Ancient Greece
Chapter 5
Geography
• Land & islands, many miles of coastline,
inlets, bays, deep harbors
• Seas – Aegean, Mediterranean, Ionian
• Poor resources on land (couldn’t farm)
• Led to increased sea travel, trade, imports
Geography
• Land - very mountainous (Mt. Olympus)
• Difficult to unite under one government,
divided the people, became fiercely
independent (city-states)
• Climate – moderate (Mediterranean)
temperature, led to outdoor activities –
shopping, civic meetings, athletics,
interaction
First Greeks
• Minoans from Crete
• Wealthy traders,
large homes, fancy
clothes, jewelry
• Ended by
earthquake,
volcano, tidal wave?
Mycenaeans
• Mycenae – built on steep
hills
• Fortified with stone walls,
bronze age
• Farmers, traders, warriors
• Trojan War (1200 BCE)
• Greek kings attacked Troy
in Asia Minor
• Greek’s wife stolen by
Trojan man
• Archaeological evidence
that this was true
Dorians
• 1200 BCE – 800 BCE
• Mycenaean civilization
collapsed
• From North of Greece
came with iron weapons
• Little skill, less
advanced
• Trade and progress at a
stand still
• Skill of writing lost
• Dark Ages
Homer
• Blind poet
• Depended on spoken word (bards –
storytellers)
• Wrote long epics – ideals of heroism,
excellence , courage, honor
• Interested in individuals; heroes compete for
glory
• The Iliad and The Odyssey (750 BCE) about
the Trojan War
Early Greek Leaders
• Draco – 621 BC - codified Athenian laws
provided severe punishments ; written laws
mean judges can’t show favoritism or make
up laws; (“draconian” = harsh or severe)
• Solon – 594 BC – canceled land mortgages,
freed people enslaved for debt, allowed male
citizens to serve on juries, granted
commoners right to vote in Assembly
Leaders cont.
• Cleisthenes – 508 BC – expanded democracy
by extending citizenship; began practice of
ostracism – banishing any citizen deemed
dangerous to the state
• Pericles – 461 BC – popular leader; opened
government to all men, paid salaries to public
officials – The Age of Pericles or The Golden
Age – height of democracy; art, science,
trade, manufacturing thrived
Types of governments in Greece
• Monarchy – one-man rule (king)
• Aristocracy – rule by a small group of
nobles
• Oligarchy – rule by few
• Tyranny – rule by one man who seized
power, favored by some people (unlike
today’s definition)
• Democracy – rule by the people
Drawbacks of Athenian Democracy
• Direct – more fair but all had to vote
personally (5,000 – 7,000)
• Women had few rights and
opportunities
• Slavery played major role
• Orators (speakers) often used forceful
and coercive language rather than logic
to sway voters.
Athens
Polis - city-state (basic political unit)
Acropolis – hill, central meeting place
Agora – below hill, open place for meetings
Citizens - those who took part in govt.
Hoplites – heavily armed infantry soldiers
Phalanx – marching formation shoulder to shoulder
Ruins of Ancient Sparta
http://www.history.com/videos/dec
onstructing-history-the-acropolis
Athens cont.
 Democratic society
 The Assembly was the major political
body
 All male citizens belonged; all were
equal & had freedom of speech
 Jury system for court cases
 Had to educate sons - participate in
govt.
 2 years military service at age 18
SPARTA
 Military society & aristocracy
 Harsh life
 Invaded other cities to fulfill needs;
greatest warriors in Greece
 If a child was born sickly or deformed,
they were left in hills to die
Sparta
At age 7, boys were sent to military; at
60 they could retire; girls got rigorous
physical training also
Women were strong and fit to become
mothers
Suspicious of new ideas - NO CHANGE
Sparta lagged far behind other cities in
economic development
http://www.history.com/videos/spar
tans
Acropolis
Temple Athena Nike
Temple of Olympian Zeus
Sanctuary of Athena at Delphi
Amphitheater of Epidaurus
Persian Wars
• 499 BC Persians control largest empire
• Persians want revenge for Greek support of
Ionian revolt (Greeks burned capital)
• Darius attacks Greece at (1) MARATHON
• Greeks outnumbered but win battle
• Pheidippides ran from Marathon to Athens
(26 miles) to announce victory – died;
modern day “marathon”
• Minor defeat for Persia but showed they
could be beaten
Greek hoplite (soldier)-6th c. BC
Persian Wars
 480 BC-Xerxes, son of Darius,
invades
 Sparta leads the Greeks (united)
 To delay Persia, the Spartans
slow them at (2) THERMOPYLAE
(a mountain pass)
Persian War cont.
