Geography of Greece

Ancient Greece500-323 B.C.E.* Students need to understand that many of the ideas that developed in ancient Greece & Rome helped to shape and influence Western Civilization.

Geography of Greece Consists of mountainous peninsula & numerous islands. The mountains and the sea were the most important geographical influences on Greece. The mountains caused small, independent city states to develop; Athens…Sparta..Delphi

ECONOMICS • The Greeks became seafarers and sailed into the Aegean, Black, Ionian, and the Mediterranean Seas. • They made contact with the outside world • Set up colonies, traded,…sailors…pirates throughout the Mediterranean area.

The Polis: Center of Greek Life • By 750 B.C. the polis became the central focus for Greek life. • The polis was a town or city serving as a center where people met for political, economic, social, and religious activities. • The main gathering place was usually on a hill, topped with a fortified area called the acropolis.

Political: Athens was the first democracy. • Democracy: type of government where people vote. • Actually, Athens was a direct democracy where people vote on everything including rules to govern society • The U.S. today is a representative democracy, where we vote for people to make decisions for us. • Citizenship Rights & Responsibilities: voting, jury service, ownership of property.

Remember! If you think the U.S. is so much better. . . • Some southern states did not let African Americans vote until the 1960s (Voting Rights Act 1965) • Women could not vote in the U.S. until 1920 (19th Amendment) • Eighteen year olds could not vote until the late 1970s.

Political terms • All of Greece wasn’t a democracy. • Most of Greece was a monarchy a type of government ruled by a king or queen. • At right is Pericles, a good king of Athens.

Sparta • Sparta was an isolated city-state that was culturally and politically different from Athens. • Sparta was an oligarchy, government ruled by a few. They had 2 kings. • During the Peloponnesian Sparta sacked Athens.

Tyranny in the City-States • The creation of this new wealthy class led to the rise of tyrants in the Greek city-states. • The peasants supported the tyrants who tried to seize power from the existing wealthy class called the aristocrats.

Minoan Civilization • By 2800 B.C. a civilization called the Minoan civilization was established on Crete and it was named after the King named Minos. • The Minoans had a rich trading culture based on seafaring at the city of Knossos. • The Minoans sailed to southern Greece and Egypt for trade.

Minoan Civilization • The Minoan civilization on Crete suffered a catastrophe around 1450 B.C. • Some historians believe that a tidal wave caused by a Volcanic eruption on a nearby island was the cause while other historians believe the Mycenaens from mainland Greece invaded the island of Crete.

The First Greek State: Mycenae • The Mycenaen civilization thrived between 1600 and 1100 B.C. • It was made up of an alliance of powerful monarchies, each living in a fortified center within large stone walls. • The rest of the people lived outside the fortified walls.

The First Greek State: Mycenae • The Mycenaens had a warrior culture based on hunting and fighting. • They conquered some of the Greek islands including Crete. • The most famous of their military adventures comes in an epic poem from Homer called the Illiad. • The Mycenaens sacked the city of Troy, on the northwestern coast of Turkey around 1250 B.C. • The Mycenaean states began to fight one another and earthquakes damaged their civilization.

The Mycenaeans and the Dorians By the mid-1400s B.C.,the Mycenaeans had conquered the Minoans and controlled the Aegean area Soon after 1100 B.C., however, the Greek-speaking Dorians conquered Greece from the North Myceneaen walls weakened by civil war Dorians had iron weapons 11/20/2014 John 3:16 15

The Mycenaeans, Dorians, and Ionians Historians call the next 300 years of Greek history a “dark age” because overseas trade stopped, people lost skills, and poverty increased. Large numbers of Greeks flee the Dorian influence and go to Aegean islands and across the Aegean Sea to Asian Minor and a place called Ionia. 11/20/2014 John 3:16 16

The Mycenaeans, Dorians, and Ionians 11/20/2014 John 3:16 17 By 750 B.C. the Ionians reintroduced culture, crafts and skills to Greece…mostly Mycenaean. New Greek culture called Hellenic flourished from 700s until 336 B.C. Ionians introduce Phoenician alphabet and other cultural elements in Ionia and their former homeland.

The Mycenaeans, Dorians, and Ionians 11/20/2014 John 3:16 18 The Phoenician alphabet limits Greek reading and writing to just 24 letters and made learning simpler. The Dorian “Dark Ages” went away and a new Greek civilization formed from mostly Mycenaean elements.

The Polis: Center of Greek Life • City-states varied in size usually between several hundred to several thousand people. • Most of all the polis was a community of people who shared an identity and goals. • There were three classes of people: citizens with political rights (adult males), citizens without political rights (women and children), and noncitizens (slaves and resident aliens).

The Polis: Center of Greek Life • The Greeks were fiercely loyal to their city-state. • This loyalty and independence from each other ultimately led to the destruction of the Greek city-states. • Around 700 B.C. a new military system developed using hoplites. • These hoplites were infantry who carried a shield, sword and a spear.

Greek Military • This is a hoplite, a Greek infantry soldier. • Hoplites were middle-class freemen who had to pay for their own weapon and shield.

Greek Military • This is a phalanx. • Soldiers get in a tight box. They each have a large shield and a 9 foot long spear.

Greek Values • The works of Homer called the Illiad and the Odyssey were epic poems that tell of a hero’s deeds. • The first poem takes place during the Trojan War and tells of the hero Achilles anger and destruction of Troy. • The Odyssey tells of the Greek hero Odysseus’ ten year return home.

