QUESTIONS TO ANSWER BY THE END OF THIS
LESSON:
1.
What are the 2 great epics that were written in ancient Greece
and who wrote them?
2. Compare Greek religion with others you have learned about.
3. How did nobles get power in Greece? How did they lose it? What
part did tyrants play?
4. What 4 things did all Greek city-states have in common?
WHY SHOULD WE CARE ABOUT GREECE?
GEOGRAPHY OF GREECE
NO UNITY BECAUSE OF GEOGRAPHY
Mountain ranges and water
separated
Communities.
NO great river systems
unlike other
Ancient civilizations.
AGRICULTURE
Climate good for crops (mild)
Good pasture for sheep and goats
BUT not enough flat land to grow a lot of crops
So………………………………………..
GREEKS DEPENDED ON SEA TRADE
RESULTS OF SEA TRADE
Greek traders gained knowledge from places like Egypt and the
Fertile Crescent.
Check up: How did geography influence the way of life of the early Greeks?
MINOAN CIVILIZATION
On Crete
Minos= king
Minotaur myth
DEVELOPMENTS IN MINOAN CIVILIZATION
Writing, running water in homes!
Frescoes, art, bronze. Ivory, gold, silver
Women has important roles
Minoans playful, had festivals, worshipped bull and earth
goddesses….
VOLCANO!
Weakened Minoan civilization.
Eventually, Indo-Europeans came and took over.
DARK AGES
War-like Mycenaeans conquered Crete.
Illiterate. Knowledge of reading and writing disappeared until
Phoenicians introduced alphabet around 750 BCE
CITY-STATES = POLIS
Influenced by geographic and tribal organization .
polis- fort + city + land surrounding
COMMON FEATURES OF CITY-STATES
1. Small size (300-500 sq miles) Athens is smaller than Rhode
Island!
2. Small population (usually less than 10,000 people).
Citizens=free males. Women were citizens but had no political
rights.
3. Placed on a hill or mountain (Acropolis)
4. Has a public market place (Agora)
IN EACH CITY STATE
Unique for each city state: laws, calendar, money, system of weights
and measures
All city states: common language, descendant (Hellen), religious
ideas, common temples and festivals like the Olympics!
Prejudice against non-Greeks
YOU TUBE!
Ancient Greece 101: an Empire of City States!
GREEK GOV’T AND SOCIETY
Homeric Age: named after poet Homer who wrote epics: Iliad and
Odyssey
Story of both revolves around
the Trojan War
You Tube!
Ancient Greece 101: Beware of
Greeks Bearing Gifts
Brain Pop: Homer
RELIGION AND MORALS
Purposes:
1. Explain the physical world
2. Explain human passions
3. Means for gaining long life, good harvest, and fortune
People needed to speak to gods through priests and priesteses
Oracle: could predict future
GREEK GODS
Human characteristics and weaknesses
Brain Pop: Greek gods
MYTHS
Explained the world
ATHLETICS
Important because displays of strength pleased the gods. Only men!
Video: Ancient Greece 101: Olympic Games
NOBLES
Took over kingdoms because they controlled armies and had the
power to take over! They owned land and farmers were allowed
to live and work on land if they paid a small amount.
COLONIES SPREAD GREEK CULTURE
Sometimes farmers couldn’t pay for their land so they were forced to
leave. Some moved to cities to become merchants, some left to
settle colonies . This also spread Greek culture around the
Mediterranean and helped the Greeks to learn from other
civilizations.
TRADE
Colonies imported goods from Greece and exported grain and other
products to Greece.
ARISTOCRACIES: RULE BY THE BEST
City-states ruled by nobles = Aristocracies
Eventually power of nobles weakened by hoplites (non-aristocratic soldiers who could
afford their own weapons.
They fought in phalanx (close rows) so they could withstand cavalry charges by
aristocratic horsemen.
DEMANDS OF HOPLITES
More say in gov’t
Poor citizens and farmers also wanted leaders who promised a
better life: tyrants.
Idea of popular gov’t led to democracy.
Video: Ancient Greece 101: Hoplite Power
CHECK UP!
Answer the following questions!
1. What are the 2 great epics that were written in ancient Greece and who
wrote them?
2. Compare Greek religion with others you have learned about.
3. How did nobles get power in Greece? How did they lose it? What part did
tyrants play?
