gods, democracy, and sparta ancient greece. earliest greece geography and early civilizations

G O D S , D E M O C RA C Y , A N D S PA RTA

ANCIENT GREECE

EARLIEST GREECE

GEOGRAPHY AND EARLY CIV IL IZATIONS

ANCIENT GREECE•Geography•Mountainous peninsula – Mount Olympus• Pindos Mountains• hundreds of rocky islands• Including Crete, Rhodes• part of the Turkish (Asia Minor) coast

ANCIENT GREECE• Peninsula of Peninsulas• Peloponnesus is the biggest• Aegean Sea in the middle of Greece• Ionian Sea to the West•Mediterranean Sea to the south

ANCIENT GREECE• Sea• Aegean Sea in the middle of Greece• Ionian Sea to the West• Mediterranean Sea to the south• Greeks sailed instead of travelling

across land because of the mountains

ANCIENT GREECE• Early Cultures•Minoans• Started on Crete• Most ancient of Greek civilization• Knossos was its capital• Built ships and sailed all over the

Mediterrainean

ANCIENT GREECE• Traded olive oil, wood, and pottery with

Egypt and southern Greece• Destroyed by a tsunami (tidal wave)

and ash from a volcano eruption on the island of Thera (Santorini)

ANCIENT GREECE•Mycenaeans• Lived on the Greek mainland peninsula

of Peloponnesus• Conquered Minoans• Were the first to speak Greek• Spread through war and conquest

ANCIENT GREECE• Attacked the city of Troy in Asia Minor• This event became known as the mythical

Trojan War

ANCIENT GREECE• The stories of Homer’s mythical Greece

are attributed to the Mycenaeans• Arête• the principle of honor in Gr society

• Heroism• Willingness of men to do great things like

in the myths of Homer

ANCIENT GREECE• City States• The polis• Center of life of a society• Usually a city or town

• People who lived there shared a common identity and common goals

ANCIENT GREECE• City-States• Acropolis• Fortified area on top of a hill around which the

walled-city was built• Farmers lived outside of the wall• If attacked, all men would form an army

• Agora• Market for goods and food or assembly place

ANCIENT GREECE• Social Classes• Each city state had citizens with rights

(adult males)• citizens without rights (women and

children) • non-citizens (slaves and foreigners)• All citizens felt that they were apart of their

city more than that they were Greek

ANCIENT GREECE• Colonization• In order to make more money from trade,

city-states established colonies all over the Mediterranean• Byzantium-Constantinople-Istanbul,

Turkey; Marseilles, France; and Naples, Italy are examples of Greek colonies

• Colonies sent back raw materials

ANCIENT GREECE• Egypt, S. Italy, S. France, E. Spain, SW

Spain, Cyprus, S. Turkey and Syria, and the coasts of the Black Sea• Also along the Hellespont and Bosporus• One of these cities on the Bosporus was

called Byzantium

ANCIENT GREECE•Military• Cavalry•Hoplites• Shield, spear, and short sword• Phalanx – rectangular formation that

used their shields together for protection

ANCIENT GREECE•Democracy•Government by the people, or rule of the many

•Oligarchy• Rule by a few power leaders

SPARTATHE ART OF WAR

ANCIENT GREECE•Sparta• Conquered and enslaved the kingdoms of Laconia and Messenia• Enslaved people were called the helots (captured)

ANCIENT GREECE•Military State• Males learned tactics from childhood• Entered the military at age 20• Lived within the barracks until the age of

30 and stayed in the military until age 60• Ate “black soup,” boiled in blood, salt, and

vinegar

ANCIENT GREECE•Women• Stayed at home• Expected to exercise and stay fit to

have kids

ANCIENT GREECE•Government• Two kings• Five Ephors• Educated the children• Kept law

ANCIENT GREECE• Council of Elders• The two kings and 28 men over the age of

60• Did not debate on any issue, only voted

• Assembly• All male age 30+

ANCIENT GREECE• Culture• Little is known about the culture of

Sparta• Art is war

ATHENSBIRTHPLACE OF DEMOCRACY

ANCIENT GREECE•Athens•On the peninsula of Attica• Its port city was Piraeus• At first was an insignificant city-state

ANCIENT GREECE• Aristocratic Rule• Government• At first ruled by aristocrats• Rich men who owned a lot of land• Commoners had little say

