Classical Greece Notes

Chapter 5: Classical Greece Notes

​The Land in Greece

​Greece is a small country in southern Europe. It is shaped somewhat like an outstretched hand, with fingers of land that reach into the Mediterranean Sea. The mainland of Greece is a peninsula. A peninsula is land that is surrounded on three sides by water. Greece also includes many islands throughout the Mediterranean and the Aegean (ih-JEE-luhn) seas.

Mainland Greece is a land of steep, rugged mountains, almost entirely surrounded by turquoise blue seas. The ancient Greeks lived on farms or in small villages scattered throughout the country. These farms and villages were isolated, or separated, from each other by the mountains and seas.

Multiple Choice

Greece is a

• peninsula

• Delta

• Isthmus

• Plateau

Multiple Choice

Which physical features are important to understand conditions in ancient Greece?

• Mountains

• Islands

• Peninsula

• All of the Above

​

Multiple Select

Check all of the theories about why Mycenaean civilization declined (Choose 2)

• Natural disasters caused shortages that turned cities against one another

• Mycenaean cities were invaded by the mysterious Sea Peoples

• A plague spread through Mycenaean cities

Multiple Choice

What is a city-state? Ex (Mayflower Compact)

• a city that governs itself

• a city that looks like a state

• a country that governs many cities

• none of the above

Multiple Choice

Who did the Greeks borrow the alphabet from?

• English

• Europeans

• Egyptians

• Phoenicians

 The early Greek alphabet was written, like its Semitic forebears, from right to left. This gradually gave way to the boustrophedon style, and after 500 bce Greek was always written from left to right. The Classical alphabet had 24 letters, 7 of which were vowels, and consisted of capital letters, ideal for monuments and inscriptions. From it were derived three scripts better suited to handwriting: uncial, which was essentially the Classical capitals adapted to writing with pen on paper and similar to hand printing, and cursive and minuscule, which were running scripts similar to modern handwriting forms, with joined letters and considerable modification in letter shape. Uncial went out of use in the 9th century ce, and minuscule, which replaced it, developed into the modern Greek handwriting form.

​Greek Alphabet

Multiple Choice

Who were the first civilization to write all vowels as well as consonants?

• Phoenicians

• Persians

• Greeks

• Egyptians

Greece has influenced Western culture by:

• ​Democratic Government

• Architecture

• Theater

• Olympics

Multiple Choice

What type of government did Greek culture have?

• Communism

• Theocracy

• Democracy

• Monarchy

• Dictator

Geography

Mediterranean Sea and Basin

Great for trade with the Phoenicans

Government-Never united under one governemnt, but rather in city states (the polis)

Economy - based around water, earned a living from the sea

Society - based on mild climate because there were many activites that were outside (theater, olympics, etc)

The Polis (City-State) Citizens responsibilities and rights:

• ​Able to vote

• Own Property

• Hold in public office

• Speak for themselves in court.....but everyone was expected to serve in gov't and serve in military during wars

Multiple Choice

Which of these are not part of the Polis responsibilities and rights?

• To Own Slaves

• Own Property

• Hold in Public Office

• To Speak for Themselves

Colonies and Trade in Greece

• Greece begins to look outside of its borders.....WHY?

• Increased population

• Shortage of food supply

Benefits of trade:

• Colonies > Sent grain to Greece

• Home > Harvested crops, able to trade throughout Mediterranean region, produced more goods, people moved to cities, people developing skills

People of Greece

• Minoans > Aegean area, Bronze Age, from 2600 to 1100 BC, name came from Minos the mythical king, traders, invaded by Mycenaean or volcanic eruptions ended Minoan period.

• Mycenaean > Greeks from 1600 to 1100 BC, peloponnese, 1st advanced civilization, warrior society, declined with collapse of Bronze Age

Athens (City - State)

• Located on peninsula of Attica

• Less Militaristic society

Athenian Citizenship

• All citizens belonged

• Considered equal before the law

• Granted freedom of speech

• Lottery system was used to choose members of the council > because all citizens were competent to run the gov't.

• Council was the administrative body of the assembly

• Each year citizens could vote to expel one politican from the gov't

Multiple Choice

All citizens were granted

• Freedom of Press

• Freedom of Religion

• Freedom of Speech

• Freedom of Press

Athenian Education:

• All citizens expected to be educated

• Girls received very little education where they learned household duties

• Males sent to private tutors or schools

• Boys entered school at age 7 > graduated at age 18

• Memorized books by heart (lliad and Odyssey

• Studied Arithmetic, geometry, drawing and music

• Learned rhetoric > Art of public speaking

• Age 18 serve in the military for 2 years

Sparta

Peloponnesus Peninsula

Economy based on agriculture

Helots = people who became slaves as a result of military defeat

Perioeci = free people

Artisans and merchants from conquered lands

All life in Sparta revolved around the Military

No walls on city -----no need for city walls

Sparta

• Men strove to become great warriors

• Women aspired to be the mother of the soldier

• Gov't officials examined infants to see if they were healthy at birth

• Practiced infanticide if unhealthy (left on hillside to die)

