Power point

WORLD HISTORY

Chapter 3Ancient Greece

The Bible states that after the Flood, the descendants of Javan, one of Japheth’s sons, travelled westward from Mesopotamia and settled in the “isles of the Gentiles”- Genesis 10:4-5.

This land is believed to be Greece.

The geography of Greece made farming difficult, but not impossible.

The natural harbors encouraged the Greeks to become a seafaring culture.

http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/media/ancient-mariners-mediterranean/?ar_a=1

Video – ship wreck found from ancient Greece.

The Mountains and terrain made communication difficult, the isolation of the communities caused the Greeks to develop a fierce independent nature and patriotism.

They became known for their love of individualism and self sufficiency.

Archaeologists have found the remains of two civilizations, Minoan and Mycenaean. They predate the Greek civilization in the Aegean region. The civilizations were short-lived, but their culture left its mark on those to follow.

Crete

The earliest center of civilization in the Aegean region was on the island of Crete.

By 2000 BC, the Minoan civilization flourished – named after King Minos.

Trade allowed Minoans contact with Egyptians who desired Cretan olive oil and

pottery.

It is suggested that the Philistines were colonists

from this Cretan civilization.

Minoan love for beauty is evident in the ruins of the

palace at Knossos. It consisted of hundreds of rooms and covered several

acres.

“Modern conveniences” – flushing toilets, bathtubs and piped water.

Mycenae

Mainland Greece

Established by invaders from the north.

Much of their knowledge of art, architecture and commerce came from the Minoans.

The Lion Gate – Entrance to the fortified city of Mycenae

When Knossos was destroyed, possibly by the Mycenaeans, Mycenae became

the leading commercial center

of the Aegean region.

Though the Minoans loved beauty, their culture reflected a strong military fervor.

- Palaces were built high on hills and fortified. - Rival kings fought often. - Trade was expanded through

raids piracy and colonization.

Troy

The major commercial trade rival of Mycenae was the city of Troy. According to legend, the Mycenaeans went to war with Troy after Trojan Prince Paris kidnapped the wife of a Spartan King.

http://library.thinkquest.org/3011/troy.htm

Troy sat on a hill overlooking the Hellespont.

This strait separates Asia Minor from Europe. It linked the sea trade of the Agaean world with the land trade of the Fertile Crescent.

Troy fell to the Mycenaeans after the use of the “Trojan Horse”. This victory was short lived. Around 1200 BC, Dorians, invaders from the north conquered the main Mycenaean fortresses.

The Dorian victory marked the decline of the Mycenaean civilization and began the Greek “Dark Ages”.

The “Dark Ages” was a period of invasion and neglect of the great palace fortresses. They fell into ruin.They adopted a simpler life in local villages and had little contact with the outside world. There was a blending of elements in the Agaean world into a common Greek Culture.

Knowledge from this period rests largely on the poems the Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer.

The Dark Ages are sometimes called the “Homeric Age” because his poems provide the only glimpse of their culture.

Homer’s poems describe the shaping of Greek culture with stories of heroic figures, brutal warfare and great adventure.

Mythology played a very big role in the shaping of Greek culture.

Greeks used myths to explain their beliefs about life, the world and their gods.

According to Greek mythology, twelve chief gods and goddesses lived on Mount Olympus, the heaven of the gods.Zeus was the “king of gods and man,” he ruled Mount Olympus.

Apollo, son of Zeus, was the god of the sun, music, and medicine.

Athena, was the patron of the city Athens. She was the goddess of wisdom.

Poseidon, Zeus’s brother ruled the sea and earthquakes.

Anthropomorphic – having human form or attributes.

The Greek gods of mythology had human characteristics but possessed amazing powers and immortality.

They had the power to help or harm man.

The apostle Paul may have had Greek polytheism in mind when he said that the Gentiles were guilty before God because they had “changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man” Romans 1:23.

Olympia

In honor of Zeus, the Greeks held religious festivals every 4 years at Olympia, the site of a temple of Zeus.Physical contests became the chief feature. They became known as the Olympic Games.

The games became so popular that the Olympiad, the four year interval between the games, became the Greek method of dating historical events.

The Games were a very rare example of cooperation between the city states.

