Ancient Greece World History

Ancient Greece

Big Idea

Greece’s geography and its nearness to the

sea strongly influenced the developed of

trade and the growth of city-states

Main Ideas:

1. Geography helped shape early Greek civilization

2. Trading cultures developed in the Minoan and

Mycenaean civilizations

3. The Greeks created city-states fro protection and

security

If You were there….

You live on the rocky coast of a bright blue

sea. Across the water you can see dozens

of islands and points of land jutting out into

the sea. Rugged mountains rise steeply

behind your village. It is hard to travel across

the mountains in order to visit other villages

or towns. Near your home on the coast is a

sheltered cove where it’s easy to anchor a

boat.

What could you do to make a

living here?

MountainsEffect on Greeks

• Little farmland

• Villages and towns separated from each other travel difficulty

• Little contact between towns

• Mountains covered 3/4th of Greece

• Grew olives, grapes, & grain

• Raised sheep, goats, pigs, & cattle for skins to make clothing

Seas

•Source of food

•Means of trade

•Transportation

•Helped exchange ideas

with other cultures

Textbook p 229-

Q: What bodies of water surround

Greece?

BOOM!Greece is located in an

active earthquake zone

and regularly hit by

tremors.

Around 1450 BC, a Greek

island disappeared! Most

of Thera vanished when a

volcano erupted there. The

explosion triggered

earthquakes, tsunamis

and dust clouds that

damaged may other Greek

Greek City-StatesGreeks of the Dark Ages left no written

records

About 300 years after the Mycenaean

civilization (early Greeks) fell apart, Greeks

began to join together into small groups for

protection & stability.

Like in Sumer, these groups became

independent city-states known as polis

in Greece.

Creation of polls marks the beginning of

the Greek Classical Period

A Classical Age is marked by great

achievements

Classical Greek City-

State

Same city-state

today

The Greek City-State

Usually built around a strong fortress (huge walls)

Fortress was located on top of a high hill called the

acropolis, for added protection

Farmers lived near fields outside of the city walls

Women, children, and the elderly would gather inside

the city walls for protection when needed though

The men of the polis formed

an army to fight off enemies

Polis Agora (Marketplac

e)• City focused on

marketplace

• Large open space in city

• Farmers brought their

crops to the market to

trade for goods made by

craftsmen in town

• Shops lined the outskirts

of the agora

• Also served as a meeting

place for people

• Held political & religious

assemblies in the agora

Coins displayed city

wealth and pride.• Made of real silver

• Images of gods & goddesses,

heroes, monsters, and favorite local

animals

Quick Check

1. What was a city-state?

2. What was the center of many

cities?

3. What were coins made of?

4. How did the Greeks defend

their cities?

Citizens, Foreigners,

SlavesWithin most city-states, there were different classes of

people.

Citizens were men who were born in the city-state, as well

as their wives and children

Foreigners were traders, sailors or traveling artists and

scholars

Slaves belonged to their owners

In wealthy city-states almost

half the population were

slaves.Household slaves did the shopping, cooking,

household work & childcare

Groups of slaves worked as laborers as builders,

road-menders, miners, and even security guards

According to a slave’s job, their conditions could

be bad.

Oligarchy Tyranny Democracy

Use textbook pages 236 & 237 to complete this organizer.

Ruled by a

small group of

powerful

(wealthy)

aristocrats

“Ruled by

Few”

Peisistratus

overthrew the

oligarchy

“Ruled by a

tyrant”- a

strong leader

who has all the

power

“Ruled by the

people”

First time in

history a

government was

based on the

votes of its free

citizens- called

an assembly

In 508 BC, Athenian leader Cleisthenes

established a new system of government

called ‘democracy’

What Athenian Democracy

looked like:Citizens could make speeches at the Assembly to

propose new laws for their community.

Citizens also served as jurors in city-state courts and debate

on important government decisions, like declaring war.

Once a year, Athenian citizens voted to ban unpopular

people from their city for ten years (exile).

