Classical Greece

Athens

All Greeks Shared the same….

• Alphabet• History • Religion• They all saw

themselves as Greeks

The Greek Migration

• Greek farmers no longer grew enough grain to feed everyone.

• Scarcity: Not enough resources• Each polis sent out groups of landless

unemployed to establish colonies to solve the problem of scarcity

Colonies kept close ties with the mainland, and supplied them with vital resources.

Greek Religion

• Mythology• 12 Gods live on Mount Olympus• Rituals: ceremonies so that the Gods would

look favorable on them.Oracle: Sacred Shrine where Gods or Goddesses

revealed the future though a priest

Greek Drama

• Stories about life acted out• Tragedies: 1st Greek Plays– Themes that are still relevant today

• Comedy develops later

Greek Philosophy

• “love of wisdom”• Organized system of thought• Philosophy– Sophists– Socrates– Plato– Aristotle