Classical Greece:
Part Two
I. Introduction:
• Greece is a peninsula region on
the Aegean Sea. Classical
Greeks viewed the center of
their world (the Hellenic world)
as the Aegean. All those lands
touching the Aegean were Greek
lands.
• Throughout most of their
classical history, the Greeks
were never unified politically or
militarily. They were simply a
group of independent city-states
that shared a common culture
(religion, language, traditions.)
• The Greeks fought each other
more than they fought non-Greeks
(who they referred to as barbarians;
because their language sounded like
sheep sounds).
• All this changed when a large
eastern empire (the Persians)
invaded the Greek world.
II. Persian Wars (500479 B.C.E.)
Cause:
Result:
 Persia invasions  Greece won,
but rivalry
Greece
 Battle of Marathon between the
city-states
 Battles of
caused the
Thermopolae; &
Peloponnesian
Salamis.
Wars.
The Persian Empire
The Persian War was an attempt
to take
advantage
of
Greece’s
disunity.
Military Differences
Greeks:
Benefit of fighting on known
terrain.
•
• Fought in heavily armored
infantry units (called hoplites)
• Spartans are well trained.
Persians:
• Largest army & navy in the world.
• Poorly armored (short spears, and
wicker shields)
• Cultural differences leading to
poor motivation.
• Long time to organize, & required
a lot of supplies.
Hoplite armor:
• King Darius of Persia, in the
hopes of conquering Athens,
invades Greece in 490 B.C.E.
along the beaches of Marathon.
- The Athenians defeat the
Persians & Phidippides runs
home with the victory news.
This begins the traditions of the
Marathon race.
Revolt in Egypt
 Darius
was unable to follow up his
defeat in Greece. Seeing Persian
weakness Egypt revolts against
Persian rule
 Darius dies fighting the Egyptians.
 Xerxes, son of Darius, defeats the
Egyptians and vows to finish his
father’s work.
King Xerxes
invaded
Greece with
a military 10
times larger
than the
combined
Greek
military.
Greek Response:
•The Greeks held council and decided to
unit in defense of their homeland.
•Spartan leaders were elected to lead the
combined Hellenic military.
• It was decided to make a stand against
the Persians at the narrow pass of
Thermopylae, where the Persian could
not use their superior numbers.
•King Leonidas and 500 Spartans held
off the entire Persian army at the pass
of Thermopylae. They fought to the
death defending the pass!
Pass at
Thermopoylae
• Following their defeat at
Thermopylae, the Greeks decide
to make a last stand at the
straits of Salamis, where the
Persians would not be able to
use their numerically superior
navy. Since Athenian Triremes
were more maneuverable, they
would have an advantage.
Greek Trireme; standard military ship
Athenian admiral Themistocles led the
Greeks to its greatest naval victory of
the war.
The
naval victory at Salamis
sets the stage for the final
defeat of
the Persians
at the Battle
of Platea!
III. The Golden Age:
Greece’s victory over the Persians
gave rise to the “Golden Age” of
Greek culture.
Achievements during the “Golden
Age”:
 Democracy
- Medicine
 Philosophy
- Science
 Drama
- History
What is Philosophy?
A
Philosopher is a lover of
wisdom.
He/she studies the
questions of human reality
and human existence.
Philosophical School at Athens
Socrates is
considered
“The Father
of Greek
philosophy”



