The Greek City-States

I. Early Greeks and the Rise of City-States A I. Early Greeks and the Rise of City-States A. The Sea and Land geography of Greece had much to do with the way the early Greeks lived mainland of Greece lies on the south part of Balkan Peninsula, the Aegean Sea to the east separates Greece from Asia Minor, to the west is the Ionian Sea divides Greece from Italian Peninsula traders came from Egypt and the Fertile Crescent for trading groups were developed in isolation

Se B Early Greek People Minoans- these people were named after the King Minos these people built a great civilizations they had palaces and the homes of nobles had running water Frescoes- paintings Minoans artists had many frescoes covered the palace walls these people were traders and artists these people became sailors and traders because they had to trade for food because the soil was bad and could not grow food

the Minoans civilization got weak after the volcano erupted in about 1628 BC Mycenaean's about 1400 BC these people conquered central Crete these people controlled the mainland 1600 BC to about 1200 BC these people were warring and group themselves into clans and tribes, a clan was headed by a warrior, a number of clans made up a tribe that had its own chief these people also built cities and by 1200 BC most cities were destroyed by earthquakes and warfare the Mycenaean's adopted elements of Minoan life

an example of this is the writing system they used they got it from the Minoan and it was called linear B C. City-States of Greece Polis- independent and self-sufficient community the polis was developed usually around a fort polis is based on three basic ideas 1. geographical territory of the city-state 2. the community that it represented 3. the political and economic independence that it produced two of the large city-states were Athens and Sparta most city-states had a population fewer than 10,000 people

and most of them people were slaves and non-citizens City-States were a like 1. they covered a small area of land 2. city-states had population of fewer than 10,000 people 3. most original fort was built on a acropolis 4. each city-state had a agora Acropolis- hill Agora- marketplace agora was a main meeting place for everyone also each polis had own calendar, money, government, and laws the Greeks all spoke the same language, if you did not speak Greek they conceded them barbarians, and shared many religious ideas, culture

characteristics, and social patterns II. Greek Government and Society A. Greek Culture in Homeric Age in this period the Greek civilization was not very advanced very few people could write and most communicated was oral or spoken The Iliad and the Odyssey two poems that are epic Homer wrote the two poems The Iliad tells the legend Trojan War The Odyssey tells what happened after the Trojan War

B. Greek Religious beliefs explanation of nature and emotions, not concerned with afterlife three examples: 1. they wanted to know what caused lighting and thunder, and change of the seasons 2. they wanted religion to explain emotions that sometimes people to lose self-control, Greeks considered self-control important 3. they believed religion could bring them certain benefits here and now, such as long life, good luck, or a good harvest Myths- traditional stories about gods, goddesses and heroes

Greeks gave human qualities and personalities to their gods, these gods lived on Mount Olympus in northern Greece Zeus was the king of the gods, one of his daughter was Athena protector of wisdom and womanly goodness Apollo was one of Zeus sons and he was god of light,music,and poetry oracles- a place were gods spoke through priests and priestesses Greeks wanted to please their gods and that was part of their life, the Greeks wanted to show strength and bravery in athletic contests was one way to do this Olympic Games- held every four years in honor of Zeus only men watched and competed. this was done for the first in 776 BC

Events: boxing, foot races, javelin, discus throwing, wrestling C Events: boxing, foot races, javelin, discus throwing, wrestling C. Greek Government: From Kings to Democracy the warrior chieftains had to rely on wealthy landowners to support their rule and to form armies it cost a lot to buy horses, chariots and bronze weapons to security the kingdom Aristocracies- wealthy landowners the aristocracies had a monopoly over the military and major landowners and they controlled the economy aristocracies also acted as judges to determine laws and punishments in city-state Hoplite- heavy infantry soldiers Tyrants- illegally took power the people supported the tyrant

between 650BC and 500 BC tyrants ruled many city-states During the 150 years after about 650 BC, many Greek city-states overthrew their tyrants. In some city-states the idea of popular government began to take root. Popular Government- people can and should rule themselves Democracy- government in which citizens take part political rights were in small parts of the population women didn’t have any political rights and slaves had lack of political rights