1. Welcome to Ancient Greece
Geography
Religion
Achievements
Politics
Economics
Social Structures

2. Archaic Period 800 BC - 500 BC 546 BC:
Persian invasion and conquest of Greek territories through out Asia Minor
BC: Monarchies begin to be replaced by Aristocratic Republics
507 BC:
Cleisthenes' democratic constitution.
621 BC:
Draco's code of law - Athens.
Archaic Period 800 BC BC
776 BC: Date of the first Olympic games.
600 BC: Coin currency introduced
566 BC: Panathenaic festivals established

3. 480 BC Second Persian invasion of Greece, Spartans are defeated at Thermopylae, Athens is occupied by the Persians. The Persians are finally defeated at Salamis.
BC The Peloponnesian War 404 BC Athens Surrenders to Sparta
490 BC First Persian invasion of Greece, the Battle of Marathon.
The founding of the Delian League.
BC Alexander the Great’s reign
Classical Period BC
BC Pericles is leader of Athens during the Golden Age
About 450 BC, Sophocles wins more awards for plays than any other playwright
Massive public building program and construction of Parthenon
411 BC Revolts in Athens
430 BC Plague in Athens

4. Hellenistic Period 330 - 30 BC
First Roman victories over Greece
146 BC:
Corinth destroyed by Rome
BC: Greek City States remain relatively independent; however, warfare between rival leagues continues
86 BC:
Athens sacked by Rome
Hellenistic Period BC
About 300 BC:
Euclid wrote The Elements
About 200 BC:
Winged Victory (Nike) created

5. Geography Absolute Location:
42ºN ºN
19.1°E °E

6. Relative Location: East of Italy and Adriatic Sea
North of Mediterranean Sea and Africa
West of Turkey and Aegean Sea
South of Albania, Bulgaria, Serbia

7. Region:
The Balkan peninsula

8. Regions: The Sea
The most consistent influence on the physical environment of Greece is the sea
Greece has one of the longest coastlines in the world – 15,000 km
No point on the mainland of Greece is more than 100 km from the water
Greece has more than 2,000 islands

9. Regions: The Mountains
Second major physical feature
Covers more than ¾ of Greece’s surface area
More than 20 peaks higher than 2,000 m
Their general pattern is from northeast to southwest
“The continuous settling and shifting of this comparatively young mountain range makes the entire region, from Epirus on the Albanian border south to Crete, prone to earthquakes.”

10. Movement
The three major mountain regions in Greece and the deep basins and valleys between them hampered movement
In fact, they had the effect of isolating areas and fostered the independence of individual city states

11. Movement
If the mountains formed a barrier to movement, water encouraged it
Greece’s river levels change drastically and irregularly from season to season and were not a dependable aid to movement
Sea travel has been the primary form of transportation – both promoting contact between areas and exposing Greece to attack from enemies

12. Place: Physical Characteristics
Many of the Greek Islands are part of what used to be a chain of mountains
The Greek Islands are known for beautiful beaches and clear blue water.

13. Place: Physical Characteristics
Ancient Greeks looked at the mountains around them and determined that the gods lived on the top of Mt. Olympus.
The Greeks believed that the Oracle at Delphi would “see” when she descended into the Corycian Cave.

14. Place: Physical Characteristics
Farming was difficult in Greece, although olive trees flourished. This is known as the Sea of Olives or Plain of Amphissa.

15. Place: Human Characteristics
The Acropolis, site of the Parthenon, the Temple of Athena Nike, and the Theater of Dionysus at its base, is one of the most famous landmarks in the world.

16. Place: Human Characteristics
Acropolis then
Acropolis now

17. Religion: Gods in our image
Polytheistic
Explained occurrences in Nature
Gods – human form, emotions, behaviors
Interfered in lives of mortals
Worship and sacrifices intended to keep gods happy for survival and prosperity

18. Family Tree of Greek Gods
Read the Greek Creation Myth here and then return

19. Achievements Arts Three periods of art in Ancient Greece:
Archaic about 1000 BC – 450 BC
Simplest style, clean lines
Classical about 450 BC – 330 BC
More complex, more natural poses
Hellenistic about 330 BC – 30 BC
Most ornate of all, used more outside of Greece

20. Achievements Architecture - Columns
Doric: earliest style, no decoration, plain squared tops
Ionic: middle style, narrower at top, curled on each side at top
Corinthian: last style, most ornate

