Ancient Greece1750 B.C. – 133 B.C.

Early People of the AegeanSection 1

Minoans

• Located in the middle of the Aegean Sea, the isle of Crete was home to a brilliant civilization

• The people who lived their were called Minoans

Minoans Trade and Prosper• Success was based on trade, not

conquest.

• Through contact with Egypt and Mesopotamia, they acquired ideas and technology in fields such as writing and architecture.

Knossos

• The rulers of the Minoans lived in a vast palace at Knossos

• The Knossos included religious shrines, area dedicated to the honor of gods and goddesses.

Art at Knossos

• Walls covered in Frescoes= watercolor paintings done on wet plaster

• Learn a lot about Minoan society through fresco paintings– Dolphins– Gods (Bull)– Women had more rights

Minoan Civilization Disappears

• Minoan civilization eventually vanished– Volcanic eruption?– Earthquake?– Invaders? The Mycenaeans, the first Greek

speaking people of whom we have a written record.

Trade and War in Mycenae

• Mycenaeans were sea traders who reached out to Sicily, Italy, Egypt, and Mesopotamia.

• Mycenaeans learned many skills from the Minoans, including the art of writing

• Lived in separate city-states on the mainland

The Trojan War

• Mycenae and Troy had an economic rivalry.• Troy was a rich trading city that controlled the

vital straights connecting the Mediterranean and Black seas.

• The Trojan Prince named Paris kidnapped Helen, the wife of a Greek King, and the Mycenaeans sailed to Troy to rescue her

• War finally ended after 10 years when the Greeks finally seized Troy and burned the city to the ground.

Homer and the Great Legends of Greece

• After the victory of Troy the Mycenae's themselves were attacked and conquered by the Durians.

• Much of what we know about the Trojan War and life during this period comes from two great epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey.

• Both poems were written by Homer, a blind poet who went from village to village.

Iliad and Odyssey• The Iliad is the chief source about the

Trojan War.

• The Odyssey tells of the many struggles of the Greek hero Odysseus on the return home to his wife after the fall of Troy

The Rise of Greek City-States

Section 2

Geography Shapes Greece• Greece is apart of the Balkan Peninsula

• Hundreds of rocky islands

• Each city-state included a city and its surrounding countryside

Life by the Sea• With hundreds of bays, the Greek

coastline offered safe harbors for ships.

• Greeks were skilled sailors and traded throughout the region.

Governing the City-States

• The Greeks learned about how best to govern each individual Greek polis, or city-state.

• The city was built on two levels.– TOP: Acropolis: High City with a great

marble temple dedicated to the different gods and goddesses.

– Bottom: Walled main city with its marketplace, theater, public buildings, and homes.

Governing the City-States

• Population of each city-state was very small so the citizens shared a sense of responsibility for its triumphs and defeats

• Citizens= Free residents• Male citizens spent much of their time outdoors in

the marketplace, debating issues that affected their lives

• Held festivals honoring the special gods and goddesses.

• Male landowner held all the political power (unequal rights)

Types of Government Evolve

• Monarchy= a government in which a hereditary ruler exercises central power.

• Aristocracy= rule by a hereditary landholding elite

• Oligarchy= Power is in the hands of a small, wealthy elite.

New warfare Methods Shape Greece

• The Phalanx= a massive tactical formation of heavily armed foot soldiers.– The cities defense was now in the hands of

ordinary citizens

• This new technology led the two most influential cities, Athens and Sparta, to develop very different ways of life– Sparta- military virtues and discipline– Athens- individual and extended political rights

The Spartans

Athens

Greek Gods

Conflict in the Greek WorldSection 3

The Persian Wars

• The Persians conquered the Greek city-states Ionia and Asia Minor

• In 499 B.C. the Greeks rebelled against Persian rule and Athens sent ships to help them.

• However the Persians soon crushed the rebel cities

Athenians win at Marathon

• Darius I was furious at the role Athens played in the uprising.

