Chapter 4 Ancient Greece
At the height of their
society, the first earliest
Greek civilization was on
the island of Crete.
Although it isn’t known
what they called
themselves, we do know
one of their most
influential kings, King
Minos. Today, we now refer
to this civilization as the
Minoan civilization.
What we know of
the Minoans
• By studying the frescoes (or
watercolor paintings done on
wet plaster) at their capital of
Knossos, it is evident that the
Minoans were traders, not
conquerors. Trading with the
Egyptians and
Mesopotamians, they
acquired a system of writing
and ideas on art and
architecture. Pictures of
dolphins on their frescoes, as
well as pictures of boats,
indicate that they were seafaring people. The presence of
females in many of the
frescoes indicate that women
may have enjoyed many of the
rights that other civilizations
denied to women.
• It appears that Minoans
worshiped the bull as
well as a mother
goddess. Other frescoes
show that young
Minoans participated in
acrobatic shows that
involved them jumping
through and over angry
bulls. This leads
historians to debate the
Greek myth of the
Centaur of Minos.
• By 1400 B.C., the
civilization of the
Minoans had vanished.
It is believed that the
volcanic eruption on a
nearby island, Thira,
may have caused a
devastating earthquake
and tsunami. Invasions
by the Mycenaean
people would have
finished the survivors
off.
The End of the
Minoans
Mycenaeans
• The Mycenaeans
dominated the Greek
world from 1400 B.C. to
1200 B.C. They were the
first Greek-speaking
peoples of the ancient
world. They absorbed
many of the
technologies and
techniques used by the
Minoans. They also used
many of the traditions
and technologies from
Egypt and
Mesopotamia.
Mycenaeans
• They lived in city-states,
ruled by warrior-kings
that built large walled
cities.
• Sometime around 1250
B.C., the Mycenaeans
involved themselves in an
economic rivalry with the
city of Troy.
• The Trojans situated their
city where many ships
were forced to port there.
The Trojans would force a
tax to use their port,
which angered the
Mycenaeans.
• To end the stranglehold
on this narrow water
passage (or straits), the
Mycanaeans allied
themselves with other
Greek city-states and
attacked Troy. The
Greeks defeated the
Trojans and burned the
city.
• Legend has it……
The Trojan War
• Who is Homer?
• Iliad- the events of the
Trojan War and the
introduction of Odysseus
• Odyssey- The story of the
trip made by Odysseus
from Troy to his home on
Ithaca.
Greek Civilization
• Like the ancient
Sumerians, Greeks
created city-states. The
Greek city-state was
known as a polis.
• Not one empire would
gain control until 338
B.C., because of the
isolation of the many
Greek polis’.
• They were separated by
water (many islands, and
hard to reach bays), and
rugged mountains that
hid isolated valleys.
Use of the Sea
• The one constant for many Greeks were their proximity to the sea.
As many Greek polis’ became skilled sea-farers, trade became
crucial for their economy. Trade with the Egyptians, Phoenicians,
and others not only brought wealth and diverse products, but they
also acquired ideas; such as the use of an alphabet from the
Phoenicians. As their population expanded and a lack of land to
support the Greeks, they began to colonize several parts of the
Mediterranean.
• The polis evolved by 750 B.C. into a two
leveled city surrounded by the nearby
countryside. On top of a hill in the city was
the acropolis, where temples were dedicated
to the gods and goddesses. At the low
elevation of the city was the marketplace (or
agora), theater, public buildings, and homes.
Growth of the
polis
Evolution of Greek Types of
Government
• Ancient Greek city-states began as separate
monarchies. A monarchy is a government ran by
a single hereditary ruler that has absolute power.
• As time elapsed, land owners gained power from
the monarchies, which led to aristocracies. An
aristocracy is a government ruled by a hereditary
landholding upper class elite.
• In some city-states, a class of wealthy traders,
farmers, and artisans would gather more wealth
and power than many others in the aristocracy.
As a result, some turned into an oligarchy, or a
government run by a small, wealthy elite.
• New technologies, such as iron weapons and shields, as
well as the availability and affordability of iron weapons,
allowed ordinary citizens to be involved in the defense of
a city. In many cities, this would lead to a new middle
class of citizen,
the citizen-soldier.
1.
• A new method of fighting emerged, called the phalanx,
it is a massive tactical formation of heavily armed foot
soldiers.
• Government
– 2 kings and a council of
elder advisory council
– Assembly of citizens
approved major decisions
– Citizens included 30 year
old native born males.
The society was a warrior
society, where the people
of Sparta would be
groomed to either be a
soldier, or give birth to
future soldiers.
Sparta
• Those born with a defect or sickly
would be left in the wilderness to
die.
• By age 7, boys began their training
for a lifetime of military service.
