Early Greece

Chapter 4: 1-2

Essential Questions:
1. Identify the major city-
states in Greece and their
contributions to Western
civilization.
2. Compare and Contrast the
results of the Persian and
Peloponnesian Wars with
regard to Athens.
 Cities ●
– Athens
– Sparta
– Byzantium
– Thebes
– Delphi
– Troy
– Mycenae
– Knossos
 Bodies of Water
– Aegean Sea
– Black Sea
– Mediterrane
an Sea
Battle Locations *
Thermopylae
Marathon
Salamis

Regions
Ionia – Red
Macedonia –
Green
Greece –
Yellow
Crete – Pink
Asia Minor -
 Seas provided a link for
Geography of

to the outside world
through trade

Early Greece  Mountains isolated

Greeks into communities
with their own way of
life.
 This made it difficult for
Greece to become a
unified empire.
– Greeks had city-states
called the polis with an
acropolis or high city on a
hilltop with temples (often
surrounded by a wall or fortified).
– These small communities
encouraged participation in
political affairs and often
resulted in wars.
Minoan
Civilization  Named for King
Minos of Crete, the
(1750BC-1500BC) civilization was
based on trade with
Egypt and
Mesopotamia not
conquest.
 Had a royal palace at
Knossos:
– Evidence of
matriarchal society
and athletic contests
 1400BC civilizations
disappears: natural
disasters and
invaders possible.
How was the Minoan Civilization
different from other civilizations
that we have discussed? Think
about government, economy,
architecture, art, writing, religion,
society, and geography.
Early Civilization
Activity
 Pretend you are a time traveler that was
transported back to the Minoan civilization.
Write one journal entries with at least 6
sentences of the wonders you experienced
there so that you will remember the details
of your journey when you return to our
time. Be sure to address:
 government, society, roles of men and women,
entertainment, and the economy.
Time Line of Early
Civilization in Greece
Mycenaean Life and
Culture (1400BC-
1200BC)
 Indo-European invaders
created the first Greek
state.
 Sea traders with City-
states ruled by warrior
kings
 Mycenaean states
fought one another,
and major earthquakes
caused widespread
damage.
 In the Twelfth century
BC, Greek speaking
invaders moved into
Greece from north.
Trojan War
 Trojan War 1250
BC:
– Trade conflict
between Mycenae
and Troy over a
strait, narrow
water passage,  Legend:
that connects – Trojan prince Paris
Mediterranean kidnapped Helen,
and Black Seas. Greek queen. Fought
for 10 yrs and ended
with the Greeks
sneaking into the city
in a horse.
– Heinrich Schliemann
proved that there
was a war.
 Age of Homer
 After the collapse of Mycenaean
civilization, Greece entered into
a difficult period in which the
population declined and food
production dropped.
– Historians call this period the Dark
Age, because few records of what
happened exist.
 Oral Record of history
– Homer 750BC= blind poet told
stories of heroes.
 Epics: Iliad , about the Trojan War, and
Odyssey, about Odysseus’ return home
form the war.
 both were stories about what
happened in Greece, their values of
honor, courage, and eloquence, and
beliefs
 They gave Greece an ideal past with a
cast of heroes to serve as a model for
future generations.
New Types of
Government
 Monarchy:
– a government in which a
king or queen has
complete control
 Aristocracy:
– Government controlled by
a landowning elite
 Oligarchy:
– Government in which
power lies in the hands of
a few such as the
business class.
 Democracy:
– Type of government that
develops in Athens in
which the people
(citizens) hold ruling
power.
Athens and
Sparta
 By 750 BC, the city-
state, became the
central focus of
Greek Life
 Two of the most
important city-states
in Greece are Athens
and Sparta.
 Sparta and Athens
Sparta Both Athens

Government Oligarchy / Monarchy Monarchies Monarchy ->

with Ephors Aristocracy -> Tyrany
Military State -> Democracy

Education Physical Education Military, Gods and Girls little to none,

and the Art of War Gods, Language boys learned many
Start at 7 subjects in school
Economy Looked down on trade Trade was important
and wealth, took and led to wealth and
spoils of war power
Role of Produce healthy sons, Subordinate to men No share in public
Women health and exercise life, managed
important, inherit household and raised
property, obedience children