21. Achievements Architecture - Acropolis
The Acropolis hill – “Sacred Rock” – last line of defense in time of crisis
Fortified citadel on hill above city
Added to over time
Original buildings made of wood
Destroyed by fire and war and rebuilt

22. Achievements Architecture - Acropolis Then
This link includes a visual timeline of the Acropolis

23. Achievements Architecture - Acropolis Now

24. Achievements: Architecture - Parthenon
Temple to Athena – patron of Athens
Columns are Doric and curve at top to create illusion
Dimensions created to house statue of Athena

25. Achievements In Math, Show Your Work
Geometry:
Euclid’s Elements
13 Volumes
Each volume has definitions, postulates and then theorems
Every statement is proven, no matter how obvious
Includes circles, tangents, plane geometry, prime numbers, perfect numbers
Before Euclid any mathematician could have his own postulates
Euclid’s work helped standardize mathematics

26. Achievements Sculpture- Kouros
Archaic period
Statues not intended to represent individuals – represent an ideal
Kouroi always young men, standing nude
Depicts motion, one leg and/or one arm forward
Archaic smile
The Calf-Bearer

27. Achievements Sculpture: Nike
Nike, Winged Victory
Hellenistic period
White marble, represented prow of ship
Posed ready to “deliver shout of victory”
Noted for “naturalistic pose and rendering of figure’s draped garments, depicted as if rippling in strong sea breeze…”

28. Achievements Theater/Drama
Theater not purely for entertainment; part of state religious festival
Originally chorus of 12 men and one actor
3 tragedians chosen to present 4 plays each as part of competition
“’tragedy’ refers to tragic drama: … in which a central character called a tragic hero suffers some serious misfortune which is not accidental and therefore meaningless, but is significant in that the misfortune is logically connected with the hero's actions. Tragedy stresses the vulnerability of human beings whose suffering is brought on by a combination of human and divine actions, but is generally undeserved with regard to its harshness. “

29. Achievements Drama: Aeschylus
Aeschylus: first of the three most prize winning Greek playwrights
Also a soldier and actor
First to introduce second actor to plays; allowed for more characters to be introduced and greater variation in plot

30. Achievements Drama: Sophocles
Sophocles earned about 20 awards for first place in dramatic competitions
Reduced the importance of the Chorus by adding a third actor
Invented skenographia (scene painting) to illustrate the background
Oedipus gouges out his eyes after discovering the true nature of his crime.

31. Achievements Drama: Euripides
Last of the three Great Tragedians
Focused on mythological themes and heroes
First to write roles for strong female characters
First to introduce intrigue and comedy into plays

32. Politics: Democracy City-States – Poli
Monarchy
Warrior Aristocracies, often led by tyrant
Democracy (Please follow the following three links and return)
Draco’s Code of Laws
Solon’s reforms
Cleisthenes
First democracy about 500 BC
Assembly of male citizens

33. Draco’s Code of Laws
Around 620 BC Draco, the lawgiver, wrote the first known written law of Ancient Greece. Draco was an Athenian lawgiver whose harsh legal code punished both trivial and serious crimes in Athens with death--hence the continued use of the word draconian to describe repressive legal measures. Today the word draconian means harsh or severe. Draco's laws were shockingly severe, so severe that they were said to have been written not in ink but in blood. Solon succeeded him in about 594 BC
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34. Solon’ Reforms
Solon's great contribution to the future good of Athens was his new code of laws. The first written code at Athens, that of Draco, was still in force.. Solon revised every statute except that on homicide and made Athenian law altogether more humane. His code, though supplemented and modified, remained the foundation of Athenian statute law until the end of the 5th century, and parts of it were embodied in the new codification made at that time
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35. Economics: Living Wage
5th and 4th centuries BC, Greece had most advanced economy in known world
Some historians believe it was the most advanced pre-industrial economy of its time
Average daily wage of Greek worker – about 12 kg of wheat
Average daily wage of Egyptian worker – about 3.75 kg of wheat during about same time

36. Social: Changeable Social Status
In Athens:
Family ties did not confer social privileges
Four social classes, based on wealth
Earn more money, could change class
Women and slaves could own property but had no political rights
Slaves could earn freedom
Publicly owned slaves
In Sparta:
Spartan kings came from one of two families
All male citizens equal after completion of education
Slaves had no power or status
Helots – slaves who were captured in war, treated harshly