CLASSICAL GREECE

EARLY GREECE

•Two distinct cultures developed in early Greece.The Minoans of Crete

•Developed as early as 3000 BC

•Lasted nearly 2,000 years

•Minoan ships sailed over Aegean Sea,

possibly farther – Life linked to SeaLife linked to Sea

•Colonized dozens of Aegean islands

•Ships filled with trade goods sailed between colonies

Minoans and Mycenaeans

KNOSSOSExcavations at Knossos

• Much of Minoan life revealed by excavations

– Solidly constructed buildings

– Private rooms

– Basic plumbing

– Brightly colored artwork

– Artwork shows life tied to sea, women as priests, dangerous games (Bull Leaping)

MINOAN CIVILIZATIONSpeculation

• Much history of Minoan civilization result of guesswork, speculation

–Historians cannot read Minoans’ writing, Linear A.

–Not related to languages of mainland Greece

Rapid Decline

• Minoan civilization fell apart suddenly, possibly from disaster.

–Large eruption of volcanic island near Crete

– May have affected worldwide weather patterns.

–Damage to Minoan ports, crops weakened society

• Minoans conquered by warlike Mycenaeans

MYCENAEANSThe Mycenaean States

• Mycenaeans built small kingdoms, often fought with each other

• Name comes from fortress, Mycenae

Minoan Influences

• Mycenaeans traded with Minoans, copied writing

• Became great traders

• Trade increased after they conquered Crete

MYCENAEANSFirst Greeks

• Mycenaeans considered first Greeks, spoke form of Greek language

• Earliest kingdoms owed much to Minoans

Mycenaean Differences

• Society dominated by intense competition, frequent warfare, powerful kings

• Kings taxed trade, farming to build palaces, high walls

Mycenaean Strength

• To show off strength, Mycenaeans built great monuments like Lion’s Gate

• Kings’ constant quest for power, glory inspired legends

Trojan War

• War supposedly involved early Greeks, led by Mycenae, who fought Troy, now Turkey

• Most famous, story of Trojan War (Paris (T), steal Helen wife of Menelaus (Sparta), Agamemnon (Myc/Bro of Menelaus), Acheilles & Ajax (Gr) killed, Hector (T) Killed, Horse, Odysseus

• War may not have happened, but ruins of city believed to be Troy were found

Mycenaean Strengths

Mycenaean DownfallDownfall

• War played part in end of Mycenaean civilization, as did drought, famine

• By end of 1100s BC, Mycenaean cities mostly in ruins; dark age followed

• Greek civilization almost disappeared

GREEK CITY-STATESLife in the Polis• Polis: City-State, center of daily life, culture• Greeks fiercely loyal to their polis• Not Greeks, but residents of their city-stateInfrastructure• Acropolis: Polis built around high area

• Fortification• Temples, ceremonial spaces

• Agora: public marketplace, belowOther Attributes• Shops, houses, temples near agora• Gymnasium, athletes’ training grounds, public bath• Sturdy wall for defense surrounded polis

Political Systems of Greek City-States

Political Systems

• Corinth, an oligarchy, ruled by a few individuals

• Athens, birthplace of democracy

• Sparta, one of mightiest city-states, Militaristic society

Beginnings

• Sparta located on Peloponnesus, large peninsula of southern Greece

• Sparta seized control of Neighboring towns

• Conquered Messenia, Messenians became helots; state slaves

• Given to Spartan citizens to

• Work on farms, citizens not perform manual labor.