4. What 4 things did all Greek city-states have in common?
SPARTA!
?S TO ANSWER BY THE END OF THE LESSON
1. Describe the gov’t of Sparta, incl the emphasis on
militarism.
2. Define the features of the early government of Athens.
What reforms occurred to transform this government
into a democracy? Who did NOT have political rights?
3. What is the difference between direct democracy and
representative democracy?
STRUCTURE OF SPARTA
Est. by Dorian invaders. Highly militarized
3 social groups:
1. Equals: citizens descendant to Dorians. Land dist equally among
them and worked on by helots.
2. Half-citizens: free, paid taxes, served in army, but no political
power. Some were farmers and some lived in towns and were
merchants.
3. Helots: slaves of Sparta city-state. Outnumbered other groups!
Spartans terrorized helots to keep them from rebelling.
GOVERNMENT
Assembly: all adult male citizens
Council of elders
2 kings
5 ephors (overseers) elected by assembly for 1 year term.
Monitored kings and citizens. Unlimited power as guardians of
the state.
MILITARY MACHINE
Training from birth!
Every adult male had to be in the military
Weak baby boys sent to die
7 year olds went to live in military barracks
Had to steal food to live: punished only for being caught. EXPECTED
to steal!
RULES OF THE MILITARY
Service from age 20-50!
Can marry @ 20 but can’t live at home or go to the marketplace until
you’re 30.
No trade or business: love of money gets in the way of military
discipline
Video: Horrible Histories: Spartan HS Musical/Spartan Teacher
Conference
SPARTAN GIRLS
Had to be strong to raise soldiers!
Boys and girls: studies music to learn discipline and coordination
Video: HH Wife Swap Greek and Sparta
SACRIFICES OF MILITARY MIGHT
-No individual freedom, no art, no literature, no philosophy or
science
ATHENS: BIRTH OF DEMOCRACY
Dif from Sparta: passed up by Dorian invaders.
Infertile land: they became traders, coined money, city inland
Typical polis: on a hill, protected by city walls.
SOCIAL STANDING
1. Citizens: All adult men had full rights NOT women
2. Non-citizens: metics: worked as merchants or
artisans. Free but couldn’t vote or own land.
3. Slaves: considered a necessity. Captured in war
At Athens' peak, over half of the population were metics
and slaves!
EARLY GOVERNMENT IN ATHENS
After monarchy, aristocratic citizens with a certain amt of land held
office.
Elections: All adult males met in assembly and elected generals and
9 archons (rulers).
Judges interpreted the laws and applied them to specific situations.
POLITICAL REFORM
Late 600s: economic discontent, Arbitrary decisions made by
aristocratic judges.
LAWS
Greeks began writing down laws so everyone knew what they were.
Draco’s laws: 1st law code-harsh. Today Draconian = harsh law or
rule
Video: HH Draconian Law
MORE PROBLEMS: INEQUALITY
Nobles and metics were wealthy but peasants and
farmers were poor and unhappy so………
NEW LEADER: SOLON
Solon became a leader in 594 BCE and mediated between debtors and auditors.
Awesome things Solon did:
Cancelled debt for poor, outlawed enslavement for debt, freed those who had been
enslaved for non-payment.
MORE THINGS SOLON DID:
Solon divided citizens into 4 groups based on wealth
3 wealthiest groups could hold public office. All
citizens could sit in assembly to elect officials.
Limited power of judges: set up court composed of
many citizens who could appeal unfavorable
decisions.
Unrest NOT over! Nobles formed rival political
groups and struggled to control gov’t
TYRANT PEISITRATUS SEIZED POWER
Improved economy and exiled nobles who disagreed with
him. MAY have distributed land to poor farmers.
DEMOCRATIC STATE
Cleithenes (508 BCE): turned Athens into a democracy.
Divided citizens into 10 tribes and subdivided them into
100 smaller units widely spread out.
Unit of Power: self-governing states. Representatives
chosen by lot. Members of the Council of 500 (50
members from each tribe)
Rules: members serve 1 year and can’t serve more than
twice
Laws: proposed by council to assembly at least 10x/year.
Source of ultimate authority.
COURTS DEMOCRATIC
Jurors chosen by lot
Equality of all citizens for government service
Each man pleads own case. Jury votes by secret ballot.
UNDER CLEISTHENES
Direct democracy: all citizens participate in
making decisions. CONTRAST to U.S!
