ANCIENT GREECE

The Ancient GREEKS timeline
Ancient Times - The Achaeans (Greeks)
City-States develop
Athens vs. Sparta
Alexander the Great
Decline of the Greeks
Trojan War
Roman Era

Europe
Ancient Greece
Greece

The Ancient GREEKS
The country of Greece was once divided into around 100 city-states. A city-state is a city and the land around a city. A city-state has its own government, laws, and army. It started with just a few...

The Ancient GREEKS
But eventually there were many Greek city-states...

Types of Government

The Ancient GREEKS

The Ancient GREEKS
Tyranny:
A person seizes power illegally. They cannot claim that they have the right to rule.
Example: When the oligarchies of ancient
Greece were overthrown, tyrants took over.

The Ancient GREEKS
But in Sparta, the wealthy were called the
Oligarchy.

Oligarchy:
The Ancient GREEKS a government led by a small group of generals and soldiers.
Example: The city-state of Sparta was led by an oligarchy of warriors.

Monarchy:
The Ancient GREEKS
When the rule is in the hands of one person, a king. Sometimes chosen by people, and their sons took over after.
Example: The city-states of Greece were once ruled by kings. Eventually, they lost all power to the elite .

The Ancient GREEKS
The Greek city-states were very wealthy and the people who owned land, were called the aristocracy.

Aristocracy:
The Ancient GREEKS
A government in which a few elite and wealthy citizens rule and have power
Example: The Greeks were once ruled by the aristocracy.

Democracy:
The Ancient GREEKS
Rule by the people or a government in which many people are able to participate and vote
Example: Greeks believed that all male citizens had a right to vote on matters.

The Ancient GREEKS
But over time, democracy, where each citizen had a vote and majority rules, developed in Athens and then spread to other parts of ancient Greece.

Minoans vs Mycenaeans
Minoans
• Lived on island of Crete
• 1 st Greek Civilization
• Traded with Egypt and
Mesopotamia things like pottery
• Left island because so many earthquakes destroyed their city
Mycenaeans
• Lived on Peloponnesus or mainland
• Named after city-state of Mycenae
• Conquered the Minoans
• Traded with Italy,
Egypt and Mesopotamia

Athens vs. Sparta

ATHENS
• Democracy
•Traded with other city-states
•Men became citizens at 20
• wanted citizens to be educated and cultured:
- literature and poetry
- music
- art, painting, and sculpture
- philosophy
The Ancient GREEKS
SPARTA
•Oligarchy
•Did not trade because they didn’t trust anyone
•Men became citizens after passing fitness test
•wanted citizens to be a physically fit, strong, well-trained, marching army.
•focused on exercise and military training.

•
ATHENS
The Ancient GREEKS
SPARTA

Athens
1. Boys required to attend training.
2. After they were free to live their lives however they wanted.
3. Built a very strong navy.
4. Protected their lands from Sparta.

Athens
1. Boys went to school.
writing, math, drawing, public speaking, music and philosophy. .
3. Very important that their citizens be WELL educated.
4. Girls learned to manage home, read & write.

Athens
1. Caring for children.
2. Support husband with work.
3. Cannot leave house without a male escort.
4. No say in government.
5. Less freedom than
Spartan women.

Athens
1. Direct Democracy.
2. Male citizens had right to vote.
3. In meetings held every
10 days, assembly , anyone over 18 can vote. .
4. Encouraged to voice their opinions.

SPARTA
• Known for their legendary fighting.
• Used the phalanx formation —side by side in rows.
• Used shields, spears and short swords.
• Served for 40 years before they can retire.

SPARTA
• Centered around the military.
• Reading, writing, military strategies.
• Life was harsh with in military school.
• Taught to fight one another and given very little food.

SPARTA
• More freedom than
Athenian women.
• Responsible for house because men are at war.
• Could travel, own property, and inherit goods.
• Could not participate in gov’t.

SPARTA
• Oligarchy government
• Two kings ruled at the same time —best generals.
• Council of Elders — were judges and had a lot of power.
• They could kick people out or execute them.

The Acropolis in Athens
A special place in each city-state was set aside to build temples to the many Greek gods. The temples were often built on a hill or over-looking the city. This area was called the acropolis.

