The Glory of Greek Civilization

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The Glory of Greek Civilization

• Classical Greece
• 2000B.C. 200 B.C.

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Three Aegean Civilizations

• What direction is the Aegean Sea from Greece?
• 2000-1100 B.C. Three major civilizations
  prospered in the area around the Aegean Sea
• Minoans on the island of Crete
• The Hellenes on the mainland
• The Trojans on Troy
• On the coast of Asia Minor

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Minoans

• 1700 B.C. 1400 B.C.
• Located on the Island of Crete which is in what
  direction from Greece?
• The term Minoan comes from the name Minos, a
  legendary king of Crete.
• Crete had poor soil and good harbors
• Much of their wealth came from trade
• Ships carried goods throughout the lands
• Gold, Silver, jewelry, swords, and ivory carvings
• No large army instead built a powerful navy to
  keep sea free from pirates

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Minoan culture

• Made clay vases, bronze daggers, gold cups, and
  other luxury items
• Minoans had indoor plumbing with drains
• Were skilled at Boxing and Bull Jumping
• Most impressive city Knossos (on the island of
  Crete)

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The fall of the Minoans

• Decline of this civilization has no known cause
• Some believe that Hellenes invaded Crete sometime
  between 1450 and 1350 B.C.
• It is known however that the Hellenes on mainland
  Greece had opened direct trading with Egypt and
  Syria and that such trade would not have been
  possible if the Minoan navy had still controlled
  the seas

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The Trojan Wars

• After the fall of Crete, the Hellenes turned
  their power in other places
• They expanded their trade into the black Sea
  Region
• As time passed, these people came into conflict
  with the people who lived in the city-state of
  Troy
• Between 1200-1180 B.C. two Trojan wars were fought

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What is the Trojan War?

• A Greek poet named Homer created a long poem
  about the wars
• ILLIAD
• Thought to be based on oral or spoken poetry

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The illiad

• The Trojan Wars started after Paris, a son of the
  King of Troy, kidnapped Helen, the beautiful wife
  of a Greek King. An army of greek heroes,
  including Achilles and Odysseus, sailed to Troy
  to rescue Helen. The great battle between
  Achilles and Hector, prince of Troy, in which
  Hector is killed, is a high point of the poem.
  The Greeks finally defeated the Trojans and
  destroyed Troy
• Based on Heinrich Schliemann, Troy as described
  by Homer, really did exist

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The fall of the Aegean Peoples

• Dorians
• Came in after the fall of Troy when all other
  Greek city-states were fighting each other
• They didnt write anything down so the Greeks
  fell into what is known as the Dark Ages

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The accomplishments of Athens

• The Classical Age

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Highest point of development

• Began around 500 B.C.
• Because of the geography, the Greeks DID NOT
  create one Nation instead they created many
  city-states also called POLI
• Independent of one another
• Each was governed as its citizens viewed best
• Monarchy ruled by a king
• Aristocracy ruled by nobles
• Oligarchy ruled by wealthy merchants and
  landowners
• Athens chose Democracy
• Ruled by the people

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Athenian democracy

• http//www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/worldhistory
  /athens/
• Athens was different from all others they had
  democracy
• http//www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/worldhistory
  /democracy/

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Males vs females

• Males began preparing for their role in the
  democratic government at 18
• Public pledge to defend Athens and Gods
• After training for 2 years enter into active
  military
• Only after they served in military could they
  then vote
• After 30 he could serve on the Council of 500
• This supervised the army, the navy, and financial
  affairs
• Could also serve on jury (6000 people)
• Could also be elected to serve as one of the Ten
  Generals
• They led the armed forces of Athens

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• Not all people could practice in the democracy
• Woman
• Slaves or prisoners of war
• Residents who were not born in Athens
• Athens is therefore ruled by a MINORITY not a
  MAJORITY

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Education in Athens

• Boys were educated to serve the city
• Grammar
• Singing and musical instrument
• Geometry, astronomy, geography, and public
  speaking
• Also trained the body
• Participated in sports
• Wrestling, swimming, running, and throwing the
  javelin and discus
• Girls
• Taught to be good wives and mothers
• Weaving, household management, and the care of
  children
• Married between age 14 and 16

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Culture

• What is culture?
• What does it mean to have culture or to be
  cultured?
• Arts and Sciences
• Talented people came to Athens to learn what
  does this tell us about the culture of Athens?
• Artists, architects, sculptors, dramatists,
  philosophers, mathematicians,

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Great minds of Athens

• Socrates
• Plato
• Aristotle

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Socrates
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Plato
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Aristotle
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Dramatists

• Wrote plays called Tragedies
• Aeschylus
• Sophocles
• Euripedes
• Wrote comedies
• Aristophanes

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Historians

• Herodotus
• Wars between Greeks and Persians
• Thucydides
• Peloponnesian War

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Sparta

• The Military State

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Second most important City-State

• Cared little about democracy or the arts
• Most of their interests were around military
  matters
• Government became organized around 600 B.C.
• Strongest military power in all of Greece
• Ignored all other city-states

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Government

• Elected two kings every 9 years
• A council of elders and an assembly of free
  Spartans advised the king
• Council of elders 28 men over the age of 60
• Assembly of free Spartans men over age 30
• Ephors held real power
• This was a committee of 5 people elected every
  year by the assembly
• Closely watch the actions of the king
• Control education
• Supervise slaves
• Spartan people only lived to served the needs of
  the government