They scratched the persons name of a piece of ostrakon

(broken pottery piece)

If 6,000 citizens voted to ban the same man, that person

had 10 days to leave the city!

Democracy then and now

In Athenian Direct

Democracy

In American

Representative

Democracy

• All citizens met as a

group to debate and vote

directly on every issue

• Citizens elect

representatives to debate

and vote on issues for

them

• There was no separation

of powers. Citizens

created laws, enforced

laws, and acted as judges

• There is a separation of

powers. Citizens elect

some people to create

laws, others to enforce

laws, and other to be

judges.

• Only free male citizens

could vote. Women and

slaves could not vote.

• Men and women who are

citizens have the right to

vote

Quick Check

1.What is democracy?

2.Where was it

established?

3.What is an ostrakon?

4.What was it used for?

Mighty AthensAthens was the greatest city in Greece.

Between 510- 431BC, owned best farmland, a port with a

good harbor, sliver mines, and had a trained citizen

army… all of which made Athens rich, strong and very

confident.

The Acropolis (‘high city’) was considered a holy hill

where an ancient fortress was located. The Parthenon

was one of those buildings there that overlooked

Athens.

The Acropolis 2:29

Delian League

In 490 and 480 BC, armies from Persia (now Iran)

invaded Greece.

The Persians were defeated but the attack left Greek

city-states felling threatened.

The city-states joined together to make the Delian

League- name comes from the island if Delos, where

congress held meetings in the temple and where the

treasury stood.

Athens took charge of the League and build a huge

navy and sent soldiers to “advise” the other city-states.

By 454 BC, Athens controlled most of Greece.

War on Land & SeaAll Greek male citizens were trained to fight when they

were teenagers

Each soldier had to pay for his own weapons and

armor

most were hoplites (soldiers who fought on foot) and

needed swords and spears

Poor men only had sling shots and wooden spears

Soldiers rarely fought on horseback because they

would fall off the back when fighting

City-states paid for fleets of

fast warships called triremes

Family Life A persons wealth, rank, an

occupation all depended on the

family they were born into

Fathers were the head of the family

and had power over everyone,

including the slaves, who lived in the

house

All Greek parents wanted a son to

pass on their family name to the

next generation and the family

property, business, and wealth

Women in Greece

Most girls married very young, around 13 years

old

Women did not have the same rights as men-

according to the law, women could not vote,

make a public speech or take any part in politics

Horrible Histories:

Greek Women

Festival 2:30

EducationChildren were expected to be well-behaved, obedient,

worship their family’s gods and goddesses, and to

always show respect to their parents

Boys from wealthy families stared school at age 7-

taught to read, write, simple athematic, sing, play an

instrument, debate, and how to recite poetry. They

played sport: running, jumping, wrestling, and throwing

the javelin.

School was not for girls

Most boys left school when they were

14 to study under local scholars or

sophist (traveling teachers)

Greek Thinkers Song

3:09

Socrat

esLived during the time of Pericles

In his 40s, he began thinking about the world around him. He asked: “What is wisdom?” “What is beauty?” “What is the right thing to do?”

He asked many people the answer to these questions; some answered some did not.

He began to teach people to think better by asking them more questions which showed them problems in their logic. This is called Socratic Method or Questioning.

This often times made people mad at him and sometimes try to beat him up!!!!

Soon he began to teach other young men his ideas (Plato was one of them)

He wanted people treated morally equal in the government as well

Socrates Rescue 1:52

PlatoPlato was a student of Socrates & from a wealthy family

Republic- describes Plato’s thought on a better form of government for Athens.

Believed most people were not smart enough to make good decisions when voting, so they shouldn’t be allowed to.

Instead, he wanted the best people (or educated) chosen to act as Guardians (or representatives) for the rest and make those decisions for them.