Though their language, customs and religious beliefs were the same, the Greeks lacked political unity. As the Nile of Egypt brought the Egyptians together, the mountains of Greece isolated them and hindered national unity.

They built their cities at the foot of a hill. They a built a fortress on top of the hill where they would escape too when attacked. The city was called the polis (city state). This was the basic political unit of Greece. The fortified hill was called the acropolis (from the word acro meaning “high”).

Greek Government

Greek city-states experienced four basic forms of government.

MonarchyOligarchyTyranny

Democracy

Monarchy – Ruled by one. The king received advice from a council of nobles and a popular assembly.

…gradually, the council assumed the king’s powers….

This led to an

Oligarchy- rule of a few.This produced tension between the wealthy noble class and the lower classes.…this led to political unrest…

Dissatisfaction and unrest often led to tyranny. Total control of the government, usually gained by military force.Tyrants were not necessarily corrupt.

Sometimes the tyrant was a champion for the lower classes. His reform often allowed more people to participate in the government.

A unique political contribution of the Greeks was the development of democracy – rule by the people.

In this government, each adult male citizen could share responsibility of ruling his city.

The development of Greek city-states was important in Greek history. Sparta and Athens represented two opposing political systems and ways of life. Other city-states followed the example of one or the other.

Sparta

Sparta – located in the Southern part of Greece on the Peloponnesus peninsula. Conquered by the Dorians – her inhabitants were made slaves. (Helots)

As the new rulers of Sparta conquered surrounding areas and enslaved their people the Helots soon outnumbered the Spartans.

Because of fear of uprising, the Spartans created a thoroughly militaristic state.

Sparta life centered on warrior training.

The highest goal of each Spartan was the be the best warrior for his city-state.

Sparta controlled ALL aspects of her citizens’ lives.

A board of Spartan nobles guarded the “status quo”. They protected their society against change.

To ensure the success of the city state, they used force or intimidation to help establish oligarchies in neighboring city-states.

The city-states organized the Peloponnesian League, with Sparta at its head.

Its purpose was to stop the advance of democratic principles that were fostered by the Athenians.

Sparta is associated with militarism, oligarchy and glorification of the state.

Athens

Athens nurtured creativity, commercial endeavors, democracy and individualism. The Athenians maintained the creative and intellectual heritage of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations.

During the Homeric Age, Athens was ruled by a king.

The noble class rose in power and established a council of nobles with a chief magistrate or archon. One archon made positive changes in Athenian government.

Under the leadership of Solon, Athens took a step toward democracy. Political and economic stability overcame the tension and hostility created by the council of nobles.

He created the council of Four Hundred, this gave representation to all sections of Athens.

Solon forbade the practice of making debtors into slavery.

After the death of Solon, the political unrest returned.

Tyrants arose and made change.

Under the leadership of Pericles, Athens established a “rule of the people.”

The Persian Wars

Athens, a fierce supporter of independence and self sufficiency, assisted Greek colonies that had been overtaken by the Persians.

Under King Darius I the Persians crushed the revolt and sought to punish Athens for her part in the rebellion. He sent a force to the Bay of Marathon. The Athenians marched out to meet the Persians and won.

Darius was enraged and set out to destroy the Athenians. He died before he could carry out his invasion. His son, Xerxes, set out to complete this task.

Hellespont Bridge

After one failed attempt, Xerxes was able to build a bridge across the Hellespont from Asia Minor to Greece.They tied together ships with ropes, and laid down a plank roadway across the decks.

The Athenians and the Spartans disagreed on how to defend Greece. The Spartan plan would leave Athens exposed.

The Greeks made their stand at Thermopylae.

Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by,that here, obedient to their laws, we lie

The Persians were unable to take the pass. But, a Greek traitor showed them another way thru the mountains. All but 300 of the Greeks escaped. The 300 stayed behind and fought to the death in order to hold the pass as long as possible.

Xerxes burnt Athens to the ground. The Athenians had retreated to Salamis, an island off the coast. Themistocles, the leader of Athens, devised a trap. He leaked information to Xerxes that the Athenians were escaping by sailing north.

