1. The Civilization of the Greeks

2. 431 BCE: Period of Warring States in China and beginning of Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta
Pericles Funeral Oration: democracy and importance of the individual
Greeks questioned the world around them and created system of logical, analytical thought to examine
8th c BCE city-state (polis) emerged
Classical era= 5th c. BCE
Ultimately defeated by Philip II of Macedonia, but Greek culture continued to spread by Alexander the Great
(Hellenic “Greek” vs. Hellenistic “Greek-like” culture)

3. Mountainous terrain/ limited arable land: couldn’t unify- rise of independent city-states
Mediterranean Sea was Key
Sparta on Peloponnesus
Athens on Attica Peninsula
Early Greece

4. earliest civilization in Aegean region on island of Crete around 2800 BCE
Palace at Knossos- sea empire
Contact with Egypt: evidence in trade
Height between 2000 and 1450 BCE
Palace had bathrooms with drains!
Bull-vaulting
Around 1450BCE sudden and catastrophic collapse- cause still debated: perhaps an invasion by the Mycenaeans?
Minoan Crete

5. First GREEK State- Mycenae
Greek civilization that flourished between 1600 and 1100BCE
Key city= Thebes
Epic poetry of Homer- did Mycenaean Greeks, led by Agamemnon, King of Mycenae, sack the city of Troy c. 1250BCE?
Was Troy a vassal of the Hittites?
Decline due to invasion
First GREEK State- Mycenae

6. The Greeks in a Dark Age (c. 1100-750BCE)
Declining population and failing food production
Large number of Greeks migrated to other places, including SW shore of Asia Minor “Ionia”
Iron replaced bronze in weapons= more affordable and prevalent
8th c. BCE: Greeks adopted Phoenecian alphabet
Homer – Iliad and Odyssey
The Greeks in a Dark Age (c BCE)

7. Homer’s Enduring Importance
Homer and Homeric Greece
Iliad and Odyssey based on oral tradition
Gave Greeks an idealized past
Iliad: poem of Trjoan War- sparked by Paris, a prince of Troy, kidnapping Helen, wife of King of Sparta. Spartan king’s brother, Agamemnon of Mycenae Greeks attacked Troy
Helen was “The Face which launched a thousand ships.”
Tale of Greek hero Achilles “Achilles heel”
Odyssey: Epic Romance- journeys of Greek hero, Odysseus, from fall of Troy until reunited with his wife Penelope, 20 years later
Values of aristocratic heroes
Homer’s Enduring Importance
Gave Greeks a common and idealized past
Arete: excellence befitting a hero…won in a struggle or a contest
Popularity of Homer’s epics as educational tools: memorization
Homer’s Ideal of Excellence: The Iliad “Fate is a thing that no man born of woman, coward, or hero can escape.”

8. The Greek City States (c. 750-c. 500 BCE)
What were the chief features of the polis, or city – state, and how did Athens and Sparta differ?

9. The Polis Plural poleis
Small, autonomous political unity…consisted of city and its surrounding countryside
Acropolis: fortified hill
Agora: open marketplace (agoraphobia: fear of crowds)
Polis: community of citizens in which all political, economic, social, cultural, and religious activities were focused.
Citizens with political rights (free adult males), citizens with no political rights (women and children, and noncitizens (slaves and resident aliens)
The Polis

10. Colonization and Trade
Greek Way of War
Colonization and Trade
New military order based on hoplites: heavily armed infantrymen who wore bronze or leather helmets, breastplates, and greaves (shin guards)…round shield, short sward, and thrusting spear about 9 feet long
Battle formation= phalanx…safety of which depended on the solidarity and discipline of its members
War was an integral part of the Greek way of life
Excellent weapons and body armor, wide number of citizen-soldiers (rather than mercenaries), use of heavy infantry
Between 750 to 550BCE large numbers of Greeks left to settle in distant lands due to the growing gulf between rich and poor, overpopulation, and the development of trade.
New Greek settlements: coastline of southern Italy, southern France, eastern Spain, and northern Africa, west of Egypt…city of Byzantium in the north…fostered greater sense of Greek identity
Colonization also led to increased trade and industry…new wealthy class to compete with aristocrats

11. Tyranny in the Greek Polis Greek tyrants came to power in an unconstitutional way (usurpers of power)…support for tyrants mostly came from new rich and poor Oligarchies “rule by small group of wealthy people” Common transition of power in Athens: monarchy-oligarchy-tyranny-democracy

12. SPARTA located in the southeastern Peloponnesus
Spartans conquered the Laconians and Messenians and reduced them to serfdom…known as HELOTS- forced to work for Spartans…created military state to control the helots

13. The New Sparta 800-600BCE The Spartan State
Lycurgan Reforms: in Sparta to maintain control over the conquered Messenians
Spartan’s lives were rigidly organized and controlled
Spartan= highly self-disciplined (ex: Spartan lifestyle)
Boys moved to military barracks at 7…could marry at 20…could live at home at 30…could visit home, but not get caught
Military life: “come back with your shield, or on top of it…”
Spartan women had greater rights/freedom…marry later, exercise
The Spartan State
Government organized as an oligarchy
2 kings, led army, shared power with the gerousia, (council of elders)
apella= assembly of all male citizens
Isolationist
Philosophy discouraged, focus on war
By 500 BCE: Sparta dominated the Peloponnesian League

14. Athens
Government in Athens: Monarchy to Oligarchy to Tyranny to Democracy
Disparity between rich and poor, some Athenian farmers were being sold into slavery if they couldn’t pay debts by their aristocratic neighbors

15. solon The Reforms of Solon
Solon= reform-minded aristocrat as sole archon in 594BCE w/ full power to make changes…Solon canceled all land debts, no human collateral, and freed slaves from debts…did not redistribute the land
Pisistratus seized power in 560BCE as a tyrant (usurper of power)
solon

