious
ceremonies
Marked the
beginning of
the actual
sporting
events.
Competed
Competed
Arena at Olympia
• The great arena at Olympia was the site
for most of the events in the games.
• After years of training and working, an
athlete would finally enter his first Olympic
games through an entrance at the arena.
Events Boxing: resembled the present day sport but
was fought without rounds until one man was
either knocked out. Instead of gloves, leather
thongs called himantes were wrapped around
their fists.
Equestrian: events consisted of chariot
races and various riding events.
Wrestling: very similar to today; A contestant
had to successfully throw his opponent 3
times making him land on a hip, shoulder, or
back to be counted as a throw. An athlete
was allowed to break fingers but of course no
biting.
Events • Pankration: event combined the power of
boxing with the finesse of wrestling. Very
dangerous in nature, these fighters wore no
protection on their hands and were only
outlawed in biting or gouging ones eyes, nose, or
mouth.
• Running: events involved four different races
in two types of events.
• Pentathlon: remained pretty much the same
since its ancient Greek origins. Participants
compete in a combination of five events; discus,
javelin, jumping, running, and wrestling. This was
one of the most highly touted events of it's time
because it showed the overall athleticism of an
individual.
Pictures Colonnade surrounding the
wrestling arena in Olympia.
Olympia, site of the original
Olympic Games, located in the
west-central part of the
Peloponnesus (hundreds of
kilometers from Mt. Olympus in
the far north of the country).
Entrance to the stadium of Olympia.
Women were prohibited on pain
of death.