• They would go through a training of
hard exercise, rigid discipline, and
strict rules.
• To help them develop to become
cunning and resourceful soldiers,
the boys would be fed little and
encouraged to fight and steal for
food. If they were caught, they
would be beaten.
• By age 20, they were allowed to
marry, but would continue to live
with the other soldiers until they
were citizens, aged 30.
• They would not be retired from
service until age 60.
• Spartan women were
expected to produce
strong babies.
• They would participate in
rigorous exercise to
strengthen their bodies.
• Were under control of
their husband or father.
• Could inherit property.
• Would fill in for the men
when they were off at
war.
• If husband came back
from a losing battle, the
wife would denounce her
husband for not dying in
battle.
• Unique from other Greek citystates.
• Did not have use for arts or new
ideas, unless related to the
military.
• Looked down upon trade and
wealth.
• Did not allow its citizens to travel.
Athens
• Originally a monarchy, but
developed into an
aristocracy. Eventually
they grew into a
democracy ( a
government ruled by the
people).
• Although they were a
democracy, the citizens
who were a limited
number, put into power
rulers that made reforms
to help them. These rulers
were brutal and ruthless,
they became known as
tyrants.
• Women could not be
citizens, and were limited
to the roles they could
perform.
• They were essential in
religion, as priestesses to
the temples of the
goddesses.
• Those of wealth were rarely
seen in public. Servants
assisted them in the home,
and they would spend
much of their time caring
for children or managing
their servants.
Role of Women in
Athens
• Girls had little formal
education. Boys,
however, if their family
could afford it, would
attend a school to learn
to read and write. They
were also taught music,
poetry, and public
speaking. They were
also encouraged to do
physical training and
participate in sport, but
were not required like
the Spartan children
were.
Educating the
Youth
Greek Mythology
and the CityState’s Connection
• The Greeks had many gods,
they were polytheistic.
Greeks believed that the
gods lived atop Mount
Olympus, a mountain in
North Central Greece. Each
city-state associated itself
with one of the gods. For
example, Athens’ patron god
was the goddess of wisdom,
Athena. The city of Delphi’s
god was Apollo. Each citystate would have a huge
temple dedicated to their
god, as well as to other gods.
Priests and priestesses
would worship at the
temples and would dedicate
their time to the gods and
the people of the city.
• Greeks had colonized
islands under Persian
control in the 5th century
B.C. In 499 B.C., the
Ionian Greeks rebelled
against the Persians and
sought assistance from
Athens. Athens assisted
by sending ships, but it
was to no avail. The
Persians defeated the
Ionians and sought to
punish the Athenians for
assisting the Ionian
Greeks.
• Greatly outnumbered by
the Persians, the
Athenians met them at a
place called Marathon.
With no assistance from
other Greek city-states,
the Athenians were
victorious. A messenger
for the Athenian army,
Phidippides, ran non-stop
back to Athens to
announce, “Nike”(the
Greek goddess of victory).
This run would be
immortalized as the
famous Marathon run.
How far is it from
Marathon to Athens????
The Persian
• The Persian emperor,
Darius I vowed to build up
Wars his army and to attack
Athens again. Although
he died and was unable
to continue his promise,
his son Xerxes, continued
the preparation. The
Athenians knew that
another attack by the
larger Persian Empire
would destroy them and
their neighbors, so
Athens prepared by
building a huge navy and
gaining assistance from
their neighbors, including
the Spartans.
• As the Persian army approached Athens, the people of the city
evacuated and headed south near the town of Salamis. To give them
time to evacuate, a group of Spartans defended a pass known as
Thermopylae. The pass was so narrow, a group of 300 Spartans as
well as a number of other allies kept Thermopylae impassable for
plenty of time for Athens to evacuate. The Greeks at Thermopylae
would eventually be defeated by the Persian forces.
• Shortly after the victory at
Thermopylae, Xerxes pushed
his forces into Athens where
they burned the city. Knowing
the Athenians and their naval
forces left, they continued
south until they reached the
straits at Salamis. There, the
Athenians sprung a trap using
their powerful ships to ram the
Persian ships. This caused many
of them to take on water.
Persians were also knocked off
their ships. On land, the land
forces of Sparta, Athens, and
their allies waited for them to
swim ashore where they
massacred those who survived.
Athens is
Destroyed
• By 479 B.C., Xerxes and his
forces were defeated. As a
precaution, the Greek
states wanted to assure
that they would not be
vulnerable against Persian
invasion again. The Greek
city-states joined together
to form an alliance, or a
formal agreement between
two or more nations or
powers to cooperate and
come to one another’s
defense. Money from each
state would go into a
treasury on the island of
Delos, which would be
used to defend the Greek
city-states.
