Ancient Greece
Major Topics
► Minoans
to Mycenaeans: Women to Men?
► Greek polis: Democratic?
► Archaic and Classical Greece
► Greeks and Persians
► Peloponnesian War
► Alexander the Great
Geography and Greek History
Mountains – kept
each community
separated from
each other –
natural borders
Seacoast – lots of
inlets and bays –
became a
seafaring people
Minoan Crete
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2800 BCE - just off Greek mainland
Prosperous culture and sea empire
Traveled and traded with Egyptians
Reached its height in
2000-1450 BCE - Knossos
Sudden collapse in 1450
BCE – invasion of
Mycenaeans
Bronze Age Crete website
Crete
Minoan Fresco, Town
Minoan Fresco
Minoan Fresco, Saffron Gatherer
Minoan Fresco
Minoan Fresco, “Ladies in Blue”
Minoan
Fresco
Minoan Snake
Goddess
Role of women in Minoan society?
More depictions of women in public
and religious ritual roles than later
Greek societies
Women goddesses
Not usually depicted in maternal
roles
Snake Goddess research site link
Mycenaeans
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1600-1100 BCE (height of culture)
Indo-European group
Powerful monarchs
Warrior people
Built extensive commercial network
Epics by Homer about the Mycenaeans: The
Iliad & The Odyssey… King Agamemnon
conquered Troy in 1250 BCE
The term Mycenaean is derived from Mycenae, a remarkable fortified site excavated by
the amateur German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann starting in 1870. Mycenae was
one center in a Mycenaean Greek civilization that flourished between 1600 and 1100
B.C.E. The Mycenaean Greeks were part of the Indo-European family of peoples who
spread from their original location into southern and have become shrouded in
mystery.
The Slaying of Hector
This scene, painted on a Corinthian Greek vase, depicts the final battle between Achilles
and the Trojan hero Hector, as recounted in Homer’s Iliad. The Iliad is Homer’s epic
masterpiece and was used by later Greeks to teach the aristocratic values of courage
and honor.
© AAAC/Topham/The Image Works
The Greek City States
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750 – 500 BCE city-states began to emerge
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Known as POLIS
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At center of city-state or polis was the AGORA or
marketplace where the lower courts were held
Polis community had 3 parts:
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1. citizens with rights (adult males)
2. citizens with no rights (women & children)
3. non-citizens (slaves and resident aliens)
Greeks = center of world democracy?
Between 750 and 500 B.C.E., Greek civilization witnessed the emergence of the city-state as the
central institution in Greek life and the Greeks’ colonization of the Mediterranean and Black Seas.
Classical Greece lasted from about 500 to 338 B.C.E. and encompassed the high points of Greek
civilization in arts, science, philosophy, and politics, as well as the Persian Wars and the
Peloponnesian War.
New Military System
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Hoplite Infantry – heavily armed with bronze or leather helmets,
breastplates, shin guards, shields and swords – only those that could
afford the weapons could be a part of this militia group
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Phalanx –
Formations that the
hoplite infantry
used to advance
against enemy –
rectangular
shape
Archaic Greece, 750 – 550 BCE
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Great number of Greeks left the colonies:
1. growing gulf between rich and poor
2. overpopulation
3. development of trade (increased industry)
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Tyrants rose as rulers (not Evil) – rulers not subject to laws
… young aristocrats (See page 160 for definition of tyrant)
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Tyrant Pisistrates
 Reduced taxes/free loans
 Offered people chance at prosperity (olives & industry)
Aristocracy to Democracy
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527 BCE Pisistrates died … Hippias
 When brother was murdered turned against people …
 Cleisthenes overthrew Hippias with help from aristocracy and
crowds … (510 BCE)
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Aysagarus joined with Spartans (rivals of Athenians) to
exile Cleisthenes and aristocracy … ruled from Acropolis
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508 BCE ******* Revolution !!!!!!!
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“Bring Cleisthenes back” …. Democracy was born!