• So he sent a huge force across the Aegean Sea to punish Athens for its interference.

• Athens received little help from neighboring Greek city-states.

Athenians win at Marathon• Persians used arrows, but the Greeks

continued to fight hard.• The Persians became overwhelmed and

had to retreat to their ships.• Athens celebrated but knew they had to

prepare for the Persians to come back.• So the Athenian leader Themistocles

urged Athenians to build a fleet of warships.

Greek city-states Unite• When Darius of Persia died, his son

Xerxes sent a much larger force to conquer Greece.

• By this time Athens had joined forces with Sparta and other city-states.

• But the Persian force was just to much.

• Persians burned Athens.

End of the Persian Wars

• The Greeks now put their faith in the faith of ships they had built.

• Athenian warships eventually drove into Persian ships and sank their ships.

• The next year the Greeks defeated the Persians on land in Asia Minor.

Delian League• Athens emerged as the

most powerful city-state in Greece.

• Athens formed the Delian League alliance.

• When allies protested and wanted to leave the alliance they used force to make them stay.

Direct Democracy

• Athens leader Pericles allowed for Athens to grow and prosper.

• Pericles Athens was a Direct Democracy.

Direct Democracy

• Assembly met several times a month

• A council of 500 conducted daily government business.

• Pericles believed all citizens should take part in government.

• Athens began to pay a stipend for men who participated in government.

Juries

• A jury is a panel of citizens who have the authority to make the final judgment in a trial.

• Athenian juries might have included hundreds or thousands of jurors.

Ostracism

• Citizens could also vote to banish a public figure whom they saw as a threat to their democracy.

Peloponnesian War

• Many Greeks outside Athens resented Athenian domination.

• Sparta and other enemies of Athens formed the Peloponnesian League against Athens and the Delian League.

• Sparta and Athens then began to fight for 27 years.

Sparta Defeats Athens

• Athens defeat marked the end of Athenian domination of the Greek world.

• A new power arose in Macedonia.

The Glory That Was Greece

Section 4

Socrates

Plato

Aristotle

Parthenon

Greek Theaters

Greek sculptures

Alexander and the Hellenistic Age

Section 5

The Empire of Alexander the Great

• Phillip II conquered Greece– Defeated Athens and Thebes– Wanted to conquer the Persian Empire but

died before he could do so.– Phillip was Assassinated.

Alexander the Great

• Alexander was only 20 years old when he took the throne

• Began organizing the forces needed to conquer Persia which stretched from Egypt to India.

• Conquered much of the Persian Empire because Persia was weak.

• Never lost a battle.• Extended the Empire as far east as India.

Alexander’s Early Death• Alexander dies at the age of 32 when he

fell victim to a sudden fever

• Alexander wanted to leave the empire to “the strongest”– Macedonia and Greece went to one general.– Egypt to another– Most of Persia to a third

*For the next 300 years these three powers competed for power over lands Alexander had conquered.

The Legacy of Alexander

• The Spread of Greek culture– Founded many new cities– Built Greek temples– Local people assimilated Greek ideas

*The result was a blend of Greek, Egyptian, and Indian influences.

Alexandria: The Cultural Capital

• Located on the sea lanes between Europe and Asia

• Was the Egyptian cultural capital of the Hellenistic World

• Home to 1 million people

• Pharos (an enormous lighthouse)

• Built a great museum.

Hellenistic Philosophers

• Stoicism– Urged people to avoid desires and

disappointments by accepting calmly whatever life brought

Advances in Math and Astronomy

• Pythagoras- derived a formula to calculate the relationship between the sides of a right triangle

• Aristarchus- argued that the Earth rotated on its axis and orbited the sun

• Archimedes- Applied principles of physics to make practical inventions.– mastered the use of a lever and pulley

Improving Medical Practice

• Hippocrates- Set ethical Standards for doctors.

In-Class Activity

• Complete The Chapter assessment found on page 146

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