WHAP ANCIENT Greece
Greece Agricultural communities develop in Mediterranean by 2000 BCE (possibly Crete) Mountainous terrain in Greece make land travel difficult, so become skilled sailors Minoan civilization (1600 BCE) later replaced by Mycenaeans constant warring leads to decline Greek cities flourish by 800 BCE
Greece Crete main city- Knossos No writing deciphered from Crete but legends persist (King Minos, Daedalus and the maze) Phoenicians- create first phoenic alphabet (22 letters that correspond with a sound) Greeks adapt alphabet by adding vowels
Greece Greek civilization made up of the polis- independent city state Different city states had styles of government Monarchy- rule by one aristocracy- rule by nobles oligarchy- few wealthy landowners/merchants democracy- all citizens participate Only free males could be citizens (patriarchy) Hoplites (infantry) citizens who go to war
Athens Athens- struggle with forms of government until embrace of democracy Solon- reformer who had laws that could be revised Cleisthenes- uses democracy to deal with rebellion Town meeting- each citizen's voice could be heard and vote Council of 500- one year term who implement policy
Athens Pericles- 'Golden Age” (461-429 BCE) rebuilds Parthenon, reforms govt (creates council of 500) develop people's courts Women thought as inferior- kept isolated in the home, could not own property Philosophy- (love of wisdom) natural law Plato (student of Socrates)- opened The Academy, wrote “The Republic” and wrote down Socrates ideas of questioning nature (Socratic Method)
Parthenon
Greece Aristotle- emphasis on moderation “Golden Mean”, empiricism- learn through observation and evidence (logic) Greek Religion- polytheistic (ex: Zeus, Athena) Citizens expected to perform civic duty, also got to theater (tragedies, comedies) Notable playwrights: Sohpocles, Aeschylus(Prometheus Bound), Euripides (The Trojan Women) Aristophanes- comedies (The Birds)
Zeus, Athena, Poseidon
Greece The Olympic Games (776 BCE – 400 BCE) rituals to the Gods and athletic competitions, wars often suspended for the games Sparta- militaristic society, two kings (oligarchy Conquered Messina and forced people to work the land through slavery (helots) while Spartans focus on military training (boys start at age 7 until age 60) Peloponnesian Wars (431-404 BCE) occur between Athens and Sparta
Differences Athens- multiple social classes (wealthy) Sparta- shun luxury Athens- slaves, personal servants (as much as 30% of population) Sparta- less gender inequality, women free and equal with men- run society while men off at war, women were educated and could own property Homer- Iliad and Odyssey, wrote about Myceneans Trojan War