Greece

Geography

• Mountainous Peninsula

The Sea

• Shaped Greek civilization

• Greeks became skilled sailors– Trade became

important• Greece lacked natural

resources

The Land

• Mountainous– Difficult to unite– As a result…

• Independent city-states developed like– Athens and Sparta

The Mycenaeans

• Ancestors of people from the Eurasian steppes– Settled in Greece

around 2000b.c.

Ruled by “warrior kings”

• Became wealthy by…– Controlling local

agricultural production– Controlling commercial

trade– Conquest and plunder

Invaded Crete

• From the Minoans (the people of Crete) the Mycenaeans…– Adapted the Minoan

writing system to the Greek language (Linear A/B)

Homer

• Blind story-teller• Told the story of the

Illiad and the Odyssey– The Illiad was about

the Trojan War– The Odyssey was

about Odysseus’ adventures as he travelled home to Ithaca from the Trojan War.

Greek Mythology

• Used to understand…– The mysteries of

nature– The power of human

passions

• Gods and Goddesses had human attributes– Love, hate, jealousy

Apollo—the sun god Hades—

god of the underworld

Athena—goddess of wisdom

Poseidon—god of the sea

Zeus—king of the gods

Art, Architecture, Drama And Philosophy of Ancient

Greece

Greek Drama

• Tragedy- features a tragic hero with extraordinary abilities and a tragic flaw to be their downfall– Sophocles – Oedipus the King, Antigone

• Comedy- scenes filled with humor or satire about customs , politics, respected people or ideas

Greek ArchitectureInfluence on American architecture

Greek Philosophy

• Philosophers- means “lovers of wisdom”

• Sophists- word comes from sophos (wisdom). Travel around Greece teaching wisdom, rhetoric and the art of speaking.

• Socrates, Plato, Aristotle

Forms of Government in Ancient Greece

• Monarchy (Mycenae)

• Oligarchy (Sparta)

• Direct democracy (Athens)

Greek Wars

Phalanx

Persian Wars

• Fought between Greece and Persian Empire

• Persians take over Ionian part of Greek territory, and Athens sends help

Persia

Empire

• Political unit in which a number of peoples or countries are controlled by a single ruler.

Persia-Location

• East of Mesopotamia

Persian Government—Cyrus

• Came to power in 550BC

Persian Government—Cyrus

• Treated conquered people fairly– Honored local

customs and religions– Allowed people to live

their lives as they had before

Tomb of Cyrus- died 529 BC

Persian Government—Darius

• Ruled much the same as Cyrus had

• Conquered areas of Afghanistan, India, and Egypt

• Divided Persia into 20 provinces– Called “satrapies”– Ruled by satraps

Persia-Technology

• Roads (Royal Road)• Postal system

Persian Religion

• Called Zoroastrianism• Good/bad spiritual armies fighting for your

soul• Gives monotheistic religions 2 major ideas:

– Final Judgment– Concept of paradise

• 2 gods:– Ahura Mazda (good)– Ahriman (bad)

Battle of Marathon

• Persians vow to destroy Athens

• Greeks use Phalanx to beat Persians

• Persians retreat• NIKE!!!

Battle of Thermopylae

• Xerxes tries to destroy Greece

• Come to narrow pass with 7,000 Greek soldiers and 300 Spartans

Battle of Thermopylae

• Fought for days, until traitor told Persians about secret path around cliffs

• Spartans held pass while other Greeks retreated

• Athens has been deserted and the Persians burn the city down

Persian Wars

• Persians were then defeated at sea

• Athens becomes the leader of the Delian League- a group of 140 city-states

• Sparta does NOT join

Peloponnesian War

• Athens vs. Sparta• Athens-greater sea

power• Sparta-greater army

Peloponnesian War

• Pericles- Athenian leader- wanted to avoid land battles with Sparta

Walls of Athens

Reasons for the Downfall of Greece

• Plague hits Athens during Peloponnesian War, Pericles dies

• Peloponnesian War weakens Greece

• Macedonia becomes threat to the north

Hellenistic Culture

Hellenistic

• Greek, Egyptian, Persian, and Indian cultures blended together

• Alexander the Great

• Alexandria, Egypt

Science and Technology

• Pythagoras– Created Pythagorean theorem (a2+b2=c2)

• Aristarchus– Proved planets revolved around the sun

• Eratosthenes– Calculated earth’s circumference to within 1%

• Euclid– Geometry, book Elements

• Archimedes– Calculated pi