Greek Values • Both of Homer’s poems gave the Greeks an ideal past and a set of values. • Courage and Honor. • Arete - struggled for excellence which is won in a struggle or contest.

The Iliad and the Odyssey 11/20/2014 John 3:16 25 • According to Illiad • Trojan War lasted 10 years • Troy in present day Turkey • Greeks built large wooden horse • Soldiers hid in belly • Gave to Troy as gift and pretended to sail away • Once inside gates, Greek soldiers leapt out and conquered Troy

The Iliad and the Odyssey The Odyssey describes the wonderings of the Mycenaean king, Odysseus, and his return to his faithful wife His 10-year journey resulted in people referring to any long, adventure-filled journey as a odyssey 11/20/2014 John 3:16 27

Teaching Greek Values 11/20/2014 John 3:16 28 • The Iliad and Odyssey also represented of the things • Love of nature • Husband and wife relationships • Tender feelings • Loyalty between friends • Strive for excellence • Meet life with dignity

Greek religion was polytheistic.

Gods and Goddesses 11/20/2014 John 3:16 30 • As Hellenic civilization developed, certain religious festivals became part of Greek life—including the Olympic Games • Held in city of Olympia • “For the greater glory of Zeus” • Drama (a celebration of Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility).

Greek Colonies • Between 750-550 B.C. Greeks began to settle in distant lands around the Mediterranean for farmland and trade. • Each colony became a new polis and spread Greek culture and ideas. • Increased trade and industry created a new wealthy class of merchants who wanted political power.

Sparta • Sparta was located in southern Greece and needed more land for its people. • The Spartans gained this land through conquest and the captured people became slaves or helots. • Sparta created a military state and the lives of the people were rigidly controlled and disciplined.

Sparta • Boys learned military discipline and entered the military at 20 and lived in the barracks until 30. • Spartans could marry at 20 and vote at the age of 30. • They stayed in the military until the age of 60. • Spartan women lived at home while their husbands lived in the barracks.

Sparta • Spartan women had more freedom of movement and greater power than women in other Greek city-states. • Women were expected to remain fit to bear and raise healthy children. • They expected their husbands and sons to be brave in battle, to win or be killed.

Sparta • Two kings headed the army and the government which was an oligarchy. • An oligarchy is a government ran by a few people. • Five men known as ephors were responsible for the youths’ education and the citizens’ conduct. • A council of two kings and 28 men over 60 decided on the issues to be voted on. • Sparta closed itself off from the outside world and travelers in and out were discouraged. • War was the only thing that mattered nothing else.

Athens • A king ruled early Athens but by the seventh century an oligarchy of aristocrats had taken over Athens. • By the 6th century B.C. Athens struggled with political and economic struggles against the farmers. • A reformer named Solon canceled the debts of the farmers but did not give their land back.

Athens • Pisistratus seized power in 560 B.C. and he helped merchants and gave land to the poor but after his death the Athenians revolted against his son. • Cleisthenes became the leader in 508 B.C. and he set up a council of 500 to propose laws and supervise the treasury. • The assembly of all male citizens had final authority to pass laws after free debate. • Cleisthenes laid the foundation for democracy in Athens

Technology results from scarcity • All cities need fresh water. This is a Greek aqueduct, basically a brick water pipe. • The first aqueduct was Assyrian, but most ancient societies had them.

Greek Architecture • Greeks invented arches and columns. • This obviously took advanced mathematics.

Lincoln Memorial

Sparta • Sparta was an isolated city-state that was culturally and politically different from Athens. • Sparta was an oligarchy, government ruled by a few. They had 2 kings. • During the Peloponnesian Sparta sacked Athens.

Sparta • Spartan society was obsessed with war. • Boys were sent to military school at a young age. • Boys who are born deformed are left to die on mountainsides

Athens • Athenians were tough but were encouraged to engage in activities like art, philosophy, music.

Alexander the Great • Alexander was not from Athens, but Macedonia. • Alexander was a brilliant military strategist. • His favorite book was Homer’s Iliad

Alexander conquered the Persian empire and controlled the largest empire the world has ever seen.

Alexander spread Hellenistic culture throughout Asia. • Hellenistic is a fancy word for Greek. • Alexander spread Greek technology and ideas throughout his empire

Chapter 4, Section 2, The Polis Greek Colonies and Trade The Typical Polis Political and Social Change 11/20/2014 John 3:16 47

Objectives Know how economic prosperity brought significant political and social changes to the Greek city-states Understand that the Greeks founded colonies throughout the area of the Mediterranean and Black Seas 11/20/2014 John 3:16 48

Terms to Know Polis: a city-state; the basic political unit of the Hellenic civilization Citizen: those who take part in government Aristocrat: nobles; members of the upper class Phalanx: rows of soldiers using their shields to form a wall Tyrant: a person seizing power of a city-state and controlling it Oligarchy: where a few wealthy people hold power Democracy: a government by the people where power lies in the hands of the people 11/20/2014 John 3:16 49

The Typical Polis The citizens of a polis had both rights and responsibilities. The could vote, hold public office, speak for themselves, and own property. They were expected to serve in government and defend the polis in war. Citizens, however, made up only a minority of the residents of the polis; slaves, foreign-born residents, and women had no political or legal rights. Before 500 B.C., men not owning land were excluded The “agora” served as the polis political center 11/20/2014 John 3:16 50

Geography of Greece