Multiple Choice

Sparta's economy was based on

• Cities

• Agriculture

• The Bronze Age

• Trade

Life of Spartan Male

• Age 7 > boys taken away from parents and placed in military barracks

• Training included reading, writing and use of weapons

• Boys, went barefoot and had one garment to wear (even in winter)

• Received little to eat

• Taught to steal grain > if caught public whipping (taught to bear pain in silence

• Age 20 > Men become soldiers

• Didn't live in the household

• Lived in military barracks until age 60

• Age 60 > Retire from military

Life of a Spartan Female

• Wanted women to be as healthy and strong as possible

• female infants received as much food as boys

• Trained in gymnastics, wrestling and boxing

• Married at age 19 (instead of 14)

• Women had more personal rights

• Could shop

• Attend dinners where non-family members were present

• Own property

• Express opinions on public issues

• Could not take part in polis government

Spartans grew strong Militarily

• Consequences: Afraid of new ideas

• Lagged in trade

• Poorer than other city-states

• Non - Intellectually bright

Wars!

Persian Wars > Athens and Sparta defeat Persia > Greece enters Golden Age. Then........

Peloponnesian Wars > Athens fights in Sparta for supremacy in Greece

No one really wins because:

Greece is so weak after these wars that they are conquered by Alexander the Great > Macedonian

Greek Civilization and culture (Classical)

Visual Arts

Greek Drama

Olympic Games

Philosophers > Socrates, Plato and Aristotle

Historians

Scientists

Art

Alexander's Empire > Alexander The Great

• Son of Phillip of Macedonia (Spain)

• Alexander's Goals > To unite the east and west for empire

• He conquers everything from Egypt to India

Plans to achieve this by:

• Encouraging men to marry eastern women

• Encouraging men to dress like eastern culture

• Fails to achieve plan becuase he can't stand up against Romans

Multiple Choice

The son of Phillip of Macedonia, had a goal to unite the east and west for empire

• The Great

• Alexander The Great

• The Great Alexander

• The Great Alan

Multiple Choice

Did Alexander The Great's plan work?

• Yes

• No

• Something like that

Alexander's Empire

• Hellenistic Culture > Greek Culture

• Hellenistic Thinkers and Artists

Post-Alexander Culture

Hippocratic Oath >

• An oath in the Hippocratic Collection, varying versions of which have been taken for 2000 years by physicians entering the practice of medicine

Greco - Persian Wars 5th Century BCE - 490 479 BCE

Persians vs. Greeks

Persians - Xerxes and Darius

• Very wealthy!

• Largest civilization at the time

• At its height, it encompassed the areas of modern-day Iran, Egypt, Turkey, and parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Persian Empire emerged under the leadership of Cyrus II, who conquered the neighboring Median Empire ruled by his grandfather.

• The Persians are known for their metalwork as well as for their legacy of extraordinary architecture. Finely decorated pre-Islamic structures still stand in several ancient cities.

Greeks - Leonidas

• Very poor

• less populated

• Hellenistic Culture

• They raised armies and collected taxes.

• Did not get along with each other, always going back and forth with each other however, they banded together as well as having allies to take on the most powerful army the world had ever seen.

• The Greeks often ate dinner while lying on their sides.

• They invented the yo-yo which is considered the 2nd oldest toy in the world after the doll.

• About one third of the population of some city-states were slaves.

The Plan

The Greeks had a couple of advantages. Greek soldier wore metal armor. Most of the Persians had leather armor.

Second, the Greeks fought using a phalanx. The phalanx was a formation in which soldiers locked shields and formed a wall. Soldiers behind the wall held long spears to stab the enemy.

The Greeks knew that they had to stop the Persians in a place where their huge number of troops would be a disadvantage - in the mountains.

*The most famous of these were the 300 Spartans of his own army took on this task

Greeks Win!!

• A group of Greek City - States were under the control of the Persians known to the Greeks as Ionia.

• The Ionian Greeks revolted against the Persians and found an ally with Athens on the Greek mainland.

• The alliance of Greek city-states, which included Athens and Sparta, won the Persian Wars against Persia from 490 to 480 BCE.

Multiple Choice

Which group was wealthy?

• Persians

• Greeks

Multiple Choice

Which group was poor?

• Greeks

• Persians

Multiple Choice

Who won the war between the Persians and Greeks?

• Greeks

• Persians

• Nobody

Persians want a rematch!

• The Persians launched two wars in 10 years on the Greeks - wanted to punish the Greeks and destroy Athens

• The Greeks defeated the Persians both times - on island and at sea. With great strategic thinking and war tactics. Xerxes suffered another lost.

Greece booms after wars!

• The incredible had happened. The tiny city-states of Greece had beaten the huge Persian Empire. The pride that the ancient Greeks felt over winning this war started a new age – The Golden Age of Greece.

• Peak of Athenian Democracy

• Poorer classes "rowed their way to citizenship"

• Socrates beginning career as a philosopher

Achievements:

• ​Greek Alphabet to Latin Alphabet

• Greek Mythology to Religion

• Athenian Democracy

• Spartan Military Culture

• Greek Architecture

• ​Epics

• Poems

• Philosophy

• Science

• Math

Open Ended

Name 1 achievement from the previous slide