Transcript Ancient Greece 1 notes

Ancient Greece
Chris Anderson
Randolph-henry High School
• What have the ancient Greeks
given the world today?
• ________________________
• ________________________
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© 1998 Bernard SUZANNE http://plato-dialogues.org/tools/east_med.htm Last updated November 16, 1998
Black Sea
Aegean
Sea
Troy
Mycenae
Crete
Knossos
Greek Beginnings
• Geography—The Aegean Area
• Ancient Greece was divided into 2
geographic parts
o 1.) Mainland—Balkan Peninsula
o 2.) Hundreds of small rocky islands in the Aegean
Sea and Mediterranean Sea
• 75% (3/4) of Greece’s land area is
composed of short, rocky mountains
• The coasts are the only suitable places
to farm
• Climate—mild
o Winters—rainy
o Summers—dry and warm
• The small mountains act as a
natural barrier for Greece—offering
protection
• The mountains also make
communication in ancient Greece
very difficult
o Villages could not communicate with each
other because of the mountains
o Ancient Greece never became a unified
nation, just a collection of independent citystates
• With little useable farmland, most
ancient Greeks turned to the sea to
make a living
• Most areas of Greece are not far from
the sea
o
o
o
o
Fishermen
Sailors
Sea merchants
Pirates
Aegean Civilizations
• 1.) Minoans
• Minoans developed their civilization on
the Island of Crete
• AD 1900—Sir Aurthur Evans discovered
the Minoan civilization
• The Minoans existed between 2500
and 1450 BC
• The main city of the civilization was
Knossos
• The Minoans were very advanced
o Indoor bathrooms
o Running water
o Produced many colored murals showing how the
people lived
• Minoans were sea merchants
• Built ships from oak and cedar
• Minoans traded with many other
civilizations in the Aegean and
Mediterranean regions
• 1400s BC—Minoans were taken over
by the Mycenaeans
http://www.econ.iastate.edu/classes/econ355/choi/images/cre124.jpg
http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/aegean/galleryimages/minoanimages.html
• Strong navies to support trade
• Worshipped bull & Earth goddess
• Artist’s portrayal of Knossos
• 2.) Mycenaeans
• AD 1876—Heinrich Schliemann
discovered the Mycenaean civilization
• The civilization existed between 2000
and 1100 BC
• Mycenaeans made their home on the
mainland of Greece
• Every city in Mycenae was built around
a central hill
• A fortress was built on the hill
• Mycenaeans kept written tax records
o Wheat, honey, livestock were used as
collectable taxes
• They traded with the Minoans
• 1400s BC—Mycenae conquered and
took over the Minoans
• After conquering the Minoans,
Mycenae controlled the entire
Aegean area
• 1100s BC—Mycenae became
entangled in a brutal civil war
• The war weakened the kingdom,
allowing for an outside group to attack
and take control--Dorians
Mycenaeans
• 3.) Dorians
• The Dorians came from the
northern part of the Balkan
Peninsula
• The Dorians’ iron weapons allowed
them to take the entire mainland
of Greece
• After the Dorians took over
Mycenae, Greece fell into a Dark
Age
• The Dorians outlawed all arts and
education
• Written language disappeared
• Artisans lost their skills
• Thousands of Mycenaeans left Greece
and settled in Ionia—the western
islands off of Turkey’s western coast
• By 750 BC—the people in Ionia had
relearned their lost skills
• They adopted the Phoenician
alphabet for their writing
• After the Dark Ages were over, many
of the Ionians returned to Greece,
bringing their relearned skills
Poets and Heroes
• Bards—storytellers—kept Greek history
alive during the Dark Ages
• When the Dark Ages were over and
writing came back to Greece, these
stories were written down in the form of
epic poems
• Homer (a blind poet) wrote two of
Greek’s most famous epics
o Iliad
o Odyssey
• Iliad
• Tells of how the Trojan war was
started and fought
• Paris (Trojan Prince) captures the
Mycenaean king’s wife—Helen
• The king wants his wife back
• The Mycenaeans (Greeks) lay siege
to Troy for 10 years
• The Mycenaeans (Greeks) trick the
Trojans with the famous Trojan
Horse—created by Odysseus
The Iliad
• Odyssey
• This is the story of Odysseus’ 10 year
journey home
• Odysseus must try to return home after
he has been cursed by the gods
The Odyssey
• Schools in ancient Greece taught both
the Iliad and the Odyssey
• Both works taught students to honor
their ancestors and to honor their gods
• Both stories stress love of nature, the
husband-wife relationship, and loyalty
among friends
Greek Religion
• Greek Religion
• The Greeks were polytheists
• Gods helped to explain what
happened in nature
• Their gods had human-like qualities
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Could marry
Have kids
Lie
Murder
Have affairs
Become very jealous
Play tricks on each other
• The gods controlled the natural
world
