History 1º. Unit 10. Ancient Greece

UNIT 1. Ancient Greece

2º ESO. HISTORY

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1. Time and place2. Origin of Greek Civilization3. City-states: POLEIS4. Greek Expansion5. Athens and Sparta

CONTENTS

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6. Greek Society7. Economy in Greece8. Religion: Greek Mythology9. Greek Culture and legacy10. Greek Art

- Architecture- Sculpture

CONTENTS (Cont.)

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VOCABULARY LIST⚫ Poleis (sing. polis)⚫ Colony/colonisation⚫ Agora⚫ Acropolis⚫ Democracy⚫ Assembly⚫ Parthenon⚫ Drachmac

⚫ Order⚫ Doric⚫ Ionic⚫ Corinthian⚫ Pediment⚫ Cornice⚫ Architrave⚫ Capital

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VOCABULARY LIST (Cont.)

⚫ Metopes⚫ Naos / Cella⚫ Opisthodomos

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1. Time and place

Copy this time line in your notebook

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Greece was developed in three different regions, all situated arounds the Aegean Sea.

- European Greece, in the south of the Balkan Peninsula. The most important region were Atica and Peloponnese.

- Asian Greece, in the Anatolian Peninsula (present-day Turkey).

- Greek Islands, the islands and archipelagos in the Agean Sea.

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The natural enviorenment influences a lot the development of Ancient Greece:

- Proximity to the sea: They built up commercial activities along all the Mediterranean. Specially with Egypt and Mesopotamia.

- Innumerable island and mountains divided the territory and they were organised in city-states. They were never united.

- Though this independence they share the culture, the language, the religion…

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2. Origin of Greek Civilization⚫ They had discovered farming by 7000 BC.

⚫ During their Metal Ages there were two important civilizations: Crete and Mycenas.

⚫ Hellenes (Helenos, de Grecia) took important cultural aspects from these cultures: writing, commerce, art…

⚫ In this period, the Trojan War took place, which later became a subject of a legendary tale.

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The Trojan War

HOMEWORK: FIND INFORMATION ABOUT TROJAN WAR AND MAKE A BRIEF SUMMARY WITH THE MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION

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3. City-States: POLEIS

⚫ Greeks live in city states called Poleis.

⚫ Every Polis had its own goverment, economy, laws, army, currency, way of life…

⚫ Poleis were formed by an urban centre and then farming lands around.

⚫ There were more than 200 poleis. Examples: Athens, Sparta, Corinth, Thebes, Troy, Myletus…

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Think about it!

- What influence do you believe had the mountain relief on the political independence of the poleis?

- What is a polis? Give some examples.Remember!

- What do the city-states share?- What makes them different from each

other?

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4. Greek Expansion⚫ Between the 8th and 6th centuries there

was a crisis in Greece: population increased and their land was not very fertile so there was not enough food for everybody.

⚫ In consequence, many Greeks migrated and founded colonies. First in Italy, France, Spain, Libya… and then around the Black Sea.

⚫ Because of colonies Greek culture spread: use of iron, money, art… and they mixed with other people.

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4. Greek Expansion (map)

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Think about it!

- Why did Greeks found numerous colonies?

- How was Greek culture spread through the Mediterranean?

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Sparta, the oligarchical polis⚫ In Sparta, like in other poleis, power was

based on oligarchy (oligarquía): a small group of people controlled the politics.

⚫ There were two important families so there were two kings. They led the army and performed honorific and religious functions.

⚫ Sparta was a powerful military state.

5. Athens and Sparta

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Athens, the democratic polis⚫ In the 7th century BC, some people in the

polis protested against the abuse of power by the governing of the aristocracy.

⚫ As a result, SOLON (638-558 BC) gave political power to the Citizens’ Assembly or Ekklesia.

⚫ Later, CLEISTHENES (Clístenes) introduced some more reforms and democracy was created (508 BC).

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Solón Clístenes

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Athenian democracy was based on three institutions. However, to participate in them you had to be a citizen: men over 18 from Athenian parents (it means only 40,000 people over a population of 500,000).

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Think about it!

Tick T (true) or F (false). Then correct the sentences:

a) In Ancient Greece, all the people were allowed to take part in politics.

b) Sparta encouraged people to study philosophy and art.

c) El Rubius was one of the most important person in developing democracy in Athens.

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Why do you think women, slaves and foreigners had no rights?

- I think women had no rights because…- I think slaves had no rights because…- I think foreigners had no rights

because...

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6. The Persian (Meian) wars (494-479 BC)

In Spanish Guerras Médicas.

In 494 Persians controlled the Greek Poleis of Asia Minor and then they tried to conquer continental Greece and islands.

Athens organised an association of city-states, to fight together against the Persians. Finally, Greece won the war after its victory in the Battle of Marathon and the Battles of Thermopylae and Salamis.

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LEÓNIDAS30

7. The Peloponnesian wars (431-404 BC)

Las Guerras del Peloponeso

After the Persian Wars Athens became the richest and most influential polis.

