Development of Greece

Day 36 – Semester 1

Bellwork

• Make 10 sentences using the 10 most important words.epic democracymyth oligarchymonarchy philosopherpolis phalanxaristocracy acropolis

Athens

• Built a democracy• Draco – developed legal code all equal under the

law• Solon – outlawed debt slavery; only wealthy

could hold political office; all citizens could participate in the assembly

• Cleisthenes – citizens could submit laws for debate and passage; created Council of Five Hundred that proposed laws and were chosen randomly; limited democracy

Athens

• Education– Sons of wealthy families received formal

education– Started at seven; taught to be good citizens;

studied reading, grammar, poetry, history, mathematics and music; also learned logic and public speaking; later attended military school

Sparta

• Military state• Had helot , peasants who were forced to stay

on the land they worked• Had a Council of Elders, 30 older citizens who

proposed laws; Five elected officials carried out laws; Controlled education and prosecuted court cases

Sparta• Social order– Ruling family– Noncitizens who were free– Helots, little better than slaves

• Daily life– Discouraged individual expression (no art, literature)– Valued: duty, strength, discipline– Men served in army from 7 until 60– Girls received military training as well– Women had freedom unlike in Athens

Classical Greece• Challenge of Persia– Darius, the Persian ruler, wanted revenge on Greece

for the Ionian revolt that Athenians assisted in– Persians landed at Marathon, Athenians defeated the

Persians– Pheidippides ran 26 miles to announce the victory to

Athens (marathon)– Xerxes, new Persian monarch, led massive invasion of

Greece at the pass of Thermopylae – Held off by 300 Spartans– Spartans defeated eventually– Used a phalanx (army formation)

• Challenge of Persia (cont)– Athenians abandoned Athens– Persians sack and burn Athens– At Salamis the Greek fleet defeats the Persians– The final defeat of Persians came at Plataea, NW

of Athens

• Growth of Athenian Empire– After Persians defeat Athens took over the Greek

world– Delian League: a defensive alliance against the

Persians• Liberated all of the Greek states from Persian control

– Pericles: dominate figure in Athenian politics between 461 and 429 BC• Expanded empire• Democracy flourished• Height of power and brillance

Age of Pericles• Direct democracy: people participate directly in

government decision making through mass meetings

• Every male citizen participated and voted on major issues

• Meetings held at the Acropolis• Passed all laws, elected public officials and made

final decisions on war and foreign policy• Lower-class males eligible for public office and

officeholders were paid

Age of Pericles (cont.)

• Ostracism: used to protect against overly ambitious politicians; wrote name on broken piece of pottery and if named by 6000 members than that person was banned from city for 10 years

• Pericles set about rebuilding after Persian destruction

The Great Peloponnesian War• Athenian Empire vs Sparta• Beginning of war: Athens stayed inside city walls

and received supplies from colonies and navy; Spartans surrounded Athens

• 2nd year of war: plague broke out in Athens killed 1/3 of the people including Pericles; fighting continued 25 more years

• Athenian fleet was destroyed at Aegospotami on the Hellespont; Athens surrendered

• Power struggle between Greek city-states caused them to ignore Macedonia to the north

Daily Life in Classical Athens

• Adult males had political power• Foreigners received the protection of the laws• 100,000 slaves; most people owned at least 1

slave• Athenian Economy– Based on farming and trade (grapes, olive trees)– Imported grain

• Family and Role of Women in Athens– Family an important institution– Primary function of family was to produce new

citizens– Women could take part in religious festivals, but

were excluded from all other parts of public life– Women could not own property– Women had to have a male guardian– Women: good wife, bear children; take care of

family and house; married at 14 or 15; some learned to read and write and play musical instruments; no formal education

Greek Religion

• Religion necessary to the well being of the state• Religious temples were major buildings• 12 chief gods and goddesses housed at Mount

Olympus• Rituals were important• Festivals honored gods and goddesses• Used an oracle: a sacred shrine where a god or

goddess revealed the future through a priest or priestess

Greek Drama

• First dramas were tragedies: presented in a trilogy around a common theme (ex. Oresteia by Aeschylus)

• Playwright Sophocles wrote Oedipus Rex• Euripides: questioned traditional values• Examined problems of good and evil, rights of

individuals, divine forces, nature of humans• Comedy was developed to criticize politicians

and intellectuals

Greek Philosophy (organized system of thought)

• Sophists: the human mind can not understand the universe; individuals should improve themselves; no absolute right or wrong

• Socrates: left no writings; education should improve the individual; Socratic method; knowledge is within the person; individuals can reason; questioned authority

Greek Philosophy (cont)

Greek Philosophy (cont)

• Aristotle: studied under Plato; examine individual objects; said three good forms of government – monarchy, aristocracy and constitutional government; favored constitutional government

Writing of History

• Herodotus: wrote History of the Persian Wars (1st real history)

• Thucydides: wrote History of Peloponnesian War; examined cause and course of war

Classical Ideals of Greek Art

• Expressed eternal ideas• Human being as a beauty• Famous temples and buildings• Idealist not realistic

Homework

• Honors: Read 121-133• Regular: Read 134-139

Honors: Worksheet 4-3

Honors: Worksheet 4-4

Regular: Workbook page 18