Chapter 4

The Physical Environment Peninsulas, mountains, & islands = isolated city-states Tectonic activity (earthquakes & volcanoes) Warm, Mediterranean, climate = outdoor activities

The Minoan Civilization B.C. on the Island of Crete Named after King Minos Palace at Knossos (NAH SUHS) Traded with Egypt & Greece Murals (Frescos) of sports & nature Suddenly ended: earthquake on the island of Thera? invaded by the Mycenaeans?

Minoan men

Minoan women

Myths & Legends The Minoans ascribed religious or magical power to dancing and to the remarkable athletic performance now known as bull leaping. Minoan reverence for the bull is probably reflected in Greek myths of later days The interrelated tales of Minos and of Theseus and the Minotaur, or the tale of Hercules and the Cretan bull.

Pithoi The people of ancient Crete’s Minoan culture used many-handled jars called pithoi for the storage of oils or grains. Minoans also used the jars as vessels for human burial.

Knossos Palace

Throne Room

Dolphin Fresco

Bull Leaping Fresco

Mycenae (MY SEE NEE) B.C. in Southern Greece (Peloponnesus) The first “Greek” city-state Indo – Europeans Each city had its own Monarch They lived in fortified palaces that were built on hills & surrounded by walls Were buried in beehive shaped tombs called Tholos Ended because of civil war & invasion from the north Greece enters a “dark age”

City gate

Then & now

Tholos

Interior of a tholos

The Trojan War???? The Trojan War was supposed to have been fought between Mycenae (Greece) and Troy (Turkey) There really was a King 250 B.C. We have found the ruins of Troy (modern Turkey) We don’t know if there really was a war If there was a war, it would have probably been fought over the Dardanelles, not over a woman

The Iliad & the Odyssey Homer (“The blind poet”) given credit Epic Poems = heroism (Arête = excellence) Recited from memory, the Greeks did not use writing at the time The Iliad: the Trojan War (10 years) Agamemnon = brother of the King of Sparta Paris = Prince of Troy, & “kidnapper” of Helen Helen = the most beautiful women in the world, wife of the king of Sparta who fled Sparta with Paris “she was the face that launched a thousand ships” The Odyssey: ten years to travel home from the Trojan Odysseus = hero of the Trojan War trying to get back home: Penelope = wife of Odysseus

Homer

Agamemnon’s burial mask

Entrance Ramp to Troy

Amphitheatre

This is what the Trojan horse might have looked like

The Dark Ages of Greece Cause & effect: the Mycenaean civilization is destroyed - the population & food production decrease the population & food production decrease - people began to migrate & set up colonies Settling colonies = more trade & sharing culture Ionia = Asia Minor (Anatolia) Aeolia = North & Central Greece & islands Doria = Southwest Greece (Peloponnesus) & the Aegean islands (including Crete) the most famous colony is the city-state of Byzantium – Byzantium = Constantinople = Istanbul – Becomes the capital of the Byzantine Empire AKA the Eastern Roman Empire)

The City - State Polis = city – Independent from each other – Controlled the surrounding territory – Political, social, & religious centers Acropolis = fortified refuge, usually located at the top of a hill Agora = open area in the middle of town, usually used as a market place or a place to assemble

Acropolis of Athens

Agora of Athens

What the Agora looked like

Greek Military cavalry soldiers = aristocracy infantry = peasants = Hoplites Round shield Short sword 8 ft. spear Helmet with a mohawk of feathers Marched in phalanx (FAY LANX) = shoulder to shoulder in a rectangular formation

Hoplites in battle

Hoplite in uniform

Phalanx

The People Adult males = citizen Had the right to vote in assembly Greek Women & Children = citizens without the right to vote Slaves & resident aliens = non-citizens no rights

spinning

weaving

Types of Greek Government Aristocratic rule a few rich landowners controlled everything Tyranny = seized power from the aristocrats by force supported by the rich merchants & the poor landowners that owed money to the aristocracy Kept control with paid soldiers (mercenaries) Oligarchy = rule by the few (Sparta) Democracy = rule by the many, or rule by the people (Athens)

Tyranny Cause & effect A Lack of farmland = colonization Colonization = increased trade/wealth increased trade/wealth = tyranny The people liked the Tyrants Hired solders to maintain order, & built markets, temples, & city walls to keep the people happy Most of the Tyrants were replaced soon after they came to power, because the Greeks believed in the rule of law

Sparta Located on the Peloponnese Peninsula Conquered neighbors & made them serfs (Helots) Military government wanted to remain isolated so that outside ideas could not pollute the minds of the people Women had more freedoms than anywhere else in the ancient world because they ran the households & farms while their men lived in the barracks

