The Glory of Ancient Greece

What is your routine on a typical weekday?

School-age boys in Athens would
have a full day of activities

School during the day – education
was very important to Athenian
boys and men
 They would write lessons on their
wax-covered wooden tablets – a lot
different from pens, paper, laptops,
and iPads!

Athletic activities after school
 Wrestling
 Discus

Unfortunately, girls
did not go to school in
Greece – they learned
to work around the
house and helped
their mother with
chores



Men were active in politics and
society in Athens – remember,
they were PROUD to be part of
Athenian democracy!
Agora – a public market and meeting
place
 The agora was the center of Athens
public and social life
 The market was held outdoors due
to the mild climate of Greece
 All Greek cities had agoras, but
Athens had the largest
Agora in Athens located near
the Acropolis


The Agora became a place to for men to talk
about politics, philosophy, and community
events
Vendors (a seller in a market) sold goods in
the Agora


Buyers and sellers would bargain for the best price
Streets were lined with shops and stands
 Vendors sold food, along with materials such as
wool, pottery, hardware, cloth, and books

The Agora was the center of social life for
Greeks

What places have you been to that are similar
to the ancient Agora?


Temples and government buildings lined the
outside of the Agora, making them convenient
Athenians admired beautiful architecture

Classical Greek architecture style influences modern
architecture, including in United States

Most private homes were plain and simple


Made of mud bricks
Rooms were set around an open courtyard
 The courtyard was the center of the household
 Other rooms included the kitchen, dining room, bedrooms,
storerooms for goods
 Homes for the wealthier citizens had bathrooms, using water
carried from a public fountain

Typical Greek meals:
Breakfast – bread
Lunch – bread with olives and cheese
Dinner – Fish and vegetables with cheese, fruit and honey
cakes
 Athenians did not eat much meat, even the wealthier
citizens – and the wealthy only ate meat during special
religious festivals




Most women spent their days at home



Women did not have freedoms of men



Could not take part in politics, vote, own property
Only special activity they were allowed to participate in was
serving as a priestess in religious groups
Women would stay home and run the family


Men believed that women should be protected and not out in
public
Women lived secluded lives – they lived quietly and took care
of the house
They made meals, kept track of food supply, cared for family
finances, and cared for young children and slaves
Only poor women worked outside the home, because
they had to work to support the family

Made pottery, tended sheep, manufactured cloth and wool

Slavery – the condition
of being owned by
someone else

Common in Athens
 As many as 100,000
slaves in Athens (almost
one-third of the
population)

People rarely questioned
slavery – it was just a
way of life that they
knew and were familiar
with

Why do you think slavery was rarely
questioned in ancient Greece? If you had been
living at the time, do you think you would
have had a problem with slavery?

Some slaves were captured by Greek armies
during war


Could have been foreigners or Greeks from other
conquered city-states
Children born into slave families automatically
became slaves

Slaves had few privileges





Slaves had many jobs





They could not be citizens
No political rights or personal freedoms
Did not receive education
Could only be free if their master freed them or if they bought
their freedom through the small tips they could receive
Some worked on farms
Others dug silver in mines
Some helped make weapons and armor
In the household, they cooked, cleaned, took care of the
children, wove cloth
Slaves worked so Greek men had time to participate in
other activities, such as the arts and government

Do Now: Write 3-4 sentences – Although
slaves in Athens were treated relatively well,
the condition of being owned by another
human is not a pleasant thought. Yet, most
people did not question slavery in Athens,
because they were used to it.
Is it OK to ignore something that is unfair because
you are used to it? Why or why not?
 Give a modern-day example, possibly one from your
life (or just make one up).




Athenian boys would go to school and learn
how they could participate in the government
when they grew up.
The agora, or marketplace, was the center of
public life in Athens.
Women would stay at home and take care of
the family.