He believed that people needed to
think for themselves by questioning
everything.
He argued that
pure truth could
never really be
discovered.
He often criticized
democracy.
Plato
A
student of
Socrates, who
believed in rule by
an aristocracy.
 Wrote “The
Republic”
Aristotle
A
student of Plato &
teacher to Alexander the
Great.
 He explored the idea of
good government (which
governments make the
best men.)
 He developed rules of
logic (men are ruled by
“natural laws”.)
Greek Drama:
Drama was
created to
honor the god
Dionysus.
(God of wine
and song.)
Sophocles;
was a Greek
dramatist who
wrote tragedies
such as
“Oedipus Rex”
& “Antigone”
Greek Theatre (in Athens)
Sappho
was a
Greek
Poetess
who wrote
of love and
female
virtue.
Hippocrates
was a Greek
medical scholar
who looked for
natural rather
than
supernatural
causes of
illnesses.
Aristarchus:
 Greek
astronomer who believed
in the Heliocentric theory (the
sun is the center of the solar
system.)
 His theory was opposed by
Claudius Ptolemy who taught
that the earth is the center of the
solar system (Geocentric).
Erastosthenes:
 Greek
astronomer who
calculated the circumference
of the earth with amazing
accuracy by measuring angles
of the sun.
 This information was
“forgotten” until Columbus’
incorrect estimation in1492.
Archimedes
• Greek physicist who
studied pulleys and levers.
• He developed theories of
power & force.
Aristotle
•Greek philosopher that
collected, described, and
classified plants & animals.
This was the foundations of
western botany, zoology &
anatomy.
Pythagoras
•Greek
mathematician
who developed
the Pythagorean
theorem.
Herodotus
Greek historian who wrote
about the Persian Wars.
He often exaggerated the
“facts”, and did not hesitate
to include his personal
opinions (bias).
Thucydides
Greek historian who wrote
about the Peloponnesian
Wars.
He tried to be objective and
record only the “facts”
without including his
personal opinions (bias).
Phidias
•Greek sculptor who studied
anatomy and
produced
“realistic”
figures.
Characteristics of Greek
Art
Glorified Human beings
Represented the City-state
Represented the Greek
Ideas of beauty and
usefulness
Temple of
Zeus
The Parthenon of Athens;
Temple to Athena
IV. Pelonponnesian Wars
(431-404 BCE)
Cause:
Result:
 Weakened city-states;
 Rivalry
thus facilitated the
between
Greek city- invasion of the
states after Macedonians lead by
the Persian (Phillip II and
Wars.
Alexander the Great)
• To protect the Aegean from
further Persian threat, Athens
formed a military alliance
called the Delian League.
• Out of fear of an Athenian
Empire, Sparta also formed a
military alliance called the
Peloponnesian League.
• It
wasn’t long until the Greeks
forgot the unity they had
enjoyed against the Persians
and began to fight each other
again.
•In 431 B.C.E. the two Leagues
went to war.
Military Differences:
Athens:
Strongest
Greek
Navy.
Sparta:
Strongest
Greek
Army.
How Sparta Beat Athens:
 A plague hit Athens killing 1/3
of its people.
 Sparta got the help of Persia
during the war (money &
ships)
 Athens suffered a major
defeat at the Battle of
Syracuse.
The war lasted until
404 B.C.E. with the
surrender of Athens
to Sparta.
But the war left all
of Greece weakened
and vulnerable to
outside attack.
V. Rise of Macedonia:
Known
as the Hellenistic
Age (379 – 144 B.C.E.)
Lasted from the Fall of
Greece to the Rise of Rome
Greece was finally conquered in
379 B.C.E. by the Macedonians.
Under the leadership of Philip
and his son Alexander.
Philip of
-----------Macedonia
Alexander of
Macedonia ----------
Philip of Macedonia
 Macedonia
was the northern part of
Greece. It was a buffer zone between
the Greek world and the barbarians.
The Macedonians admired Greek
culture; but most Greeks saw them as
“hillbillies/rednecks.”
 In his desire to be more Greek, King
Philip conquered the Greeks after the
Peloponnesian War.
Alexander the Great
 He
promised the Greeks in
return for their alliance, he
would conquer Persia.
 His empire stretched from
Greece to the Indus River
 His civilization was a mix of
Greek and Eastern elements
called the Hellenistic Culture.
What’s purple and conquered the
world?
Alexander the
Grape
HELLENIC
VS.
HELLENISTIC

Greek

Greek and
Eastern
Language

Greek

Greek
Government

Oligarchy/
Democracy

Divine Right
Kingship

City-state

Empire

Optimistic

Fatalistic
Ethnicity
Unit
Philosophy
The End!