The Rise of Greece and its Philosophers

Geography Greece is a peninsula Mountains throughout Greece Area of land surrounded by water on 3 sides Mountains throughout Greece Only small patches of farmland Only 1/5 is good for crops Small islands Good sailors and traders Geography of Greece made it hard for different communities to get together Led each community to think itself its own country Had own customs and beliefs Fought one another Shared language and gods

Minoans 3000-1100BC Bronze Age Lived on island of Crete On Aegean and Mediterranean Seas Writing on clay tablets Sailors and traders Grand palace found in city of Knossos Fancy wall paintings Statues show they worshipped goddesses First flushing toilet Knossos destroyed in 1400BC Led to decline of Minoans Probably destroyed by Myceneans

Myceneans City of Mycenae Height of power was around 1400BC Mainland Greece Height of power was around 1400BC Controlled seas Trade Writing An early form of modern Greek Conquest to spread their power

Trojan War Greece v. Troy Epics tell the story of the battles Troy is in present day Turkey Epics tell the story of the battles Iliad and Odyssey Credited to the poet Homer Probably didn’t happen just as it is said in these epics Could have been inspired by a series of minor battle Greeks conquered Troy According to legend, via a wooden “Trojan horse” Really could have been an earthquake Troy destroyed by a fire in mid 1200s BC May have been caused by Greek invaders

Dark Ages Civilization collapsed in Greece Poverty everywhere Shortly after Trojan War 1100s-750BC Poverty everywhere End of trade Families moved to where they could farm Built fortified hills Acropolis (“high city”) Lost the art of writing Traditions and myths kept alive by oral tradition

Rise of the City-States Villages began forming cities near an acropolis City-states Had own traditions, laws, and government Cities that acted as their own countries Hundreds of different city states Each were essentially independent Shared same language Saw themselves as part of the same people Hellenes Greek things are considered “Hellenistic”

Government in the City-States Aristocrats Tyrants The people (democracy)

Aristocracy Earliest rulers of city-states were chieftains Military leaders By end of dark ages, most were aristocrats Aristocrats = members of rich/powerful families Controlled good land Wealth allowed them to have resources to be stronger than others

The Tyrants Middle class of merchants developed Due to trade Merchants Could afford armor, spears, and swords Military strength shifted from aristocrats to them Overthrew aristocratic governments Tyrants took over Tyrant = ruler who took power by force Supported by middle and working class

Democracy People eventually overthrew tyrants Democracy: Citizens govern themselves Athens was the city state that practiced this most Solon Leader within Athens Known for fairness and spreading democracy Reformed economy and government Cancelled all debts Freed slaves who had been enslaved due to debt Allowed any male citizen 18+ to have say regarding laws Only 1/5 was a citizen in Athens Had to have an Athenian mom and dad Slaves didn’t count Women and foreigners didn’t count either

Golden Age of Athens 479-431BC Athens grew rich Trade Silver mined by slaves Tribute payments by its allies Important achievements in the arts Led by Pericles

Pericles Well educated Cared about Athens Could persuade Athenians with his speeches Member of aristocratic family Supported democracy Became leader of democratic group Strengthened democracy Made it so public officials got paid by the city Allowed poor people to hold public office Constructed the Parthenon Built to honor Athena, goddess of Athens

Parthenon Acropolis was Athen’s religious center Had been destroyed in 480BC Rebuilt by Pericles Parthenon was a temple to Athena High point in Greek architecture Marble, columns 40 foot tall statue to Athena Many sculptures Full of action Lifelike and accurate Ideal and perfect depictions of human body Goal of Greek art was perfection in a balanced and orderly way

Plays Athenians were first people to write dramas Tragedies Serious stories that often end in disaster for main character Often forced to make impossible choices Several scenes separated by a chorus Chanted or sung poems Gave background information, commented on events, or praised gods Comedies Made fun of politicians, customs of the day Freedom found in Athens made this OK

Greek Religion Earth and Sky created the 12 Titans Titans rebelled against father Sky Took his power Cronos Youngest of Titans Ruled them all Children Prophecy that Cronos would have a son who would overthrow him Ate all his children Wife fed him a rock instead of Zeus when he was born Threw up all his kids They overthrew him, Zeus took power

Zeus and the Others Greek gods had many human characteristics i.e. emotion Different in that they were immortal, had powers Twelve Olympians Family of gods and goddesses (pg 183) Zeus ruled from Mt. Olympus Home of the gods City-states built temples to a particular god i.e. Athena in Athens Even though they believed in all the different gods

Olympic Games Festivals to worship all their gods Olympian festival and games every 4 years To honor Zeus All the city-states came together for this First held in 776 BC Events Running Horse Racing Boxing Others

Oracles People wanted to get the advice of the gods Oracles Sacred sites where they believed the gods spoke People would visit Priests/priestesses would pass on a riddle from the gods Often had double meanings Could be heard from people under the oracles speaking through pipes Rulers often consulted the oracle of the god Apollo at Delphi

Philosophy Most people thought the gods were responsible for all that happened Philosophers thought that people could use reason to understand natural events Did not use experiments Thales One of the first philosophers Thought that water was the basic material of all Democritus Thought everything made of tiny particles Called them atoms

Socrates Taught in the marketplace Discussed what made true wisdom Wanted people to think about what made up justice and courage “Know thyself” Wanted to show people that they weren’t as smart as they thought they were Wanted them to search for real truth Apology of Socrates Socrates brought to trial For impiety (dishonoring gods) and corrupting the youth Sentenced to death Hemlock (poison)

Plato Student of Socrates Mistrusted democracy due to Socrates’ death Wrote the Republic Said society should be made up of three groups Workers Soldiers Philosopher-king Founded a school: the Academy

Aristotle Student of Plato Believed reason should guide pursuit of knowledge Founded his own school: the Lyceum Wrote The Ethics Taught about virtues Said virtue is found in the mean between the extremes “Aristotelian mean” Thomas Aquinas later used Aristotle’s teachings Called him “the Philosopher”