Athenian boys had a full
schedule

School during the day –
education was very important
 They would write lessons on their
wax-covered wooden tablets

Athletic activities after school
 Wrestling
 Discus

Girls did not go to school in
Greece


Agora – an outdoor public
market and meeting place
 Center of Athens
public/social life
The Agora: a place for men
to talk about politics,
philosophy, and
community events

Vendors (sellers of goods)
sold food, wool, pottery,
hardware, cloth, and books

Most private homes were plain and simple,
made of mud bricks

Rooms were set around an open courtyard
 The courtyard was the center of the household

Typical Greek meals:




Breakfast – bread
Lunch – bread with honey, olives and cheese
Dinner – Fish and vegetables with cheese, fruit and
honey cakes
Athenians did not eat much meat, even the wealthier
citizens – and the wealthy only ate meat during
special religious festivals

Most women spent their days at home, caring
for the house



Could not take part in politics, vote, own property
They made meals, kept track of food supply, cared
for family finances, and cared for young children
and slaves
Only poor women worked outside the home,
because they had to work to support the family

Made pottery, tended sheep, manufactured cloth
and wool

Slavery – the condition of
being owned by someone
else


Slaves had few privileges


As many as 100,000 slaves
in Athens (almost one-third
of the population
No political rights or
personal freedoms
Slaves had many jobs

Worked on farms, in the
house, in silver mines,
made weapons and armor

What was life in Athens like during the Golden
Age? Would you like to have lived there?
Why?

Living in Sparta was much different than living
in Athens…

Life in Sparta was
harsh and cruel


Spartans were tough and
quiet people
Frequent wars changed
the way people in
Sparta lived – they
developed a warrior
mentality

Frequent wars led to
Sparta’s one basic rule:
Always put the city’s
needs above your own
needs

Spartans conquered land around the city of
Sparta

Conquered people were called helots
 Helot: Slaves owned by the city-state of Sparta
 Helots did farm work, so Spartans could go to war
 Helots were treated very harshly, because the Spartans
were afraid they would revolt against them
 There were many more helots than Spartans, but the
Spartans were so strong and treated them so badly, that the
helots could never gain enough power to overthrow the
Spartans

Contrast the treatment of slaves in Athens and
Sparta.

Respond: Sparta’s basic rule was to “always
put the city’s needs above your own.” Do you
agree with this idea? Why or why not?


Spartans only wanted the healthiest people to live
in their city
Boys were trained for fighting from a young age
and continued for 13 years

At 7, boys would leave home to live in military barracks
 They only had one change of clothes and a thin mat to sleep
on

By 12, a boy would learn how to use a sword and spear
 Boys were encouraged to steal food to train them to fend for
themselves – however, if he was caught, he would be
severely punished
Boys were expected to endure pain and punishment in
silence
 Spartans became excellent soldiers


At 20, a young man would
become a soldier


At 30, a man could
participate in the assembly,
a council of all male
citizens of Sparta


Men remained soldiers until
age 60
Sparta had a king, and the
council helped to make
decisions in the government,
which would be referred to
the king
Spartan Warriors

Compare and contrast government in Athens and
Sparta.

Girls also trained in wrestling and spear throwing


They would not become soldiers, but they wanted girls to
be strong and healthy as well
Spartan women had more freedoms than in other
city-states
They could own land
 They could take part in business
 Because men were busy fighting, women would
sometimes have to be the head of their household


In the end, though, women still had to obey men!

Compare and contrast the role of women in Athens
and Sparta.




Spartans did not associate with other Greeks
and did not travel
Spartans did not value being wealthy and did
not engage in trade
They did not have an interest in the arts
Spartan warriors were known for their skill
and bravery

Spartan fighters were involved in many conflicts

Respond: Would you have rather lived in
Athens or Sparta? Why?