Treatment of Brutal and harsh Believed Greeks were Debt slavery was
Slaves punishments, superior and owned common but outlawed
prisoners of war slaves by Solon
 Greece
vs. Persia
A map of the Persian Wars, 490-479 B.C. Greek cities on the Aegean coast
attempted to free themselves from Persian control by calling on the
peninsula Greeks for help. The result was a war in which the Greeks defeated
the Persians in two different Persian invasions. In 490 B.C. under King Darius I
the first expeditionary force (black line) sailed from Melitus and landed at
Marathon (1) where a small Greek force drove them back. Ten years later,
Xerxes led an enormous Persian army by land (white line) while his fleet
(blue line) followed along the coast. A Greek army under the Spartan general
Leonidas held a narrow mountain pass at Thermopylae (2) for days, but a
Greek traitor showed Xerxes a route around the pass and from the rear he
attacked the Spartans, who fought to the last man. The Persians then
destroyed Athens as their fleet entered the Bay of Salamis (3), but
Themistocles, the Athenian leader of the combined Greek fleet, drew the
Persian ships into a trap and annihilated them in a historic battle. Then in 479
 Persian Wars: Largest empire
in the world vs. small city-
states of Greece
 Greek settlers in Asia
Minor start a revolt
– Persians decide to attack
city-states
– Sparta and Athens push the
Persians back through a
series of battles
1. Marathon: 490BC
– Greeks, out numbered 2-1
defeat the Persians.
 Pheidippides ran 26.2 miles
to proclaim the victory.
 Themistocles urged Athens
to build a navy to protect
their coasts.
2. Thermopylae: 480 BC
– King Leondias and a small
Spartan force held the
Persian Immortals led by
Xerxes I off at a pass in
between two mountains
– The Persians overtake
them, however it bought
the other city-states time to
build larger armies
2. 470s BC
– Salamis: Athenian navy
destroys Persian navy and
claims victory for the war.
– Plataea: A few months
later they formed the
largest Greek army up to
that time and defeated the
Persian Army.
 City-State and
Government Activity
 The Greek city-states had a
variety of different types of
government over the years.
Create an advertisement for
your assigned city-state.
Include the following
Information:
– Government
 How were they chosen?
 What were the pros and cons? Etc.
– Way of Life
 Education, Women, etc.
– Illustration
 Age of Pericles
 Following the Persian
Wars, Athens dominated
the Greece and was at
the height of its power.
– Delian League: alliance
between Greek city-states
formed as a result of the
Persian Wars to protect
against future attacks
 Pericles established a
direct democracy in
Athens.
 Sparta and Athens,
former allies against
Persian turn on each
other in the
Peloponnesian War
Peloponnesian
War
A map of the Peloponnesian War,
431-404 B.C. From their
beginnings, the Greek city-states
had tenaciously protected their
individual independence, and only
with reluctance had they formed
an alliance against the Persians.
After their defeat of the Persians, Athens and others broke with
tradition and formed a permanent union, the Delian League (green
areas), to prevent further Persian attacks. In a few years, the more
powerful Athens turned the league into its own empire, which
changed forever the ancient Greek political ideal. Sparta and its allies
(yellow areas) looked on such a coalition as a threat to their safety
which, according to the Athenian historian Thucydides, "drove them
to war." The result was a drain on the resources of both sides, and
the beginning of a series of destructive, internecine wars. The
weakened cities easily succumbed to King Philip of Macedon when he
 Sparta allies with
Peloponnesian

Persia and

–
crushes Athens
Spartan victory
War
hurts democracy
and ends
Athenian
Greatness
– Sparta was
defeated by
Thebes
 Results:
– Weakened Greek
city-states
invaded by the
Macedonians.
– Philip of Macedon
and his son
Alexander the Great
come to power.
Peloponnesian War
Activity
 The Spartans and Athenians are campaigning to
gain support for their side during the Peloponnesian
War. Create propaganda posters for each side
detailing why various city-states throughout Greece
should join either side. Make sure to illustrate your
posters and tell the public at least three of the
strengths of the city-state. Make sure you create
one for Athens and one for Sparta.
The Culture of
Classical Greece
Essential Question: How do the achievements of
Classical Greece influence Western art and
thought today?

Chapter 4 Section 4
Pages 127-133
Religion
 Affected every area of life
 It was necessary to the
well-being of the state
 There were twelve chief
gods and goddesses that
were thought to live on
Mt. Olympus
 Define rituals:
 Who was worshiped at
Olympia? Delphi?
Gods and Goddesses
 Classical Greece
Art and Architecture History
Based on reason and harmony Herodotus, the father of history, wrote about the
Often found on pottery Persian Wars from the point of view of the
Greeks.
Lifelike statues of nude males were common
Sculptors achieved a standard of ideal beauty
Thucydides, non-biased, wrote about the
Temples are best examples of architecture
Peloponnesian Wars and tried to show both sides
Parthenon the most famous temple built to of the conflict.
honor Athena at the acropolis in Athens
He emphasized the accuracy of facts not the
gods and goddesses.

