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Chapter 4: The Civilization of the Greeks
431 BCE: Period of Warring States in China
and beginning of Peloponnesian War between
Athens and Sparta
Pericles Funeral Oration: democracy and
importance of the individual
Greeks questioned the world around them
and created system of logical, analytical
thought to examine
8th c BCE city-state (polis) emerged
Classical era= 5th c. BCE
Ultimately defeated by Philip II of Macedonia,
but Greek culture continued to spread by
Alexander the Great
(Hellenic “Greek” vs. Hellenistic “Greek-like”
culture)
Early Greece
 Mountainous terrain/ limited arable land:
couldn’t unify- rise of independent city-states
 Mediterranean Sea Key
 Sparta on Peloponnesus
 Athens on Attica Peninsula
Minoan Crete
 earliest civilization in Aegean region on island
of Crete around 2800 BCE
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Palace at Knossos- sea empire
Contact with Egypt: evidence in trade
Height between 2000 and 1450 BCE
Palace had bathrooms with drains
Bull-vaulting
Around 1450BCE sudden and catastrophic
collapse- cause still debated: perhaps an
invasion by the Mycenaeans?
The First Greek State: Mycenae
 Greek civilization that flourished between
1600 and 1100BCE
 Key city= Thebes
 Epic poetry of Homer- did Mycenaean Greeks,
led by Agamemnon, King of Mycenae, sack the
city of Troy c. 1250BCE?
 Was Troy a vassal of the Hittites?
 Decline due to invasion
The Greeks in a Dark Age (c. 1100-750BCE)
 Declining population and failing food
production
 Large number of Greeks migrated to other
places, including SW shore of Asia Minor
“Ionia”
 Iron replaced bronze in weapons= more
affordable and prevalent
 8th c. BCE: Greeks adopted Phoenician
alphabet
Homer and Homeric Greece
 Iliad and Odyssey based on oral tradition
 Gave Greeks an idealized past
 Iliad: poem of Trjoan War- sparked by Paris, a
prince of Troy, kidnapping Helen, wife of King
of Sparta. Spartan king’s brother,
Agamemnon of Mycenae Greeks attacked Troy
 Helen was “The Face which launched a
thousand ships.”
 Tale of Greek hero Achilles “Achilles heel”
 Odyssey: Epic Romance- journeys of Greek
hero, Odysseus, from fall of Troy until
reunited with his wife Penelope, 20 years
later
 Values of aristocratic heroes
Homer’s Enduring Importance
 Gave Greeks a common and idealized past
 Arete: excellence befitting a hero…won in a
struggle or a contest
 Popularity of Homer’s epics as educational
tools: memorization
 Homer’s Ideal of Excellence: The Iliad “Fate is
a thing that no man born of woman, coward,
or hero can escape.”
The Greek City States (c. 750-c. 500 BCE)
 Archaic Age (around 8th century BCE)
evolution of the polis and Greek colonization
of Mediterranean and Black Seas
The Polis
 Plural poleis
 Small, autonomous political unity…consisted
of city and its surrounding countryside
 Acropolis: fortified hill
 Agora: open marketplace (agoraphobia: fear
of crowds)
 Polis: community of citizens in which all
political, economic, social, cultural, and
religious activities were focused.
 Citizens with political rights (free adult
males), citizens with no political rights
(women and children, and noncitizens (slaves
and resident aliens)
A New Military System: The Greek Way of War
 New military order based on hoplites: heavily
armed infantrymen who wore bronze or
leather helmets, breastplates, and greaves
(shin guards)…round shield, short sword, and
thrusting spear about 9 feet long
 Battle formation= phalanx…safety of which
depended on the solidarity and discipline of
its members
 War was an integral part of the Greek way of
life
 Excellent weapons and body armor, wide
number of citizen-soldiers (rather than
mercenaries), use of heavy infantry
Colonization and the Growth of Trade
 Between 750 to 550BCE large numbers of
Greeks left to settle in distant lands due to the
growing gulf between rich and poor,
overpopulation, and the development of
trade.