• Spartan citizens free to spend time training for war

War

• Emphasis on war way to keep order in society

• Helots outnumbered Spartans 7 - 1, kept in check by strong army

The Might of Sparta

• Babies examined at birth, unhealthy children were left in the wild to die. Combat School

• Boys taught physical, mental toughness by mothers until age 7

• Age 7 = Entered combat school

• Age 20 boys became hoplites, foot soldiers;

• Serve 10 years = Citizen

Women in Society

• Trained to be physical fit, to bear strong children

• Women had right to own property

Militaristic State

Gods and HeroesThe Gods of OlympusGods protect them & city-states in exchange for rituals & sacrifices• 100’s of gods & goddesses; govern one aspect of nature, life• Zeus (Sky-Thunder), • Hera (Woman & Marriage), • Hephaestus (Smiths, Crafts, Tech, Fire, Etc…) , • Poseidon (Sea), • Demeter (Fertility), • Ares (War), • Hermes (Messenger of Gods), • Aphrodite (Love & Beauty), • Athena (Wisdom), • Apollo (Sun), • Artemis (Hunt, Childbirth, ), • Hestia (Hearth & Family)

• Top 12 lived together on Mount Olympus, highest mountain in Greece• Myths say gods flawed, they loved, hated, argued, made mistakes, got

jealous, & played tricks on each otherWorship

• Most Greeks worship same gods

• Each polis claimed one as protector

• Example: Athens sacred to Athena

Sacred Locations

• Oracle at Delphi; of Apollo receive visions of future

• Olympia—every four years Greek Olympic Games; athletes competed against each other to honor gods

Mount Olympus

Legends and Myths• Myths; explain natural phenomena, events of distant past• Myths explain where they came from, how they should live, & cope with uncertain

worldGreek Heroes

• Hercules, who had godlike strength (Hera)• Theseus, who killed Minotaur of Crete• Jason, Argonauts, Golden Fleece• Perseus, Kill Medusa• Odysseus, Trojan Horse, Poseidon, 10 Yrs Home• Achilles, Held by Mom Dipped In Styx, Almost Invulnerable

Myths about Heroes

ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY

GREECE; THE CLASSICAL AGE

•The world’s first democracy: a form of government run by the people.

Beginnings

Athens, birthplace of democracyReform•Gap between rich, poor led to conflict•Official named Draco reformed lawsDraconian Laws•Draco’s laws: End unrest was with harsh punishment•Harshness of laws worsened dispute between classes

Athenian Democracy

Revision of Draconian Laws

• 590s BC, Solon overturned Draco’s harshest laws

• All Athenian men serve in assembly & on juries

• Only wealthy men could run for, hold political office

Solon

PeisistratusPeisistratus• Solon’s laws relieved tension for

a time, did not resolve it• 541 BC, politician Peisistratus

seized power• Peisistratus = tyrant• Claimed to rule for good of

people• Violent but popular• People liked fact that he pushed

aristocrats out, increased trade

CleisthenesCleisthenes after Peisistratus

• Reforms set stage for Athenian democracy

– 10 tribes based on where people lived

– Made tribes basis for elections

– Each tribe elected 50 men to serve on Council of 500, proposed laws

– Each tribe elected one general

The Nature of Athenian Democracy

• Athens ruled by the people, only about 10%

–Free males, over age 20 & completed military training

• Women, immigrants, children, slaves had no role in government

Athenian Government

• Those allowed to take part in government expected to:

–Vote in all elections

–Serve in Office & Juries

–Serve in military during war

ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY

Height of DemocracyThree Main Bodies• Athenian democracy consisted of three main bodies—

• Assembly• Council of 500• Courts

Council of 500• Created by Cleisthenes• Wrote lawsAssembly• Included everyone eligible to serve in government• Voted on laws, Called direct democracyCourts • Up to 6,000 members• Chosen from the assembly• Heard trials, sentenced criminals

Elected Officials• Most governing done by assembly• Generals = Elected• Archon, Also Elected

• head of both assembly, Council of 500• term of one year• Could be removed from office or punished if not serve people well

Special Roles

•Early 500s BC, Greek city-states came into conflict with Persian EmpireCauses of the Conflict

•Ionian (Turkey) city-states founded as Greek colonies, fell under Persian rule, 500s BC

– Ionian Greeks unhappy with Persian rule

– Rebelled, 499 BC

CONFLICT ARISES

PERSIAN EMPIRE – DARIUS I

THE PERSIAN WARS

The Persian WarsRevenge• Athens send help for Ionians• Persians put down revolt

– Darius (Persia) angry & seek revenge– Attack Greek mainland

The First Persian Invasion• 490 BC, Fleet with tens of thousands of Persian troops set• Land Near Marathon, not far from Athens (26.2 Miles)Persian Retreat• Greeks Defeat Persians unloading ships,

