Chapter 5
Classical Greece
Section 1:
Cultures of the Mountains and the Sea
Geography Shapes Greek Life
• Peninsula
• 2,000 islands in
Aegean and
Ionian
Geography Shapes Greek
Life Continued
• The Sea
– Seas were important
transportation routes
– They lacked natural
resources
Geography Shapes Greek Life Continued
The Land
• ¾ mountains divided land into regions
• Influenced political life
• Made transportation difficult
• Only a part was arable
• Not much fresh water
• Land couldn’t support a big population
Geography Shapes Greek Life Continued
The Climate
 Varied climate 48 –
80 degrees
 Outdoor life style
 Public events to
discuss issues,
news and partake
in civic life.
Mycenaean Civilization Develops
Mycenaean Civilization Develops Continued


Leading city:
Mycenae
Mycenaean rulers
controlled cities like
Tiryns and Athens

Describe what the city
looked like
Contact with Minoans


Mycenaean's came
into contact with
Minoans possibly
through war or
trade.
Lead to trading in
other locations

Minoan influence



Seaborne trade
Writing
Culture
The Trojan War
The Trojan War



Mycenaean's vs.
Troy (Anatolia)
Trojan Prince
kidnapped Helen,
wife of a Greek
King, Menelaus.
Menelaus’s brother
was Agamemnon

Show pictures

Reality or not?

Heinrich
Schliemann
Greek Culture Declines Under the
Dorians
Greek Culture Declines Under the Dorians Continued
• 1200 sea raiders burned Mycenaean
cities
• Dorians came into the area
• Not as advanced as the Mycenaean's
• Economy collapsed, art of writing lost
Greek Culture Declines Under the
Dorians Continued
o Epics of Homer
• History told through the
spoken word: epics
• Trojan War led to Iliad
– Achilles vs. Hector
Greek Culture Declines Under the Dorians Continued
o

Greeks create Myths
Myths created through Homer’s epics and
Theogony, written by Hesiod


These myths taught about the mysteries of
nature and the power of human passions
Human qualities attributed to gods


Zeus lives on Mount Olympus with Hera
Athena
Aphrodite
Zeus
Hera
Apollo
Pan
Hermes
Athena
Ares
Hephaestus
Demeter
Poseidon
Artimis
Dionysus
Chapter 5 Section 2
Warring City-States

1.
2.
During the Dorian
period two changes
occurred
Dorians and
Mycenaeans
identified with
ancestors less, local
area more
Formal governments
established

What was the switch
from?
Rule and Order in Greek City-States

Polis was the
political unit


Made of city and
countryside
City government
discussed at the
agora in the acropolis
Greek Political Structures


City-states had different
forms of government
Monarchy
 Single person, King, ruled
 Mycenae


Aristocracy
 Small group of noble
landowning families ruled
 Athens before 594
Oligarchy
 Few powerful people
 Sparta
Tyrants Seize Power



Clashes occurred
between ruler and the
common people.
Powerful people seized
control of the
government and
became tyrants.
 What are tyrants
considered to be?
Tyrants looked to
common people for
support
Athens Builds a Limited
Democracy


Athens started the
idea of a
representative
government
Avoided power
struggles between
rich and the poor by
moving to democracy
Building Democracy


Draco took power
621 B.C.
Draco’s Legal Code
 Said Athenians
were equal under
the law
 Criminals dealt
with harshly
 Was for debt
slavery
Building Democracy Continued

Solon 594 B.C.




No slavery
No debt slavery
Created 4 social groups
based on wealth

Only top 3 classes
could hold political
office.

Everyone could
participate in a
assembly
Citizen could bring
charges against
wrongdoers
Building Democracy Continued

Cleisthenes 500 B.C.