Founded school- Plato’s

AristotleStudent of Plato

Tutor of Alexander the Great

Founded the Lyceum school to compete against Plato’s

academy

Tried to create order in people’s governments by

creating a classification system:

Monarchies, oligarchies, tyrannies, democracies, and

republics-which we still use today

Also the father of today’s scientific method: sought

logical methods for how the real world worked

The Golden Age of Athens

Ancient Greece

Big idea

The people of Athens tried many different forms of

government before creating a democracy.

Main Idea:

1. Aristocrats and tyrants ruled early Athens

2. Athens created the world’s first democracy

3. Ancient democracy was different than modern

democracy

The Golden AgeThe Golden Age – a time of achievement in ancient Greece.

Pericles – a member of the aristocracy that led Athens with the help of an assembly of other male citizens.

Council of 500 – a group who decided what would be discusses at each assembly meeting. They were chosen by a drawing.

Public officials and jurors – Pericles ordered they be paid a salary for the days they served.

“The school of Greece”– Pericles hired the best artists and scholars and put them to work in the arts and sciences.

Gods & GoddessesThe world was filled with many

things, events, and

happenings that the Greek

people could not understand

or have control over

They believed these unknown

forces were gods &

goddesses

They were pictured as

superhuman creatures- strong

and beautiful, but had

weaknesses like humans

They believed in magic spirits and monsters such as

Gargons (turned men into stone), Sirens (bird-women

whose songs lured sailors to their death), as well as

witchcraft and curses

Oracles- Greeks believed they were holy messengers

who could see the future

Poets retold myths and legend about the gods

Temples & FestivalsTemples/shines were built as holy homes for the gods and

goddesses

Each city-state had its own guardian god with many temples

with lifelike statues of him or her

People hoped & feared they would meet a god in the temple

or in a forest or on a mountain top

Mount Olympus: where they believed all the gods and

goddesses met to make plans, feast, love, and quarrel.

People offered prayers and sacrifices to their gods &

goddesses

A few drops of wine or a valuable livestock was offered

Meat of sacrificed animals was cooked and shared with

worshippers

The bones and skin was burned on the alter so the smoke

would take up the people’s prayers to the gods and goddesses

Quick Check

1.What were temples?

2.Where did all the gods and

goddesses go to meet?

3.What did people offer to their

gods and goddesses?

4.What happened at shrines?

Olympic GamesOlympic Games began as a festival to honor Zeus- 776 BC

Every four years athletes would travel from all across Greece to participate in the games

Most popular games: running, long jump, wrestling and boxing

Events featured weapons and war skills

Winners of Olympic games were deemed heroes and given a crown of laurel leaves as a sign of their god-like strength & speed

Females were not allowed to

HHTV Sport Ancient Greece Olympics 2:41

Flame

song

3:20

Quick Check

1. When were the first Olympic

Games held?

2. Who were the games in honor

of?

3. Could women go to the Olympic

Games?

4. What did winning athletes wear

on their heads?

Plays and Poetry

In early Greek rituals, priests and

priestesses would play the part of their

god or goddess as they acted out

stories about them or local heroes.

Over time, these rituals would

become a new art form known as-

drama.

Drama was so popular in ancient

Greece that huge open-air theatres

were built to host performances

(amphitheaters)Ancient Greek Theatre

5:31

All the parts were played by men

They wore masks and elaborate costumes to look like women, magical beings, and monsters

Some theatres even had ladders and cranes to make actors playing gods seem as if they were flying or sitting in the clouds

In Athens, drama was an important part of several religious festivals

Competitions for best new plays

Serious plays –tragedies and lively comedies

They could last minutes to all day long

Plays were written like poetry

Main actors had singers and dancers with them to portray the mood of the scene

Music played on the lyre while a poem was recited

Music set the tone for sadness, tragedy, happiness, excitement

Poets recited at men’s dinner parties

Storytellers preformed in wealthy people’s homes

Singing poets entertained with music in the streets

Scientists & Thinkers

Aristarchus was the first person to understand that the

Earth travels around the sun

Hipparchus mapped the stars

Thales discovered the mathematical laws about circle

and triangles

Pythagoras worked out the mathematics behind music

and measured the movement of the Sun and moon

Pythagorean Theory: the square of the hypotenuse (the

side opposite the right angle of a triangle) is equal to the

sum of the squares of the other two sides.