–Charged in phalanx, tight rectangle formation• Persians retreatedMarathon – F.Y.I.• Phidippides, Athenian, messenger ran from Marathon to Athens after battle

to announce Greek victory; died from exhaustion after delivering message

First Invasion

• Darius dies, Son Xerxes continued to plan attack on GreeceXerxes • 480 BC, Xerxes set out for Greece• Hundreds of thousands of soldiers, sailors, animals, weapons, suppliesAthenians• Athenians ask for help• Sparta, bitter rival, agreed to help

Preparations for a Second Invasion

The Second Persian Invasion

•Spartans and allies gathered in a mountain pass at Thermopylae. (300)

•Spartans held off Persian’s for days

•Persians surround, kill Spartans

•Spartans’ bought time for Greeks’ defense

Second Invasion and Aftermath

After Thermopylae

•Persians sack Athens

•BATTLE OF SALAMIS: 1,200 v 400 triremes

•Greek warships Cut Off Supplies

• Persians run out of Supplies & Men

•Persians no longer a match for the Greeks

•Greeks win within the year, Xerxes Retreats, leaves men

Second Invasion and Aftermath

GOLDEN AGE& THE PELOPONNESIAN

WAR

Alliance• City-states banded together, defense & punish Persia1.Athens, Largest & richestDelian League• Treasury on island of Delos = Delian League• Athens controlIncreased Influence • Some resented Athenian dominance• Try to quit, attacked by league fleet, forced back in• League = Athenian empire

The Golden Age of Athens

A City in Ruins• People rebuild Athens after Persian Wars

–Most Money from treasury of Delian League–Members Not Happy

Height of Culture• Grandest temple, Parthenon, dedicated to Athena• Expanded port, new roads, high walls around city

Rebuilding Athens

•Rebuilding of Athens = Pericles, politician and gifted public speaker.Pericles•460s, elected 1 of Athens’ generals, became most influential politician

– Payment for public offices & juries– Push to expand democracy

Patron of the Arts•Commissioned Parthenon, & More

– Hired artists, sculptors to decorate them•Athens to be most glorious Greek city •Best gov’t, noblest people, monuments to prove superiority

The Age of Pericles

Life in the Golden AgeTrade brought great wealth to Athens.

• World brings own foods, customs

• Grand festivals, public celebrations, events

• Athletic games and city theaters

• Athens was the heart of Greek culture

•Athens, leader of the Delian League, was the richest & mightiest polis

•This brought many powerful rivals, the greatest of which was Sparta, Peloponnesian League•Allied city-states–Sparta #1•provide protection, security for membersTensions Built•Athens Vs Sparta

• Tensions & FearWar •Athens feared military of Sparta•Sparta feared loss of trading•431 BC, the two declared war, Sparta Wins

The Peloponnesian War

GREEK PHILOSOPHERS

Philosophy comes from the Greek word philosophia, “the love of wisdom.”

Background

• Inspired by greatest philosophers—

• Socrates,

• Plato,

• Aristotle

Greek Philosophy

Socrates

• First great Athenian philosopher

• Students’ writings, including Plato’s, put forth his ideas

Broad Concepts

• Socrates interested in broad concepts of human life—truth, justice, virtue

• Study People, Make society Better

Greek Philosophy

Socratic Method• People Learn Best by asking Questions• By working through questions, Socrates thought people discover basic nature of life• Method of learning through questions called the Socratic methodTrail & Death• Corrupting the youth and disbelieving in the ancestral gods

Philosophy of Socrates

Plato• One of Socrates’ students• Material goods are reflection of perfect ideal

• All trees in Greece are reflection of perfect ideal• The Republic argues that government should be led by philosophers

• Did not support Athenian democracyEDUCATION• Wanted to formalize philosopher’s education • Founded the Academy,