Xerxes fleet was unable to maneuver in their ships in the morning tide…The smaller Greek ships were able to ram and sink many of the Persian ships as Xerxes looked on. The Persians continued to interfere in Greek affairs, but the Greeks were able to hold on to their independence.

Freedom from the Persians lifted the Greek spirit. A period of great cultural achievement known as the “Golden Age” would follow.

Athens became the leading city-state of all Greece. She encouraged the formation of a defensive alliance among the city-states. This alliance was known as the Delian League.

This was the Age of Pericles. He established a democracy. He called Athens the “school of Greece.” Great advancements were made in thought, art, science, literature, drama, and architecture.

Following the Golden Age came the Peloponnesian war. This was a devastating civil war pitting Athens against Greece. Sparta was concerned over the great influence and wealth Athens had accumulated. Sparta emerged victorious, but constant uprisings due to oppressive Spartan control continued to plague the city-states.

Alexander the Great

Macedonia was united under the rule of King Philip II. His kingdom extended into Greece. Many city-states began to turn to him hoping to find unity.

Philip was assassinated and his son, Alexander, took the throne.

He had been taught by Aristotle who instilled in him a great love for Greek culture.

Alexander defeated the Persian army under Darius II. He had successfully avenged the Greeks and become the king of Asia.

Alexander’s thirst for conquest was not satisfied. He marched to India and was gone for eight years. But, his men would not continue.

Before he was 33, Alexander died of a fever.

Daniel foretold that Alexander’s empire would be divided into four kingdoms. Daniel 8:21-22;11:4

There was no successor so his generals fought for control and his empire was divided.

Culture

Greek motto:

“Nothing in excess, and everything in

proportion.”

The Greek army never conquered the world, but her culture did. Through Alexander’s conquests, the language, and way of life spread throughout the world.

The term Hellenic is used to describe Greed culture. Hellenistic means “like the Greek.”

The Greeks began the formal study of human thought, the humanities.

Greeks assumed a great truth: man is the highest of created beings, but they did not glorify God for creating man, they celebrated and glorified the ability of man. They did not acknowledge their responsibility to the Creator, rather they believed man was the judge of all things.

Philosophy

Thales of Miletus – The Father of PhilosophyHe sought to explain origin of all things.

Socrates – “Know thyself”

Believed that truth could be attained through reason, virtue was knowledge and ignorance produced evil.

Plato – Pupil of SocratesEstablished the Academy in Athens. Wrote Republic. Realized that too much liberty and freedom often leads to anarchy – the breakdown of government and order.

Aristotle – Came to Athens from northern Greece. - Studied at Plato’s academy.- Tutor of Alexander the Great

To aide in man’s reasoning ability, Aristotle developed the syllogism.

3 step process of logical thinking.

1. Greeks are human2. Aristotle is Greek3. Therefore, Aristotle

is human.

Epicurean and Stoic philosophies

Epicurus believed that great happiness could be achieved thru the avoidance of pain and fear.

Founded by Zeno – he taught that man must accept his fate and life a life of duty and self control.

Science and Medicine

Pythagoras – philosopher and mathematician.

- Concluded that the universe could be explained in mathematical terms.

Hippocrates – Father of MedicineContrary to the Greek philosophy that illness was a punishment of the gods, he surmised illness has a natural cause and recommended treatments such as rest and proper diet.

-Euclid – Father of Geometry

-Archimedes – Discovered the principle of the lever.(ex…car jack)

-Eratosthenes – used geometry to surmise that the world is round…seventeen centuries BEFORE Columbus.

Literature

Herodotus – Father of History. Tried to present accurate accounts, but his work contained many myths and exaggerations.

Thucydides – wrote History of the Peloponnesian War. Wrote a better account than Herodotus because he wrote without letting his personal experiences and actions influence his account.

Sophocles – wrote tragedy

Aristophanes – wrote comedy

Greeks excelled in art. The most highly prized was their urns, sculptures, and temples.

Grecian urns are among the most beautiful ever fashioned. They painted scenes of everyday life, battles, competitions, and activities of the gods.

Greek sculpture falls into three periods

ArchaicClassical

Hellenistic

Three styles of Greek architecture :

Doric –solid and masculineIonic – graceful

Corinthian - ornate