• Rebels rose up and Draco put into law harsh punishments for minor crimes

ANCIENT GREECE• Reforms • Solon – put into law less harsh crimes and

gave rights and citizenship to all free men• Even cancelled all debts, but did not help

• Pisistratus – a tyrant (good tyrant) overthrew the aristocracy, gave land and loans to poor, which allowed for increase in olive production, olive oil made Athens rich and powerful

ANCIENT GREECE• Peisistratus’ son (bad tyrant) was harsh

• Cleisthenes• Tried to overthrow Peisistratus’ son (his

nephew), failed, was banished• The people rebelled and made Cleisthenes

tyrant

ANCIENT GREECE• Athenian Democracy• But to let the people keep power, he made

the Pnyx, a place near the acropolis just for meeting to make decisions• Free male citizens passed laws by voting with a show of hands or secret ballot after free and open debate and speeches

• Cleisthenes is called the Father of Democracy

ANCIENT GREECE• Pericles• Led Athens for 30 years during the height

of their democracy• End of Democracy• The Macedonians invaded Greece and put

Athens under a dictatorship

ANCIENT GREECE•Modern Democracy•Direct Democracy• Every person gets a vote on every issue• Only works for small bodies• No country is a direct democracy• Small local governments can be

ANCIENT GREECE• Representative Democracy• Every person gets a vote to choose a

person to vote on every issue for them• Parliaments and Republics are

considered representative democracies

GREEK MYTHOLOGY

GODS AND HEROES

ANCIENT GREECE•Mythology •Mythology- a body of stories about gods and heroes that try to explain how the world works• Polytheistic- multiple gods

ANCIENT GREECE• Pantheon of Greek gods• Zeus, king of the gods• Hera, queen of the gods• Poseidon, god of the sea• Hades, god of the underworld

ANCIENT GREECE• Demeter, goddess of agriculture• Hestia, goddess of the hearth• Athena, goddess of wisdom• Apollo, god of the sun• Artemis, goddess of the moon

ANCIENT GREECE• Ares, god for war• Aphrodite, goddess of love• Hephaestus, god of fire/metalworking• Dionysus, god of celebration• Hermes, the messenger god

ANCIENT GREECE•Greeks used the gods to explain natural scientific events they didn’t understand• Winter was caused by a depressed

Demeter not allowing plants to grow• Volcanoes were Hephaestus’ forge

ANCIENT GREECE•Heroes were also mythological• Each city-state had a hero which had

some power given by a god or were part-god (demi-god)• Theseus (Athens) defeated the Cretan

Minotaur so Athenians wouldn’t have to send loved ones to die

ANCIENT GREECE• Jason and the Argonauts (N. Greece) sailed

in search of treasure, fighting monsters and enemies• Hercules (all of Greece) killed a hydra

(poisonous snake with nine heads) that grew two heads when one was cut off• Killed it by burning the neck of each head

removed

GREEK LITERATURE

HOMER AND AESOP

ANCIENT GREECE•Literature•Homer• Wrote 12 or 13 epic poems, only 2 remain• Iliad (i-l-i-a-d)• Last years of the Trojan War• Focuses on Achilles, the greatest Greek warrior

ANCIENT GREECE• Describes the battles and the destruction of

the city of Troy (Trojan Horse)• Odyssey• Odysseus, returning from the Trojan War,

upset Poseidon and it took him 10 years to return• Faced many obstacles placed by Poseidon

ANCIENT GREECE• Literature• Aesop• Wrote fables, stories that teach a moral lesson

or give advice• Used animals that talked and acted like humans

as the main characters• “The Tortoise and the Hare”• “Boy Who Cried Wolf”

THE ANTS AND THE GRASSHOPPER

•“The ants were spending a fine winter’s day drying grain collected in the summertime. A Grasshopper, [dying] of [hunger], passed by and begged for a little food.

THE ANTS AND THE GRASSHOPPER

•The Ants asked him, “Why did you not treasure up food for yourself during the summer?” He replied, “I had not leisure enough. I passed the days singing.”

THE ANTS AND THE GRASSHOPPER

•They then said disgusted, “If you were foolish enough to sing all the summer, you must dance supper-less to bed in the winter.”