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5.2 Greek Government & Society

I. Greek Culture

A. Blind poet Homer wrote 2 epics

i. Iliad: Trojan War Greeks vs. Troy - last for 10years, ends with Odysseus idea of Trojan Horse,

Greeks win

ii. Odyssey Odysseus journey home

Religion

iii. Polytheistic (ex. Zeus head of gods, Aphrodite

goddess of love and beauty)

iv. Deities were humanlike1. explained nature myths

2. explained extreme emotions

3. benefits luck, harvest

v. Oracles where gods spoke through priests

B. Olympic Games

i. To honor Zeus every 4 years

ii. Only men could participateiii. Boxing, running, javelin, wrestling, etc.

II. Polis

A. The polis, a city-state, was the basic political unit

of the Hellenic Civilization. (The words police and

politics come from the word polis.)

B. A typical polis included the city and surrounding

villages, fields and orchards.

C. At the center of the city was an acropolis, a

fortified hill, which held the temple of the local deity.

D. An agora was the public square at the foot of the

acropolis where meetings took place.

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III.Society & Economy

A. Greek women had no political or legal rights.

B. Economy for city-states was based on agriculture.

C. Each polis set up colonies in coastal areas along the

Black and Mediterranean Seas (because of a lack offood after the Dark Ages).

IV. Govt

A. In most Greek city-states before 500 BC, citizenship

and voting rights were usually extended to male

landowners only.

B. Small group of landowners aristocrats, overthrew the

kings by 700 BC. But they abused their power overtime.

C. Tyrants , one man who seizes power (illegally, but had

peoples support), ruled Greek city-states 650-500

BC. (Tyrants usually were NOT cruel; a few who were

cruel gave us our current definition of tyranny.)

D. From 500 BC to 336 BC, many Greek city-states

were ruled by a small group of wealthy people, calledan oligarchy.

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E. Spartan women were brought up to be as healthy and strong

as possible. (Sparta was the only Greek society where the

girls received as much food as the boys. They trained in

wrestling, gymnastics, and boxing.)

F. Spartan women had more personal rights and freedomsthan women of any other Greek city-state did.

ATHENS

I. History & Geography

A. Athens was located on Attica, peninsula of central Greece.

They were descendants from the Mycenaeans.

B. Athens is named after the goddess Athena.C. Sea traders because of unfertile land.

II. Life in Athens

A.Only Athenian born men had full political right. Women could

not vote or hold political office.

B. By 507 BC all free MEN could participate in the Assembly

regardless of whether they owned land.C. 9 Archons were elected who served one year terms to run

the govt.

III. Changes in Govt

A. Dracoscode of law was considered an improvement because

it eliminated inconsistent laws and punishments, but very

harsh.

B. Solonpromoted the growth of Athenian industry by

extending citizenship to foreign-born artisans, also

canceled all land debts. He set up a bicameral legislature.

C. Peisistratusgave citizenship to men who did not own land.

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D. Cleisthenes introduced laws establishing Athenian

democracy (direct democracy).

IV. Democracy

A.All citizens could belong to the Assembly, the major politicalinstitution of Athenian democracy. They were equal before

the law and had freedom of speech.

B. The Assembly passed laws and also served as a supreme

court.

C. Every year, the members of the Athenian Assembly chose

the Council of 500 by a general lottery, which administered

taxes, treaties, and public works.D. Citizens of democratic Athens favored lotteries over

elections because they believed election could be dominated

by the wealthy or well spoken.

E. Athenian system for removing bad politicians from office was

called ostracism.

F.Athens laid the foundation for the Western concept of

democratic government.