Representative Government: Citizens vote for
government representatives to make
decisions.
CHECK UP: ANSWER THE FOLLOWING:
1. Describe the gov’t of Sparta, incl the emphasis on
militarism.
2. Define the features of the early government of Athens.
What reforms occurred to transform this government
into a democracy? Who did NOT have political rights?
3. What is the difference between direct democracy and
representative democracy?
ATHENS SOCIETY
Video: Brain Pop: Athens
DAILY LIFE IN ATHENS
Farming: Over ½ citizens
Used terracing Farming not good, so Athens depended
on trade.
?’S TO ANSWER AT END OF LESSON
1. Why was Athens so dependent on trade?
2. Describe Greek attitudes toward women as
shown in marriage, rights of citizenship, social
life and education.
3. What does Greek education reveal about their
society?
MANUFACTURING AND TRADE
Small, in homes
HOMES
Simple
Money spent on community buildings not private property
Streets: dirty
FAMILY
Marriage=important because of having kids
Arranged. Girls usually 13 or 14, husbands 2x age
Women's rights: inferior but citizens. Couldn’t own or inherit land
(In Sparta they could inherit land). Rarely in public places.
Housework. Didn’t go to school
HORRIBLE HISTORIES
I’m a Greek!
EDUCATION AND MILITARY
Literacy and education=good
Many boys went to school to learn literature, poetry incl.
Iliad and Odyssey by heart. Also learned from
pedagogue: Greek slave who took boys to school and
looked after them.
Around 400 BCE Older men: sophists: wise men who
learned and discussed politics, ethics, math poetry
and rhetoric: the study of oratory.
Military training at 18. Those who could afford armor:
hoplites
Education spread Greek language and civilization all
over. Mediterranean traders spoke Greek commonly
PERICLES AND THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR
Great General
Height of Athenian democracy
Used all of the money in the Delian
League for Athens
Led to fighting with Sparta: Peloponnesian
War
Athens Lost!
Video: Ancient Greece 4/5: The Age of
Pericles
CHECK UP
1.Why was Athens so dependent on trade?
2.Describe Greek attitudes toward women
as shown in marriage, rights of
citizenship, social life and education.
3.What does Greek education reveal about
their society?
GREECE’S GOLDEN AND HELLENISTIC AGE
Athens: center of Greek culture
During the 400s known as “Greece’s golden
age”
Hellenistic Culture: culture founded on Greek
ideas and features from other cultures of the
Mediterranean region.
?’S TO ANSWER AT END OF LESSON
1. What teaching method did Socrates use?
2. What were the main characteristics of the ideal gov’t in Plato’s
Republic?
3. How was Aristotle’s view of gov’t different from Plato’s?
4. What are some characteristics of Greek art and architecture?
5. What value do ancient Greek mathematicians and scientists
have for us today?
6. List some famous playwrights
7. How did Euripides and Aristophanes feel about war?
ARCHITECTURE
Beautiful temples, gymnasiums and theaters
PARTHENON
On top of the Acropolis in Athens
PAINTING
Much destroyed, but evidence on vase painting.
SCULPTURE
Also much destroyed but there are Roman copies!
STYLE OF ART
1. Glorified human beings
2. Pride for city state (gods thanked for good fortune)
3. Ideals of simplicity in life
4. Combine beauty and usefulness
PHILOSOPHERS AND WRITERS
Cosmologists: wanted to understand the nature of the universe.
Philosopher: lover of wisdom
Famous philosophers: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
SOCRATES 470-399BCE
Examine life, think for yourself,
Persistent questioning = Socratic method
Criticized democracy because it is unwise for unskilled people to hold power.
Downfall: Socrates was criticized for not showing gods respect and corrupting youth.
He was put to death.
PLATO
Learned from Socrates.
Wrote imaginary dialogues about government, education, justice, virtue and
religion
The Republic: ideal org of society. People should do the work best suited to
them
Ideal gov’t = aristocracy based on intelligence, education, reasoning, and
high ideals.
PLATO’S ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE
Theory of forms: Everything physical is an imperfect expression of a
perfect universal form or idea.
ARISTOTLE
Student of Plato.
Collector and organizer of facts
Wrote Ethics: what brings people happiness? Poetics: looked at Greek drama and defined
what was good and bad.
Ideas about government: Middle class important! Perfect gov’t=mix of
aristocracy, monarchy and democracy.