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Athena—goddess of wisdom and art
Demeter—goddess of agriculture
Aphrodite—goddess of love and beauty
Zeus—chief god
Poseidon—god of the sea
Hades—god of the underworld
Apollo—god of the sun
Hermes—Messenger for the gods
Greek Gods and
Goddesses
Hera
Zeus
Demeter
Athena
Poseidon
Hades
• The 12 most important gods lived on
Mount Olympus
• Every 4 years, the Greeks would hold
religious festivals in honor of Zeus—the
Olympics
Mt. Olympus
Video
The Polis
• The polis (city-state) was the basic
government unit in Greece
• Every polis had their own, independent
government and identity
• All the Greek city-states shared a
common language and religion
The Typical Polis
• Each polis—although independent—
shared many common characteristics
• Every polis was built around a central
hill—acropolis
• The main temple was built on the
acropolis
The Acropolis
• At the bottom of the acropolis was the
agora--a public square
• The agora served as the city-state’s
political center
• Only citizens could participate in
government
• Citizens—males born into that citystate
o Foreign born people, women, and
slaves were not citizens
• The average polis contained 5000 to
10,000 citizens
• Responsibilities
• Citizens had rights
o They had to participate
and responsibilities in
in government
their polis
o They were expected to
defend the polis in times
• Rights
o
o
o
o
Vote
Hold public office
Own property
Defend themselves in court
of war
Greek Colonies and
Trade
• After the Dark Ages, the population of
the Greek city-states grew very rapidly
• By 700 BC, the population of Greece
was so large that Greek farmers could
not produce enough food for the
growing population—not enough
farmland
• The different city-states sent out
people into the Aegean and
Mediterranean Seas to find
suitable farmland
• Once fertile areas were found, the
different city-states created
colonies
• The colonies were to grow food to
send back to the mother polis
• Since the colonies were growing
food, farmers back in the polis
could grow cash crops—grapes for
wine and olives for olive oil
• The cash crops allowed Greece to
develop a good system of trade
with other civilizations
o Also helped to spread Greek (Hellenic)
culture
• With the increase in trade, the
Greeks began using $--an idea
they adopted from the Lydians
Greek Military
• The Greek military was structured into
phalanxes—like a moving wall
• Foot soldiers (Hoplites) were made
mostly of farmers
• Cavalry were made up of aristocrats
(the rich landowners)
Greaves or leg
armor
Bronze Helmet
Round shield covered
with leather
Athens v. Sparta
• Ancient Greece was dominated by 2
very different city-states—Athens and
Sparta
• Although both city-states shared a
common language and religion, their
values, customs, and culture were very
different
Sparta
• Located on the peninsula of
Peloponnesus
• Descendant of the Dorians
• Agricultural
• Did NOT create colonies
o Invaded their neighbors to get food
o Enslaved their prisoners of war—helots (Spartan
slaves)
• The Spartans hired artisans and
merchants to work for them—
perioeci
• The perioeci and helots
outnumbered the Spartans 20 to 1
• 650 BC—the helots revolted
against their Spartan captors
• The Spartans put down the revolt
after 30 years of fighting
• To keep the helots from revolting
again, the Spartans created a
militaristic society
• Life was centered around the military
o Spartan patron God=Ares, god of War
• Men—soldiers
• Women—wives of soldiers
• Newborn children were inspected for
defects
• Those with defects were left on a hill to
die
o Sparta only wanted fit individuals
• 7-year old boys were stripped from
their mothers and placed in
military barracks
o They were educated to read, write, and use
weapons
o They were given very little to wear or eat—
trying to toughen up the little boys
• @ age 20, if the boy survived, he
became a Spartan soldier
o Young soldiers were sent to the frontier to
guard the borders
• @ age 30—the men were expected to
take a wife and produce children
o Men did not live with their wives
o Could vote
• @ age 60—the men could retire and
go live with their wife
• Women in Sparta were expected to
be as strong as men
• Little girls trained their bodies to be
strong—boxing, gymnastics, and
wrestling
• @ age 19—women were expected to
marry
• Spartan women had rights that other
women in other city-states did not
o
o
o
o
Shop in the marketplace
Own property
Express their opinions in public
But they could not participate in government
• Sparta’s government was controlled
by 2 kings and an Assembly
• Assembly—made laws
• Sparta usually won the Olympics
• The militaristic system kept the helots
under control for 250 years, but at a
cost
o Sparta created no works of art
o Sparta developed no trade or manufacturing
o Sparta was considered backward and
