The Geography of Greece
Geography of Greece
• ¾ is Mountains; poor farming land
• Ionian, Aegean, and Meditteranean Seas
• Very poor in Natural Resources; Trade is
Crucial
• Roads not good; 7 Days to go 60 Miles
• Grew Grain, Grapes, Olives
• Now town more than 85 miles from coast
• Size of Greece= Size of State of New York
• 1st people arrive 7,000 B.C.
Bronze Age Greece
Crete: Minoan Civilization
(Palace at Knossos)
Notes over Minoans
• Discovered in 1900 by Sir Arthur Evans
• Worshiped the Bull
• Myth of the Minotaur- Half man, half bull
• Lived mainly on the Island of Crete
• Eventually taken over by the Myceneans
• Ca. 1620-1450 Volcanic Eruption on Island of
Thera destroyed Minoan Cities. Never recover
Minoans Continued
• Greek Philosopher Plato creates the
story of Atlantis based off of this myth.
• Involved in Trojan War with Troy
( Town on the Western Coast of Asia
Minor)
• Following the Trojan War, Myceneans
will collapse.
Knossos: Minoan Civilization
Minoan Civilization
The Mycenaean Civilization
Notes over Myceneans
• Come around about 2,000 B.C.
• Ruled by Warrior-Kings; lived extravagant
lives
• People heavily taxed
• Adopted Minoans
• Took part on Trojan War around 1200
B.C.
Notes over Dorians
• No Written Records.
• Called the Greek Dark Ages
• 1150-750 B.C.
• Economy and Lifestyle suffer
greatly.
Homer: The “Heroic Age”
The Mask of Agamemnon
Phidias’ Acropolis
The Acropolis Today
The Agora
Types of Greek Governments
• Governments will vary from CityState to City-State due to
geography.
• Monarchy- Rule by King
• Oligarchy- Rule by more than one
powerful male.
• Tyranny- Rule taken by force and
usually lost by force. Appeal to the
poor.
• Democracy- Rule by the people who
vote.
Piraeus: Athens’ Port City
Athens NEED TO KNOW
INFO
• Located North of Sparta; opposites
• Degraded the Spartans for lacking curiosity
and imagination
• Democracy is born here; freedom to think
• Only Adult Free males were citizens; only
ones who could vote
• 1/3 were slaves
• Women were housewives
More on Athens Government
• Draco writes 1st Law Code- 621 B.C.
• Solon issues reforms but neglects the poor.
• Pisistratus was Athen’s 1st Tyrant. Helped
the poor. 546 B.C.
• Cleisthenes follows with the Council of
500- Men that were chosen at random
from town to propose laws; only 1/5 of
population was eligible……..1st Democracy
though!!!
ATHENS: Yesterday & Today
SPARTA
SPARTA
Helots  Messenians enslaved by the
Spartans.
THE FIGHTING PHALANX
Sparta NEED TO KNOW
INFO
• Powerful Military State
• 1st conquest was conquering the Messinians and
making them slaves. (HELOTS)
• Ruled by 3 Groups: Assembly- Elected Free Males
and Council of Elders- 5 men that carried out laws
• 2 Kings governed the Military
• Law system set up by Lycurgus; told them laws
were form Crete. Disappears and Spartans stuck in
that law code.
• Only ruling and working class were citizens
• No Gold or Silver coins; only iron to keep Spartans
from trade with other Greeks
More on SPARTA
• Important Ages of Spartan boys
• 7- went to live in military barracks; beaten, taught to
steal, taught battle tactics
• 20- could marry; but lived at barracks still
• 30- could move out of barracks
• 60- could retire from military
• Spartan women were expected to exercise and
compete. Sacrificed all to the city-state. Married at
14 usually
• 600 B.C. – 371 B.C. Sparta was most powerful
• Valued duty, strength and discipline
• Lost out on individuality, beauty, and freedom.
Persian Wars: 499 BCE – 480 BCE
Persian Wars: Famous Battles
$
$
$
Marathon (490 BCE)

26.2 miles from Athens

6,400 Persians die; 192 Athenians

Phedipidas runs back to Athens.
Thermopylae (480 BCE)

300 Spartans at the Mountain pass

Xerxes avenging father’s failure
Salamis (480 BCE)

Athenian navy victorious

Persian ships are beached; but burn
Athens
Golden “Age of Pericles”:
460 BCE – 429 BCE
Peloponnesian Wars
Peloponnesian War
• Sparta declares war 431 B.C.
• Cause was over Delian League and Athens
thinking they were running things.
• Sparta better on Land; Athens better at Sea
• Sparta laid seige to many City-States of Athens
• Sparta attacks Athens; Pericles orders all
Athenians behind city walls. Plague breaks out
killing 2/3. Pericles included.
• Athens surrenders 404 B.C. ; Golden Age over
The Parthenon
Statue of Zeus at Olympia
•
o
v
e
r
Collussus at Rhodes
• 110 ft. High
Temple to Artemis
Athens: The Arts & Sciences
$ DRAMA (tragedians):

Aeschylus- The Persians

Sophocles- Antigone

Euripides- The Trojan Women
$ THE SCIENCES:

Pythagoras- a2 + b2 = c2

Democritus  all matter made up of
small atoms.

