Transcript Greece

Greece
Location
• In Southeastern
Europe
• Near Turkey,
Macedonia, Bulgaria,
and Albania
• 40°N, 25°E
Ancient Greece
Physical Geography of Greece
• Part of the Balkan peninsula, which
extends southward into the eastern
Mediterranean Sea.
• Mountains divide the peninsula into
isolated valleys.
• Beyond rugged coasts, hundreds of rocky
islands spread toward the horizon.
Effects of Geography
• Isolated people
• Formation of city-states
– Difficult to united people into a large empire.
 A city-state is a political unit made up of a city and
the surrounding lands.
Early Greek Civilizations
• Minoans (2000-1400BCE)
– Not sure what these
people called themselves,
referred to as Minoans,
after their King Minos.
– Sea traders around Crete.
– Rulers lived in a place at
Knossos
Early Greek Civilizations
• Mycenaeans (16001100 BCE)
– Successful sea traders,
dominated the Aegean
world.
– Lived in separate citystates in the mainland.
– Contact with Egypt
and Mesopotamia
– Reach their height
during the Trojan War.
The Trojan War
• Took place around
1250BCE.
• The Mycenaens vs. The
Trojans
• Troy, a rich trading city
in present day Turkey.
– Controlled straits, which
are, narrow water
passages, that connect
the Mediterranean and
Black seas.
Truth to the Myth
• Heinrich Schliemann, a
German businessman set
out to prove the legend
was fact.
• Excavated the site of
ancient Troy.
• Discovered city was rebuilt
many times, layer dating
1250 BC, had evidence of
fire and war.
Oral Records
• New invasions and war ruin Mycenaean
Civilization.
• Stories are preserved by Homer and his epic
poems, through oral tradition.
• Iliad
• Odyssey
Greek City States
• Construction
– Built on a polis or
hill with
government
buildings on top
• Great marble
temples dedicated
to different gods
and goddesses
– Included an agora
or open area for
markets
• Government
– Varied by city- state
• Monarchy- rule of one
most popular
– Usually a King
• Aristocracy- rule of few (landowners)
used sometimes
– Powers shifted to a group of rich
landowners, at first defended the
King, but eventually wanted power
for themselves
• Oligarchy- rule of few (businessmen)
used sometimes
– Middle class merchants, challenged
landowners for power
• Democracy- rule of many (citizens)
primarily in Athens
Social Structure
Citizens
Free Non-Citizens
Helots- Slaves
Population in each city-state was fairly small
Whole community joined in festivals honoring the gods
Who were the Spartans?
• A group of invaders,
called the Dorians.
• The invaders turned the
conquered people into
helots (slaves), which
outnumbered the
Spartans.
• Set up a brutal system of
control.
Spartan Government
• Included two Kings and a council of elders.
• An assembly made-up of all citizens.
– Approved major decisions
– Citizens were male, native-born Spartans, over 30
years old
– Assembly elected five ephors, officials who held
the real power.
The Rigors of Citizenship
• From childhood a Spartan prepared to be part of
a military state.
• Officials examined every newborn, sickly children
were abandoned to die.
• At age 7, boys began training for a lifetime in the
military.
– Moved into barracks, exercised, and were rigidly
disciplined.
– Boys encouraged to steal food, if caught they were
beaten.
– At 20 could marry, lived in barracks until they were 30,
ate in barracks for another 40 years.
Women
• Were expected to
produce healthy sons
• Trained to exercise
and strengthen their
bodies
• Right to inherit
property, while men
were at war
Sparta’s Weaknesses
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Isolated themselves from other Greeks
Looked down upon trade and wealth
Had little use for new ideas and the arts
Eventually suffered from their rigid ways and
inability to change.
• In time warrior class shrank and power
declined.
Early Athens
• Monarchy → Aristocracy
• Nobles judged many
cases in court and
dominated the assembly.
Demands for Change
• Athenian wealth and power grew under the
aristocracy
• Merchants and soldiers resented power of the
nobles
• Demand for change came from farmers
– In hard times were forced to sell land to nobles
Solon’s Reforms
• Solon was appointed, archon,
chief official, in 594 BC
• Outlawed debt slavery
• Gave assembly more say in
important decisions
• Introduced economic reforms
• Widespread unrest led to the
rise of tyrants, people who
gained power by force
Later Reforms
• Pisistratus seized power in 546 BC
– Gave farmers loans and land, taken from nobles
– Gave jobs to the poor
– Weakened aristocracy by giving citizens a greater
voice
• Cleisthenes set up Council of 500, in 507 BC
– Members were chosen from the citizens
– Council prepared laws for the assembly
– Assembly was a legislature, law making body the
debates laws before deciding to approve or reject
them.
Limited Rights
• Only male citizens
could participate in
government
• Tens of thousands of
Athenians were slaves
• Labor of slaves gave
the citizens the time to
participate in
government
Women
• Women did not have a
part in public life
• Managed the entire
household
• Cared for children and
prepared food
• Protected from the
outside world
School
• Boys attended school
• Studied music,
memorized poetry
• Became skilled
speakers
• Received athletic
training
Greek Culture
What are the pieces of culture?