The fifth century BC was their most splendorous period. Under its leader PERICLES democracy was reinforced.

In this period Athens produced brilliant artists (e.g. Phidias), philosophers (Socrates), dramatists (Sophocles, Euripides), etc.

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PERICLES32

The dominant position of Athens was a menace (amenaza) to other important poleis such as Sparta.

Some poleis supported Sparta and others Athens.

Sparta will defeat Athens and the poleis will be weakened by this fact, and then Alexander the Great, from Macedonia, will control all this area after the Queronea battle.

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8. Alexander the Great (356-323 BC)

Macedon was a monarchy in the north of Greece. The wars between poleis had weakened Greece

and Philip II (Filipo II de Macedonia) took advance of that. By 338 BC he dominated all Greece except Sparta.

Philip was assassinated and his young son Alexander succeeded him at the age of 20. He continued the territorial expansion that his father had started.

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Alexander created the largest Empire of the Ancient World until Rome. He founded many cities so Greek Culture spread to the East. At the same time, Greek culture mixed with Oriental culture, creating a new era called Hellenism.

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9. Greek SocietyThere was a high level of inequality in

Greece.

Greek society was based in two groups:

⚫ Citizens: Aristocrats, merchants and farmers. They have rights, they can took part in politics and they paid some taxes.

⚫ Non-citizens: Not allowed to take part in politics. There were 3 different categories: foreigner, slaves and women

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10. Economy in Greece

Main Economical Activities:

⚫ Long distance trade: Rich merchants with ships, trade along the Mediterranean Sea and with the colonies. They import (buy) food, wood, cooper… and export (sell) pottery, textiles, perfumes…

⚫ Local commerce: Small shops in cities or markets. They used silver coins called drachmas.

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Greek trading ship

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Main Economical Activities (cont.):

⚫ Crafts: Greeks produce excellent pottery and sculpture which exported. They worked also with leader, textiles, etc.

⚫ Agriculture: Done by the poorest people. Based on the ‘Mediterranean Triad’: wheat, vines and olives (trigo, vid y olivo).

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Greek pottery Drachmas

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11. Religion. Greek Mythology.GODS

The Greeks were polytheistic: they believed in many gods.

The gods have human appearance and feelings but different powers. The most important god was Zeus (King of gods, sky and thunder/trueno).

Each god represented a natural force or a human activity.

They lived on Mount Olympus. 45

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12. Greek Culture Greek Culture has been the foundation of

Western Culture.

Greeks were the first on using logic and reasoning to explain the phenomena. So they are considered the fathers of science and philosophy.

They also developed mathematics, physics, medicine, astronomy, literature, theatre…

Some examples: Socrates, Aristotle48

13. Greek Art

Greeks were very concerned about get these characteristics:

⚫ Proportion

⚫ Visual Balance

⚫ Beauty

⚫ Harmony

⚫ Symmetry

CANON

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Canon

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ArchitectureUsually they used white marble painted in

colours (but these have disappeared with time). There are some important elements:

⚫ Columns: provide support for a building. In Greece there are three styles depending on the type of column: orders.

⚫ Double-sloped roof (tejado a dos aguas).

⚫ Pediment (frontón): Triangular structure placed above a horizontal structure.

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Orders (styles)

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Órdenes

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Orders (styles)

⚫ Doric (Dórico): The simplest. The column has no base. The capital is smooth.

⚫ Ionic (Jónico): The column has a base. The capital is decorated with scrolls (volutas). The shaft (fuste) is taller than the Doric.

⚫ Corinthian (Corintio): More decorative, the capital is adorned with acanthus leaves (hojas de acanto). The shaft is thinner

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Type of buildings

Temples: Houses of gods. Inside was the statue of the god and the treasure. They were rectangular and surrounded by columns.

The most famous ones are located in the acropolis of Athens, like the Parthenon.

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Plan of a Greek Temple

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Parts of a temple

⚫ Peristyle: row of columns.

⚫ Pronaos: Entrance Hall

⚫ Naos or cella: In the centre. Contained the statue of the godto whom the temple waas dedicated.

⚫ Opisthodomos: Opposite to pronaos. Room where the treasure was kept.

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Parthenon (Partenón)

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Type of buildings

Theatres:

⚫ Built using hillsides.

⚫ The seats were located in the slopes and forming a semi-circle.

⚫ The skene (escena) and the orchestra were at the bottom.

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Sculpture

⚫ Function: principally to decorate buildings.

⚫ Themes: Mainly deities and heroes, but also athletes, priests, etc.

⚫ Materials: wood, marble (mármol) or bronze. Then painted in bright colours.

⚫ Focus on: human form, usually naked, the ideal of beauty and proportion.

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Sculpture during classical age

⚫ Always young

⚫ Perfectly proportioned bodies.

⚫ Faces with a serene expression.

⚫ Some more movement.

⚫ Important artists: Myron, Phidias, Polykleitos (Policleto), Praxiteles…

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Myron ‘Discobolus’ Praxiteles ‘Afrodita Cnido’

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