The Greek World

Geography

Greece is very mountainous• 75% of Greece is covered by mountains• Difficult to farmSurrounded by seas• Greece is located on the Balkan

Peninsula• Made trade easier

Factors of Greece location

Cut off by mountains and the seas• Isolated

– Led to the formation of city-states– Limited interaction and unity of Ancient Greece– Created fierce rivalries

• Sea became a vital link– Hundreds of bays to provide safe harbor for ships– Skilled sailors

• Traded olive oil, wine, and marble• Returned with grains, metals, and ideas

– Adapted the Phoenician alphabet– Became basis for all Western alphabets

Minoans

• First Greek civilization• Located on the island of Crete• Palace of Knossos• Religion included animal sacrifices and

offerings• Written script (Linear A)• Invading Mycenaean ended Minoan rule.

Mycenaean

• First Bronze Age• More warlike than Minoans– Military adventures recounted in the poetry of

Homer • Agamemnon, King of Mycenae (Troy)

• Linear B (adopted from Linear A)• Declined due to war among rival kings or

Dorian invaders

Homer

• Ionian poet• Facts are debated• Epic poem– Iliad– Odyssey

(Final days of Trojan War and ten years afterward)

Trojan War

• Around 1260 BC• Troy was attacked– Due to Spartan King Menelaus’ wife abduction– Combined forces with brother, Agamemnon (King

of Mycenae)War ended when a gift horse was delivered in to the walls of Troy

City States

• Greece consisted of city states or “polis”.– Small communities– Clusters of farms and houses– Surrounding a fortified citadel or (acropolis)

• Functioned as a unity against external enemies

• Greatest city states– Athens– Sparta

Government

• Political rightsadult males

• No political rights– Women & children– Slaves– Laborers– Resident aliens

Athens

• Largest city state• Quarter of a million people• Came under control of tyrants– Pisistratus• Ruled for more than 30 years• Boosted trade abroad• Fostered the arts• Encouraging religious and cultural festivals

Athens

• Located on the peninsula of Attica• Early Athens– Ruled by a king– 7th Century BC oligarchy w/ aristocrats• A small group of people having control over a country,

organization, or institution• Owned the best land and controlled political life

Athens

• End of 7th Century– Political turmoil due to economic problems• Farmers were sold to aristocrats as slaves if they could

not pay their debt caused cries to give land to poor (Civil War in the near future?)

• 594 BC – Solon takes control– Reform-minded aristocrat– Given power by the aristocrats– Cancelled all land debts

Athens

• Solon (cont’d)– Freed people who had fallen into slavery– Refused to take land from rich to give to poor• Despite reforms, aristocrats were still powerful• Poor peasants could not obtain land

– Reforms led to internal strife, leading to tyranny

Athens

• 560 BC – Peisistratus now the leader– Athenian trade to please merchants– Unlike Solon, gave aristocrats’ land to poor to gain

favor• 510 BC – Athenians rebelled against

Peisistratus’s son– Two years later, Cleisthenes (backed by aristocrats)

now leads

Athens

• Cleisthenes (cont’d)– Created a council of 500 that dealt w/ foreign

affairs, treasury, and proposed laws– Assembly (of men) given final authority to pass

laws after open and free debate– Created foundation for Athenian democracy

Sparta

• Did not gain new lands by starting them, but by conquering them

• 730 BC – took over Messenia (larger size and population)– Messenians became serfs for Spartans• An agricultural laborer bound under feudal system to

work on his lord’s land• Also known as Helots (Greek word for “capture”)• Thus creating a military state

Sparta

• 800-600 BC – Spartans lived a very structured life style– Creating term of “spartan” meaning “highly self-

disciplined”– Males:• Spent childhood learning military discipline• Enrolled in army at 20• Allowed to marry but lived in barracks till 30

– At 30, allowed to vote in assembly

Sparta

• Males (cont’d)– After 30, could live at home but stayed active in

military duty till 60• Females:– Lived at home (creating greater freedom of

movement and power w/in household)– Expected to remain fit to bear and raise healthy

children– Expected husbands and sons to be brave in war

• “Come back carrying your shield or being carried on it”

Sparta

• Government– Oligarchy (headed by two kings)– Ephors – group of five men responsible for

education of youth and conduct of citizens– Council of elders (two kings and 28 citizens over

60) decide on issues that are presented to an assembly made of citizens• Not a debate, only voting

Sparta

• Culture– Turned back on the outside world– Foreigners were discouraged from visiting– Not allowed to travel– Discouraged from studying philosophy, literature,

and art (studying Art of War was ideal)

Sparta

• Military state• Leadership of Lycurgus– Maintained a primitive monarchical government.– Relied solely on army for protection

Trade

• Athens were excellent mariners– Colonies in Emporium (northern Spain)– Phasis (on the Black Sea)– Traded with the Etruscans in Italy– Phoenicians to the east– Stimulated economic growth and political

development– Elite class and the city of Athens

Politics

• Athens enter a democratic period for 200 years.

• Liberty and equality– Excluded women and slaves

• Three organs of government.– Areopagus– Council of Five Hundred– The Assembly

Crime and Punishment

• The first use of juries in Athens coincided with the founding of Athenian democracy in 590 B.C.

