Classical Greece
2000B.C. – 200 B.C.
 What
direction is the Aegean Sea from
Greece?
 2000-1100 B.C. Three major civilizations
prospered in the area around the Aegean Sea



Minoans on the island of Crete
The Hellenes on the mainland
The Trojans on Troy

On the coast of Asia Minor
 1700
B.C. – 1400 B.C.
 Located on the Island of Crete which is in
what direction from Greece?
 The term Minoan comes from the name
Minos, a legendary king of Crete.
 Crete had poor soil and good harbors

Much of their wealth came from trade
 Ships

carried goods throughout the lands
Gold, Silver, jewelry, swords, and ivory carvings
 No
large army – instead built a powerful navy
to keep sea free from pirates
 Made
clay vases, bronze daggers, gold cups,
and other luxury items
 Minoans had indoor plumbing with drains
 Were skilled at Boxing and Bull Jumping
 Most
impressive city = Knossos (on the island
of Crete)
 Decline
of this civilization has no known
cause

 It
Some believe that Hellenes invaded Crete
sometime between 1450 and 1350 B.C.
is known however that the Hellenes on
mainland Greece had opened direct trading
with Egypt and Syria and that such trade
would not have been possible if the Minoan
navy had still controlled the seas
 After
the fall of Crete, the Hellenes turned
their power in other places
 They expanded their trade into the black Sea
Region
 As time passed, these people came into
conflict with the people who lived in the
city-state of Troy
 Between 1200-1180 B.C. two Trojan wars
were fought
A
Greek poet named
Homer created a long
poem about the wars


ILLIAD
Thought to be based on
oral or spoken poetry

The Trojan Wars started after Paris, a son of the
King of Troy, kidnapped Helen, the beautiful wife
of a Greek King. An army of greek heroes,
including Achilles and Odysseus, sailed to Troy to
rescue Helen. The great battle between Achilles
and Hector, prince of Troy, in which Hector is
killed, is a high point of the poem. The Greeks
finally defeated the Trojans and destroyed Troy

Based on Heinrich Schliemann, Troy as described
by Homer, really did exist
 Dorians
 Came
in after the fall of Troy when all other
Greek city-states were fighting each other
 They didn’t write anything down so the
Greeks fell into what is known as the Dark
Ages
The Classical Age
 Began
around 500 B.C.
 Because of the geography, the Greeks DID NOT
create one Nation – instead they created many
city-states also called POLI

Independent of one another
 Each



was governed as it’s citizens viewed best
Monarchy – ruled by a king
Aristocracy – ruled by nobles
Oligarchy – ruled by wealthy merchants and landowners
 Athens

chose Democracy
Ruled by the people
 http://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/wor
ldhistory/athens/
 Athens
was different from all others – they
had democracy
 http://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/wor
ldhistory/democracy/

Males began preparing for their role in the
democratic government at 18
Public pledge to defend Athens and Gods
 After training for 2 years – enter into active military

Only after they served in military could they
then vote
 After 30 he could serve on the Council of 500


This supervised the army, the navy, and financial
affairs
Could also serve on jury (6000 people)
 Could also be elected to serve as one of the Ten
Generals


They led the armed forces of Athens
 Not
all people could practice in the
democracy



Woman
Slaves or prisoners of war
Residents who were not born in Athens
 Athens
is therefore ruled by a MINORITY not
a MAJORITY
 Boys



Grammar
Singing and musical instrument
Geometry, astronomy, geography, and public
speaking
 Also

were educated to serve the city
trained the body
Participated in sports

Wrestling, swimming, running, and throwing the javelin
and discus
 Girls



Taught to be good wives and mothers
Weaving, household management, and the care of
children
Married between age 14 and 16
 What
is culture?
 What does it mean to have culture or to be
cultured?
 Arts
and Sciences
 Talented people came to Athens to learn –
what does this tell us about the culture of
Athens?
 Artists,
architects, sculptors, dramatists,
philosophers, mathematicians,
Socrates
Plato
Aristotle
 Wrote



Aeschylus
Sophocles
Euripedes
 Wrote

plays called Tragedies
comedies
Aristophanes
 Herodotus

Wars between Greeks and Persians
 Thucydides

Peloponnesian War
The Military State
 Cared
little about democracy or the arts
 Most of their interests were around military
matters
 Government became organized around 600
B.C.
 Strongest military power in all of Greece
 Ignored
all other city-states
Elected two kings every 9 years
 A council of elders and an assembly of free Spartans
advised the king

Council of elders = 28 men over the age of 60
 Assembly of free Spartans = men over age 30


Ephors held real power
This was a committee of 5 people elected every year by the
assembly
 Closely watch the actions of the king
 Control education
 Supervise slaves


Spartan people only lived to served the needs of the
government

All males are professional soldiers
Spent childhood training for the military
 Most of adult life in the army