For much of Greece’s
history, city-states
fought each other
The Persian Empire
began to threaten Greece

Persia – located where
modern-day Iran is
located

Cyrus the Great – King of the Persian Empire

By 520 B.C., Persians had gained control of Greek
colonies on the west coast of Asia Minor

Persians landed in
Greece in the fall of 490
B.C.




Persians gathered at
Marathon, about 25 miles
north of Athens
Persian army
outnumbered Athenian
army 2 to 1
Athenians caught
Persians off guard and
attacked them furiously,
winning the battle
According to one
historian, 6,400 Persians
died, while only 192
Athenians were lost

Wars with Persia distracted the Greek city-states
from fighting one another, and Greece became
united


Believed that the gods had favored them and influenced
the outcome of the wars in favor of Greece
Athens emerged as the most powerful city-state
Delian League – group of city-states that allied with
Athens
 When countries become allies, they join together in a
partnership

 Named for island of Delos, where League’s treasury was
kept
 Soon, Athens was so powerful that they began to rule over
the other city-states in the league
 This time of power for Athens was the Golden Age that we
talked about in 6.2

Athens began to abuse
its power


Forced other allies to
pay tribute in return for
protection from Persian
invasion
Athens used common
treasury of the Delian
League to finance the
Parthenon and other
projects
Delian League in yellow

Many people in other city-states began to
resent Athens’ power


Sparta formed the Peloponnesian League to
oppose the Delian League


They turned to Sparta for protection
Named after Peloponnesus, the peninsula in which
Sparta was located
431 B.C. – Sparta and its allies fought against
Athens and its allies

Began Peloponnesian War – a 27-year long conflict
between Athens and Sparta


Athens had a powerful navy and lots of wealth
Sparta was located inland, and could not be
attacked from the sea, so Athens’ navy was useless


Spartans only had to march north to attack Athens
When Sparta invaded Athens, Pericles had people
from the surrounding areas move inside the city
walls, creating overcrowding and plague
Plague – widespread disease
 In 5 years, one-third of the people in Athens had died
from it, including Pericles



Sparta made peace with Persia and they
became allies
In 405 B.C., Sparta and Persia made a blockade
of the harbor that supplied Athens with food


Blockade: an action taken to isolate the enemy and
cut off its supplies
Spartans surrounded and closed the harbor
where Athens received food shipments


Athens surrendered in 404 B.C.
Spartans knocked down Athens city walls,
destroying its empire


What did Greek city-states do to overcome
oppression by Athens?
Compare and contrast Athens and Sparta.
Why were they so different from each other?

As a group, brainstorm five words that
describe the concept of slavery.

As an individual, write one sentence that
describes the concept of slavery. Use one of the
vocabulary words on the board.

Make a chart that compares slavery in Athens and
Sparta. List at least 2 bullet points on each side.
Athens
Sparta
• Slaves were sometimes
• Helots were treated very
treated as part of the
badly and beaten
family
• Helots did the hard labor
• Slaves worked in the
for the Spartans
home (easier conditions) • Helots outnumbered
and also in the silver
Spartans 3-to-1
mines (harsher
conditions)
• Free people in Athens
outnumbered slaves 2-to1



Read the following passage about American slavery.
“Due to the fact that Africans were not thought of as humans, but
as property, they did not have the rights that whites enjoyed.
Many of the slaves were beaten so severely that their injuries were
life threatening. The effect of being beaten brutally or seeing
someone else beaten could cause mental and emotional scars that
would never go away. This shows that not only was slavery
physically abusive, but also mentally abusive. Slaves suffered
physical pain, but also the emotional and mental pain they
experienced due to inhumane treatment of themselves and other
fellow slaves on the plantation caused them to be scarred for life.”
Now answer this question in one paragraph: Do you think
that American slavery was more similar to slavery in Athens
or Sparta? Why?

Write 3-4 sentences on
this topic: Why is it
wrong to treat humans
as “sub-human,” or
below the level of a
human (worse than an
animal)? Do you believe
that is what happened
with American slavery?
How about in Athens
and Sparta?


