World History: Patterns of Interaction (McDougall and Litell); Kasaysayan ng Daigdig (SD Publications); Panapanahon: Kasaysayan ng Daigdig (REX Publication)

Previously, we discussed how Egyptian civilization started and how Nile River shaped the beginnings of the civilization. This time, we’ll be discussing two well-known civilizations in the Western World. The FIRST one is centered at seas, while the other one is at the Tiber River.

Greece and Rome raced in building and developing their cultures. In Greece, democracy was born. Rome, on the other hand, was known

for its laws, government, and military organization.

The culture that emerged in Greece had played a major role in the growth of Western Culture.

Greece, as previously mentioned, was known to have started the concept of democracy, which then encouraged each Greek citizen to exercise his or her political and social rights.

Furthermore, Greek art and literature became the standards of the West (Europe).

Believed to depict Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of beauty and love.

This sculpture is said to possess the perfect physical traits of a woman.

Took Chares 12 years to build this magnificent statue.

Is considered as one of the seven wonders of the world.

Agamemnon is one of the seven plays which were written by Aeschylus, the first noted playwright of Greek literature and the “father of Greek tragedies”

Agamemnon (the play) details the homecoming of Agamemnon from the Trojan War.

Waiting at home for him is his wife, Clytemnestra, who has been planning his murder, partly as revenge for the sacrifice of their daughter, Iphigenia, and partly because in the ten years of Agamemnon's absence Clytemnestra has entered into an adulterous relationship with Aegisthus, Agamemnon's cousin

SEAS The sea shaped Greek civilizationjust as rivers

shaped the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Fertile Crescent, India, and China.▪ There’s a famous saying that Greeks did not live on a

land but around a sea.▪ The Aegean Sea, Ionian, and the neighboring Black Sea

served as transportation routes; hence, were very important for the Greek people.

▪ These “liquid highways” linked most parts of Greece with other societies.

Another importance of seas: TRADE Greece used these seas for trade. Such natural

resources as timber and precious metals were imported from neighboring places.

LAND The physical map of

Greece tells us that the nation is covered by rugged mountains (3/4). Mountains which run from northwest to southeast along the Balkan peninsula, divided the land in to a number of different regions.

Because of its physical geography, do you think it

was easy to unite the ancient Greeks under a

single working government?

Unlike Egypt and China, Greece had a hard time being united under one government.

WHY? Because of its geography, Greece

developed small independent communities within each little valley and surrounding mountains. And most Greeks gave their loyalty to these local communities.

Other than the problem of being united, two more problems were apparent in ancient Greece. These were land transportation and farming. Greeks couldn’t do farming because

most of the area was covered with stones. In fact, only 20% of the total land in ancient Greece was considered arable.

Tiny but fertile valleys covered about ¼ of Greece. This means that these valleys couldn’t support large-scale irrigation projects. With so little fertile farmland or

freshwater irrigation, Greece was NEVER able to support large population.

Due to limited resources, Greek society couldn’t afford to live a life of luxury. As a result, the Greeks based their diet on basic staple crops such as grains, grapes, and olives.

A desire for more living space, grassland for raising livestock, and adequate farmland may have been factors that motivated Greeks to seek new sites for colonies.

The importance of Greek climate to Greek social (and possibly political) activities: Climate is also an important environmental

influence on Greek civilization. Greece has a varied climate with

temperature averaging 48F in winter and 80F in summer.

These moderate temperatures supported an outdoor life for many Greek citizens.

Who are the Myceneans?What’s the Trojan War?Who are the Dorians?Who is Homer?

Be prepared for a 10-item quiz.

Myceneans- they were Indo Europeans migrated from the Eurasian steppes to Greek mainland around 2000 BC.

They got their name from the leading city called Mycenea.

Similar Mycenean palace-forts dotted the southern part of Greece.

“Influential and militaristic” Kings controlled Mycenean communities in Tiryns and Athens and dominated Greece from 1600-1200 BC.

Differences in Mycenean society Royal Myceneans and

noblemen lived an extravagant life. They were said to feast in great halls 35 feet wide and 50 feet long. Gold and silver were often used be it a festivity or not. And when the royal Myceneans died, they were buried with the richest treasures.

Warrior kings won their enormous wealth from local production and commercial trade. They also asked their armies to search of treasures which could be plundered.

While these upper classes lived in gold, silver, and bronze, the common people used tools made from less expensive materials such as stone and wood.

These common people were mostly farmers, weavers, goat herders, and stone masons.

Minoan Civilization flourished on Crete for 600 years. The civilization ended in 1400 BC wherein up until now, the reason of its end is yet to be known. Mycenean warrior kings prevented the Minoans from rebuilding the civilization. They conquered Crete but preserbed the elements of Minoan culture.

HOW? ACCULTURATION

Myceneans saw the value of seaborne trade from Minoans. Traders sailed to islands in the

Aegean sea, coastal towns of Anatolia, and to cities in Syria, Egypt, Italy, and Crete.

Myceneans adapted the Minoan writing system to the Greek language and decorated vases with Minoan designs.

These Mycenean legacies survived in the form of legends which would later be the core of Greek religious practice, arts, politics, and literature.

About 1200 BC, Mycenean Kings fought a 10 year war against Troy, an independent trading city in Anatolia.

For many years, historians thought that the legendary stories of the Trojan War were entirely products of man’s imagination until 1870.

Heinrich Schliemann was a German archaeologist who excavated a hill in Northwestern Turkey. He found the remains of what was said to be the nine layers of city life. This led him to a conclusion that Trojan War could have existed on real accounts.

Manfred Korfmann, a German historian, excavated an ancient maritime cemetery near the hill that was to be believed as a site the ancient city of Troy. Korfmann believes that the Trojan War was a struggle for contriol of a crucial waterway in Aegean Sea.

Mycenean civilization collapsed after the Trojan War. Sea raiders attacked Mycenean palaces which eventually led to the civilization’s downfall. A new group of people, the Dorians, would rise and move into this war-torn countryside.

Spoke a dialect of Greek and were distant relatives of the Bronze Age Greeks.

Far less advanced than the Mycenean Greeks which led to its civilization’s eventual decline. Greeks appeared to have

temporarily forgotten the art of writing during the Dorian Age.

Greeks learned of the Trojan War through spoken words, given the historical fact that prior to this event, lack of written records was suggested.

Hence, little is known of Homer, the writer of the most well-known Greek epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey (both backdrop the Trojan War).

Historians believed that Homer’s epics celebrated heroic deeds.

The heroes of the Iliad are warriors: the fierce Greek Achilles and the courageous and noble Hector of Troy.

The story relates the Greeks’s ideal reaction towards battles, combats, or even athletic contests.

It concerns the adventures of Odysseus who uses his wits and trickery to defeat the Trojans.

Much of this epic is set after the war where in it focus much on his 10-year journey to home and the strange and mysterious lands Odysseus visits along the way.

Greeks developed a rich set of myths (traditional stories about gods and godesses).

Through these myths, Greeks sought to understand the mysteries of nature and the power of human passions.

Some of the important Greek gods and goddesses are Zeus (the ruler of the gods who lived on Mt. Olympus), Hera (wife of Zeus), and Athena (the goddess of wisdom, Zeus’ daughter and favorite child).