Today this is Algebra & Geometry

Rap

3:48

Most ancient Greeks believed the gods brought illness as

a punishment. But, Hippocrates, and doctors who

followed him, tried to cur people using food, fresh air,

exercise, and herbal medicines

Engineers designed a clock to time speakers at the

Athenian Assembly using water-power

Archimedes designed a a huge glass lens that focused

the Sun’s rays on enemy ships to set them on fire

Philip II of Macedonia

Philip II, ruler of Macedonia, thought it was his destiny

to unit the Greek city-states and spread the Greek

culture

He conquered Greece in 338 BC by:

building up and equipping his army with stronger

weapons

Bribing Greece officials

Making treaties and alliances with Greek leaders

Philip II began to gear his army up to invade

Persia next, but was killed in the middle of his

preparations

His 20 year old son Alexander took over the

throne

Alexander the Great

Alexander was tutored by Aristotle for three years,

teaching him literature, political science, geography, and

biology

Alexander used much of what he learned by incorporating

it into his army.

He ordered scientist to collect plant and animal samples

from the new places he had conquered and send them

back to Aristotle for examination.

Alexander feared nothing. He never lost a battle.

His conquests would expand his empire more than 22,00

miles, from the Nile to the Indus River.

Alexander the Great wanted

a world-wide state where

everyone lived in peace,

unity, and justice to his

empire

His goal was to unite the

Macedonians, the Greeks,

and the Persians

He began by:

Putting Persian soldiers in

his army

Married Persian women and

had 80 of his leading

officers marry Persian

women too

They also dressed in

Persian fashions

Alexander follows some of the Persian customs

Rulers claim to be gods- Alexander claimed he was a god and insisted the people to treat him as suchThe Greeks and Macedonians refused to acknowledge his request and objected to equal treatment for the PersiansThey called people who did not speak or follow Greek customs barbaroi or barbarians.Alexander did not succeed in united his empire

Alexander's

AchievementsDuring his rule he founded 70 cities (16 were named

Alexandria)

He encouraged Greeks and Macedonians to settle

these new cities to spread Greek culture

Most famous city founded is Alexandria, Egypt

Within 70 years of its founding it became a center of

trade and learning; attracting Greeks from across the

Mediterranean

It had two great harbors with a lighthouse- one of the

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

There was also a palace and a school with a library

(known as the Museum)- the library had the largest

collection of books in ancient times

End of an Empire323 BC, Alexander died in Babylon at the age of 33 from an illness

His body was wrapped in gold and placed in a glass coffin in the Royal Tombs of Alexandria, Egypt

More than 80 versions in 20 different languages, have been written about his life’s stories

After his death, Greek city-states became independent once again, but economic conditions grew worse in Greece

Most Greek city-states were

Iron Maiden- Alexander the Great

8:35

Hellenistic Period

Alexander’s brief but thorough empire-building

campaign changed the world: It spread Greek

ideas and culture from the Eastern

Mediterranean to Asia. Historians call this era

the “Hellenistic period.” (The word “Hellenistic”

comes from the word Hellazein, which means

“to speak Greek or identify with the Greeks.”) It

lasted from the death of Alexander in 323 B.C.

until 31 B.C., when Roman troops conquered

the last of the territories that the Macedonian

king had once ruled

- History.com

Quick Check

1. Why was Alexander unable to achieve

unity among the people of his empire?

2. Why did many Greeks go to Alexandria,

Egypt?

3. How did the physical features of

Alexandria, Egypt help trade?

4. What happened to the Greek city-states

by 146 BC?

Journal Activity:

City-States

Compare the city-state

of Sumar in

Mesopotamia and the

Classical Age city-

state in Greece.

-5 minute write:

• Similarities?

• Differences?

• Provide examples to

support your

statements.