GREECE

Geography Greece occupies a small area in the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas Made up of the mainland and numerous islands Geographic features played a significant role in developing Greece: – Mountains Isolated Greeks from one another – different communities develop However, rivalries between communities led to warfare that devastated Greek society

Early Greek Civilizations The Minoan civilization (3000 – 1450 BC) – Established on the island of Crete – Named after King Minos, legendary king of Crete (the Minotaur story) – Used bronze to make weapons – Large palace at Knossos – had basic plumbing – Sudden and catastrophic collapse around 1450 BC

Greek City-States The central focus of Greek life and society was the polis – Polis = Greek city-state Greeks were fiercely loyal to their polis and regarded themselves not as Greeks, but as members of a particular city-state – Some cities develop democracy = gov’t by the people or rule by the many – Other city-states develop an oligarchy = rule by the few – New military system develops Based on hoplites= heavily armed foot soldiers

Athens Government structure was a democracy – Direct democracy = vote directly on the issues – Indirect democracy = elect people to vote on the issues in your place Standards for voting = must be a free male over the age of 20 who has completed military training and owns land – Accounts for 10% of the population

Direct democracy = people participate directly in gov’t decision making and vote directly on an issue – Complex series of courts Built the Parthenon = a grand temple dedicated to the goddess Athena Women could not own property and always had a male guardian – Chief obligation was to have children – Were expected to stay at home and out of sight, unless attending religious festivals or funerals

Sparta Like most city-states, Sparta needed more land, so they conquered neighboring peoples instead of starting new colonies – The Spartans turned these conquered peoples into helots = state slaves – Spartans were now free to spend all their time training for war Spartans decide to create a military state to keep control over the helots – Helots outnumbered Spartan citizens by 7 to 1

– Women Expected to exercise and raise healthy children Had greater freedom and power in the household due to separation from their husbands Could own property Government structure – Was an oligarchy headed by two kings who led the army on its campaigns

ATHENSSPARTA Location Gov’t Type Military State? Allows foreigners? Who Can Vote? Voting Age? Life of Women Peninsula of Attica Peninsula of Peloponnesus DemocracyOligarchy NO YES NO Free men who own land Men in the army 2030 Stay inside, have male guardian More freedom and power

The Persian Wars (490 BC BC) Persian emperor Darius decides to invade Greece First Persian Invasion – 490 BC – Battle at Marathon – Athenians attack the Persians while they are unloading and the Persians retreat – An Athenian messenger runs 26 miles from Marathon to Athens to announce the victory He dies after delivering the message

Second Persian Invasion – 480 BC – Battle at Thermopylae Greeks are afraid they won’t have enough time to prepare A group of 300 Spartans decide to hold off the entire Persian army at the mountain pass of Thermopylae Are successful for several days until a local shows the Persians an alternate path through the mountain and they kill all the Spartans – In 479 BC a large Greek army led by the might of Sparta crushes the Persians, ending the war

The Peloponnesian War War between Athens and Sparta – Sparta and allies dominate the land – Athens and allies dominate the sea Spartans surround Athens hoping for an open battle Sparta eventually destroys the Athenian navy and Athens surrenders – The walls of Athens are torn down and the Empire destroyed

Greek Culture Philosophy = the search for wisdom and knowledge – Greek word meaning “the love of wisdom” Socrates – Best way to learn is to ask questions Use question-and-answer format to acquire knowledge Known as the Socratic method

– Socrates was charged with disrespect for religion and corrupting the city’s children Thought he caused children to question the actions of the gods Believed the displeasure of the gods caused Athens to lose the war – Sentenced to death by drinking a cup of hemlock, a poison Plato – Student of Socrates – His most famous work was the Republic Gov’t should be led by the people most qualified to make good decisions - philosophers

History – A systematic analysis of past events, created by the Greeks – The Greeks were one of the first people to write about and analyze the past Homer One of the greatest poets of all times, wrote epic poems based on the Trojan War that became the basis for Greek education system – Epic poem = a long poem that tells the deeds of a great hero Iliad – tale of the Greek hero Achilles Odyssey – long journey home of Greek hero Odysseus

Alexander the Great Macedonia was a powerful kingdom to the north of the Greek city-states Alexander was a great military leader and strategist Decided to fulfill his father’s dream of conquering the Persian Empire – When his army refused to go any further, Alexander agreed to go home

On his way back home, Alexander fell ill in the city of Babylon and died a few days later – He left no heir, so his generals began to fight for control – In the end the empire was divided among the three most powerful generals Macedonia and Greece, Persian Empire, and Egypt Legacy of Alexander – Alexander envisioned a world in which many cultures would live together

– Made a conscious effort to bring people and ideas from different places together Encouraged Greeks to move to the Alexandria cities – Created a new type of culture Blended elements of Greek civilization with ideas from Persia, Egypt, and Central Asia Created the Hellenistic Era – Hellenistic means “to imitate the Greeks” – Expansion of Greek language and ideas to other parts of the world – Massive spread of Greek colonists to Asia