Chapter 5
Classical Greece,
2000 B.C. - 300 B.C.
Section 1
Cultures of the Mountains and the
Sea
Warm up
Chapter 5, Section1
• Who ruled the Mycenae communities and towns?
• How did the invasion of Crete strengthen the
Mycenaean culture?
• What do archaeologist's discoveries tells us about
what the Trojan War was most likely fought for?
• What are the purpose of Greek Myths?
Classical Greece Time Line
CHAPTER
5
Classical Greece, 2000 B.C. –300 B.C.
Time Line
2000 B.C. Minoan civilization
prospers on Crete.
About 1200 B.C. Trojan
War takes place.
479 B.C. Greece triumphs in
Persian Wars.
2000 B.C.
300 B.C.
1500 B.C. Mycenaean
culture thrives on
Greek mainland.
750 B.C. Greek
city-states flourish.
334 B.C.
Alexander
starts to build
his Empire.
Mycenaean Civilization Develops
Mycenaeans-from Mycenae (main
city)
• Indo-Europeans from
2000B.C.
• wealthy warrior-kings
dominated surrounding lands
Culture and Trade
• Invaded Crete and preserved
Minoan culture
• From Minoans learned value
of sea trade
Fortified city
of Mycenae
--steep rocky
ridge
--walled city
Trojan War
Trojan War - 1200 BC 10 yr war
• Mycenaeans vs Troy
– Trojans kidnapped Helen, wife of
Greek King
– Historians: battle for waterway
control in Aegean
Mycenaean Collapse – 1200 B.C.
– due to war
– “Sea raiders” attack and burn city
after city
Dorians & Homer
Rise of Dorians - 1150 - 750 BC
– related to Greeks
• dominate Greece (400 years)
• less advanced-”Greek Dark Age”
– no written record of languag
Homer
• blind, storyteller
– epics - heroic narrative poems
– Iliad and Odyssey—stories of Trojan
War
Myths
– Tried to understand mysteries of
nature and gods and passions of
man
– humanlike but immortal given to the
gods
Homer
Warm Up
Chp 5 Sect 2
PART I
• Why did Greek city-states form oligarchy
governments?
• What did the helot revolt in Sparta cause the
Spartans to do?
• What role did women and girls have in Spartan
society?
Greek City-States
POLIS: The city-state
was primary political
unit in ancient Greece
Each city controlled 50
To 500 sq miles
The city-state or Polis was the
main political unit in ancient
Greece
-A polis was made up of a city
and its surrounding countryside
which included numerous villages
Acropolis
ACROPOLIS - fortified hilltop (highest)
gathering spot for business
Greek’s identified themselves
More with their local city-state and
Less with their share culture
Political Systems in Greek CityStates
Governments: 4 types
– (1) monarchy - king or
monarch
• aristocrats - noble, landowners
– (2) oligarchy - small group of
elites
• Wealthy merchants dissatisfied
with nobles
Oligarchy: Rule by
A small group
Citizen-Soldiers
• Iron made weapons
affordable to ordinary
citizens
• Army – hoplite (foot soldiers)
citizen soldiers
– Made up of Common citizens
– No ruler ignored the power of
the citizen soldier
• (3) Tyrants
– Gained control by appealing
to poor and discontent
citizen-soldiers
Phalanx (FAY-lanks)
army formation
Sparta Builds a Military State
Sparta-In Peloponnesus
• Messenia - neighbor city-state
Sparta had the most
powerful army in
Greece
– Sparta conquers 725 B.C.
– Messenian helots - forced servitude
– Spartans put down revolt —forces
Sparta to become militaristic
Government
TROY
• oligarchy
– (1) Assembly: Elected officials
voted on major issues
– (2) Council of Elders: proposed
laws
– Two Kings ruled the military
Sparta
Messenia
Peloponnesus
Spartan Class System
Class System
• citizen landowners (free)
ruled
• non-citizen workers (free)
• Helots
• Education – boys military
schools, begins at 7y/o
– Sparta before family—
– Women—no education, managed
estates, participated in sports
Bronze statuette of girl runner,
probably from Sparta.
Warm Up
Chp 5 Sect 2
PART II
• What events eventually caused the Athenians to
embrace democracy? (pg. 117)
• What did Cleisthenses do to help make Athens a
full democracy? (pg 118)
• Why did Darius seek to destroy Athens?
Athens Builds a Limited Democracy
Athens
Politics
• (4) democracy - rule by the people
– only free adult males citizens
– Women: focus on child rearing
Why democracy in Athens?
