Trojan War
 Story told by Homer in the epic poem, The Illiad. While there is
evidence of a war in Troy, some events of the story seem
mythical.
 The war was fought over a beautiful woman named Helen, who
was married to a Spartan king.
 Aphrodite promised Helen to Paris, a Trojan prince. Paris
kidnapped Helen, so the Greeks attacked to get her back.
 After nine years of fighting, the Greek leader Odysseus came
up with a plan to get into the city.
 With help from Athena, the Greeks built a large horse out of the
wood from their ships.
 They hid their warriors on the inside, and waited for the Trojans
to pull the horse into the city.
 After the Trojans fell asleep, the Greeks got out of the horse
and destroyed the city.
Persian Wars
 The Persians were a group of people that came from the area
that is now Iran
 In 490 BC the Persians attack Marathon. The Greeks were
outnumbered, but won.
o They Greeks had a strong strategy- attacked from the
sides and back instead of from the front.
 The Battle of Thermopylae was fought in the mountains. A
Greek traitor helped the Persians find another route to the
Greek soldiers. The Greeks lost this battle.
 Next, the Persians attack Athens. The Athenian leader let the
Persians destroy Athens because he wants to fight at sea
instead.
 Next, the Greeks defeat the Persians at sea, near the island of
Salamis.
 During the Battle of Plataea the Greeks win on land and at sea.
The Greeks burn the Persian’s fleet of ships. This ends the
war.
 Everyone worried that the Persians would eventually attack
again. Athens forms the Delian League. Many Greek citystates gave money and ships to form a large, strong navy to
protect everyone in the future.
 In 449 BCE, the Delian League finally signed a peace treaty
with the Persians.
Peloponnesion Wars
 Greek vs. Greek (Athens vs. Sparta)
 As the Delian League grows, Athens becomes more powerful.
 Sparta does not join this league, but forms its own league:
Peloponnesian League.
 Athens attacks any city-states that want to leave the Delian
League.
 Sparta worries about Athen’s power and threatens to attack.
 Pericles, a leader of Athens, is wiling to fight Sparta. He wants
Athens to remain powerful.
o Pericles reminds the people of Athens what they are
fighting for: democracy & education.
 When Sparta’s army arrives at Athens, Pericles makes an
important decision:
o Calls all citizens inside the walls. He wants to fight at sea
instead.
 Athens is struck by the plague. One fourth of the population
die, including Pericles.
 Persians decide to help Sparta.
 In the end, nobody wins because both Athens and Sparta are
too weak to recover.