Greeks lose (betrayed) & Athens
burned; all Spartans die
Greeks lure Persian navy into the
shallow waters of (3) SALAMIS Greeks victorious
(4) PLATAEA – war finally ends
Leonidas & the Spartans hold the
Persians at Thermopylae pass
Battle of Salamis, 480 BC
Thermopylae
Leonidas
Persian War: Turning Point
End of Persian expansion west
Persians don’t conquer Europe
Ushers in the Golden Age of Athens
Classical age begins – art, literature,
commerce flourish
Greek city-states maintain their
independence; Athens dominates
Golden Age of Athens
 Pericles led Athens in this period (461 BC)
 Delian League – defensive alliance; Athens
led
 Peloponnesian League – led by Sparta
 Athens stood for all that was the best in Greek
civilization
 Deeply committed to democracy; Assembly
The Agora
Classical Greece
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Writers
Philosophers
Pottery
Olympics
Religion
Historians
Sculpture
Architecture
Philosophy – “Love of Wisdom”
• Socrates – used questioning method
(Socratic method)
– Examine one’s life
– Convicted of corrupting youth; killed (drank
hemlock)
• Plato – Student of Socrates (427-347
BC) started The Academy
– The Republic – first book on political
science (did not favor democracy )
Philosophy cont.
• Aristotle (384-322
BC) wrote on
philosophy, science,
& govt.
• Tutored Alexander
the Great.
History
• Herodotus – “father of history” –
described the Persian invasion;
embellished with fable and superstition;
not very accurate
• Thucydides – accurate account of
Peloponnesian War; eyewitness
accounts; facts
Theatre
• Dramas, outdoor amphitheatres
• Tragedies:
– Aeschylus – Agamemnon; Persian Wars;
gods provided justice
– Euripedes – Medea, criticized war,
prejudice, greed
• Comedies:
– Aristophanes – satirized political leaders
Architecture
• Parthenon – most famous; temple to
Athena (Wisdom) atop the Acropolis in
Athens
• Use of columns – Doric, Ionic,
Corinthian (elaborate, curly)
Science and Math
• Pythagoras – important principals of
geometry
• Hippocrates – father of medicine,
attributed disease to natural, not
superstitious causes
– Hippocratic Oath – uphold medical
standards – do no harm
Amphora Vase
The Olympics
• 776 BC; held every 4 years
• Athletes traveled to Mt. Olympus to honor
Zeus
• Glory in athletic competition
• Pentathlon most important event (5) –
long jump, javelin, discus, foot race,
wrestling
• Men only (naked)
• Prize – honor and fame for your city state
Modern Olympics
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S – 1896 – Athens, Greece - 1st modern
W – 2010 -Vancouver, Canada
S – 2012 – London, England
W – 2014 – Sochi. Russia
S – 2016 – Rio de Janiero, Brazil
W – 2018 – Pyeongchang, S. Korea
S – 2020 – Tokyo, Japan
W – 2022 – Beijing, China
Religion – The Greek Gods
• Lived on Mt. Olympus (12)
• Were immortal
• They were “human-like” – fought, had
human weaknesses
• Oracles to worship the gods
Democracy
• GREECE
• Direct Democracy –
citizens were
members of
legislature
• Citizenship based on
Athenian ancestry
• Women denied
political rights
• Slavery permitted
• U.S.
• Representative
Democracy – citizens
elect representatives
• Citizenship based on
American birth or
naturalization
• Women – equal rights
• Slavery prohibited
Peloponnesian War (431 BC-404 BC)
Series of battles between Athens and Sparta
Sparta eventually wins (military superiority)
Greece weakened over next century by fighting
Growing power to the North, Macedonia goes
unnoticed
 End of classical Greece
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Alexander the Great
Philip II of Macedonia, Alexander’s father, had
conquered most of Greece by the time of his
death
336 BC-Alexander from Macedonia (north of
Greece) becomes King (age 20)
334 BC - Alexander invades Persian empire &
wins major victory in Asia Minor
Alexander the Great
• Conquered Syria, Palestine, Egypt –
founded Alexandria
• 331 BCE – defeated Persians again and
ended Persian rule
• 327 BCE – Wants to reach Indus River –
after 3 years his men have had enough!
• 323 BCE – Dies at age 32
Alexander the Great – Hellenistic Age
• Global view – believed non – Greeks were
equal; encouraged men to marry Persians
• Hellenistic – mix of Greek and Middle Eastern
culture (Indian too)
• Koine Greek – language/dialect spoken during
Alexander’s reign – all the way to India
• Alexandria, Egypt – key city; home to poets,
scholars, writers, scientists, philosophers;
great library
• Built temples, baths, theatres, statues, etc.
Contributions - Hellenistic
• Aristarchus – Proposed that earth
revolved around sun (not widely
supported)
• Ptolemy – Earth at center of universe
• Eratosthenes – believed earth was
round, computed circumference
• Euclid - basis of geometry
• Archimedes – pi, lever and pulley
Hellenistic contributions cont.
• Epicurianism (philosophy) – humans
were free to follow self-interest, pursuit
of pleasure and happiness, virtuous
conduct, absence of pain
• Stoicism – founded by Zeno; live in
harmony with god; daily problems
would not disturb you, bear whatever
life offers (stoic)
• Sculpture – Colossus of Rhodes 100 ft.
bronze