1. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
Chapter 4 Greece

2. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
Geography heavily influenced Greek Culture
Located on the Balkan Peninsula
Greeks settle into city-states separated by mountainous land & narrow river valleys
Because of their long sea coast & many harbors, the Greeks became great traders and lived on a healthy diet of fish.
Chapter 4: Ancient Greece

3. MINOAN CIVILIZATION (2700-1450BC)
Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
MINOAN CIVILIZATION ( BC)
Located on Island of Crete
Developed civilization in response to contact with Egypt
Merchants (trading culture)
Palace at Knossos
Minoans trade with Egypt
Established trade contacts with Mycenaeans
Destroyed in 1500 BC- perhaps by Mycenean invaders or a tsunami (tidal wave) triggered by a volcanic eruption

4. MYCENAEAN CIVILIZATION (1600-1100’s BC)
Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
First city-state, grew out of Central Greece, eventually controlling Greek mainland
Very proud, heroic warrior culture.
Homer’s Iliad & Odyssey probably written at the end of this age
Stone fortifications surrounded cities
Main economic activity was piracy
Frequent War between city-states & earthquakes led to fall of Mycenae in 1100’s BC
Mycenean soldier replica (top) and statue (left)

5. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
THE DARK AGE ( BC)
Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
Food supply and population declines
(few written records)
Many Greeks left the mainland and settled elsewhere
Islands in Aegean Sea
Coast of Turkey and Black Sea
Southern Italy & France
Eastern and southern coasts of Spain
Coast of North Africa
Greek colonists always kept their ties to the Greek mainland
and their Greek identity. Colonists remained “Greek” in a cultural sense no matter where they lived

6. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
THE POLIS
Polis: a Greek city-state. A city-state is an independent political unit made up of a city & its surrounding area
Ancient Greece had no kings or family dynasties.
The polis was governed by assemblies of men who were capable of military service
The early Greek military was made of noblemen on horseback. These were the only men wealthy enough to arm and equip themselves.
Athens (Present Day)

7. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
Acropolis
Agora .
Every Polis generally had two features:
Agora – Open area used as a market and social gathering place. Homes were usually close to the agora.
Acropolis- a fortified hilltop area
Provided safe refuge during attack.
Contained public buildings and religious temples dedicated to favorite gods.
Parthenon in Athens-dedicated to Athena (previous slide)

8. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
Polis Trade & Tyranny ( BC)
The spread of Greek settlements during the Dark Age led to the development of trade
Mainland Greeks exported pottery, wine & olive oil.
They received grain and metals from the West and fish, lumber, wheat and slaves from the East
Cities like Byzantium & Troy became crucial trade points
A wealthy class of traders began to challenge the ruling aristocrats in Greece.

9. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
Eventually the wealthy traders took over political control from the noblemen
These traders were called tyrants.
At this point, the word tyrant simply refers to a leader who seized power by force from the ruling aristocrats.
The Greek tyrants were not necessarily oppressive or unwelcome. They were often very popular.
Because the aristocrats had oppressed the peasants, the peasants supported the tyrants.

10. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
Tyranny in the City-States (cont.)
Tyrants seized and kept power by using hired soldiers.
They built new walls and temples, which glorified their cities and made them popular.
By the end of the sixth century B.C., however, tyrants had fallen out of favor.
Their rule contradicted the rule of law that was a Greek ideal.
Periander, a very popular tyrant in Corinth, Greece

11. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
Tyranny in the City-States (cont.)
The end of tyranny allowed new classes to participate in government.
Some city-states became democracies, ruled by the many.
“Demos” is Greek for people, “Kratos” means power
Others became oligarchies, ruled by a privileged few.

12. Athens and Sparta show the differences between these two kinds of government
Glorification of individual
Movement toward democracy; limited citizenship; rise of tyrants
Wealth & power of aristocracy
Participation in government by male citizens
Slaves
Military training & education for boys
Trade with other city-states
Limited rights for women
SPARTA
Government made up of 2 kings, council of elders, citizens assembly, 5 ephors
Citizenship for native-born Spartan men over 30 years
State-owned slaves
Strict control over people
Prohibition against trade, travel, or mixing with other city-states
Scornful of wealth
Women can own property but expected to obey men

13. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
Athens & Sparta
Chapter 4: Ancient Greece

14. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
ATHENIAN “DEMOCRACY”
Athens: only 30,000 out of a total population of approx. 200,000 were “free citizens”
WHO WAS EXCLUDED FROM CITIZENSHIP?
Women
Slaves
Residents not born in Athens
Lower classes who could not afford military service

15. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
SPARTAN SOCIETY
Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
All Life Devoted to the Military
Babies inspected for defects
Boys taken from mothers at age 7 for 14 years military training
Spend entire adult life in army
Created Peloponnesian League

16. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
GREAT PERSIAN WAR
Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
Ionian Greeks revolt unsuccessfully against Persia in 499 B.C.
Started by Darius I in 490 BC and continued by his son, Xerxes (until 479 BC)
Three invasion attempts of mainland Greece
Greece won
More familiar with terrain
Fighting for their homes
City-states united together to face Persian threat

17. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
After the War
Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
Athens formed a defense alliance called the Delian League among the Greek city states. (former military alliance transformed into an empire)
Pericles (leader)
Drew on resources of empire to transform city into the most beautiful city of the ancient world
Turned Athens into a direct democracy
Mass meetings where all male citizens could vote on issues.
A system of ostracism developed to protect themselves from overly ambitious politicians. (6,000 votes and someone could be banned form the city…ex. Socrates)

18. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
PELOPONNESIAN WAR
Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
Between Athens and Sparta
Lasted 25 years ( BC)
Caused massive destruction and loss of life throughout Greek world
Sparta technically won but it was an empty victory—both Athens and Sparta exhausted
Did the Greeks learn anything from this horrible experience? No !!
It did leave the Greeks vulnerable and they were conquered by the Macedonians

19. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
MACEDONIAN CONQUEST
Philip II, “King and Warrior Lord” of Macedonia, invades Greece in 338 BC and conquers entire peninsula
Murdered two years later
In the middle of planning “war of revenge” against the Persian Empire
Succeeded by his 21-year old son, Alexander (the Great)
Not only continued his father’s plan but also went beyond Philip’s wildest dreams to create the largest empire the world had ever seen
Encompassed all the land between Greece and the middle of India
Alexander’s Empire

20. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
Alexander the Great Film
Chapter 4: Ancient Greece

21. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece

22. Classical Greek Culture (before Alexander the Great)
Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
Classical Greek Culture (before Alexander the Great)
The Greeks were the first to write and perform plays
Greek Philosophy (love of wisdom) organized rational thought

23. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
GREEK LITERATURE
ILLIAD AND ODYSSEY
Composed by Homer
Deal with the wars of the Mycenaneans and their attack on Troy
Include many famous characters: Achilles, Odysseus, Agamenon and many gods
Characters not portrayed in black and white terms—even heroes have personality flaws. Sophisticated portrayal of characters

24. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
GREEK POETS
SAPPHO (female poet from Lesbos)
Only fragments of her poetry survive
Great descriptive beauty and insight into human relationships
PINDAR
Developed the eulogy—long poems praising the lives and exploits of famous individuals

25. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
GREEK THEATER
Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
Invented tragedy and comedy
Wore masks and used chorus
Plots derived from mythology
Sophocles---Wrote Oedipus the King
Euripides— The Trojan Women

26. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
Philosophers
Socrates – Athenian who was ostracized. “ the unexamined life is not worth living”
Plato – Socrates student wrote the Republic – ideals of a virtuous state
Aristotle – Plato’s student, wrote Politics…3 good forms of government Monarchy/ Aristocracy / Constitutional Government
Also wrote on many other subjects (ethics, logic, biology, physics, astronomy)

27. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
SOCRATES AND PLATO
Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
Philosopher: “lover of wisdom”
Interested in fundamental questions about the human condition– what is justice; what is good; what is beauty
Used rigorous logic and demanding question-and-answer form of inquiry
Attempted to find absolute answers (universally valid answers that apply to all people, at all times, and in all places

28. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
ARISTOTLE
Interested in same questions as Socrates and Plato
Differed in method
Argued that a person should gather evidence on a topic, analyze that evidence, and then base conclusions on that analysis
Example: Politics

29. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
GREEK SCIENCE
PYTHAGORAS
Mathematician
Formula for the square of a right angle triangle
HIPPOCRATES
Father of modern medicine
Rejected supernatural explanations for illness
Theory of “bodily humours” (blood, water, black bile, yellow bile)
Hippocratic Oath

30. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
Greek Architecture
Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
Ancient Greeks were excellent architects and builders. 
They were master column builders. 
They developed the column.  They used the column in most of their important structures. 
There are three main parts to a column. 
Base
Shaft
Capital 
The column has come to define Greek architecture and it was by far the most important factor in Greek architecture. 

31. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
Greek Architecture
Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
There were three types of Greek columns. 
Doric
Ionic
Corinthian

32. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
Doric Columns in New York City
Corinthian Columns at the University of Virginia
Ionic Columns at the University of Virginia

33. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
PARTHENON
Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
Excellent example of Classical Greek Architecture
Built as a temple
Known for its calm and orderly characteristics

34. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
Parthenon
Chapter 4: Ancient Greece

35. Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
Hellenistic Kingdoms
Civil war erupts after Alexander’s death
Empire is ultimately split into three parts among his former generals
Ptolemy (Egypt)
Selecus (most of old Persian Empire)
Antigonus Gonatus (Macedonia and Greece)
Known as the “successor kingdoms”
Period known as the Hellenistic Age

36. HELLENISTIC CIVILIZATION
Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
Realistic Sculpture
Advances in science
Center of intellectual/cultural achievement moved to cities of successor kingdoms (Alexandria)
Fusion of Greek and Middle Eastern civilization = Hellenism

37. HELLENISTIC Philosophies
Chapter 4: Ancient Greece
HELLENISTIC Philosophies
Individualistic philosophies (Skepticism, Stoicism, Cynicism, Epicureanism)
Epicureanism – Believed human beings were free to follow self interests and happiness was their goal in life…..Pursue Pleasure
Stoicism –founded by Zeno, believed happiness was gained by living in harmony with the will of god – regarded public service as noble

38. Tholos: Beehive shaped royal tomb
Agamemnon’s Mask