UNLIKE Plato, A believed that lower class people could rise above their
position in life WITHOUT the help and guidance of intellectual
leaders who rep higher authority.
PHILOSPHY SUMMARY
Video: Ancient Greek Philosophy
MATH AND SCIENCE
Pythagoras: Pythagorean theorem
Medicine: Hippocrates: Hippocratic oath, disease comes from
natural causes not the gods
Herodotus: 1st historian in western world
Thucydides: wrote History of the Peloponnesian War. Tried to be
unbiased.
DRAMA
Greeks 1st to write drama
Performances in outdoor theaters built into hillsides.
Tragedies: main character struggles against fate and fails. Tragic
heroes have hubris.
(excessive pride)
Some writers: Aeschylus, Sophocles (Oedipus Rex), Euripides (Trojan
Women)
Euripides: anti-war. Used his plays to challenge the ideals of war.
COMEDIES
Unlike dramas, central characters usually succeed in
solving problems.
Famous comedy playwrights: Aristophanes: Clouds:
made fun of Socrates and his methods of educating
youth of Athens
Aristophanes disliked war and used his comedies to
make Athenians think about its causes and
consequences.
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING
1. What teaching method did Socrates use?
2. What were the main characteristics of the ideal gov’t in Plato’s
Republic?
3. How was Aristotle’s view of gov’t different from Plato’s?
4. What are some characteristics of Greek art and architecture?
5. What value do ancient Greek mathematicians and scientists
have for us today?
6. List some famous playwrights
7. How did Euripides and Aristophanes feel about war?
CHANGING ATTITUDES
The middle class thrived because of the many
opportunities for acquiring wealth. Trade was the
most profitable activity.
With middle class, education spread. Novels, status of
women improved,
New definition of Greek (Hellenized Egyptian of Syrian
also considered Greek)
HELLENISTIC RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY
Decline of polis
People felt less control over their lives and turned to religion or
philosophy for comfort
4 SCHOOLS OF PHILOSOPHY
Cynicism: live according to nature. Scorn pleasure, wealth, social
position
Skeptic: No definite knowledge is possible because everything is
always changing. People can’t know how things really are.
Today, skeptics doubt generally accepted ideas.
Stoic: Est by Zeno: divine reason directs the world. Accept what
nature brings you. Happiness = discovering how to best fulfill the
role given to you by the spark of the divine. Influenced Roman
and Christian thinking
Epicurius: Aim of life: seek pleasure and avoid pain. Limitless
desires. Don’t try to fulfill all of them. Today epicure is someone
who enjoys the pleasures of the senses. Postpones worry.
MEDICINE
People in Hellenistic Age dissected bodies of executed
criminals. Figured out that the brain is the center of
the nervous system.
ASTRONOMY AND GEOGRAPHY
Calculated the position of stars and planets
Found that earth and planets revolve around the sun.
Greeks 1st to use trigonometry for science. Calculated times of the
eclipse of the sun and moon and the length of a year accordingly.
Geographers knew earth was round
CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING
1. What changes occurred in society during the
Hellenistic Age? Why did the middle class thrive?
2. What did Greek art glorify?
3. What ideas about ethics did the philosophers of the
Hellenistic Age have?
4. In what ways did Hellenistic scientists add to the
existing body of knowledge?
5. What were the primary ideas of the 4 major Hellenistic
philosophies?
QUIZ NEXT TIME! MAKE SURE YOU CAN
ANSWER THE FOLLOWING:
1. What are the 2 most famous Greek epics and who is credited with writing
them?
2. Who is Pericles? Explain the Golden Age of Athens.
3. How did geography influence the way of life of the early Greeks?
4. Compare and contrast the government in Sparta and Athens.
5. What things did all Greek city states have in common?
6. In what ways did some Greek city states differ from one another?
7. What teaching method did Socrates use? Explain how it worked.
8. Choose one Greek Philosopher and describe the basic elements of his
philosophy.
9. Compare Greek religion with another religion you have learned about.
10. What value do ancient Greek mathematicians and scientists have for us
today? Choose 2 accomplishments math, science or astronomy that were
made by Greeks.
11. How did Euripides and Aristophanes feel about war?
12. How democratic was Athenian society? Describe the democratic system in
Athens.
Consider the following:
Who had political rights? What rights did people have? What is a democracy?