World History

• Chapter Four: Ancient Greece (1900 – 133 B.C.)

Section 1 Objectives

• Explain the influence of geography on the development of the independent city-states

• Explain the importance of Homer as he relates to the development of Greek history

Section One: The First Greek Civilizations

I. The Impact of Geography

• Mountainous peninsula & numerous islands

• Most important geographical influence on Greece

• Small, independent communities

The Impact of Geography

• Encouraged political participation within, & war among

• Many ports, inlets & islands

• Seafarers, Aegean & Black Seas

II. The Minoan Civilization

• 2700 & 1450 B.C., a Bronze Age civilization

• *Island of Crete

• Rich trading culture based on seafaring

Minoan Fresco

The Minoan Civilization

• Discovered by Arthur Evans• Minoans sailed to Greece &

Egypt• Central city, palace of

Knossos• Olive oil, wine & grain

A fresco found at the Minoan site of Knossos

Fresco of an acrobat on a bull with two female acrobats on either side

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Knossos_bull.jpg

Fresco from the "Palace of Minos", Knossos, Crete

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Knossos_frise_pieuvre_edit.jpg

The Minoan Civilization

• Suffered a catastrophe around 1450 B.C.

• Tidal wave, volcanic eruption or invasion from the Mycenaeans

III. The First Greek State: Mycenae

• 1600 & 1100 B.C.• *Mycenae was the first Greek

city-state• Powerful monarchies• Lived in fortified center within

large stone walls

Mycenae

The First Greek State: Mycenae

• Warrior culture• Extensive commercial

network• Poetry from Homer reveals

information on the Mycenaeans

Lion’s Gate at

Mycenae

Mask of a Mycenaean Kinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:MaskAgamemnon.png

The First Greek State: Mycenae

• Civil war & earthquakes damaged their civilization

• Collapsed by 1100 B.C., after a new wave of invaders

Mycenae Today

IV. The Greeks in a Dark Age

• 1100 to 750 B.C.

• few records

• Both population & food production fell

A. Developments of the Dark Age

• Many Greeks immigrated to Ionia, a strip of territory located along the western shores of Asia Minor, which is in modern day Turkey

A. Developments of the Dark Age

• Iron replaced bronze improving weaponry & farming

• Adopted the Phoenician alphabet

B. Homer

• *Iliad & Odyssey are epic poems

• Epic poem – a long poem that tells the deeds of a great hero

• Based on stories passed down for generations

Homer

• The Iliad takes place during the Trojan War

• Paris kidnaps Helen• Greeks take the city with the famous

Trojan horse• Tale about the destruction caused by

the anger of the Greek hero Achilles

Helen and

Priam

Achilles

Homer

• The Odyssey tells of the Greek hero Odysseus’ ten-year return to his home & family

• Gave the Greeks an ideal past & set of values

• Basic values of courage & honor

Homer

• A hero strives for excellence, which the Greeks called Arete

• Which was won in a struggle or contest

• The man preserves his & his family’s honor