Ancient Greece
Greek Geography
• Mount Olympus
• Mountainous with small plains &
river valleys
• Warfare devastated Greek
society
• Aegean, Mediterranean, and
Ionian Sea
• Greeks were seafarers
• NC
• Greece
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•
Mt Olympus
•Troy
Ionian Sea
•Knossos
Greek Civilization
• Minoan civilization established on
island of Crete 2700 B.C.
• Complex civilization- very
advanced- running water,
language (linear A)
• Importance of the Bull
• 1450 B.C. Minoans were invaded
by Mycenaeans
Bull Jumping
http://ejmuybridge.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/bulldance1.jpg
Greek Civilization
• Mycenaean civilization prospered
around 1400 B.C.
• Powerful monarchies
• Wrote in Linear B
• Tholos tombs
• Warrior society
• Large commercial network- occupied
mainland, Crete, and many islands
Linear B Writing
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Tholos Tomb
http://www.historywiz.com/beehivetombs.htm
http://www.historywiz.com/beehivetombs.htm
Greek Civilization
• Mycenaeans conquered Crete
• States began fighting one another
– Natural disasters wiped out farm land
– Invaded by Sea People/ Dorians
• 1100 B.C. civilization collapsed
• 1100 – 750 – Dark Age – few
records exist
King Agamemnon of Mycenaeans
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Dark Age
• Few records exist, written or
otherwise
• Expanded to Asia Minor- Ionia
– Looking for good farmland
• Increase of agriculture, trade
• Rise of Iron Age
– Replaced Bronze Age
Greek Civilization
• Greeks adopted Phoenician
alphabet
• Epic poem – long poem that tells
the deeds of a great hero
• Homer
– The Iliad and The Odyssey
• Mycenaeans and the Trojan War
The Poet, Homer
Greek Polis
• 750 B.C. polis – Greek citystate, was focus of Greek life
• Acropolis – fortified gathering
place on top of a hill
• Agora – open area that served as
a place where people could
assemble, also a market
Athenian Acropolis
Greek Military
• Conflict between city-states
began
– Created need permanent army
• Hoplites – heavily armed infantry
• Led to new styles of fighting
Hoplite
Ancient Greece
• Phalanx – rectangular shoulder to
shoulder military formation
• Between 750 – 550 B.C. Greeks
began to expand
• Byzantium – modern day Turkey
• Spread throughout the
Mediterranean
Phalanx Formation
Phalanx Formation
Greek Governments
Oligarchy
Tyranny
• Rule by a few
• Ended aristocrats rule
in many states
• a.k.a Aristocracy
• Large and
wealthy landowners
• Controlled economy
• Many fell at the
hands of tyrants
• Seized and maintained
power by force
• Support from wealthy
merchants who wanted
political change
• Fell by 6th Century BC
Greek Governments
Democracy
• Government by the people or rule by
many
• End of tyranny allowed people chance
to participate in government
• First major polis to adopt was Athens
Sparta
• Oligarchy, military state
ruled by 2 kings
• Helots – captured people
made to work for
Spartans
• Super strict rules, laws,
and social structure
• Closed off to the
outside world
Athens
• Unified in 700BCE
• Draco- 621BCE-
– first lawgiver, to end murder- uses harsh
punishment- Draconian
• Solon- given 1 year to fix Athens
– Becomes known for "giving the law a conscience“
• Peisistratus took control, followed by
son
• Cleisthenes takes over in 510BCE
– Created a council of 500
• Start of Democracy
Alliances
• Peloponnesian League
– Headed by Spartans
– Corinth, Argos, Elis
• Delian League
– A.k.a. Athenian League
– Massive alliance, including many islands
and towns across Aegean Sea
– Different contributions
Persian Wars
• Persia took over Asia Minor and
Ionia
• Darius seeks revenge, and attacks
Athens
• Athenians defeat Persians at
Marathon in 490BC
• Xerxes vows revenge
King Darius of Persia
Persian Wars
• Greece prepares for attack
• Athenians built up navy, Spartans
led defensive league
• Xerxes invades
– Thermopylae – 300 Spartans
– Athenians abandon city, form army to
win
Thermopylae
Marathon
Salamis
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Athenian Empire
• Athenians formed an defense
alliance against Persians
• Golden Age of Greece
• Age of Pericles
• 461 – 429 B.C.
Age of
Pericles
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Age of Pericles
• Direct democracy- expanded
political involvement
• Ostracism – banning politicians by
vote
• Economy based on farming &
trade
• Women were ignored, expect in
religious festivals
The Olympics
• The first Olympic games were
held in 776BCE
• Greatest festival of sports
• Held at Olympia every four years
Javelin
Wrestling
Religion
• Mt. Olympus
– 12 Gods/ Goddesses
• Believed spirits went to
underworld
• Rituals – ceremonies/rites to
please gods
• Oracle at Delphi
Architecture
• The Acropolis
• Geometric proportions
• Symmetry
Erechtheum
Parthenon
Classical Greece- Art
• Greek sculpture
• Ideal beauty
– Scientific
proportions
• Pottery
http://www.ancientgreece.com/media/img/scul2.jpg
Classical Greece-Drama
• Greek tragedies
• Aeschylus
• Sophocles –
Athenian
playwright –
Oedipus Rex
• Euripides
• Thucydides –
greatest historian
of ancient world
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Classical Greece- Education
• 6th century – Pythagoras
• Hippocrates  “Father of
Medicine
• Sophists – traveling teachers
who rejected speculation such
as that of Pythagoras as
foolish
Greek Philosophy
• Socrates
• Know Thyself!
• Question Everything
• Only the pursuit of
goodness brings
happiness
• Socratic Method
• Question and answer,
leads to students
thinking for
themselves
Greek Philosophy
• Plato
– The Academy of Athens
– Western philosophy and science
• Aristotle
– Viewed as most influential thinker of the
Western world
– Scientific method
– Golden Mean- EQ
Peloponnesian War
• 431 B.C.
• 405 Athens surrendered
• Ruined chance of cooperation
among Greek cities
• Thebes emerges
• Ignored Macedonia to the north
Rise of Macedonia
• By 5th century, Macedonia
emerged as powerful kingdom
• 359 B.C.King Philip II
takes over
Macedonia
• King Philip II
assassinated &
left throne to his
son, Alexander
• Alexander the
Great invaded
Persia
• Established
Alexandria as
Greek capital of
Egypt
Greece
• Expanded to largest empire in
world history, up to this point
• Monarchies became part of
Alexander’s political legacy
Greece
• Hellenistic Era – imitate the
Greeks
• Alexander’s empire fell apart
after his death
• Greek cities of Hellenistic Era
helped expand Greek culture
The Breakup of Alexander’s
Empire
Hellenistic Era
• Alexandria was home to largest
library
• Sculptures become more realistic
• Developed theory of sun at the
center of the universe
• Calculated Earth’s circumference
to within 185 miles
Hellenistic Era Philosophers
• Epicurus- Epicurians
– Happiness is the chief goal in life
– Looking for pleasure
– Avoid politics
• Diogenes- Cynics
– Avoid luxuries
– Live a simple and humble life
Hellenistic Era Philosophers
• Zeno- Stoics
– Nature is expansion of divine
– True happiness is found in inner peace
and great achievements
– Get involved in politics for the good of all
• Most popular of the time
The & Sciences
•
Science:
•
•
•
Aristarchus - heliocentric theory.
Euclid - geometry
Archimedes – pulley, pi
Hellenistic Art
Hellenistic
Art:
•
–
–
More realistic;
less ideal than
Hellenic art.
Showed individual
emotions,
wrinkles, and age!
Laocoon and his sons