Formation of the
Delian League
• Using its role as the leaders
of the Delian League, they
were able to get the treasury
moved to Athens. When
their allies accused them of
using the fund to rebuild
Athens and wastefully
beautifying the city, many
wanted out of the alliance.
Those the Athenians
believed they could force
into staying, they
threatened, those that they
could not force, left the
Delian League. They would
form their own alliance
known as the
Pelopponnesian League. It
was led by Sparta.
• Resentment for Athens
misusing the Delian
League funds led the
Peloponnesian League to
declare war on Athens
and its allies. In 431 B.C.,
Sparta marched towards
Athens and began a siege
of the city. Athenians
could not travel around
the countryside near the
city, but they were able to
transport goods in and out
of the city by using their
navy. This allowed Athens
to survive for years while
under siege.
The
Peloponnesian
War
• The crowded conditions in
Athens led to an outbreak of
the plague. Many Athenians
were victims to the disease,
including their leader,
Pericles. With the help of the
Persian navy, Sparta and its
allies were able to get
Athens to surrender. In 404
B.C., the war was finally
over. Sparta spared Athens
destruction, while Sparta’s
allies rejected this act. 50
years later, in the north, at a
kingdom known as
Macedonia, the greatest
Greek leader would begin a
rampage to colonize the
known world.
• The time between the
Persian and the
The Age of Pericles
Peloponnesian Wars,
marked the time where
Athens underwent a
great democratic reform.
Pericles, an statesman
from Athens, helped his
city-state to grow its
economy, improve its
infrastructure, and
reform the government.
• By the time of Pericles, Athens’
democracy had grown into a direct
democracy, where citizens took
direct participation in the
government. An assembly known
as the Council of 500 was created,
selected by random each year.
Those who were in the council
were given a stipend, a salary for
their service. Athenians would also
be part of a jury. This was a panel
of citizens that would make the
final judgment on a trial. As part of
the assembly, the Council of 500
would also vote on the banishment
of citizens. The Council would
break a pot into many pieces for
each person to write the name of a
person they wanted banished. The
person who had the most votes
were to be banished for 10 years.
This process was known as
ostracism.
Greek Philosophers
• Greek philosophers
challenged the idea that
gods affected their lives.
These thinkers became
known as philosophers,
also known as “lovers of
wisdom”. They used logic,
or rational thinking, to
help explain the
occurrences around them.
They would go out into
the public and use their
rhetoric skills, or the art of
skillful speaking, to try to
get others to think rather
than accept convention
thought of the time.
• Socrates
– He was the crazy old man
that would hang out at
the town square asking a
student or just any
citizen a series of
questions that would
cause them to question,
as well as others,
conventional thought.
This method of asking
questions to get others
to think is know known
as the Socratic Method.
– He would eventually go
to trial for corrupting the
youth. He was ordered to
death, and drank poison
to kill himself rather than
denounce his ideas.
The Philosophers
• Plato
– Was a student of Socrates.
After Socrates death, he
returned to Athens to start a
school called the Academy.
– He emphasized rational
thought, to challenge
common ethical values, and
organizing society.
– In his book, The Republic, he
envisioned his version of an
ideal society. The state should
control all aspects of society
to best provide for the public.
He divided society into 3
classes: workers, soldiers, and
philosopher rulers. He also
claimed men were superior to
women mentally and
physically.
Aristotle
• Student of Plato
• Distrusted democracy and
favored rule by one strong
and virtuous leader.
• He promoted reason, and
felt that humans should
strive to live a moderate
lifestyle between the
extremes.
• He wrote many books on
various subjects, which
would be studied a
thousand years later.
• Became the personal
teacher to Alexander the
Great.
Architecture
• Greek architecture can still be
seen today throughout the
Mediterranean, whether
done by the Greeks, or by the
Romans who adopted the
Greek style of architecture.
• Many public buildings in the
U.S. reflect this type of
architecture, mainly because
of our government’s
relationship to ancient Greek
democracy.
• To the left is the Parthenon,
the Athenian temple to the
goddess of wisdom, Athena.
Below is the Lincoln Memorial
in Washington, D.C.
• Greek art, especially their
sculptures, resembles a
lifelike, or realistic look.
Most often, these artists
would portray the
likenesses or gods,
goddesses, athletes, and
famous men that would
show them in the most
perfect form.
Art
• When it comes to culture,
the Greeks stood alone
when it came to
performance art. They
loved the theater. Great
theaters that would seat
thousands of spectators
were built throughout the
Hellenistic world.
• Men would play the parts,
masks were used to show
the emotions of the
characters, and actors
would enter and exit from
the rear of the stage.
Greek Theater
Tragedies
• Festivals would be held where
multiple plays would be done.