Slavery continued on in Greece for hundreds of
years, and when the Romans took over Greece,
slavery still existed in the Roman Empire.
In the United States, it was not until 1865 that
slavery was officially made illegal by the 13th
Amendment to the Constitution.



Sparta was a powerful city-state that
emphasized fighting and strength over
education and wealth.
Greek city-states united in order to defeat the
invading Persians.
The Spartans eventually defeated greedy
Athens in the Peloponnesian War.

Living in Sparta was much different than living
in Athens…


Life in Sparta was harsh
and cruel
Spartans lived to fight,
developing a tough, warlike mentality


Sparta’s motto: “Always put
the city’s needs above your
own”
Sparta conquered much
land and took prisoners as
slaves



Conquered people became
helots
Helot: Slaves owned by the
city-state of Sparta (typically
did farm work)
Helots were treated very
harshly by the Spartans


Spartans only wanted the healthiest, strongest
people to live in their city
Boys were trained for fighting from a young
age




Age 7: Left home to live in military barracks in harsh
conditions
Age 12: Learned how to use a sword and spear
Boys were expected to endure pain and punishment
in silence
Result of the training: Spartans became
excellent soldiers


Age 20: Entered the army
of Sparta
Age 30: A man could
participate in the assembly,
a government of all male
citizens of Sparta


Sparta had a king, and the
council helped the king to
make decisions in the
government
Age 60: A man could retire
from the army

Girls also trained in wrestling and spear
throwing


They would not become soldiers, but they wanted
girls to be strong and healthy as well
Spartan women had more freedoms than in
other city-states (even though men were still in
charge)

They could own land and conduct business




Spartans did not associate with other Greeks
and did not travel
Spartans did not value being wealthy and did
not engage in trade
They did not have an interest in the arts
Spartan warriors were known for their skill
and bravery

Spartan fighters were involved in many conflicts

The Persian Empire
began to threaten Greece

Persia – located where
modern-day Iran is
located

Persians landed in
Marathon, Greece in
490 B.C.
Persian army
outnumbered Athenian
army 2 to 1
 Athenians caught
Persians off guard and
attacked them
furiously, winning the
battle
 6,400 Persians died,
while only 192
Athenians died



Wars with Persia distracted the Greek city-states
from fighting one another, and Greece became
united
Greece eventually defeated mighty Persia


Believed that the gods had favored them
Athens emerged as the most powerful city-state

Delian League – group of city-states that allied with
Athens
 Named for island of Delos, where League’s treasury was
kept
 Soon, Athens was so powerful that they began to rule over
the other city-states in the league
 This time of power for Athens was the Golden Age that we
talked about in 6.2

Athens began to abuse
its power


Forced other allies to
pay tribute in return for
protection from Persian
invasion
Athens used common
treasury of the Delian
League to finance the
Parthenon and other
personal projects
Delian League in yellow

Many people in other city-states began to
resent Athens’ power


Sparta formed the Peloponnesian League to
oppose the Delian League


They turned to Sparta for protection
Named after Peloponnesus, the peninsula in which
Sparta was located
431 B.C. – Sparta and its allies fought against
Athens and its allies

Began Peloponnesian War – a 27-year long conflict
between Athens and Sparta


Athens had a
powerful navy and
lots of wealth
Sparta was located
inland and had a
powerful army


Athens’ navy was
useless against
landlocked Sparta
When Sparta invaded
Athens, Pericles had
people from the
surrounding areas
move inside the city
walls, creating
overcrowding and
plague (widespread
disease)


Sparta made peace with
Persia and they became
allies
In 405 B.C., Sparta and
Persia made a blockade
of the harbor that
supplied Athens with
food


Blockade: an action taken
to isolate the enemy and
cut off its supplies
Spartans surrounded and
closed the harbor where
Athens received food
shipments


Athens surrendered in 404
B.C.
Spartans knocked down
Athens city walls,
destroying its empire
Food shipments would
come in here


Please write down the week’s assignments on
the Assignment Board.
Now, write 3-4 sentences: From what you have
learned so far, how has Greek culture spread?
How has Ancient Greece influenced modernday America?

