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The Persian Wars

Greek city-states often fought each other over land and trade. In the 400s B.C., the Greek city-states joined together to fight against Persia.

Darius I, the leader of the Persian Empire, dreamed of conquering the Greek city-states and creating a giant empire. He sent a large army across land and sea. Lucky for the Greeks, a giant storm destroyed his boats.

Two years later, Darius I attacked again. Again, Persia was unsuccessful. The smaller Greek army trapped and defeated the Persians.

Later, Darius I’s son Xerxes took about 200,000 soldiers and more than 600 ships to attack Greece. The Greeks were outnumbered, and at a small mountain pass called Thermopylae, the Spartans fought the Persians until the last Spartan solider died. In the end, the Persians broke through the Greek defenses and set Athens on fire.The Battle of Thermopylae was the inspiration for the action movie 300!!

The Persians and the Greeks also fought the Battle of Salamis on the seas. There were

more Persian ships than Greek ships, but the Persian ships were too big and thy couldn’t move quickly. The smaller, faster Greek ships sank the Persians boats. Xerxes had been defeated. The Persian army went home.

The Greeks were able to defeat the Persians, because they created a team called the Delian League. 150 city-states were a part of this alliance (meaning, friendship). They worked together to fight the Persians. They also paid money to Athens. In return, Athens promised to protect the city-states with its powerful navy. Athens grew very rich. These payments helped Athens rebuild at the end of the Persian Wars.

Historians call the period of time after the Greek victories the Classical Age of Greece. During the classical age, artists, poets, sculptors and architects developed a very special culture. People today are still influenced by their achievements! We will learn more about these gifts from the Greeks in Chapter 8 Lesson 2.

During this Classical Age, Sparta and Athens were the two most powerful city-states (poli). Sparta was a strict military power that did not like traveling and visitors. Athens was a port city whose trading ships traveled throughout the Mediterranean Sea. In time, the fighting between Sparta and Athens would lead of the end of the Classical Age . This war, and the end of the Classical Age, will be discussed in greater detail in Chapter 8 Lesson 3: Times of Conflict.

Remembering Facts.

1. Who did the Greek city-states fight against during the Persian Wars?

2. What were the names of the Persian leaders who lead attacks against the Greeks?

3. The movie 300, was based on what famous battle?

a. Who won this battle?

4. What Greek city did the Persians set on fire?

5. What was the name of the group of city-states that worked together to beat the Persians?

a. What city-state was in charge of this league?

6. Who won the Persian Wars? The Greeks or the Persians?

Illustrate. Draw a 3 box comic strip showing the important battles or events of the Persian wars. You could include: Darius I’s first or second attack, Xerxes’s attack at Thermopylae, the Greek and Persian boats fighting during the Battle of Salamis, the Delian League, the Classical Age, or Athens and Sparta fighting at the end of the Classical Age.

This is a picture of:

___________________________________________

This is a picture of:

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This is a picture of:

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Democracy and the Golden Age in Athens

Around 508 B.C., Athens became a democracy. This meant that citizens, not a king, made decisions about the government., but Athenian government wasn’t perfect. Only wealthy men over the age of 18 were allowed to vote.

In 461 B.C. Pericles changed the Athenian government. He believed that all people, rich or poor, should be able to participate in government. He thought that all free born men had the right and responsibility to serve their government. Women were still not included.

Pericles was a great leader. He wanted Athens to be a shining example of Greek culture. He began making Athens a center of art and learning. He hired the best architects and builders to create schools, government buildings, and temples out of shining white marble. It was Pericles, who ordered the construction of the Parthenon, a large temple to the goddess Athena. He also hired artists to tell Athens’s history in paintings, statues, plays, and poetry.

The Parthenon today

Pericles led Athens for 40 years. This period of time is often called the Golden Age, Classical Age, or the Age of Pericles. During this period of time, great architects, artisits,

and playwrights made great contributions to Greek culture. Greeks also made great advancements in art, poetry, education, philosophy, science, mathematics, and medicine. Today, more than 2000 years later, people are still influences by these contributions. You will learn more about the “Gifts of the Greeks” in Chapter 8 Lesson 2.