Spartan Oligarchy Military state: Ephors 5 (annually) elected officials in charge of education & conduct of citizens Council of elders 2 kings + 28 male citizens over 60 Got to debate issues The assembly all male citizens over 30 Could vote but did not get to debate issues Stratified society: Citizens = Spartan men, women, & children Helots = slaves (people the Spartans conquered)

Military State All babies were inspected by government officials when they were born, if the weren’t good enough they were “exposed” on the side of a mountain All males citizens had to join the army: entered training when they were 7 joined the army when they were 20 years old They were required to get married at 20, but lived in the military barracks until they were 30 had to eat all meals at the public dining hall (black broth) they couldn’t retire until they were 60

The Greek City- States

Athens Located on the Attica peninsula an oligarchy of aristocrats took control of politics 594 B.C. They aristocrats appointed Solon as ruler an attempt to avoid civil war many peasants could not pay their debts to the wealthy landowners He was replaced with the tyrant Pisistratus who gave all the land to the poor peasants the peasants rebelled & put Cleisthenes in power he created a council of 500 & gave more power to the assembly established the basis of Athenian Democracy Democracy = “the rule of the many,” government by the people, either directly or through their elected representatives

The Persians are Coming!!! Ionia (the Greek Colony on the coast of Anatolia) was taken over by the Persian Empire (Darius I) 499 B.C., Athens tried to help the Ionians rebel (they failed) 490 B.C. Persia attacked Greece (to pay them back) The Athenians won the battle at Marathon Pheidippedes ran 26 miles to Athens to tell everyone the good news, then died 480 B.C., Xerxes, Darius’ I son, invaded Athens 7,000 Greeks v. 180,000 Persians Thermopylae Pass 300 Spartans were especially brave, but they were betrayed the people of Athens abandoned their city The unified Greeks army called the Delian League defeated the Persians

Classical Greece The Delian League continued to “protect” all of the Greek city-states after the Persian but Athens had all the power Pericles was the democratically elected leader of Athens “The Age of Pericles” & “the school of Greece” Direct Democracy paid public officials = poor people could take part in government rebuilt Athens including the Acropolis (Delian $) 10 elected generals ran policy in Athens Ostracism = banned for 10 years

Pericles

Daily Life in Athens City population: 150,000 citizens, 35,000 foreigners, 100,000 slaves Economy: based primarily on farming & trade (grapes=wine, olives=olive oil, they had to import grain) Women = citizens? no political rights were allowed to participate in religious festivals were not allowed to leave their houses without a companion were not allowed to own property were not given an education, they were expected to marry by the age of 15

The Peloponnesian War Sparta got mad that Athens for spending Delian League money to rebuild Athens 431 B.C. Sparta laid siege to Athens Pericles knew the Spartans would win in open battle, so he kept the Athenians behind their walls 430 B.C. a plague broke out in Athens 1/3 of the people were killed (including Pericles) 405 B.C. Athens was defeated Sparta, Athens, & Thebes struggle over domination for the next 66 years Meanwhile… Macedonia in the north was becoming more powerful (Alexander the Great)

Greek Religion The Titans The 12 gods of Mt. Olympus (highest mt. in Greece) they built large temples to the gods where the people could perform rituals & festivals (Olympics in 776 B.C.) to make the gods look favorably on them Oracles = people who could tell you the will of the gods (temple of Apollo at Delphi) ambiguous answers Mythology = stories about the gods

Aphrodite (Venus) Goddess of beauty and sexual desire Apollo (Apollo) God of prophecy, medicine, and archery (late mythology: God of the sun) Ares (Mars) God of War Artemis (Diana) Goddess of the hunt (late mythology: Goddess of moon) Athena (Minerva) Goddess of arts and crafts, and war; Helper of heroes (late mythology: Goddess of wisdom) Hera (Juno) Goddess of marriage and childbirth; Protector of married women; Queen of the gods Hades (Pluto) God of the underworld; Lord of the dead Poseidon (Neptune) God of the sea and earthquakes Zeus (Jupiter) Ruler of the gods

Chronus & Rhea

Zeus

Zeus’ kids

Greek Drama Created western drama Tragedies (trilogies) focused on: the nature of good & evil, the rights of the individual, the role of the gods in life, & human nature Oresteia by Aeschylus Oedipus Rex by Sophocles Euripides focused of real life situations Comedies developed later & criticized society Aristophanes

The Writing of Histories A systematic analysis of past events Herodotus (the first) wrote The history of the Persian Wars Thucydides (the best) wrote the History of the Peloponnesian War… he was Athenian general who was exiled for a defeat

Greek (Classical) Art Moderation, balance, & harmony usually focused on beautiful human beings Architecture = calm, clarity, & freedom from unnecessary detail temples= the Parthenon ( B.C.) Columns = Doric, ionic, Corinthian Sculpture = idealized, lifelike male nudes Polyclitus wrote Doryphoros Set ideal proportions based on mathematical ratios found in nature

The Parthanon

Parthenon Relief

Athena