BY: W E N DY J I

ANCIENT GREECE

WHERE EXACTLY IS GREECE?

• North of Peloponnesus

• Surrounded by the Ionian Sea to the West, the Aegean Sea to the East

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GEOGRAPHY

• Peninsula; made up of over 1,000 islands Greeks depended on trade and could easily navigate the waters• Aegean, Mediterranean, Ionian, and

Black Seas

• Very mountainous land split city-states apart, couldn’t unite

• Unfertile, rocky soil farmers grew grapes, olives, grains

• Mild climate year round

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BRIEF HISTORY

• Indo-Europeans came, became known as the Mycenaeans• Trojan War: Greece vs. Troy Greek victory

• Less civilized Dorians later conquered the Mycenaeans

http://www.wired.com/images/index/2008/04/trojan_horse_400px.jpg

CITY-STATES

Sparta• Military• Aristocracy• Discipline, strength,

obedience• Agriculture

Athens• Education• Democracy• Individual expression,

freedom, art• Trading

• City-states• Ancient Greece was made up of many city-states which

functioned as independent political units• Two of the most powerful and prominent:

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WARS & CONQUESTS

• Persian Wars: Greek vs. Persia Greek victory• Peloponnesian Wars: Athens vs. Sparta Sparta won, but

wars weakened Greece which led to…• Macedonian conquest of Greece by King Phillip II• His son, Alexander the Great, takes over after his death and

expands his empire

http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/graphics/alexanderempiremap_large.jpg

GOVERNMENT

• Ancient Greece is well known as the birth place for many political institutions• Athens• City-states each had direct democracies only free men

could vote• Officials chosen by lot; terms limited to prevent tyranny

and to give everyone a chance to rule

• Sparta and most other city-states• Aristocracy : “rule of the best”

ARCHITECTURE

• Parthenon: honor the gods

• Amphitheaters were a popular place to gather; citizens often came to watch plays

• “Classical architecture”, columns : Doric, Ionic, Corinthian

http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/parthenon-and-the-acropolis-landmark-1.jpg

MATHEMATICS & SCIENCE

• Euclid: discovered geometry; postulates/theorems

• Pythagoras: Pythagorean Theorem

• Ptolemy: geocentric theory later refuted

http://www.onemathematicalcat.org/algebra_book/online_problems/graphics/pythag_thm.gif

PHILOSOPHY

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Socrates:question everything

Plato: True, Good, Beautiful

Aristotle: balance

LITERATURE

• Epics• Blind storyteller known as Homer wrote two of the

greatest epics:1. The Iliad2. The Odyssey

• Poetry• Sappho

• Plays• Tragedy and drama

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SOCIAL STRUCTURE

• Though Ancient Greece’s social divisions were not as extreme as those of other classical civilizations, such as India or China, there were noticeable separations.

• Slaves utilized for manual labor• Family emphasized• Women inferior to men

• Wealth + property = social status

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IMPACT & CONTRIBUTIONS

• Democracy is a key aspect to many nations around the world today.

• Summer Olympics still take place every 4 years; alternating with Winter Olympics every 4 years as well unites nations around the globe

• Poems, stories, and plays written in ancient Greece still are revered today.

• Philosophic ideas developed in Ancient Greece still taught today.

• Advances in science, math, and technology• Architectural styling still applied to modern

buildings• Ancient Greece has significantly

shaped and influenced modern civilizations.

WORKS CITED

• Stearns, Peter N., Michael Adas, Stuart B. Schwartz, and Marc Jason Gilbert. World Civilizations: The Global Experience AP Edition. 4th ed, DBQ Update. New York: Pearson Education, 2006. 68-89. Print

• "Greek Timeframe." ThinkQuest. Oracle, 2010. Web. 23 Sep 2010. <http://library.thinkquest.org/10805/greece.html>.

• "Ancient Greece." How Stuff Works. Discovery, 2008. Web. 24 Sep 2010. <http://history.howstuffworks.com/ancient-greece/ancient-greece.htm>.

• Solanki, Parul. "Sparta vs. Athens." Buzzle Web Portal: Intelligent Life on the Web. buzzle.com, 2010. Web. 24 Sep 2010. <http://www.buzzle.com/articles/sparta-vs-athens.html>.