16. The Birth of Democracy The Reforms of Cleisthenes
Created the Council of 500, chosen by lot by the ten tribes in which all citizens had been enrolled…administration of both foreign and financial affairs
Assembly of all male citizens had final say
Reforms of Cleisthenes created the foundation for Athenian democracy
Democracy= demos, “people”, kratia, “power”
The Birth of Democracy

17. Foreign Influence on Early Greek Culture
Cultural diffusion between the Greeks and the older civilizations of the Near East and Egypt
Ex: multiple gods and goddesses and the story of a flood from Mesopotamia
Kouros statues= example of diffusion between Egypt and Greece
Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet, but added vowels…Greek was a truly phonetic alphabet, easier to read and use

18. Persians…
Greeks versus Persians, Greeks saw the struggle with the Persians was a contest between freedom and slavery
Ionian Greek cities in Asia Minor were subjects of the Persians
Unsuccessful Ionian revolt, aided by Athenian navy, led to Persian ruler Darius to seek revenge by attacking mainland Greeks
490BCE Persians defeated by Athenians at Marathon
Xerxes succeeded Darius
Greek Trireme= standard warship of ancient Greece…especially effective at ramming enemy ships
Xerxes led an invasion of Greece…Greeks tried to delay the Persians at the pass of Thermopylae…Greek force led by Spartan King Leonidas and 300 Spartans held pass for 2 days…then a traitor showed the Persians a pass to outflank the Greeks…Spartans fought to the last man
Athenians abandoned their city and Persians burned it
Defeat of the Persians with use of the navy at Salamis

19. Athenian Empire in the age of Pericles
The Growth of an Athenian Empire in the Age of Pericles
Formation of the Delian League, led by Athens…city-states had to pay tribute, Athens controlled the treasury
Age of Pericles, BCE, height of Athenian power and the culmination of its brilliance as a civilization
Magistrates chosen by lot, many male citizens got the chance to serve during their lifetime
Strategoi: board of 10 officials elected by public vote to guide affairs of the state
Lower-class citizens were now eligible for public offices with state pay for officeholders
However, aristocrats still held most important offices
Pericles used the treasury money of the Delian League to rebuild Athens, for example: the Parthenon
Sparta accused Athens of mismanaging Delian League funds

20. The Great Peloponnesian War and the Decline of the Greek States
Sparta vs. Athens
431BCE outbreak of war
Athenians wanted to rely on their walls and their navy, Spartans wanted to rely on their army
Plague broke out in Athens, losing 1/3 of population, including Pericles
404BCE Athens was defeated by Sparta, and was forced to tear down the walls of their city
Ultimately weakened the Greek City-states, next 70 years Athens, Sparta, and Thebes jockeyed for position, oblivious to growing threat of Macedonia to the north.

21. Greek Culture The Arts Athens was the center of culture
 The Writing of History
Herodotus – Persian Wars
Thucydides- Peloponnesian War
Drama
First Greek dramas were tragedies with all parts played by men.
Aeschylus: first tragedia
Sophocles: most famous work= Oedipus Rex (or Oedipus the King)…man is destined to kill his father and marry his mother
Euripedes: questioned traditional moral and religious values
Common theme: humans are free but can only operate within limitations imposed by the gods
Comedies came later: Aristophanes= famous comedian with Lysistrata and The Clouds
Classical style- reason, moderation, symmetry, balance, and harmony in all things
Parthenon: ideal classical style
Wisdom
Philosophy= Greek word meaning “Love of Wisdom”
Sophists: group of philosophers in the 5th century BCE – believed in relative truth and that understanding the universe was beyond the reach of the human mind…importance of rhetoric…”true wisdom consisted of being able to perceive and pursue one’s own good”
Socrates: believed in absolute truth…Socratic Method…believed all knowledge is within each person, only critical examination was needed to call it forth…sentenced to death for corrupting the youth
3 orders of columns: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian 

22. Aristotle Socrates Plato
Plato: student of Socrates…how do we know what is real? The objects that we perceive with our senses are simply reflections of the ideal Forms.
Plato’s government ideas- book: The Republic…rule by “philosopher-kings”…established school in Athens called The Academy…believed men and women should have the same education and equal access to all positions
Aristotle: student of Plato, teacher to Alexander the Great. Analyzing and classifying things based on thorough research and investigation
Aristotle’s book on government: Politics…3 good forms of government: monarchy, aristocracy, and constitutional government…believed women were biologically inferior to men
Aristotle
Socrates
Plato

23. Religion Religion was integral to Greek society
Public festivals important…civic cult necessary for the well-being of the state…multiple gods/ goddesses
Axial Age: between 700 and 300 BCE: development of ideas or “axes” that remained the basis for religions and philosophies for hundreds of years: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Zoroaster, Hebrews, Confucianism, Daoism, Hinduism, Buddhism
Polytheistic, 12 chief gods who lived on Mt. Olympus
Zeus, Hera, Athena, Apollo, Aphrodite, Poseidon
Rituals and sacrifice
Olympic games originated to honor Zeus
Oracles as interpreters of the gods
Religion

24. Life… Life in Classical Athens
Polis was a male community, women, slaves, and foreign residents of Athens were excluded (about 85% of total pop.)
Slavery was pervasive
Economy and Lifestyle
Athenian economy was based on agriculture and trade
Lack of arable land…Athens had to import 50 to 80% of its grain, therefore trade was very important
Olive oil
Family and Relationships
Family was central institution in ancient Athens
Women’s primary role was to bear children, especially boys
Athenian women married at 14 or 15…Spartan women later 18 to 20
Male homosexuality was a prominent feature of Athenian life.
Life…

26.
Alexander the Great