Broke up nobility power by
dividing citizens into 10
groups
Based on location not wealth
Increased power of the
assembly
All citizens could submit
laws for debate and passage
Building Democracy Continued

Created the Council of
Five Hundred
 Proposed laws and
counseled assembly
 Council chosen by lot
 Citizenship restricted
to
 Free adult male
property owners
born in Athens
Athenian Education

Only sons of wealthy
families received
education
 Age 7
 Prepared them to
be good citizens.
 Discuss what this
involves
 Older
 Military school
 Girls
 Family
Sparta Builds a Military State


Sparta located in
the Peloponnesus
No democracy,
built a military
state
Sparta Dominates Messenia's



725 B.C.
Sparta conquers
Messenia
 Messenia's
became helots
650 B.C. Messenia's
revolted.
 Spartans were
able to put down
revolt.
Sparta’s Government and Society

Branches of Spartan
Government
 Assembly
 Spartan citizens
 Elected officials
 Voted
 Council of Elders
 30 older citizens
 Proposed laws
that the
assembly voted
on


Five elected
officials
 Carried out laws
passed by the
assembly
 Controlled
education
 Prosecuted
court cases
Two kings
 Ruled over
Sparta’s military
Spartan Social Order

Citizens originally from region


Free Noncitizens


Ruling families who owned land
Worked commerce and industry
Helots

Slaves
Spartan Daily Life


For approximately 300 years, Sparta had
the most powerful army in Greece
Individuality was not encouraged


What values were lost and sought?
Age 7 moved to army barracks until age
30

Describe what their living situations were.
Spartan Military Education




After lengthy training,
many Spartan boys
participated in the
krypteia, or secret
police
Armed with daggers,
assassinated helots
Instilled a sense of
ruthlessness in the
Spartan youth
Helped maintain the
Spartan social order by
instilling a permanent
sense of insecurity and
terror in helot
communities.
Spartan Military Education



Men expected to serve
in the army until age 60
Girls: some military
training, service to
Sparta came first
Spartan women ran
family estates when
husbands gone
The Persian Wars
A New Kind of Army Emerges



Who originally served in the army?
Shift from bronze to iron weapons did
what to the army?
The phalanx, formed by hoplites, became
a fierce fighting force.
Battle at Marathon




Persian Wars between
Greece vs. Persians
Began in Ionia – Greeks
had been there; around
546 B.C. Persians
conquered
Ionian Greeks revolted,
Athens sent ships to
help
Persian King Darius the
Great defeated them,
vowed to destroy
Athens in revenge
Battle at Marathon Continued



490 B.C. Persians land on
Marathon
Phalanxes waited for
them
25,000 Persians, 10,000
Athenians– who won?
Pheidippides Brings News




Athens was
defenseless
Pheidippides raced
back to Athens, 26
miles
He said “Rejoice, we
conquer”, then
collapsed and died
Greeks arrived,
Persians retreated
Thermopylae and Salamis


480 B.C. Darius the
Great’s son, Xerxes,
went to crush Athens
Some Greeks wanted
to fight, some wanted
to give up Athens



Some Greeks fought on Persian
side
Xerxes easily marched down
eastern coast of Greece
At the mountain pass
Thermopylae, 7000
Greeks (300 were
Spartans) blocked
Xerxes way
Thermopylae and Salamis Continued

Fought for three days


A traitor informed
Persians of a secret
path
Fearing defeat, the
300 Spartans stayed,
rest of Greek forces
retreated

Athenians tried to
figure out how to best
defend the city
Thermopylae and Salamis
Continued
• Themistocles (Athenian leader) got
Athens to defend at sea
• Athenian fleet positioned near Salamis
Thermopylae and Salamis Continued



Xerxes set fire to
Athens
He then tried to block
the channel
Small Greek ships
defeated Persians
Thermopylae and Salamis Continued

479 B.C. Persians
again defeated at the
Battle of Plataea
(pluh TEE uh)

Persians now on the
defensive
Thermopylae and Salamis Continued

478 B.C. Greek city
states formed the
Delian (DEE lee uhn)
League and forced
Persian forces to
leave their territories
Consequences of the Persian Wars



Athens became the
leader of Delian
League
Used military force to
control members who
challenged them
Athens enters its
golden age