Macedonia is north of Greece
King Philip of Macedonia and his
son, Alexander, studied Greek
and considered themselves Greek
 Alexander studied with Aristotle

 He believed that Greeks were a
superior people and deserved to
rule

However, Macedonians were
viewed by Greeks as
barbarians (wild, uncivilized
people)

Why do you think that Alexander the Great
believed that Greeks were a superior, or better,
culture, even though he was not Greek
himself? Have you ever wanted to be part of
something because you admired it so much?


Macedonia was poor and divided into small
areas before Philip – it was not a unified
country
Philip came into power in 359 B.C.




He united Macedonia
He made an army even stronger than Sparta’s
He allied with Greek city-states by threatening or
bribing them
Philip conquered Greece by 337 B.C.

Philip wanted to
conquer Persia
next

In 336 B.C., before
he could, he was
assassinated
 Assassinate – to
murder for
political reasons

Philip’s son
Alexander became
king at age 20

Discuss with your group: Do you think a 20year old is prepared to be the king of a nation?
Why or why not? Make a list of 5 skills that are
needed to rule over a large group of people.


At a young age, Alexander became a good soldier
Alexander invaded the Persian Empire
Persia had gotten weaker over the years since losing to
Greece, but it was still huge
 Alexander led his army through Asia Minor, Judaea,
Egypt, and Babylon (Persia’s capital city)




Between 334 and 323 B.C., Alexander conquered
Persia, Egypt, and led his army all the way past the
Indus River
He became known as Alexander the Great because
of his great conquests
Alexander named cities after himself wherever he
went

Alexander was smart and
energetic

He was very motivated and
pushed his troops to be
motivated
 Troops complained that he
was too hard on them, but
they obeyed Alexander
 Alexander never lost a battle

Finally, his tired troops
refused to advance into
India
Alexander was angry, but he
turned back
 On the way back, Alexander
caught a fever and died in
323 B.C.


What is the danger in conquering too much
territory and spreading your army too thin?

After Alexander died, his empire was split up into
three kingdoms

Each kingdom ruled by one of Alexander’s former army
commanders
 One commander ruled Greece and Macedonia
 One ruled Egypt
 One ruled Persia


After the army commanders died, their sons and
grandsons fought to inherit the kingdoms for many years,
causing chaos
Many people left Greece to live in the cities that
Alexander had conquered

These cities were called Hellenistic Kingdoms
 Hellenistic: A word used for Greek history and culture after
the death of Alexander the Great

Hellenistic cities were modeled after Greek
cities
Greek kings ruled
 Greeks who moved there had the best jobs
 Greek temples and agoras were built in the cities
 Greek plays were performed in theaters
 Greek language was spoken in the cities


Greatest of all Hellenistic
cities: Alexandria, Egypt
Alexander founded the city
in 332 B.C.
 Located on the Nile River
 Became the capital of Egypt
 Became a center of business
and trade
 Had the largest library in the
world



Advancements were made in
math and science in Alexandria
Euclid – developed geometry in
300 B.C.


Scientists in Hellenistic times
knew the earth was round,
which was a new concept at the
time


Used proofs to explain
mathematical laws of geometry
Eratosthenes calculated the
distance around the earth
Archimedes – discovered that
levers and pulleys could be used
to lift heavy objects

He said “Give me a lever large
enough, and I will lift the earth.”

Which of these advancements in math and
science have you learned about in school?
What do you know about them? How have
you used them?

To summarize your understanding of Ch. 7.3,
please complete the following activities on
page 222:
Target Reading Skill
 Comprehension and Critical Thinking, #1 and #2