 New Greek settlements: coastline of southern
Italy, southern France, eastern Spain, and
northern Africa, west of Egypt…city of
Byzantium in the north…fostered greater
sense of Greek identity
 Colonization also led to increased trade and
industry…new wealthy class to compete with
aristocrats
Tyranny in the Greek Polis
 Greek tyrants came to power in an
unconstitutional way (usurpers of
power)…support for tyrants mostly came
from new rich and poor
 Oligarchies “rule by small group of wealthy
people”
 Common transition of power in Athens:
monarchy-oligarchy-tyranny-democracy
Sparta
 located in the southeastern Peloponnesus
 Spartans conquered the Laconians and
Messenians and reduced them to
serfdom…known as HELOTS- forced to work
for Spartans…created military state to control
the helots
The New Sparta
 Lycurgan Reforms: in Sparta to maintain
control over the conquered Messenians
 Spartan’s lives were rigidly organized and
controlled
 Spartan= highly self-disciplined (ex: Spartan
lifestyle)
 Boys moved to military barracks at 7…could
marry at 20…could live at home at 30…could
visit home, but not get caught
 Military life: “come back with your shield, or
on top of it…”
 Spartan women had greater
rights/freedom…marry later, exercise
The Spartan State
 Government organized as an oligarchy
 2 kings, led army, shared power with the
gerousia, (council of elders)
 apella= assembly of all male citizens
 Isolationist
 Philosophy discouraged, focus on war
 By 500 BCE: Sparta dominated the
Peloponnesian League
Athens
 Government in Athens: Monarchy to Oligarchy
to Tyranny to Democracy
 Disparity between rich and poor, some
Athenian farmers were being sold into slavery
if they couldn’t pay debts by their aristocratic
neighbors
The Reforms of Solon
 Solon= reform-minded aristocrat as sole
archon in 594BCE w/ full power to make
changes…Solon canceled all land debts, no
human collateral, and freed slaves from
debts…did not redistribute the land
 Pisistratus seized power in 560BCE as a
tyrant (usurper of power)
The Reforms of Cleisthenes
 Created the Council of 500, chosen by lot by
the ten tribes in which all citizens had been
enrolled…administration of both foreign and
financial affairs
 Assembly of all male citizens had final say
 Reforms of Cleisthenes created the foundation
for Athenian democracy
 Democracy= demos, “people”, kratia, “power”
Foreign Influence on Early Greek Culture
 Cultural diffusion between the Greeks and the
older civilizations of the Near East and Egypt
 Ex: multiple gods and goddesses and the story
of a flood from Mesopotamia
 Kouros statues= example of diffusion between
Egypt and Greece
 Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet, but
added vowels…Greek was a truly phonetic
alphabet, easier to read and use
The High Point of Greek Civilization: Classical
Greece
 around 500BCE to 338BCE= Classical Greece
The Challenge of Persia
 Greeks versus Persians, Greeks saw the
struggle with the Persians was a contest
between freedom and slavery
 Ionian Greek cities in Asia Minor were
subjects of the Persians
 Unsuccessful Ionian revolt, aided by Athenian
navy, led to Persian ruler Darius to seek
revenge by attacking mainland Greeks
 490BCE Persians defeated by Athenians at
Marathon
 Xerxes succeeded Darius
 Greek Trireme= standard warship of ancient
Greece…especially effective at ramming
enemy ships
 Xerxes led an invasion of Greece…Greeks tried
to delay the Persians at the pass of
Thermopylae…Greek force led by Spartan
King Leonidas and 300 Spartans held pass for
2 days…then a traitor showed the Persians a
pass to outflank the Greeks…Spartans fought
to the last man
 Athenians abandoned their city and Persians
burned it
 Defeat of the Persians with use of the navy at
Salamis
The Growth of an Athenian Empire in the Age of
Pericles
 Formation of the Delian League, led by
Athens…city-states had to pay tribute, Athens
controlled the treasury
 Age of Pericles, 461-431 BCE, height of
Athenian power and the culmination of its
brilliance as a civilization
 Magistrates chosen by lot, many male citizens
