Ancient GreeceTCAP Review Week 3

GeographyOf

Ancient Greece

Greece, located on the continent of Europe, is a country made up of:

• Small Scattered islands• Rugged mountains• Many peninsulas• Few valleys and coastal

plains for farming• Isolated communities

• Greece is bordered by:• Aegean Sea – East• Ionian Sea – West• Mediterranean Sea – South• Macedonia – North• Mt. Olympus – 9,577 ft.

(highest mountain in Greece)

• Since travel inland across rugged mountains was so difficult, the early Greeks became skilled shipbuilders and sailors.

• The sea was for travel, trading, and a source of food.

ReligionOf

Ancient Greece

• Polytheism

• The gods and goddesses ruled the Greek world and were believed to be directly responsible for the success or failure of human life.

• The Greeks worshipped their gods, prayed, gave offerings, and built temples to please the gods.

• The Greeks believed in the stories we now call myths. *Myths were created to help explain nature and how the world works.

• Mount Olympus is Greece's highest mountain and the home to the Gods of Greek mythology.

• Unlike other religious gods, the Greek gods looked and acted human.

• Most Greeks believed that everybody had a spirit, which lived on after you died.

Greek gods

Zeus – King of the gods

Poseidon – god of the sea

Hades – god of the underworld

Ares – god of war

Apollo – god of the sun, music, poetry

Hermes – the messenger god

Hephaestus – god of fire

Greek goddesses

Hera – Queen of the gods

Demeter – goddess of the harvest

Hestia – goddess of the hearth and home

Artemis – goddess of the hunt

Athena – goddess of wisdom

Aphrodite – goddess of love and beauty

AchievementsOf

Ancient Greece

Literature:

Greeks created drama and historical writing.

• The Iliad, an epic poem by Homer, tells of a war between Greeks and the Trojans.

• A second epic by Homer was the Odyssey – describes the challenges that the Greek hero Odysseus faced on his way home from the Trojan War.

Drama:

• Comedy

• Tragedy

The Arts:

• Statues - Greek sculpture is admired for its realism and details. They were made of stone or marble.

• Paintings – Admired for their detail, scenes show athletics or scenes from myths, and scenes were usually done in red and black.

The Arts:

•Architecture - Greek architecture was based on mathematical principles. There were three styles of columns.

• One of the most famous buildings is the Parthenon on top of the Acropolis.

• Built by the people of Athens to honor the goddess Athena

Doric Ionic Corinthian

Math: • Euclid - many geometry rules we

study today come from his studies.• With math, the Greeks were able to

measure the size of Earth.

Medicine:• Greeks:• studied the human body and how it

worked. • tried to cure diseases and keep people

healthy.

• Hippocrates - is known for his ideas about how doctors should behave. When doctors graduate medical school, they recite the Hippocratic oath.

Philosophy

• Using reason to understand the world; a search for knowledge, wisdom, and truth.

Greek Philosophers

Socrates

Plato

Aristotle

Olympics• Festival to honor Zeus• First year held: 776 B.C.• Held every 4 years• Winners received an olive

wreath• Games included:• Foot races• Wrestling• Boxing• Horse races• Javelin throwing• Chariot races

• Women not allowed to attend

PoliticsOf

Ancient Greece

Aristocrats and tyrants ruled early Athens.

• Athens was the city where democracy was born, but it started out as an oligarchy, a government in which only a few people hold power.

• A group of rich landowners called aristocrats held power.

• Peisistratus overthrew the oligarchy, however, and became the ruler of Athens. He was called a tyrant, a leader who held power through the use of force. Tyrants were usually good, not harsh, leaders in ancient Greece.

Athens created the world’s first democracy.

• A leader named Cleisthenes, a member of one of the most powerful families in Athens, overthrew the aristocracy and established the world’s first democracy.

• For this reason, he is considered the father of democracy.• Under Cleisthenes, all citizens in Athens had the right to participate in the assembly, or gathering of citizens, that created the city’s laws.

• Athens reached its height under Pericles, who encouraged people to take pride in their city.

