Transcript Kagan10ech02

Chapter 2
The Rise of Greek Civilization
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Bronze Age on Crete and on the
Mainland to About 1150 B.C.E.
The Minoans
Arose in 3rd and 2nd millennia B.C.E. on Crete
Built large elaborate palaces found at various sites, with
the most important being Cnossos
• Storage rooms, living quarters, workshops, bathrooms with
plumbing
• Absence of strong defensive walls—competing explanations
Two different linear scripts: Hieroglyphics, Linear A,
Linear B (early form of Greek)
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
The Mycenaeans
Helladic Period: ca. 3000–1100 B.C.E.
Centered on Mycenae
Spoke a non-Indo-European language (thus not
related to Greek)
A warrior people: fortified cities, weapons, murals
depicting war
Height of power: 1400–1200 B.C.E.
Disappeared by 1100 B.C.E.—competing
explanations (Dorian invasion)
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
(Hellenic Greece: from Bronze Age to
Alexander the Great, ca. 1100–300 B.C.E.)
Greek “Middle Ages,” ca. 1100–750 B.C.E
Greek-speaking peoples had infiltrated mainland
Greece during middle and late Mycenaean period, then
spread to Aegean islands and coast of Asia Minor
Writing disappeared after fall of Mycenae, reappearing
ca. 750 B.C.E.
Major source of information for this period is Homer’s
epic poems
• Iliad
• Odyssey
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Homeric Society
Kings rule in consultation with nobles
Hierarchical society: nobles and everyone else
•
•
•
•
Nobles
Thetes (small farmers)
Landless laborers
Slaves
Values: strength, courage, honor, reputation; arete
The role of women was chiefly to bear and raise
children – beauty, constancy, and skill at weaving
were the most prized qualities
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
The Polis (pl. poleis)
Foundation of Greek life
Independent “city-states,” though not necessarily
cities
Firmly established by 750 B.C.E.
Thought of as community of relatives; citizens
theoretically descended from a common ancestor
Originally an elevated area to which local farmers
could retreat in case of attack (e.g. Acropolis in
Athens)
Agora—marketplace and civic center
Replaced true monarchy with aristocratic republics
Greek writing system emerged around 750 B.C.E.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Hoplite Phalanx
Military technique crucial to development of the polis
End of 8th c. B.C.E.
Hoplite: heavily armed infantryman; spear and large shield
Phalanx: body of hoplite formed in close ranks about eight
deep
Depended on discipline, strength, and courage of individuals
working together
Usually either victory or rout; kept wars short and simple
Typical hoplite battle: neighboring poleis fighting over land
Dominant military force in eastern Mediterranean until
defeat by Roman legion
Polis represented order, peace, prosperity, honor, and was
the molder of Greek citizens
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Greek Expansion, 8th–6th c.
B.C.E.
Poleis established from Spain to Black Sea
Macedonia, southern Italy, Sicily, Spain,
southern France, NE Mediterranean coasts,
Black Sea, eastern North African coast
Magna Graecia (“Great Greece”)—called
by Romans
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
The Greek Colony
Greeks were driven by overpopulation, hunger for
land
Relationship between colony and sponsoring
polis:
No formal ties—colony was for benefit of colonists
Shared common culture
Often maintained trade relations, mutual defense
agreements
Exposure to other cultures fostered Greek cultural
identity
Panhellenic (“all-Greek”) spirit
Colonization encouraged industry and trade
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
The Tyrants, ca. 700–500 B.C.E.
Tensions between nobles and commercially successful
non-nobles lead in some poleis to rise of tyrants
Definition: a monarch who gained power in an unorthodox
way and exercised strong one-man rule—often in a
constructive and popular way
Usually a disgruntled aristocrat backed by hoplites,
supported by politically powerless new rich and small
farmers
Popular public improvement projects: water/sewer
upgrades, stronger city walls, new marketplaces and
temples
Last tyrants: cruel, repressive, universally hated
Ultimately incompatible with the idea of the polis
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Sparta
Location: Peloponnesus
Conquered neighbors and made them serfs, or
Helots
Spartan society remade into permanent military
establishment, ca. 650 B.C.E.