got the chance to serve during their lifetime
 Strategoi: board of 10 officials elected by
public vote to guide affairs of the state
 Lower-class citizens were now eligible for
public offices with state pay for officeholders
 However, aristocrats still held most important
offices
 Pericles used the treasury money of the
Delian League to rebuild Athens, for example:
the Parthenon
 Sparta accused Athens of mismanaging Delian
League funds
The Great Peloponnesian War and the Decline of
the Greek States
 Sparta vs. Athens
 431BCE outbreak of war
 Athenians wanted to rely on their walls and
their navy, Spartans wanted to rely on their
army
 Plague broke out in Athens, losing 1/3 of
population, including Pericles
 404BCE Athens was defeated by Sparta, and
was forced to tear down the walls of their city
 Ultimately weakened the Greek City-states,
next 70 years Athens, Sparta, and Thebes
jockeyed for position, oblivious to growing
threat of Macedonia to the north.
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The Culture of Classical Greece
 Athens was the center of culture
The Writing of History
 Herodotus wrote History of the Persian
Wars…which he saw as a struggle between
freedom and despotism
 Thucydides wrote History of the
Peloponnesian War…much more rational and
scientific
Greek Drama
 First Greek dramas were tragedies with all
parts played by men.
 Aeschylus: first tragedian…famous Oresteia
Trilogy
 Sophocles: most famous work= Oedipus Rex
(or Oedipus the King)…man is destined to kill
his father and marry his mother
 Euripedes: questioned traditional moral and
religious values
 Common theme: humans are free but can only
operate within limitations imposed by the
gods
 Comedies came later: Aristophanes= famous
comedian with Lysistrata and The Clouds
The Arts: The Classical Ideal
 Classical style: based on the ideals of reason,
moderation, symmetry, balance, and harmony
in all things
 Parthenon: ideal classical style
The Greek Love of Wisdom
 Philosophy= Greek word meaning “Love of
Wisdom”
 Sophists: group of philosophers in the 5th
century BCE – believed in relative truth and
that understanding the universe was beyond
the reach of the human mind…importance of
rhetoric…”true wisdom consisted of being
able to perceive and pursue one’s own good”
 Socrates: believed in absolute truth…Socratic
Method…believed all knowledge is within
each person, only critical examination was
needed to call it forth…sentenced to death for
corrupting the youth
 Draw a picture of the 3 orders of columns:
Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian
 Plato: student of Socrates…how do we know
what is real? The objects that we perceive
with our senses are simply reflections of the
ideal Forms. They are shadows; reality is in
the Forms themselves (The Cave)
 Plato’s government ideas- book: The
Republic…rule by “philosopherkings”…established school in Athens called
The Academy…believed men and women
should have the same education and equal
access to all positions
 Aristotle: student of Plato, teacher to
Alexander the Great. Analyzing and
classifying things based on thorough research
and investigation
 Aristotle’s book on government: Politics…3
good forms of government: monarchy,
aristocracy, and constitutional
government…believed women were
biologically inferior to men
Greek Religion
 Religion was integral to Greek society
 Public festivals important…civic cult
necessary for the well-being of the
state…multiple gods/ goddesses
 Axial Age: between 700 and 300 BCE:
development of ideas or “axes” that remained
the basis for religions and philosophies for
hundreds of years: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle,
Zoroaster, Hebrews, Confucianism, Daoism,
Hinduism, Buddhism
 Polytheistic, 12 chief gods who lived on Mt.
Olympus
 Zeus, Hera, Athena, Apollo, Aphrodite,
Poseidon
 Rituals and sacrifice
 Olympic games originated to honor Zeus
 Oracles as interpreters of the gods
Life in Classical Athens
 Polis was a male community, women, slaves,
and foreign residents of Athens were excluded
(about 85% of total pop.)