Classical Greece, 500-323 BCE
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Age of Pericles – Height of Athenian Greek Power
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Assembly passed all laws and made final decisions on war and
foreign policy
Made lower-class citizens eligible for public office
Olympic games
Became leading center of Greek culture – Drama/theatre
Built Parthenon on Athenian Acropolis
Classical idea of art – statues of gods
Philosophy (“love of wisdom”)
Sophists – scholarly realists
Rhetoric – debate
Socratic Method – question and answer techniques
Herodotus – early Greek historian and master story teller
Advancements were a threat to Sparta
The Parthenon
GoogleMap
Parthenon
Frieze Pics
Interactive
Frieze
The arts in Classical Greece were designed to express the eternal ideals of reason, moderation,
symmetry, balance, and harmony. In architecture, the most important form was the temple, and the
classic example of this kind of architecture is the Parthenon, built between 447 and 432 B.C.E.
Located on the Acropolis in Athens, the Parthenon was dedicated to Athena, the patron goddess of
the city, but it also served as a shining example of the power and wealth of the Athenian empire.
© Photodisc (Adam Crowley)/GettyImages
Statue of Athena, Parthenon
Replica statue of Athena in Nashville’s Replica Parthenon
Greek Democracy
Greek polis – many city-states developed governing
structures that included citizens to a certain extent –
democracy one form
► Spartans included adult males, but had hereditary kings
too
► Draco’s Athenian legal code, 621 BCE, law belongs to all
citizens – set precedent towards inclusion
► Solon, 590s BCE, limited power of Athenian aristocracy
► 508 BCE, Athenian democracy formed – all male citizens
voted on laws
► Inclusive (all adult males) and…
► Exclusive (women, slaves, and males under 18)
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Greek Religion and Mythology
► World
and human events ordered by pantheon of
gods and goddesses
► Gods were anthropomorphic (human-like) with
diff. personalities and powers – active in human
lives
► Rituals, rites, sacrifices to gods at temples
throughout Greece (ex. was Parthenon, temple of
Athena, in Athens)
► Greeks could divine the future through oracles
(most important oracle was at Delphi to Apollo)
► List of major gods and goddesses (with statues)
Greek Drama
► Plays
were funded by the polis (city)
► Usually performed only once at religious festival
for Dionysus (God of wine, pleasure, theater)
► Performed at drama competition: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd
place votes from spectators
► Public outdoor theaters
► 3 male actors played all parts, along with chorus
► Tragedies were about mythic events, comedies
about current events and figures
► Theater Pics
► Structure of Theater
Greek Playwrights
► Aeschylus
(525-456 BCE): conflict between
human desire, justice, reason
► Sophocles (496-406 BCE): Oedipus plays,
problems of human pride
► Euripides (480-406 BCE): conflict of
emotion and reason
► Aristophanes (445-386 BCE): comedies
about public issues
Dionysus
God of Wine, Festivals, Theater
Website on Dionysus: images, cult of, mythology, history
Sparta
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Grew out of Mycenaean empire – warriors, “descendants
of Zeus”
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Oligarchy – not a democracy
2 kings over military
Gerousia – council of elders (shared power with kings)
Apella – general assembly of all male citizens
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Very closed/strict society
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500 BCE Sparta used military might to gain control of
Peloponnesus (dominates Peloponnesian League)
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Greek Conflict with Persia
Ionian Revolt, 499 BCE – rejected Persian rule
► Darius defeated at Marathon (492 BCE)
► Xerxes vowed to finish the job of his father and defeat
Greece – invaded with huge army (481 BCE)
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 Sparta in charge of “land war” – King Leonidas
 Athens in charge of “sea war” – Themistocles
 Sparta’s objective was to hold off the Persian army (Thermopylae –
mountain pass in Greece) until the naval fleet was in place at
Salamis, and this would then force the Persians to make a naval
battle – but defeated Persians there (and at Salamis)
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Stalemate between Greeks and Persians – Peace treaty
(Callias), 448 BCE
Greek city-states went back to fighting eachother
Peloponnesian War and Decline
of Greek States
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After the wars with Persia, for about 40 years, Greece
was a divided country
Athens v. Sparta
431 BCE War broke out …
Athens = Defensive – stay behind walls of Athens
Sparta = Offensive
405 BCE Athens naval fleet was defeated at Aegospotami
Athens surrendered to Sparta
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All of Greece was weakened by the wars
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(Aristophanes’ play Lysistrata is set during the Peloponnesian War
after Athens’ naval defeat)
Various major Greek
city-states
Leaders: Athens &
Sparta
Peloponnesian War –
Alliances between major
powers and other
city-states
Rise of Macedonia and
Alexander the Great
(Also see reading in textbook under Chapter 6, pages 150 – 151)
359 BCE – Phillip of Macedonia
Built a country on diplomacy and strength
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New military and technology
Phalanx
Sarisa (pike)
Crossbows
Catapults
338 BCE - Victory over Athens and Thebes (battle of
Coronea)
Created Corinthian League
Alexander the Great
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Became Macedonian warrior at 14 years old
Served as a general at 18 years old
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Father Phillip was murdered; Alexander stepped into his
place
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Took over for his father at 20 years of age
Continued use of military/technology
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334 BCE – Battle against Persia
(Also see textbook pages 150-151)
Alexander the
Great
This marble head of Alexander the
Great was made in the second or
first century B.C.E. The long hair
and tilt of his head reflect the
description of Alexander in the
literary sources of the time.