• Pericles was the leader of creating democracy in Athens,

• He had many buildings constructed including the Parthenon and the Acropolis.

• Athens was conquered by the Macedonians and fell under their influence.

• The king ruled like a dictator. No one could make decisions without his approval.

• The assembly still met to make laws, but it had to be careful not to upset the king.

• Eventually, a new king took over and ended Athenian democracy altogether.

Alexander the Great – conquered most of the known world to the East (Persian Empire) and established many cities spreading Greek culture.

Ancient democracy was differentthan modern democracy

• All citizens in Athens could participate directly in the government, which was called a direct democracy.

• Each vote counted, and the majority ruled.

• The United States is too large for direct democracy to work for the whole country.

• Instead, we have a representative democracy.

In a representative democracy, also called a republic, citizens elect officials to represent them in the government. These officials then make the laws.

•Delian League – Athens formed a league with other city states.

• The league was formed to defend its city-states against the Persians.

• Persian Wars -The invasion by Persia began a series of wars between Persia and Greece.

• Xerxes was king of Persia and fought the Persian war against Greek city-states.

• Sparta and Athens formed an alliance to fight off Persian invasions.

• Peloponnesian War - 431-404 B.C. - A war between Athens and Sparta that threatened to tear all of Greece apart.

• Each side won some victories but Sparta won the last major battle.

Alexander the Great

• Brilliant military commander• Conquered Persian Empire• Established new city named Alexandria• Created Hellenistic, or Greek-like period

blending Egyptian, Persian, and Greek cultures.

EconomicsOf

Ancient Greece

Agriculture (Farming)

• Because of geography, farming was often difficult.• Good farmland was located by the coast and in the

valleys.• Farms were usually small and only produced

enough food to feed one family with a little extra to sell at the market.

• Major crops: wheat, barley, olives, grapes • Farm animals: pigs, poultry, sheep, goats

•Trading cultures developed in the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations.

•The sea became a source of food as well as a way of trading with other communities.

•They also exchanged ideas with other cultures

Minoans They spent much of

their time at sea, trading in the Mediterranean.

Ships carried goods such as wood, olive oil, and pottery all around the eastern Mediterranean.

Mycenaeans They were more violent in their

trade. They took over Crete and

became the major traders in the eastern Mediterranean.

They developed colonies in northern Greece and Italy, from which they shipped goods around the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

• Although the colonies were independent, they often traded with city-states on the mainland.

• Trade made the city-states much richer.

• Soon the Greeks had become the greatest traders in the whole Aegean region.

Social Structure

Of

Ancient Greece

• During the Dark Ages, the Greeks started joining together in small groups for protection.

• These groups set up independent city-states. The Greek word for city-state is polis.

• A city-state was usually built around a strong fortress on top of a high hill called an acropolis.

• The town around the acropolis was surrounded by walls for protection.

•Life in the city focused on the marketplace, or agora.

•The city-state became the foundation for Greek civilization and gave the Greeks an identity.

•Most well know city-states: Athens, Sparta, Olympia, and Troy.

The two most powerful city-states in Greece, Sparta and The two most powerful city-states in Greece, Sparta and Athens, had very different cultures and became bitter Athens, had very different cultures and became bitter enemies in the 400s B.C.enemies in the 400s B.C.

Athens

• Direct Democracy• Male citizens who owned land were able to vote

on laws.

• The city-state of Athens Valued learning and education.• Rich boys learned about reading, writing, math

+ music. • Girls stayed at home + learned household duties

• Culture of debate, education, arts, thinking and free speech!!!

• Athens military = navy • Boys served 2 yrs in small army

Sparta

• The city state of Sparta valued a strong military.

• Sparta women trained like men. Ran Sparta when men were off fighting

• Boys began military training at the age of 7.• Unhealthy Spartan babies were left to die.

• Spartan slaves were called helots and were treated harshly. If a Spartan slave showed leadership ability, he was killed.

• Sparta Military = army

• Oligarchy

Athens/Sparta comparison chart