• Hellenism
– Hellenism is the name for Greek Culture
– All Greeks shared the same language, values,
religion and history.
– The ideas of the Greeks are still important today
and many of our traditions come from them.
• Religion
– Greeks were polytheistic
– They believed all of their gods lived on Mt. Olympus
and influenced their lives.
– Natural disasters were believed to happen to
people that offended the gods, while sacrifices
would please them.
– In their stories, Greeks portrayed their gods with
human emotions such as love, vanity and anger.
• Mind
– Athenians valued people that spoke well in public
– Philosophy- love of wisdom, use reason and observation to prove
things true.
• Socrates(469- 399)
– Believed that if you questioned people’s beliefs, you could reach the
right answer.
– Athenian officials accused him of corrupting the youths and he forced to
commit suicide.
• Plato (428- 347BCE)
– Student of Socrates
– Wrote all of Socrates’ ideas down in Dialogues
– Wrote down his recommendations for government in the Republic
• Believed reason was necessary to rule “philosopher kings”
– People should be taught to be good, they did bad things out of
ignorance
• Aristotle (384- 322BCE)
– Student of Plato
– Used reason to study astronomy, zoology, math and philosophy
– Tutored the future Alexander the Great of Macedonia
• Body
– Spartans valued physical fitness
– Idealistic Art- Statues portrayed ideal physical features
(muscles, no deformities)
– The Olympics
• Only Greek citizens could compete
• They were held at Olympia
• They reflected the ideals of fitness and Greek
superiority.
• Winners competed for a laurel wreath of victory in
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Marathons
Discus and javelin throws
Wrestling
Fighting
Persian Wars
First Phase
– 499BCE, Darius began war with the Athenians
– 490BCE, Battle of Marathon: Smaller Athenians
destroy a Persian army
• Second Phase:
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480, Xerxes sends a larger force to Greece
Battle of Thermopylae: Spartans defend pass
Battle of Salamis: Athens trap and destroy the Persian Navy
479, Finally finished off at the Battle of Plataea
• Greek military superiority
– Hoplites- soldiers equipped with a shield short
sword and spear
– Phalanx- formation of soldiers
Greek vs. Greek
• Many Greek city-states
began to resent
Athenian domination.
• To counter the Delian
League, Sparta and
other enemies of
Athens formed the
Peloponnesian League.
The Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC)
• Sparta attacks Athens,
“freeing Greece from
the Athenian Empire”
• Athens faced
geographic
disadvantages
• Plague breaks out in
Athens, killing 1/3 of
population, including
Pericles
• Sparta allies itself
with Persia
• In 404 BC, Persian
navy defeats
Athens
• Sparta strips
Athens of power
• Sparta is eventually
defeated by Thebes
Greek History
• Herodotus- “Father of History”
– Visited many places in the
ancient world (Egypt,
Mesopotamia)
– Wrote about the Persian Wars
– Included his own opinions,
showing bias
• Thucydides
– Wrote about the Peloponnesian
War
– Used facts to support his ideas
and tried to be fair on both sides
Thucydides wrote about an event he had lived through
because he believed it will still have an impact years later.
As a group choose an event during your own
lifetime that you think historians will write about
100 years from now.
Answer the following about the event (It will
be collected):
- Why is this event important?
- Why should we remember it?
At the end of class we will discuss the events
Philip II
• Philip II, ruler of
Macedonia, dreamed of
conquering city-states to
the south.
• Built up a superb army,
formed alliances
• Athens and Thebes join
forces, are defeated in
battle of Chaeronea
• His goal is to conquer
the Persian Empire
Alexander
• At 20 years old was
already an
experienced soldier.
• In 12 years time earns
the title of Alexander
the Great
• Had a love for
learning but he was
first and foremost a
warrior
Conquest of Persia
• By 334 BC he had enough ships to cross the
Dardanelles
• Persia, not as great as it once was, stretched
more than 2,000 mi., from Egypt to India.
• Alexander wins victory after victory against
the Persians.
• Heads to Northern India, never losing a battle
• Heads back home tries to conquer Babylon
Sudden Death
• Alexander dies of a
fever
• Leaves empire to “the
strongest”
• No one leader was
strong enough to
succeed Alexander
• After years of disorder
three Generals split up
the empire into three
parts
Legacy of Alexander
• Spread of Greek culture
• Founded new cities, set up
temples, statues, athletic
contests
• In turn Greeks adopt local
customs
• Hellenistic civilization: A blend
of Greek, Persian, Egyptian, and
Indian influences.
• City of Alexandria-located
between Europe and Asia
– Museums: center of learning
• Laboratories, lecture halls, library,
and zoo
Hellenistic Civilization
• Political Turmoil allows for different philosophies
– Stoicism, founded by Zeno
• Urged people to avoid desire, accept what life brought
• Advances in Math and Science
– Pythagoras
– Archimedes
• Applied principles of Physics to make practical inventions
• Medicine
– Hippocrates
• Studied causes for illness and looked for cures
• Hippocratic oath