• Greek philosophers to do their work

The Third Philosopher

• Aristotle was among students who studied at the Academy

• More concerned with nature of world that surrounded him

• Tried to apply philosophical principles to every kind of knowledge

Emphasis on Reason and Logic

• Emphasis on reason, logic

• Reason, clear and ordered thinking;

–use reason to learn about world

• Observe carefully, think rationally what one sees

Inferring New Facts

• Aristotle develop logic, process of making inferences

• Example:

•Birds have feathers, lay eggs;

•Owls have feathers, lay eggs;

•Therefore, owl must be a type of bird

Aristotle

Homer’s Epics (Or Collaboration) Was He or Was He Not?

•Epic poems of great events and heroes

•The Iliad; 10th & Final Year of Trojan War

•The Odyssey, Odysseus’s journey home to Ithaca after Trojan War

Greek Literature

THE ODYSSEY1.Poseidon2.Calypso3.Suitors & Eagles4.Cyclops5.Circe6.Charybdis/Scylla7.Old Man to Son8.Suitors9.Bow10.Kill All

Other Forms of Poetry• Hesiod; descriptive poetry about gods, lives of peasants

• Greeks also created Lyric poetry, musical instrument accompany reading of poems

– Lyric poems do not tell stories, but deal with emotions, desires

• Lyric poets

– Sappho, Greek woman; dealt with daily life, marriage, love

– Pindar, poems commemorated public events, like Olympic Games

• Greek authors wrote about and analyzed own past• Herodotus: First major Greek historian,

• The Histories: described battles with Persia and public debates• Some sources unreliable

History

HistoryPrimary Sources

• Thucydides wrote about Peloponnesian War, it

• Used primary sources (speeches)

• Looked at sources critically, ignored unreliable

Describing Famous Men

• Xenophon fought in Persia after Persian Wars

• Concentrated less on sources, debates, more on describing famous men; had less critical style

• Work has helped us learn what life was like in 300s BC Greece – Social History

• New form of writing for entertainment—Drama, the art of playwriting.Athenian Roots

• Earliest dramas part of festivals, Recited stories

• Dionysus, god of wine and celebration

Drama

Dionysus Theatre in Athens

Tragedies

• Focused on hardships faced by Greek heroes

• Three great writers

1. Aeschylus, Greek myths

2. Sophocles, suffering people brought on selves

3. Euripides, tragedy brought on by chance, behavior

Comedies

• Comedies were satires, plays written to expose flaws of society

• Aristophanes greatest Greek comedy writer

• Plays poke fun at Athenian society, from gov’t, to role of women

Beauty

• Athenians enjoyed beauty, both written and visual

• Expressed written beauty through literature; visual beauty through architecture, art

Architecture

• Athenians wanted their city to be most beautiful in Greece

• Built magnificent temples, theatres, public buildings

Enhancements

• To enhance appearance of buildings, added fine works of art, painted and sculpted

Parthenon

• Massive temple to Athena

• Begun by Pericles, 447 BC (14 Yrs

Greek Architecture and Art

Greek Architecture and ArtParthenon impressive for proportion• Designers careful not to make too tall, too wide

• Parthenon more than 200 feet long, 100 feet wide– Had doors, no windows, Surrounded by tall, graceful columns

– Above columns, slabs of marble carved with scenes from myths

– Ruins appear white today, but parts originally painted in vivid hues

– Huge gold, ivory statue of Athena stood inside Parthenon

Human Forms• Greek sculptors among finest world has ever known• Sculpted human form; studied people at rest, moving, attention to musclesLifelike, Not Realistic• Greeks wanted statues to look lifelike, active, not necessarily realistic• Portrayed subjects as physically perfect, without blemishes, imperfections• Greek statues almost all depict figures of great beauty, graceRoman Copies• Few original works remain; Roman artists made many copies • Many copies survived even after original statues destroyed

Sculpture

.