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Ways of Life

• All males are professional soldiers
• Spent childhood training for the military
• Most of adult life in the army
• All boys, starting at age 7 moved away from home
  to a military training camp
• Here they were taught how to be good Spartans
• Men required to marry at the age of 30 in order
  to start having a family
• This gave the government more soldiers!
• Men stayed in the military and did not live at
  home with their wives until after they were 60
  years old

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Spartan Women

• Received no formal education
• Taught to be healthy mothers
• Had more legal rights then other woman in other
  city states
• Had legal rights equal to men

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Spartan citizens

• Not allowed to participate in trade or
  manufacturing
• People who were not citizens did this for the
  Spartans
• Spartans owned farms
• Helots non Spartan slaves
• Helots do all of the work on the farms
• Mainly agriculture with very little trade
• Very, very harsh life

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The Persian and Peloponnesian Wars
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• During 5th century B.C. The Greek city-states
  are defeated twice by the Persian empire
• Greeks tried to fight the Persians
• The unite under the leadership of Athens
• They defeat the Persians
• However, now all of the city-states begin to
  fight one another
• Disaster for all of Greece

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Conflict with Persia

• 522B.C. Persian empire controls Middle East
• This includes many Greek City-States in Asia
  Minor
• Darius King of Persia
• City-States in Greece rebel against Persia in 499
• Athens sends ships to help this angers Darius
• Darius decides to conquer Greece and punish
  Athens
• To defend themselves, Athens and Sparta form an
  alliance

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Marathon

• 490 B.C.
• Athenian army defeats the Persians
• The Persians outnumbered the Athenians
• Runner was sent 25 miles to report the victory
• This is why we run marathons )
• Darius is forced to withdraw from Greece

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• Xerxes Son of Darius of Persia
• 480 B.C. Xerxes attacks Greece
• Persian forces outnumbered the few hundred
  Spartans
• Persians capture Athens and set fire to it
• BUT the Athenians fight back at sea and defeat
  the Persian navy in a battle at Salamis
• Persians leave for home a year later
• This victory saves the freedom of the Greek
  City-States
• To prevent further attacks by Persia the city
  states organize themselves into a lose alliance
  called the Delian League

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The age of Pericles460-429 B.C.

• Glory and power come to Athens
• Pericles leads Athens
• Makes a beautiful city
• Temples and other buildings
• Parthenon
• Honored Athena
• Wrote new laws that made the government even more
  democratic
• Called the Golden Age of Greece

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Peloponnesian War

• Athens tries to use the Delian League to build an
  empire
• It didnt work because the city-states were
  forced to pay taxes and give land to Athens
• Led by Sparta the others rebelled
• 431-404 B.C. Sparta and Athens are fighting to
  determine who would control the Peloponnesian
  Peninsula
• This is southern Greece
• Sparta wins this and gets the Peloponnesian
  Peninsula
• They end democratic government in other
  city-states
• But Sparta is very weak

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• City state of Thebes, with help from Persia,
  defeats Sparta
• But the other city-states wont accept Thebes as
  the ruler
• All other city states are destroying themselves
• King Phillip II of the kingdom of Macedonia take
  power
• He unites the city-states by force and Greece and
  Macedonia become one kingdom

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The rise of Macedonia and Hellenistic Age
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• King Phillip II of Macedonia was murdered after
  conquering Greece
• His son Alexander the Great, he becomes king
• Alexander the Great leads Greece into a new Era
  called the Hellenistic Age

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The Macedonians

• Country North of Greece
• Most people are herders and farmers
• Little interest in learning
• King Phillip prevents them from killing one
  another
• Unifies the people as a nation
• Creates a powerful army
• Teaches them to fight in large, heavily armed
  formations called phalanxes
• Phillip wants them to have the culture of the
  Greeks
• He brings Aristotle to Macedonia to give his son
  an education

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• After he conquered Greece, Phillip organizes the
  city-states into the Hellenic League
• Only Sparta is not a member
• The city-states could govern themselves as long
  as they gave Phillip military support
• Phillips dream was to conquer the great Persian
  empire but he was murdered before he could
  accomplish this
• Instead, his son, Alexander the Great does

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Hellenistic Age

• 334 B.C. Alexander the Great begins his
  conquest of the Persian Empire
• Also takes over Egypt, the Middle East, and the
  Indus River Valley
• By 324 B.C. Alexander the Great rules over one of
  the largest empires

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Hellenistic culture

• Alexandria of Egypt develops into one of the most
  important cities of the entire empire
• Major learning and trading center
• Those who settled in the area were encouraged to
  marry Persians, Egyptians, Syrians and others who
  were native
• This begins to unite the cultures
• Very wealthy cities
• Amazing temples, government buildings, and
  theaters
• Scholars, artists, scientists, and merchants all
  venture here to expand their minds

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Death of Alexander

• 323 B.C. Alexander dies at the age of 33
• His great empire is divided among his strongest
  generals who makes themselves kings
• Macedonia
• Syria
• Egypt
• City-States are independent again
• The culture remained and grew and was picked up
  by the Roman civilization as they gained more and
  more power by 200 B.C.

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Greek Heritage

• Olympic games which originated in Athens
• Drama
• Architecture
• Philosophy
• Geometry
• Physics
• Most important democracy
• It has shaped many of the great nations of the
  world, including ours