• To avoid civil war
• Power struggle between rich and poor
• Peasants demanded reform
•
Draco-Greek lawmaker
– Code of law: Created Debt Slavery
– Created great conflict between aristocrats and
common people
•
Solon - ‘the reformer’ an aristocrat
– outlawed debt slavery
– Gave all citizens a voice in policy making
– Neglected land reforms
•
Cleisthenes
– Council of 500
– limited democracy; only 1 in 5 citizens
Persian Empire Map-490 B.C.
Persians had conquered
Greek lands around 520 B.C.
-Ionia in Anatolia
Ionians revolted against Persians
-Athens sent ships/soldiers
to their aid
Marathon
• Athenians outnumber
• Persians overwhelmed
order of phalanx
• Athenians defeat
Persians
– 6400 Persian/192 Greek
dead
• Pheidippides runs to
Athens to tell of defeat
and dies
Athens
Greece / Persian Wars Map
Athens strength:
At SEA
Greeks split as 25K Persians approach
Xerxes marches unopposed toward Athens
-10k Athenians, 300 Spartans await
At Thermopylae, Xerxes is told of pass around
Mountains—300 Spartans all killed--inspires
Athenians who decide to fight at sea-Athens is burned
Greeks defeat Persian fleet at Salamis and later Spartans
Defeat Persian army at Plataea (pluh-TEE-uh)
Greek Fleet at
Salamis
The Persian Wars
Persian Wars Outcome
• Prestige and wealth to
Athens
– Athens leads Delian League
• 140 Greek city-states
• Athenian navy control League
members
• Ended threat from Persian
attack
• Sets stage for golden era
for Athens
Delian League
Complete the following
Warring City-States
Section
2
Assessment
1. Look at the graphic to help organize your thoughts. List
the major battles of the Persian Wars in Greece. For each
battle, include the victor.
First Battle
Third Battle
Battle at Marathon
Salamis
Athenians
Athenians
Second Battle
Fourth Battle
Confrontation at
Thermopylae
Plataea Plain
Persians
Spartans
Warm up
Chp 5 Sect 3
• How did Pericles propose to strengthen
democracy in Athens?
• What did Greek drama tragedies typically focus
on?
• What are satires? What did Greek playwrights
typically write about in their satires?
Pericles and the Golden Age
Age of Pericles (461 - 429
BC)
• Greek general who
dominated Athenian
Politics
“Uncrowned King of Athens”
Pericles’ Three Goals for Athens
Pericles’ Goals
Strengthen Athens’
democracy:
Increased number of
paid officials, increased
citizen participation
Hold and strengthen
empire:
Built navy through Delian
League’s funds, protected
overseas trade
Glorify Athens: Hired
artists, built
architectural projects
and the Parthenon
Peloponnesian War, 431-404 BC
27 year war to
control Greek Peoples
and prosperous trade
Spartans and Athenians Go to War
Peloponnesian War –Land vs.
Sea
– Sparta: Strengths
• Strong land-based army
• Advantage: navy could not attack
Sparta was too far inland
– Athens
• Strong navy
• Attack Sparta’s allies
– Sparta marches on Athens
• Pericles brings citizens into city
behind walls
• Sparta burns countryside (food)
• Athens spared as long as ships
sailed into harbor
Spartans and Athenians Go to War
2 Disasters
– plague in Athens (430 BC)
• 1/3 to 2/3 death rate
• Pericles dies
– Syracuse battle (415-413 BC)
• army / fleet destroyed
• Athens surrenders (404 BC)
– Empire destroyed
– Democracy in trouble
Athenian / U.S. Democracy
Direct Democracy
• Citizens: male; 18 years old;
born of citizen parents
• Laws voted on and proposed
directly by citizen assembly
Representative Democracy
• Citizens: born in Untied States
or completed citizen process
• Representatives elected to
propose and vote on laws
• Leaders chosen by lot
• Elected
• Executive branch-Council of
• Executive branch-elected &
500; carries out laws
appointed officials
• Juries varied in size
• Juries composed of 12 jurors
• No attorneys; no appeals;
• Defendants and plaintiffs have
one-day trials
attorneys; long appeals
process
Philosophers Search for Truth
Philosophers rise in time of uncertainty
– “lovers of wisdom”
– Believed in natural order of universe
and…
– We can understand via logic / reason
• Socrates
– Search for universal standard for truth
and justice
– Encouraged Greeks to question
themselves and moral character
– “Socratic Method” probing questions to
find the truth
– condemned to death at 70 “corrupting
the youth of Athens” –of aristocracy
• poisoned himself
Socrates
Philosophers Search for Truth
• Plato-student of Scocrates
– Studied individual’s class and role in life
– The Republic
• perfectly governed society
• “farmers, artisans, warriors and ruling class”
• “Philosopher-king”
• Aristotle
– known for his carefully detailed observations
about nature and the physical world, which laid
the groundwork for the modern study of biology.