Painting• Only a few original Greek paintings survive• Best preserved are paintings on vases, plates, other vessels• Scenes from everyday life, or from myths, legends• Most use only red, black; still convey movement, depthLarger Paintings• Little evidence of larger works; written sources say Greeks created murals in

many public buildings• Often included scenes from Iliad, Odyssey; showed aftermath of battles,

rather than battle itself• Themes similar to tragic drama popular with Athenians

Alexander the Great & His Legacy

•Macedonia rose to power & control of Greece after the Peloponnesian War. The Rise of Macedonia

•Greeks considered Macedonians backward

– Lived in villages, not cities

– Spoke form of Greek unintelligible to other Greeks

•359 BC, Philip II took throne

Alexander the Great

Alexander the GreatArmy Reorganization

• 1 of Philip’s 1st actions

• Phalanx system, with longer spears, 16 x 16

• Larger bodies of cavalry and archers

• Set out to conquer Greece– Little opposition

– Crushed armies, All but Sparta

Alexander Becomes King

• Philip was assassinated

• Alexander only 20

• Learned warfare and politics from father, mother, and Aristotle

Alexander’s Conquests

• Alexander faced revolts in Greece, Used harsh measures

• Crushed Theban army and sold people into slavery, burned city

Alexander the Great

Empire• Alexander decided to build empire

• 334 BC, Alex to Asia for Persians Major victory• Then to Phoenicia• Then Egypt, named new pharaoh• Battle of Gaugamela (Iraq) Darius III Flees• Burned Persepolis, as sign of victory

• Push to Indus Valley, Army Refuse

Empire Building

Death at Early Age• Alexander’s empire largest world had ever seen• 323 BC, Alexander fell ill while in Babylon, Died at age 33• Alexander died without naming heirPower Struggle• Empire was divided • Three most powerful generals

1. Antigonus king of Macedonia & Greece2. Seleucus ruled Persia3. Ptolemy ruled Egypt

End of the Empire

•Greece was no longer purely Greek, or Hellenic, but Hellenistic, or GreeklikeBlending Cultures

•Bring people & ideas together

•Alex Married two Persian princesses

•Encouraged soldiers to marry Persians as well

New Cities

•Appointed officials from various cultures to help rule

•Built new cities, Most named Alexandria

•Alexandria, Egypt, Mouth of Nile - Trade

• Harbor busiest in world

The Hellenistic World

Center of Culture

• With trade money, great palaces, monuments

• Home to centers of culture, learning

Center of Learning

• The Museum, temple to spirit of creativity, home to many works of art

• Library of Alexandria; works on philosophy, literature, history, sciences

Trading Centers

• Alexandria one of largest trading centers

– Egypt, Persia, Central Asia, Africa, Arabia, India

• Traders brought back goods, new ideas like teachings of Judaism

Alexandria and Beyond

Drastic Changes• Hellenic to Hellenistic changed lives• City-state replaced by kingdom• Greek democracy to monarchyLife for Women• Gained rights to receive education, own property

Life in the Hellenistic World

• Blending of cultures brought significant changes

New Philosophies

Cynicism;

• Students reject pleasure, wealth, social responsibility

• People live according to nature

Epicureans

• People should seek pleasure (Good), & try to avoid pain (evil)

Develop close friendships with likeminded peopleStoicism: • Emphasis on reason, self-discipline, emotional control and personal morality. • Stoics believed people should find their proper role in society and fulfill it

Hellenistic Achievements

Art and LiteratureArt and literature changed during Hellenistic Period

• Hellenistic artists convey emotion, movement in works, especially sculpture

• Women became more common as subject of art & lit.

– Early Greek statues just men

– Love stories became popular

– Writings focused on people’s everyday lives

• Tremendous advances in science, technology during this period

• Euclid formulated many ideas about geometry we still learn about today

• Eratosthenes, who calculated size of the world

• Pythagoras: Mathematics

• Hippocrates: “Father of Medicine”

Science and Technology

Science and TechnologyInventors

• Archimedes, one of world’s greatest inventors

• Compound pulley to lift heavy loads; also invented

• Mechanical screw to draw water out of ship’s hold, out of deep well

Steam Engine, Vending Machine, Dancing Statues, Alarm Clock, etc…