Individual controlled from birth
At 7, boys enrolled in full-time military/athletic instruction
At 20, enrolled in army
Full citizenship at 30
Military service required until 60
Girls: gymnastic training, taught like boys to serve the
state
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Sparta (cont.)
Government: elements of monarchy, oligarchy, and
democracy
Two kings
Council of elders (28 men over age 60)
Assembly (all males over 30)
Ephors (5 men elected annually by elders)
Peloponnesian League
In place by 500 B.C.E., led by Sparta
Alliances extracted from all but one Peloponnesian state
Made Sparta the most powerful polis in Hellenic history
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Athens
Location: Attica
Government: typical aristocratic polis
4 tribes, several clans and brotherhoods (phratries)
Areopagus—council of nobles (held true power)
9 archons—magistrates
Assembly
Law code of Draco, 621 B.C.E.—first written law
in Athens
Agricultural crisis of 7th century: many small
farmers fall into debt slavery
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Athenian Rulers
Solon
Elected sole archon, 594 B.C.E.
Agricultural, economic reforms
Constitutional changes:
• Citizenship expanded
• Citizens divided into classes based on wealth
• “Council of 400”
Pisistratus the Tyrant
First Athenian tyrant, remembered as mild and popular
Sought to empower central government at expense of nobles
Unintentionally fostered Athenians’ taste for self-government
Son Hippias less popular, deposed by Spartans
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Athenian Rulers (cont.)
Clisthenes
“Founder of Democracy”
Furthered reforms of Solon & Pisistratus:
increased citizen rolls, decreased power of
aristocracy
Deme—basic political unit
Council of 500
Role of assembly elevated
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Hellenic Society
Farmers
Depicted by poet Hesiod (ca. 700 B.C.E.)
Grew barley, wheat, grapes, olives, vegetables, some
fruit
Lives of constant toil
Aristocrats
Lands worked by laborers, sharecroppers, or slaves
Symposium: center of social life; drinking party with
song, poetry, philosophical disputation
Athletic contests: foot races, long jump, discus, javelin,
boxing, wrestling, chariot racing
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Greek Religion
Polytheistic
Olympian gods: 12 on Mount Olympus
Zeus, father of the gods
Hera, wife of Zeus
Poseidon, god of seas & earthquakes
Hestia, earth goddess
Demeter, goddess of agriculture & marriage
Aphrodite, goddess of love & beauty
Apollo, god of sun, music, poetry, prophecy
Ares, god of war
Artemis, goddess of the moon & the hunt
Athena, goddess of wisdom & the arts
Hephaestus, god of fire & metallurgy
Hermes, messenger of the gods
Seen as behaving much like humans
Each polis had one Olympian as guardian deity
Numerous lesser deities worshipped at local shrines
The cult of Dionysus embraced drunkenness and sexual abandon
The Orphic cult believed in the transmigration of souls
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Poetry
The lyric style predominated
The agony of love was the most popular
theme
Theognis of Megara was a poet who
believed that those born base could never
become noble
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Persian Wars
Ionian Rebellion, 499 B.C.E.
Ionia: west coast of Asia Minor, controlled by
Persia
Ionian Greeks supported by Athenians
The Ionians could not maintain a sustained
rebellion and were defeated in 495 B.C.E. by
the Persians
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
The War in Greece
Battle of Marathon, 490 B.C.E.
Persian expedition against Athens soundly defeated
The Great Invasion, 480–479 B.C.E.
Persians under Xerxes vs. Sparta, Athens, & allies
(Greek League)
Athenian navy was the largest and would make a
difference in the ability of the Greek League to defeat
the Persians
Battles of Thermopylae, Salamis
Persians suffered a crushing defeat at Plataea,
temporarily ending the war in 479 B.C.E.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. All rights reserved.