Plato
Aristotle
Warm Up
Chapter 5 Section 4
• Why was Greece so easily conquered by the
Macedonians?
• How big was Alexander’s empire before his
death?
Philip Conquers Greece
Greek city-states weak after
Peloponnesian War
Philip II - (359 - 336 BC)
– King of Macedonia north of Greece
– Ambition to control Greece
– Greeks looked down on
Macedonians--uncivilized
• Built strong army -phalanx strategy
– Phalanx breaks thru--cavalry strikes
• sites on Greece / Persia
– Demosthenes (dee-MAHS-thuh neez) Athenian orator
• warned other Greeks of Philip’s
intention
– conquered Athens/Thebes in 338 BC
• Murdered at daughter’s wedding 336 BC
Alexander Defeats Persia
Alexander the Great
– son of Philip II (336-323 BC)
• Defeat of Persians in Anatolia, 334 BC
– Darius III (Persian king)
• Alexander charges direct at Darius-fled in
fear
• Gains control of Anatolia
• offered western 1/3 of his empire; Alexander
rejects vows to take all Persia
• Egyptians welcome Alexander as
liberator
– founds Alexandria (332 BC)
– crowned Pharaoh
• Defeats Darius at Gaugamela 250K
army at ruins of Nineveh
– end of Persian Empire
20 y/o when he became king
Student of Aristotle
Alexander’s Empire
Darius found dead
Alexander leaves Mesopotamia to pursue Darius and conquer the remote Asian provinces
Alexander’s Conquests
Conquest over Governing
• Indus River Valley 327 BC
– Indians used elephant warfare
• 11 years, 11,000 miles
– Low morale, he agrees to return to
Babylon to organize/unify empire
• Dies of fever in Babylon
– 323 BC; 33 y/o
Post Alexander-Generals fight for
control
• Antigonus – Macedonia; Greek
city-states
• Ptolemy - Egypt
• Seleusus - Persia
Alexander’s Conquests Impact
Future Cultures
A new culture arises that blends
Greek, Egyptian and Eastern
customs
Range of Alexander’s Empire
Alexander—Empire Builder
Section
4
Assessment
1. Look at the graphic to help organize your
thoughts. Describe how far north, south, east, and
west Alexander ruled.
North
Macedonia
West
Greece
Alexander’s Rule
South
Egypt
East
India
Chapter 5
Classical Greece,
2000 B.C. - 300 B.C.
Section 5
The Spread of Hellenistic Culture
Hellenistic Culture in Alexandria
Hellenistic (Greek, Persian, Egyptian)
– Local traditions with Greek culture
• Alexandria, Egypt
– economic and cultural center; an
international community
– Alexander’s glass coffin
– Pharos lighthouse
– Museums/library - 1/2 million scrolls
– Center for science and research
Achievements of Hellenistic Culture
Science
– earth’s position in solar system—
center of solar system (dominates
next 14 centuries
– earth’s circumference
– Euclid – mathematician
• Started geometry school
• The Elements (geometry): used by
scholars well into 1900s
Euclid
– Archimedes - geometry/physics
• pi (circumference to diameter)
• Archimedes screw to raise/lower
water
Archimedes
Philosophy and Art
How people should live their lives: 2 views
Stoicism
– divine power controls universe
– Live life in harmony with natural
law
– Vices: wealth, desires, power
are dangerous
– promoted social unity and focus
on control things you could
Epicureanism
– universe composed of atoms
• ruled by gods
– harmony of body and mind: only
reality is that which the senses
perceive
– pursuit of human pleasure
Sculpture
– from idealistic to realistic
Colossus of Rhodes: largest Hellenistic statue
The Spread of Hellenistic Culture
Section
5
Assessment
1. Look at the graphic to help organize your
thoughts. List Hellenistic achievements in each
of the four categories shown below.
Category
Achievements
astronomy
Disproved the belief that the sun was smaller than
Greece, advanced the theory that earth revolves
around sun
geometry
Euclid’s The Elements, calculation of pi
philosophy
Stoicism, Epicureanism
art
Realism in sculpture, Colossus of
Rhodes