 Slavery was pervasive
Economy and Lifestyle
 Athenian economy was based on agriculture
and trade
 Lack of arable land…Athens had to import 50
to 80% of its grain, therefore trade was very
important
 Olive oil
Family and Relationships
 Family was central institution in ancient
Athens
 Women’s primary role was to bear children,
especially boys
 Athenian women married at 14 or
15…Spartan women later 18 to 20
 Male homosexuality was a prominent feature
of Athenian life.
The Rise of Macedonia and the Conquests of
Alexander
 Philip II (359-336 BCE): came to throne and
built an efficient army and expanded borders
of Macedonia
 Conquered Greece, but was assassinated, his
son took over
Alexander the Great
 20 became king of Macedonia
Alexander’s Conquests
 Attacked Persian Empire in 334BCE…took
control of entire western half of Asia
Minor…fought against Persian King, Darius
III…Alexander had major victory at Battle of
Issus and then conquered Syria, Palestine, and
Egypt…founded city of Alexandria in
Egypt…moved into Babylon, Susa,
Persepolis…continued east into
India…Alexander’s forces mutinied at the
Indus River
 June 323BCE: Alexander died at age of 32
The Legacy: Was Alexander Great?
 military ability, extensive conquest and
creation of a new empire
 Others saw him as a megalomaniac
 Hellenistic Age “to imitate Greeks”
The World of the Hellenistic Kingdoms
 Alexander’s empire disintegrated after his
death
Hellenistic Monarchies
 Antigonid dynasty in Macedonia and Greece
 Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt
 Attalid Dynasy on Asia Minor
The Seleucid Kingdom and India
 founded by general Seleucus
 Indian ruler, Chandragupta Maurya, created
the Mauryan Empire in 324BCE and drove out
Seleucid forces…grandson Ashoka, spread
Buddhism
Political Institutions
 Hellenistic monarchies created a semblance of
stability for several centuries
 Greek ruling class tried to maintain their
privileged positions
Hellenistic Cities
 Cities very important…many name
Alexandria:0)
 Encouraged a spread of Greek colonists to the
Middle East
The Importance of Trade
 Agriculture still important
 Commerce expanded in the Hellenistic Era
Social Life: New Opportunities for Women
 new opportunities for women…allowed to
pursue education in the traditional fields of
literature, music, and athletics
 Egypt, Ptolemaic leaders reverted to Egyptian
custom of marrying their own sisters
Culture in the Hellenistic World
 diffusion of Greek culture created a sense of
unity
New Directions in Art and Literature
 In Hellenistic era, Athens remained the
theatrical center of the Greek World.
 New Comedy…rejected political themes,
sought to entertain and amuse.
 Menander: best rep of New Comedy…Pretty
Women stories
 Statues were more emotional and realistic
than idealism of the classic age
A Golden Age of Science
 Aristarchus of Samos: heliocentric view of
universe
 Eratosthenes: earth was round
 Euclid: book called Elements..plane geometry
 Archimedes of Syracuse: geometry of spheres
and cylinders…Archimedean
screw…defensive weapons
Philosophy: New Schools of Thought
 Athens prime center of philosophy
 Epicurus founded Epicureanism, 4th century
BCE…believed humans were free to follow
self-interest as a basic motivating
force…happiness was goal of life…freedom
from emotional turmoil, free oneself from
public affairs and politics…friendships
important
 Stoicism founded by Zeno…Happiness, the
supreme good, could only be found by living
in harmony with divine will…public service
was noble…bear hardships of life w/o
showing emotion
Religion in the Hellenistic World
 Mystery Religions
 Mystery cults: secret initiations and promises
of individual salvation…individuals could
pursue a path to salvation and achieve eternal
life by being initiated into a union with a
savior god or goddess who had died and risen
again
 Egyptian cult of Isis
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