uncultured
Athens
• Located on the peninsula of Attica
• Descendants of the Mycenaeans
• City-state named after the goddess
Athena
• Four consecutive tyrants ruled over
Athens
• A tyranny is just rule by 1 person—not
always bad
• 1.) Draco
o 621 BC—he issued a code of laws for Athens
o The laws were written for everyone to see
o The laws were very harsh
• 2.) Solon
o he placed limits on the amount of land men
could own
o He created a 2 house legislature to end the
struggle between farmers and aristocrats
• Council of 400—aristocrats
• Assembly—farmers (commoners)
• The council created ideas, but the Assembly
voted on the ideas
• 3.) Peisistratus
o He extended citizenship to men who did not own
land
o He gave the poor loans and jobs
• 4.) Cleisthenes
o He extended citizenship to all free men in Athens,
regardless of where they had been born
o He introduced the idea of democracy to Athens
• All citizens of Athens belonged to
the Assembly
• The Assembly served as the main
political institution of Athens
• Within the Assembly was the
Council of 500
o Chosen by annual lottery
o Controlled the day-to-day affairs of the city
• Athens also used juries to decide court
cases
• The juries were very large
o 201 to 1001 members
o A majority vote was needed for each decision
• Ostracism: The Assembly could wrote
names on broken pottery
• Anyone named 6,000 times = banned
from Athens for 10 yrs
• Citizens of Athens were required to
educate their sons
• @ age 7—boys began their
schooling
• @ age 18—the boys graduated
and served a mandatory 2 year
term in the Athenian military
• Girls received no formal education
o They were educated at home to be
housewives and mothers
• Trade- Grapes & olives
• Women couldn’t own property &
had male guardian
• Aristocrats-Cavalry
• Farmers-Foot soldiers
Persian Wars
• The Persians were the most powerful empire
in the 400s BC
• The Persians attempted to conquer Greece,
but Sparta and Athens worked together to
keep Greece secure
• 499 BC—Ionia attempted to gain their
independence from the Persians
• Athens sent help to Ionia
• 497 BC—the Persian emperor Darius I
sent troops into Greece to exact
revenge on Athen’s helping of Ionia
• The Persians landed at Marathon and
waited for the Athenians to come and
fight
• The Athenians never came, but
were hiding watching the Persians
• The Persians began reloading their
ships to sail to and attack Athens
• The Athenians attacked when the
Persian ships were half loaded—
the Persians were taken by surprise
• The Athenians defeated the Persians
at Marathon
• The Athenians sent a messenger—
Pheidippides—to tell the people of
Athens of the victory
• Pheidippides ran the 25 miles from
Marathon to Athens and yelled “Nike”
(Victory), then died
• The Persians will attack Greece again
• 10 Years after the Marathon loss, the
Persian emperor, Xerxes, sent 200,000
soldiers into Northern Greece
• This time, Greek forces will be led by
Sparta
• The Greeks believed the Persians
could only be defeated by a strong
Greek navy
o One problem: the Greeks had no navy
• The Greeks decided to start a land
war with Persia to stall just long
enough for Greece to create a
navy
• The land war occurred at
Thermopylae—a mountain pass
• 7,000 Spartanss fought against the
200,000 Persians
• Sparta was betrayed by a traitor
• The Greeks lost the battle @
Thermopylae, but were given
enough time to build a navy
• The Greek navy—led by Athens—
defeated the Persians at the Battle of
Salamis
• The Persians retreated to Asia Minor,
never to attack again
• The Persian wars united the Greek
colonies for the 1st time
Delian League
• The Greeks still feared a Persian attack
• Athens convinced all the other Greek
city-states to join in an alliance against
Persia—Delian League
• All Greek city-states joined, except
Sparta
• Athens would supply the military if
the other city-states would give $
• The Delian League freed Ionia from
Persian control
• Athens began to dominate the
alliance
o Pericles used the $ from the alliance to
rebuild Athens
o Athens began to interfere in the other citystates’ governments
o The alliance was becoming an Athenian
empire
• The Greek city-states began to ally
against Athens
• Sparta created the Peloponnesian
League—an anti-Athenian alliance
• Eventually Sparta and Athens went to
war—Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC)
Peloponnesian War
(431-404 BC)
• Athens was strong in the beginning
because of its navy
• Sparta had no navy, but made a deal
with Persia to get $
o Sparta sold Ionia back to Persia
• With the money, Sparta bought ships
from to build a navy
• 404 BC—Athens surrendered to Sparta
• After the war, Greece began to
decline
• Farms were destroyed
• High unemployment
• Greeks cared more about $ than
governing themselves
• Eventually, the Macedonians will
conquer the Greek city-states