Philosophy Drama Greeks created drama as it is known

Pythagoras: Mathematician that calculated the today in Western culture including:
sides of a right triangle. Tragedy = plays about human suffering
Sophocles: Oedipus Rex
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle are perhaps the
Story about a man doomed to kill his
most famous Greek philosophers
father and marry his mother
Socrates: Socratic method of examining things
through critical questioning, “The unexamined life is not
Comedy = plays that mocked society and
worth living.” government
Plato: Wrote the Republic
Aristotle: Alexander’s teacher, thought government
needed strong and virtuous leader
 Art and
Architecture
Classical Greece
Activity
 Use poster board or large chart paper to create a giant
chart of the Greeks contributions to later civilizations in
the areas of religion, drama, philosophy, history, and art
and architecture. In one column list the contributions
with a detailed description. In the second column give
examples from later civilization, including our own,
where this influence can be found. Finally in a third
column place an illustration of that contribution.
 Alexander and the
Hellenistic World
Essential Questions:
1. Who was Alexander the Great and
what was his greatest achievement?
2. Compare and contrast the similarities
and differences between art and
drama of the Classical and Hellenistic
Eras
 Macedonia
Philip lost his right eye
in battle.
 Following the Peloponnesian
War, the city-states of
Greece were weakened.
 For 66 yrs. Sparta, Athens,
and Thebes struggled to
dominate Greek affairs and
Macedonia was ignored.
 In 359 BC Philip II of
Macedonia came to the
throne and by 338 BC he
had gained control of all of
Greece. BATTLE OF
CHAERONEA
 Philip decided to invade Asia
in a war with Persia but died
before he could complete
this task.
 Alexander the Great
 What do you know
about Alexander?
 What made him
such a great
leader?
 What was his
personality like?
 How did his
personality and
strategic abilities
make Alexander a
great leader?
Alexander the Great
 Alexander was the son of
Philip II.
 He established an empire
that extended from Greece
to Egypt and India.
 Alexander’s most lasting
achievement was the spread
of Greek culture.
 Macedonia, Syria,
Pergamum, and Egypt were
the four kingdoms that
emerged following
Alexander’s death.
Hellenistic Era
 Alexander’s conquests created the Hellenistic Era, an age
that saw the expansion of the Greek language and ideas to
the non-Greek World
 Alexandria was the center of the Hellenistic world.
 Art and Drama
 Compare and contrast achievements in art and drama
between the Classical and Hellenistic eras.

Most Drawings on Baths, Temples, Theatres

pottery Achieved emotional and more
Statues and realistic art
Never achieved realism drawings
but was idealistic
Socrates= SM, Plato= Athens the center of Epicureanism= happiness
Republic and reality, philosophy through pleasure, Stoicism=
Aristotle=school, politics, happiness through harmony
philosopher king is best with the will of God
Alexandria
 Alexandria was the intellectual capital of the classical
Mediterranean world for more than 300 years
– Their lighthouse was one of the ancient wonders of the world.
– It had more than 500,000 scrolls.
 Activity:
– Pretend that you are a sailor in the dark night of the Mediterranean.
 Write a poem about seeing the light from the lighthouse as a beacon in
the night. You may want to use it as a metaphor for the knowledge that
could be gained from that city.
– Create a drawing or painting of what the Great Library at
Alexandria might have looked like when it contained most of the
great writings of the classical world.
Alexandria
Hellenistic Era Activity
 You are a Hellenistic Greek living in
Alexandria, Egypt. Write a monologue
detailing why the Hellenistic Era is the
height of Greek civilization. Be sure to
address Alexander’s vast empire as
well as the achievements in the areas
of math, science, and philosophy as
evidence of your greatness.
 Make sure you have read chapter four
and completed the guided reading for all
five sections.
 Day Three: Create a 20 question quiz
with four questions from each section.
– You can use multiple choice, matching,
true/false, crossword, short answer, etc.
– Create a key with the correct answers on a
separate sheet of paper.
– Make sure your quiz has a title and that you
put: Created by and your name at the top of
the quiz.
– Switch quizzes with a classmate but keep
your answer key, complete their quiz and
return for the creator to grade. Correct #/20
should be the grade.