The god of
fertility/wine/theater;
Dionysus would be
worshipped during these
festivals. The most famous
and popular playwrights
would write tragedies. A
tragedy tells the story of
human suffering that usually
ended in disaster.
– Aeschylus – Oresteia
– Sophocles – Antigone
– Euripides – The Trojan Women
Tragedy comes from the Greek
word, tragoidia; goat song
• Humorous plays that
mocked people or
customs were known as
comedies. The most well
know of the Greek
comedians was
Aristophanes. In
Lysistrata, he had the
women of Athens to band
together to end the war
with the Spartans.
Aristophanes would also
write satires, which made
fun of the politicians of
Athens. He was so hated,
he had to live outside the
city living in a cave to
avoid harm.
• Known as the “father of
history”, Herodotus is known
as one of the first recorders of
historical events. He is noted
as the author of The Persian
Wars. There is a problem
though, he wrote the book
many years after the wars. He
took accounts from those who
said they fought it and
published the information as
truth.
• Thucydides, another historian,
took careful accounts and tried
not to show bias or favoritism
when writing his The
Peloponnesian War.
• The standards set out by both
men, led to the standards used
by modern historians.
Historians
• The weaken city-states of the
South, including Athens, were
vulnerable after the
Peloponnesian War. A strong
and cunning leader to the
North, in a area known as
Macedonia, was envious of the
culture and wealth of the
southern city-states. Philip II
used his power to bribe,
conquer, and threaten his
neighbors to take control of
most of Greece. By 338 B.C., he
had defeated Athens and
Thebes and had his eyes on the
Persian Empire. But before he
could begin his war campaign,
he was assassinated by those
who felt he was endangering
Macedonia.
The Hellenistic
Age
• As son of Philip II, and student to the great philosopher
Aristotle, the 20 year old Alexander takes the throne of
Macedonia. He took 4 years to build his forces and navy
for an assault on the weakened Persian Empire. Within
3 years, Alexander had moved his way, victory after
victory, to the great city of Babylon. When Darius III
was killed, Alexander claimed control of Persia.
Alexander Moves East
• Not satisfied with just Persia, Alexander would push his forces farther East.
One after another, Alexander would take over various kingdoms in the East.
By the time his forces reached beyond the Indus River, they were tired of
war. Reluctantly, Alexander took his forces back to Babylon where he would
build another campaign to go to the East. After a feast one evening,
Alexander fell ill to a fever, which he never recovered from. His empire
would be split into 3, ruled by 3 different generals, none of which would be
able to keep control of their region for very long.
Legacy of Alexander
the Great
• His effects on culture
– Created new Greek
inspired cities in the East
– Greek soldiers, traders,
and artisans settle in
those new cities.
– Build Greek temples,
statues, and other
buildings.
– The local people of this
conquered land
assimilated to Greek
culture. (were absorbed)
– Greek and Persian
shared dress, food, and
religious beliefs.
– This new civilization
would be known as
Hellenistic.
• The city of Alexandria in Egypt would be a center for trade, culture,
learning, and was centrally located in the Hellenistic world.
– Lighthouse of Pharos
– World’s Largest Library (at the time)
– Zoo
– Universities
– Major Markets
– Large Seaport
The City of
Alexandria
Women in Hellenistic • Evidence from legal
codes and artwork of
Civilization
the time indicated that
women were no longer
restricted to the home.
They were encouraged
to learn to read and
write. Royal women
gained considerable
power, some were
trusted advisors to their
husbands, brothers,
sons, etc…..
• As education was
encouraged for all in the
Hellenistic world, the
result was a time period
of great advances in
religious beliefs, the
sciences, literature, and
medical advances.
Alexandria was definitely
the hub for most of
these innovations, but
those who went to
Alexandria came from
around the
Meditterranian.
Arts and Sciences
in the Hellenistic
World
Religion/Philosophy
• Political turmoil and social
ideas in the Hellenistic Age
led to the creation of a new
philosophy. Created by
Zeno, the philosophy
known as Stoicism urged
people to avoid desires and
disappointment by
accepting calmly what life
gave you. Stoics preached
high moral standards and
the rights of human beings,
for women, slaves, and
anyone.
• Pythagoras
– His theorem derived a formula to
calculate the relationship between
the sides of a triangle.
Euclid
- Wrote a book that became the
basis for modern geometry
Aristarchus
- Discovered that our solar system is
heliocentric, or centered around
the sun.
Eratosthenes
- Accurately measured the
circumference of the Earth
Archimedes
- Created inventions using pulleys
and levers that are used today.
Hippocrates
- Studied the causes of illnesses and
searched for cures. Today, doctors
take the Hippocratic oath, the
ethical standard for physicians.
The Sciences
A2 + B2= C2