• A council ran both the government and the court system (the aristocrats).

• Greek were as litigious as we are today!– Litigious: Quarrelsome, tending or wanting to take

legal action.

Religion

• Polytheistic• Influenced by Asian deities• Supreme god is Zeus• Mount Olympus- home of the gods• Acropolis had own god/goddess for protection• Parthenon– Athens temple dedicated to Athena

Myth and Folklore

• Homer– Debated if he existed

• Reason for the Trojan War– Debated as mythical

• Odysseus– Folklore– Known for being cunning and deceitful

Classical Greece

• Around 900 BC (after Mycenaean civilization)– Influx of Dorians (north)– Sea peoples (south)

• Greek Dark Ages– Decline in Greek palace culture– Colonization across the Ionian coast

Religion

• Polytheistic – belief in many gods• Major Gods/Goddesses lived atop Mount

Olympus (highest in Greece)• Gods intervened with humans in daily life– Oft times to teach lessons

• Zeus was the top dog– Favorite Weapon: thunder bolt– Myth…

Religion

• Greeks created gods in the image of humans– Gods constantly fought among themselves,

behaved irrationally, and were oft jealous of each other

• Greek religion did not have a standard set of morals (i.e. No Ten Commandments)

• Explained how the world came to be (i.e. Pandora’s Box and Hercules’ Labors)

Literature

• Gods were oft put into literature (i.e. Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey)– Iliad – an epic poem about the events of the

Trojan War– Odyssey – epic poem about the travels of

Odysseus• Athens threw many dramas (plays) and

citizens felt it was civic duty to attend as many as possible

Literature

• Dealt with: important issues, posed tough questions, and educated theatergoers.– Gov’t would oft times pay for tickets

• Literature was passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth– Wasn’t written until years later

Literature

• Another type of poems – lyric– Sappho most famous lyric poet• Known for her writings about the world around her and

focused on love and sexuality• Word “lesbian” comes from Sappho’s island of birth,

Lesbos

Literature

• Age of Pericles– 461-429 BC• Outdoor theaters were built• Scenes of actual wilderness became backdrops of the

stage• Festivals were plays competed against one another

– Always tribute the gods

Literature

• Tragic– Strong central character/hero ultimately fails and

is punished by gods

Philosophy

• Socrates – found himself on trial for his teachings– Corrupting the youth of Athens – Drank hemlock (poison)– On trial for questioning the Athenian gov’t

• Plato – student of Socrates– Wrote ideas down, unlike Socrates– Wrote The Republic stating ideal state (which was

not very democratic)

Philosophy

• Aristotle – Plato’s student– Very scientific mindset– Emphasized importance of observations and

gathering of data– Believed Earth was center of universe

• Hippocrates – student of medicine (Hippocratic Oath)

• Pythagoras - mathematician (Pythagorean Theorem)

Peloponnesian War

• Athens and Sparta were allies against Persia• Persian King Darius lead an attack on Athens– Due to Athens support of the Ionian city-state

• Athens sent 20 ships• Led to the burning of Persian city of Sardis

• Persians second attack by Xerxes, son of Darius– Successfully approached through the Thermopylae

pass– Defeated at the Battle of Salamis by the Athenians

Peloponnesian War

• Athens power and influenced rose– Land and capital

• Upon Persia’s defeat, rivalry sparked• Athenian naval supremacy

– Increased the wealth of the city– Broke the Greek alliance that was established during the

Peloponnesian War– Envy rose against Athens

• Sparta proved victorious– Outbreak of the plague (Pericles )

• The battle between Athens and Sparta was a war of land verse naval power

Pan-Hellenism

• Hellenism- Greek culture/ideas• Delphi was the sanctuary– Located at the foot of Mount Parnassos– Considered the center of the earth– Dedicated to Apollo– Oracles directed in the matters of war, love and business

• Amphyctionic League– Center of the sanctuary– Powerful political organization– Consist of Delphic priest

Olympia

• Located in the Western Peloponnese

• Dedicated to Zeus

• First Olympic games held 776 BC– Commemorate the victory of Pelops in a chariot

race– Attributed to Heracles

Hellenistic Empire Rise

• Sparta used Persian support to build a fleet– Won the battle of Aegospotami in 405 BC

• Athens became a vassal state of Sparta – Athens restored independence– Never regained power

• Sparta was defeated by Thebes• 338 BC Ancient Greece became the new

Hellenistic Empire.

Alexander the Great

• Expanded Greek rule and expanded the economy, language and cultural ideas

• Known for his military strategy and ability to fight in any geographical location

• Goal was to merge Greeks, Macedonians and Persians

• Greek became the primary language– Business transactions– Government positions

HomeworkGreek Philosophies

• Explain the following quotes and its significance as it pertains to you:

• 1. Cleverness is not wisdom• - Euripides • 2. Of prosperity mortals can never have enough• - Aeschylus

• 3. Always desire to learn something useful• - Sophocles • 4. A good decision is based on knowledge and not numbers• - Plato • 5. The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing• - Socrates