Ancient Greece

1. Ancient Greece

2. This Unit Minoan Age • The beginnings of Aegean Civilization • The Legend of Atlantis Mycenaean Age • Age of Myth and Legendary Heroes Dark Age Archaic Period • Wars with Persia, Athens and Sparta • Democracy Classical Period • Art, Thinkers and Thespians Hellenistic Period • Alexander the Great: the spread and fall of Greece

5. Minoan Civilization

6. Establishment of Civilization • Crete known to be inhabited beginning 7000BCE by Neolithic farmers • By 2600 BCE a Bronze Age culture was firmly established on Crete – likely made up of various invaders from the Cyclades Islands • Items from this region and period have been found in the Middle East and Egypt suggesting an extensive trade network

7. Establishment of Civilization • By 2000 BCE political power was centered at Knossos the legendary palace was erected • Palace had a central courtyard surrounded by maze of hundreds of rooms • Many buildings were several stories high and completed with fine masonry work • Water brought in through terracotta pipes and drainage systems present

8. Technology • Extensive system of roads • Writing developed but no records of leadership, individuals or dates as found in Egypt • Mathematics: decimals, weights and measures • Jewelry, cloth and bronze working • Pottery wheel

9. Art • FrescoPaintings are where the best records of Minoan culture exist as they depict various aspects of daily life

10. Government • King was located at Knossos and controlled food production as the centralized authority • The lack of any palace fortifications suggest that • there was peace on the island among the power centers • The Minoan Navy enjoyed enough dominance in the region to protect the land • Palaces also served as markets for trade

11. Entertainment • Bull Vaulting is the only known sport or source of entertainment • Depicted in this fresco

12. Religion • No evidence of temples or powerful priests • Worship was limited to the home, shrines and sacred groves • Bull was the symbol of fertility, power and destructive force of nature • Worshiped mother goddess: Gea • The Double headed Axe is found in many artistic pieces lumped with other religious symbols and may have held religious significance

13. The Minotaur • The monstrous son of King Minos who was locked away in a labyrinth beneath the Palace at Knossos • 14 youths from Athens were to be sacrificed each year to him • With the help of Daedalus and the loving daughter of the king, Ariadne, Theseus was able to kill the Minotaur and using a ball of string find his way out of the labyrinth • video

14. Family Life • Agricultural based • Women seem to have enjoyed a prominent role in society perhaps even equality since male and female gods/goddesses were given the same reverence • Females took part in bull-vaulting

15. End of the Minoan Civilization • catastrophic earthquake in 1700 BCE simultaneously destroyed all the palaces at once – rebuilt quickly • The civilization came to an abrupt end with the volcanic eruption on a nearby island which sent tsunamis over the island • By 1450 the island was occupied by other Greek peoples • The Palace was ultimately destroyed in 1380 BCE either by invaders or the Minoan people themselves who resented the invaders occupation

16. Was this Atlantis? • There is a theory that the Minoan civilization may have been what Plato would describe 1000 years after the destruction of Knossos • Some aspects of Plato’s description add up • A powerful naval empire on an island • Destruction from an earthquake and “swallowing by the sea” Let’s look at some competing theories of Atlantis! In your textbook, read pg 95-102 and in a well structured response, discuss which thoery of Atlantis you find to be most compelling. Be sure to support your answer with evidence in the text.