Remembering Facts.

1. Who was allowed to participate in Athenian Democracy?

2. What were 3 acheivements of Pericles?

3. Why is this period of time sometimes known as the Golden Age?

Greek Gifts

Art and Architecture As you read page 325, fill in the blanks with the missing words

Pericles directed architects and builders to create many beautiful structures. People use

these same for modern buildings.

In the center of the of Athens, Pericles oversaw the

building of a magnificent temple, the , which honored the goddess

Athena. Completed in 438 B.C., the Parthenon took 9 years to build and required more than

22,000 tons of . Its architecture expressed balance and

simplicity, qualities valued by the Greeks. Many modern buildings, such as the ____________________

in Washington, D.C., use designs based on the architecture

of Greek temples.

Statues of and of people decorated Greek

building, both inside and outside. Never before had statues been created to look

so .

Greek painters took the same care to portray people and scenes

. Artists decorated building with murals, or

, showing lifelike scenes from Athens’s history and from

Greek myths.

Paintings on ancient vases provide evidence of the skill of Greek artists. Using black or

red paint, artists decorated the vases with scenes from Greek

and from their own . By carefully observing these vases, we can see how

people dresses, how they wore their hair, and even what they ate.

Illustrate it. Study the pictures on pages 314, 325, 332 & 338 of your textbooks. Design a building in the style of the Greek architects.

Greek Gifts Continued

Literature and Theater Answer the questions as you read pages 326 & 327

1. What did Homer write?

2. Why are these epics famous?

3. What do Aesop’s fables teach?

4. Why do we call a book of maps an Atlas?

5. Theatre comes from the Greek word that means “a place to see.” Greeks watched two types

of shows at the theatre: comedies and tragedies. What do these words mean?

a. Comedy:

b. Tragedy:

6. How was Greek theatre different than theatre today?

Illustrate it. Draw what you might see at a Greek theatre. Try to include as many details as possible from the reading. Write 1 sentence about your picture.

Draw your picture here. This is a picture of:

Greek Gifts Continued

Science, Mathematics & History Fill in the blanks as you read page 328 in your textbook

Even before the Golden Age of Athens, the Greeks had begun

questions old ways of thinking. Their ideas led to the dawn

(beginning) of , or logical, thought in

science, , history, and philosophy.

Some ancient Greek thinkers doubted that gods and goddesses

caused event in nature, as many other Greeks believed. Instead, these thinkers sought to

the world by it carefully.

Ancient Greek scientist worked in much the way that modern scientists do.

They used scientific methods to develop . This led to new

discoveries that changed the way people saw the .

Read the rest of pages 328 – 331. Complete the chart as you read. List the most important details about each

Hippocrates Herodotus Socrates Aristotle

Hippocrates was a:

Scientists

Herodotus was a:

Scientists

Socrates was a:

Scientists

Aristotle was a:

Scientists

Historian

Philosopher

Historian

Philosopher

Historian

Philosopher

Historian

Philosopher

Hippocrates is famous because he:

Herodotusis famous because he:

Socratesis famous because he:

Aristotleis famous because he:

Times of Conflict: The Peloponnesian WarsFill in the blanks as you read page 335 in your textbook.

In the 400s B.C., Athens and Sparta were the most powerful of all the Greek city-states.

Still, neither city-state was . The leader of Athens wanted even

greater power over the other . The leaders of Sparta feared

that Athens would become stronger than their own city-state. This rivalry led to a long series of

battles known as the .

Athens placed the city-states of the under an

Athenian Empire. (This league was an alliance of city-states who were loyal to Athens,

paid money to Athens, and were protected by Athens)

Pericles invested money in Athens’s . Having such a powerful

allowed Athens to pressure more city-states to come under its rule.

The Spartans were alarmed. In 460 B.C. the tensions between Sparta and Athens

exploded into .

Finally, in 445 B.C. both sides grew .

Athens and Sparta signed a peace treaty called the Thirty Years’ Peace. Unfortunately,

this agreement did not lead to lasting peace between Athens and Sparta.

Review. What do you know about Athens and Sparta? How were they similar? How were they different?

Only Athens Both Athens and Sparta Only Sparta

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