What do you notice when looking at the map of Ancient Greece?

Ancient Greece The Land of Hellenes Location Located in the Southeastern corner of Europe Dominated by the seas surrounding it Landscape Very rugged Mountains cover almost 75% of the land 30% of the land can be cultivated, and only 20% can be classified as good agricultural land Mountain ranges make travel difficult Mountain ranges make Greece difficult to conquer Isolation Timber, essential for fuel and construction, especially for shipbuilding, was plentiful Greece is not abundant in mineral deposits no major rivers and a few minor rivers in Greece that flow year round and few lakes, ponds, and springs Climate Semi-arid, with long, hot, dry summers, and short, cool, moist winters

The Minoans of Crete Early Minoan – c. 3200 – 2000BC Middle Minoan – c. 2000 – 1550 BC Late Minoan – c. 1550-1100 BC What attracts settlers to island of Crete? Advantages? Farmers Economic cycle driven by food surplus Bronze? Palace of Knossos Distinctive Minoan architecture Administrative, Religious, Residential, Storage Frescoes Seismic Activity Plate tectonics – Earthquakes & Volcanoes Was Crete the mythical continent of Atlantis?

The Labyrinth Myth or Reality? Minotaur King Minos of Knossos Imprisons son in a labyrinth Human sacrifice to Minotaur (from Athens) Theseus – the slayer of the Minotaur Bull Dancers Ritual sacrifice?

After the Persian Wars Peloponnesian War (431-404BC) – (Think: Civil War) Sparta v. Athens Peloponnesian League v. Delian League Basic differences between Sparta and Athens? What accounts for the divisiveness of the Greeks? Thucydides?!! Rise of Athens Pericles (c. 495-429BC) ‘Democracy’ “we judge the man who takes no part at all [in public affairs] a useless, not just a ‘quiet’ person” Define ‘citizen’ in Athens The Acropolis of Athens Parthenon

Trade Festivals Life in the Golden Age olive oil, wine, in exchange for grain and other items trade brought prosperity, population growth, colonization Festivals Sense of being Greek prevailed among all Greeks Olympic Games – ‘Panhellenic’ Religion Polytheism Atheism was treason, illogical Deities: Zeus, Athena, Apollo, & many others worship tied to patriotism and civic poleis Cults – Oracle of Delphi Arts Theatre Architecture Balance, proportion and rationality of design Family & Society Patriarchal Aristocratic Slavery Homosexuality

Classical Greece Philosophers Emphasized ‘natural laws,’ not gods or goddesses power of reason (logic), rational thinking, look deeper… Socrates question assumptions, always reject conventional wisdom emphasize ‘dialogue’ search for universal truth Plato writer of philosophical dialogues – The Trial of Socrates founder of the Academy in Athens lectured on politics, ethics, metaphysics, epistemology Themes best possible for of government role of heredity & enviro on intelligence & personality distinction between knowledge and true belief Aristotle student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great wrote book on physics, poetry, politics 7 government, zoology, biology, logic, rhetoric One of the few in history who studied almost every subject known/ possible at the time