All boys, starting at age 7 moved away from
home to a military training camp


Men required to marry at the age of 30 in order
to start having a family


Here they were taught how to be good Spartans
This gave the government more soldiers!
Men stayed in the military and did not live at
home with their wives until after they were 60
years old
 Received
no formal education
 Taught to be healthy mothers
 Had more legal rights then other woman in
other city states
 Had legal rights equal to men
 Not
allowed to participate in trade or
manufacturing

People who were not citizens did this for the
Spartans
 Spartans


owned farms
Helots = non Spartan slaves
Helots do all of the work on the farms
 Mainly
 Very,
agriculture with very little trade
very harsh life
 During
5th century B.C. – The Greek city-states are
defeated twice by the Persian empire
 Greeks

tried to fight the Persians
The unite under the leadership of Athens
 They
defeat the Persians
 However,
now all of the city-states begin to fight
one another

Disaster for all of Greece
 522B.C.

– Persian empire controls Middle East
This includes many Greek City-States in Asia Minor
 Darius
= King of Persia
 City-States in Greece rebel against Persia in 499

Athens sends ships to help – this angers Darius
 Darius
decides to conquer Greece and punish
Athens
 To
defend themselves, Athens and Sparta form an
alliance
 490
B.C.
 Athenian army defeats the Persians

The Persians outnumbered the Athenians
 Runner
was sent 25 miles to report the
victory

This is why we run marathons =)
 Darius
is forced to withdraw from Greece
 Xerxes
 480
= Son of Darius of Persia
B.C. – Xerxes attacks Greece
 Persian
forces outnumbered the few hundred
Spartans
 Persians
capture Athens and set fire to it
 BUT
the Athenians fight back at sea and defeat the
Persian navy in a battle at Salamis

Persians leave for home a year later
 This
victory saves the freedom of the Greek CityStates

To prevent further attacks by Persia the city states
organize themselves into a lose alliance called the
Delian League
 Glory
and power come to Athens
 Pericles leads Athens

Makes a beautiful city

Temples and other buildings
 Parthenon

Honored Athena
 Wrote
new laws that made the government
even more democratic
 Called
the Golden Age of Greece
 Athens
tries to use the Delian League to build an
empire


It didn’t work because the city-states were forced to
pay taxes and give land to Athens
Led by Sparta the others rebelled
 431-404
B.C. = Sparta and Athens are fighting to
determine who would control the Peloponnesian
Peninsula


This is southern Greece
Sparta wins this and gets the Peloponnesian Peninsula

They end democratic government in other city-states
 But
Sparta is very weak
 City
state of Thebes, with help from Persia, defeats
Sparta

But the other city-states won’t accept Thebes as the
ruler
 All
other city states are destroying themselves
 King
Phillip II of the kingdom of Macedonia take
power

He unites the city-states by force and Greece and
Macedonia become one kingdom
 King
Phillip II of Macedonia was murdered after
conquering Greece

His son = Alexander the Great, he becomes king
 Alexander
the Great leads Greece into a new
Era called the Hellenistic Age
 Country
North of Greece
 Most people are herders and farmers

Little interest in learning
 King
Phillip prevents them from killing one
another



Unifies the people as a nation
Creates a powerful army
Teaches them to fight in large, heavily armed
formations called phalanxes
 Phillip
Greeks

wants them to have the culture of the
He brings Aristotle to Macedonia to give his son an
education
 After
he conquered Greece, Phillip organizes the
city-states into the Hellenic League

Only Sparta is not a member
 The
city-states could govern themselves as long as
they gave Phillip military support
 Phillip’s
dream was to conquer the great Persian
empire – but he was murdered before he could
accomplish this
 Instead,
his son, Alexander the Great does
 334
B.C. – Alexander the Great begins his
conquest of the Persian Empire
 Also takes over Egypt, the Middle East, and
the Indus River Valley
 By
324 B.C. Alexander the Great rules over
one of the largest empires
 Alexandria
of Egypt develops into one of the
most important cities of the entire empire

Major learning and trading center
 Those
who settled in the area were encouraged
to marry Persians, Egyptians, Syrians and others
who were native

This begins to unite the cultures
 Very
wealthy cities
 Amazing temples, government buildings, and
theaters
 Scholars,
artists, scientists, and merchants all
venture here to expand their minds
 323
B.C. Alexander dies at the age of 33
 His great empire is divided among his
strongest generals who makes themselves
kings



Macedonia
Syria
Egypt
 City-States
 The
are independent again
culture remained and grew and was
picked up by the Roman civilization as they
gained more and more power by 200 B.C.
 Olympic
games which originated in Athens
 Drama
 Architecture
 Philosophy
 Geometry
 Physics
 Most

important = democracy
It has shaped many of the great nations of the
world, including ours