Hippocrates  “Father of Medicine”
•
I swear by Apollo Physician and Asclepius and Hygieia and Panaceia and all the gods and
goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will fulfil according to my ability and judgment this
oath and this covenant:
To hold him who has taught me this art as equal to my parents and to live my life in partnership
with him, and if he is in need of money to give him a share of mine, and to regard his offspring as
equal to my brothers in male lineage and to teach them this art - if they desire to learn it - without
fee and covenant; to give a share of precepts and oral instruction and all the other learning to my
sons and to the sons of him who has instructed me and to pupils who have signed the covenant
and have taken an oath according to the medical law, but no one else.
I will apply dietetic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I will
keep them from harm and injustice.
I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to
this effect. Similarly I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy. In purity and holiness I
will guard my life and my art.
I will not use the knife, not even on sufferers from stone, but will withdraw in favor of such men as
are engaged in this work.
Whatever houses I may visit, I will come for the benefit of the sick, remaining free of all intentional
injustice, of all mischief and in particular of sexual relations with both female and male persons, be
they free or slaves.
What I may see or hear in the course of the treatment or even outside of the treatment in
regard to the life of men, which on no account one must spread abroad, I will keep to
myself, holding such things shameful to be spoken about.
If I fulfil this oath and do not violate it, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and art, being honored
with fame among all men for all time to come; if I transgress it and swear falsely, may the opposite
of all this be my lot.
Hippocratic Oath—Modern Version
I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:
I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share
such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.
I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required, avoiding those twin traps of
overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.
I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and
understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug.
I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of
another are needed for a patient's recovery.
I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may
know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life,
all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced
with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.
I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose
illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related
problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.
I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.
I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human
beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.
If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with
affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long
experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.
Great Athenian Philosophers
$
$
Socrates (469-399 B.C.)

Know thyself!

The Unexamined life is not worth living.

Only Know his teachings because of Plato

question everything

Not understood by most; 399 BC sentenced
to drink poison for corrupting youth of Athens

only the pursuit of goodness
brings happiness.
Plato (427-347 B.C.)

The Academy

Perfect society had 3 classes: Farmers and
artists, Warriors, and ruling class

The Republic  philosopher-king

Ideas rule for 1,500 years.
Great Athenian Philosophers
$ Aristotle (384-322 B.C)

The Lyceum

“Golden Mean” [everything in
moderation]

Logic

Scientific method

Most famous pupil was Alexander the
Great of Macedonia
Olympia
The Ancient Olympics:
Athletes & Trainers
Olympia: Temple to Hera
The 2004 Olympics
Macedonia Under Philip II
Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great’s Empire
Alexander the Great
NEED TO KNOW
• Took over the throne at 20; died at 32.
• Idolized Achilles; Kept Iliad under his pillow.
• Attacked Eastern Persia and Won. Darius offers
Truce; Alex refuses…… Wants entire Persian
Empire.
• Marches to Egypt. Named Pharaoh
• After 11 years and 11,000 miles of fighting his men
tire and want to go home.
• Alexander falls ill on way home; dies of Malaria.
• His empire is split into 5
• Responsible for Hellenistic Culture; Blend of Greek,
Egyptian, and Eastern Cultures (Persia, India)
The Hellenization of Asia
Alexandria, Egypt----- The center of Hellenistic World
The Breakup of Alexander’s Empire
Alexander the Great in Persia
What was his horse’s name?
Pergamum: A Hellenistic City
The Economy of the Hellenistic World
Hellenistic Philosophers
$ Cynics  Diogenes
 ignore social conventions &
avoid luxuries.
 citizens of the world.
 live a humble, simple life.
$ Epicurians  Epicurus
 avoid pain & seek pleasure.
 all excess leads to pain!
 politics should be avoided.
Hellenistic Philosophers
$ Stoics  Zeno
 nature is the expansion of
divine will.
 concept of natural law.
 get involved in politics, not
for personal gain, but to
perform virtuous acts for the
good of all.
 true happiness is found in
great achievements.
Hellenism: The Arts & Sciences
$ Scientists / Mathematicians:

Aristarchus  heliocentric theory.

Euclid  geometry

Archimedes  pulley

Ptolemy- Planets revolve around earth

Scholars- Earth is 24,662 miles;Actual is
24,860
$ Hellenistic Art:

More realistic; less ideal than
art.

Showed individual emotions,
age!
old Greek
wrinkles, and