Alexander claimed to be descended
from Heracles, a Greek hero
worshiped as a god, and when he
proclaimed himself pharaoh of
Egypt, he gained recognition as a
living deity. It is reported that one
statue, now lost, showed Alexander
gazing at Zeus. At the base of the
statue were the words ‘‘I place the
earth under my sway; you, O Zeus,
keep Olympus.’’
© British Museum, London/HIP/Art Resource, NY
In just twelve years, Alexander the Great conquered vast territories.
Dominating lands from west of the Nile to east of the Indus, he brought the
Persian Empire, Egypt, and much of the Middle East under his control.
TYRE (off shore island) - key strategic location
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causeway – land bridge to island
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siege towers
A brief video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2y4_ixurE8
(link to video on Alexander and Tyre) (right click to open hyperlink)
332 BCE – Battle of Issus – Meets Darius III and defeated
him
332 BCE (late) – Syria, Palestine and Egypt were under his
control
EGYPT 331 BCE
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No bloodshed
Proclaimed himself the “liberator”
They proclaimed him “son of Amon” and Pharaoh
Alexandria was built (center of culture/science/learning)
HELLENISM – “to make Greek” – Greek way of Life was
spread throughout Mediterranean, North Africa, Middle
East, as far as India
Pergamum & Egypt
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Athen’s greatness started to dwindle in the face of the new
Alexandrian cities
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Alexander’s Greatest Cities – Alexandria, Egypt and
Pergamum, Anatolia (modern-day Turkey)
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great terraces
huge theater
temples at high places
public buildings/gymnasiums/agora
Trajan Temple at Pergamum
Temple of Sarapus Pergamum
Theatre at Pergamum
Alexander’s Demise
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327 BCE – Entered India – furthest extent of empire
 Alexander’s army and empire influenced Indians – creation of
Mauryan Empire (from India Chapter)
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Complaining among Troops
Turned around to go Home ….
323 BCE – Alexander ill and died (32 years old)
Leaders began to fight for Empire
Raised a common problem of empire, rule, and power:
how to maintain empire after strong ruler’s death
Hellenistic Kingdoms
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Parts of Alexander’s former empire – even after his death,
“Greek” rule & Hellenism had a lasting effect on former
empire
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Split into separate kingdoms:
1. Macedonia – Antigonid Dynasty (most powerful)
2. Syria and East – Seleucids (largest)
3. West and Asia Minor – Pergamum
4. Egypt – Ptolemy (wealthiest and most influential)
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good coast/harbor
1st lighthouse constructed (300-400 feet tall)
The World of the Hellenistic Kingdoms
Sketch of Lighthouse constructed at Egypt
(Thiersch)
Greek Influence in Mediterranean
and Middle East
Economic/Social/Trade
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Commerce increased as new cities spring up along conquest routes
Most important product – grain
Women gained more independence
Culture
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Promoted theatre
Historical and biographical literature
Buildings
Statues/sculptures
Science
► Heliocentric view – sun as center of solar system, not earth
► Round earth
► Archimedes – geometry, spheres, cylinders
Philosophy
► Athens remained center for philosophy
Epicurus
► Self-interest as motivating force
Stoicism (How to find happiness)
► Live in harmony with will of gods
► Public service = good