Its Greek to me – some facts You are never more than 85 miles from the sea when you are in Greece Because Greece is so mountainous, Greeks became expert sailors as they traveled and traded along the liquid highway Because of the mountains (terrain) the Greeks developed small independent city- states Only 20% of the land is arable, or suitable for farming

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So called death mask of Agamemnon, King of Mycenae

Mycenae as it looks today

The “Lion’s Gate” at Mycenae

An excellent example of tholos or “beehive architecture found throughout Europe during the Bronze Age (At Mycenae)

Agamemnon’s brother had a wife named Helen. She either was kidnapped or left with Paris of Troy. This started the Trojan War. It was fought between Troy and a number of Greek City-States led by Agamemnon.

A Trimene

Troy as it might have looked over 3000 years ago

Homerian Epics Perhaps the most famous (and most important) Greek poet was Homer. He composed two epics (narrative poems that celebrate heroic deeds) centered around the Trojan War – The Illiad and The Odyssey.

Dorian architecture gave us the Doric style column. But the Dorians gave us very little else. There was no writing during this time. Historians refer to this time as the Dark Ages

Greek gods The Greeks developed a rich series of myths to help explain how the world around them worked. Key to Greek Mythology are the Greek gods. The gods acted like humans and were subject to emotions and feelings. Love, jealousy, hatred, etc. were experienced by the gods and forced onto humans.

Section 1 review Greeks rarely traveled more than _______ to reach the coastline 85 miles What percentage of Greece is arable (can grow food on it)? 20 percent Blind storyteller that is credited with the Iliad & the Odyssey Homer

The Trojan War was fought between Greek cities and? troy No written record in Greece exists from 1150 BCE to 750 BCE because what civilization conquered Greece (and they didn’t have a written language) the dorians

Athens Treasury Building at Delphi

The most famous acropolis is in Athens, but the word means fortified hilltop

Archy & Cracy Archy means leadership or rule Cracy means a form of government MONARCHY – rule by a single person, usually a king or queen ARISTOCRACY - power is held by a small number of individuals from an elite or from noble families. OLIGARCHY - political power effectively rests with a small elite segment of society DEMOCRACY – Rule by the people (people power) DIRECT DEMOCRACY – Government is ruled directly thru the people and not thru representation

Some more Vocabulary Tyrants – Powerful individuals who appealed to the poor & disgruntled. Helots – people from Messenia who were forced to stay on their land and grow food for the Spartans. Messenians were always more numerous than the Spartans Draco – wrote the 1 st Greek legal code whereas the laws were particularly harsh. This is where the term Draconian comes from

Darius I the Great of Persia BC. Stone carving from Persepolis. He lost at the Battle of Marathon

Different Greek city’s hoplites

Tomb of 192 Athenians at Marathon

Xerxes I of Persia, BC. He won a costly battle at Thermopylae, sacked Athens, and finally was defeated by the Greeks at Salamis and Plataea

In ancient times, the coast line was about where the road is now, or even closer to the mountain. (Thermopylae )

The battle wasn’t just on land – the Greeks had to keep the Persians from landing behind the Spartans

The famous epigram, dedicated to the fallen Spartans. It was written by Simonides. The ancient plate has been lost; this is a modern construction.

After the Persian navy was defeated, the combined Greek armies defeated their army at Plataea – the hill on the left is the one the Athenians guarded

Section 2 Review Fortified Hilltop acropolis Archy Leadership or rule Government is ruled directly thru the people and not thru representation direct democracy Persian King – lost battle of Marathon Darius Persian King – won at Thermopolye – lost war xerxes