Transcript Greeks and Romans

Ancient Greeks
Chapter 4
Eastern Hemisphere Studies
I.
A.
Early Greek Civilizations
Mountain ranges separated the
small and independent Greek
communities, causing them to
develop different ways.
Some city-states became
democracies, ruled by many.
Others became oligarchies,
ruled by few.
B.
Mycenaean civilization was
named for the fortified site,
Mycenae.
The Mycenaean civilization
flourished between 1600 and
1100 B.C.
C.
Powerful monarchs lived in
fortified palaces built on hills
and surrounded by stone
walls.
Homer recorded the military
adventures of the Mycenaeans in his
epic poems, the Illiad and Odyssey.
D.
Mycenaean civilization
collapsed around 1100 B.C.
Few records remain from this
period, which lasted from
1100 to 750 B.C.
The works of Homer appeared
at the end of the Dark Age.
E.
The Illiad and Odyssey tell the
story of the kings of Troy and
Mycenae, the Trojan War, and
several Greek heroes.
The Greeks regarded the
Illiad and Odyssey as history.
Generations of Greek males
used these poems as models
of heroism and honor.
II. Classical Greece
A. Classical Greece is the name given to
the period from 500-338 B.C.
During this time, the Greeks
fought two wars.
The first war was against the
Persians, who were defeated
by the unified Greeks.
B.
Pericles, leader of the Greeks,
created a direct democracy.
Every male citizen could
participate in the general
assembly and vote on major
issues.
This period was called the
Age of Pericles.
C.
The Greek world was divided
between the Athenian Empire
and Sparta.
Athens and Sparta had built
very different societies and
they distrusted each other.
After a series of disputes, the
second war of the Classical
Greece period, the Great
Peloponnesian War broke out
in 431 B.C.
D.
The Great Peloponnesian War
weakened the Greek city-states
and ruined any hope of unity
among them.
For the next 70 years, Sparta
and Athens struggled for domination.
These internal struggles
caused the Greeks to ignore
the growing power of Macedonia.
VI.
The Culture of Classical Greece
A. Classical Greek art was
concerned with expressing
eternal ideals.
Art was meant to civilize
emotions.
B.
The most important architectural
form was the temple.
The greatest example is the
Parthenon, dedicated the
goddess Athena.
C.
Greek dramas were presented
as part of religious festivals.
The original Greek dramas
were tragedies, used to examine
the theme of good vs. evil.
D.
Philosophy “love of wisdom”
refers to an organized system
of rational thought.
Early Greek philosophers
were concerned with the
nature of the universe.
E.
Socrates developed the
Socratic method.
This was a question-and-answer
format to lead pupils to
understand things for themselves.
Plato was one of Socrates’
students and considered the
greatest Western philosopher.
F.
Plato explained his views of
government in The Republic.
Plato established a school in
Athens called the Academy.
His most important pupil was
Aristotle, who studied at the
Academy for 20 years.