The Acropolis in Athens

The Acropolis in Athens

The Acropolis in Athens

The Acropolis in Athens

The Acropolis in Athens

The Acropolis in Athens

The Parthenon in Athens
The Greeks built many temples to their many gods. One of the most famous is the Parthenon. It was a temple to the goddess Athena built high atop the acropolis in Athens. The ruins of the temple are still there today.

Terms & Definitions

Agora
• Marketplace in Ancient
Greece

A
G
O
R
A

Meeting at the top of the hill, where they met every 10 days to vote on an issue. They needed 6,000 people to vote.

Military formation, where they stood shoulder to shoulder, and made a walking wall.

Top of the city where a temple was built for the god/goddess.

Temple at the top of Athens built for
Athena, goddess of wisdom.

Homer’s IlIad & odyssey

Homer’s IlIad & odyssey
Homer was the first Greek writer. He was a blind man, so he listened to all the stories about his ancient people and wrote them down using Greek alphabet.

Homer’s IlIad & odyssey
He wrote about a famous war between the Greeks and the Trojans called the
Trojan War . He writes about it in this long poem he called The Iliad . This poem only covers the last year of the war, and talks about the grudge that existed between the Greeks and
Trojans.

Homer’s IlIad & odyssey
After he finished writing The Iliad , he wrote another story called The
Odyssey . This talks about Odysseus , who was a Greek warrior that fought in the Trojan War. When Odysseus was sailing home after the war, he ran into all kinds of trouble , and this was a poem about it.

The myth of the Sea goddess Thetis, dipping baby Achilles in the river to make him immortal to arrows !

Menelaus and Paris ready to fight, when
Aphrodite swoops down and takes Paris away!

Achilles dragging the body of lifeless Hector!

Paris kills Achilles!

The Horse enters the City of Troy!

Social Life in Greece

Jigsaw Activity
• Divide into groups of 4
• Grab a
– Poster
– Topic
– Markers
• Read among your
Topic group your section
• Complete this poster
3 facts about it
1.
2.
3.
Illustrate it Use it in a sentence of your own about it!

Greek Houses

Greek Houses

Greek Houses

Greek Houses

Greek Clothing

Greek Clothing

Philosophers of Ancient
Greece

What is Philosophy?
• Philosophy is the practice of asking really BIG questions that have no clear answer or that have more than one answer. It’s a Greek word that means love and wisdom .

Socrates
• He questioned the existence of the gods and this angered the
Greeks because it was something that had never been done before.
• He was accused of corrupting the young people of Athens and was sentenced to death .
• Many of his close friends wanted to help him escape from prison , but he drank poison and died.

Plato
• Plato was born to a wealthy family and was a student of the great philosopher
Socrates .
• Plato founded the first university, called the
Academy.
What a smart guy!
• Believed women should receive the same education as men.
• He believed in the unseen world.

Aristotle
• Aristotle was a Macedonian .
He lived in Athens for 20 years and was the student of Plato .
• After Plato died, King Phillip of Macedonia offered Aristotle a job as tutor to the king's young son, Alexander .
• He taught Alexander to admire and respect the Greeks .

PELOPONNESIAN WAR

The Peloponnesian Wars

The Peloponnesian Wars
The Spartans believed that the Athenians wanted to take charge of all of the city-states in Greece, and so they began to fight the Athenians. These were called the Peloponnesian
Wars, and they lasted from 431 - 404 BC. The Spartans won and became the ruling city-state of Greece for a short time .

The Greek PHALANX military formation
The Greeks developed a very effective military formation, called the Phalanx in which soldiers march closely together with long spears and shields to protect the whole group and create a nearly impenetrable wall.

Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great was the king of Macedonia who led a conquest against King Darius III and the Persian Empire.

Alexander the Great’s Empire
Under Alexander the Great, the Greek Empire included Greece,
Anatolia (Turkey), Northern Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and parts of India. This was the largest the Greek Empire would become. After Alexander’s death, his generals divided the empire and ruled over parts of it.

Athens vs. Sparta Essay
Now that you have completed the reading about
Athens ( Source 1 ) and Sparta ( Source 2 ), write a two paragraph essay contrasting the way of life in both city-states.
Using your two sources, develop a thesis/controlling idea that is relevant to both sources. Clearly organize your essay and elaborate your ideas. Unless quoting directly from the sources, use your own words. Be sure to reference the source title or number when quoting or paraphrasing details and facts from the sources.