Minoan Civilization
Palace at Knossos
The Walls of the palace are decorated with colorful
frescoes. Had 800 rooms and bathrooms.
Paintings of leaping dolphins reflect the importance of
the Sea.
They dominated the Aegean Sea from 1400 –
1200 B.C.
They lived in separate city-states on the
mainland.
Troy controlled the straits that connect the
Mediterranean and black Seas
Trojan Prince Paris kidnapped Helen, the beautiful
wife of a Greek king, the Mycenaean sailed to Troy
to rescue her.
The Greeks finally seize Troy, using a Wooden
The Dorians invaded and conquered
the Mycenae.
We know about this time period from the writings
of Homer.
Homer’s two most famous epics are The
Odyssey and the Iliad.
Homer was a blind poet who went from town to
The Iliad is about gods and goddesses
Achilles the mightiest Greek warrior is sulking in
his tent because of a dispute with his commander.
When his best friend is killed he goes into battle.
This is the story of the wooden horse - was built to
The Odyssey is about the struggles of the Greek
hero Odysseus to return home to his faithful wife
Penelope. He encounters a sea monster, Cyclops,
and a beautiful sorceress.
Governing the City-States
Greek version of the city-state was called a Polis.
They built their main city on a hill top called the Acropolis.
The market place was called an “agora”
Early Governments
Early form – monarchy with king or queen
Tyrants – seized power by force
Then they moved to a form of aristocracy – rule by a
landholding elite.
When the business groups grew they took the power –
Iron weapons replaced bronze
Iron helmets, shields and swords were available
to all citizens
Military units were called “hoplites” – these were
heavily armed foot soldiers that carried round
shields, short swords, and a thrusting spear of 9
feet.
New method of fighting – phalanx- massive
A nation of soldiers
The Spartans were Dorians who conquered Laconia
The Government was made up of two kings, and a council of elders.
Citizens were male, native-born Spartans over the age of 30
Spartan Life
Officials examined every newborn - sickly babies were abandoned to die.
At the age of 7 boys began training for the military
They lived in the barracks, toughen by coarse diet.
They could not wear underclothing
They had strict discipline, to become excellent soldiers
At the age of 20 they could marry, but they continued to live in the
barracks for another 10 years, and then would still eat there for another 30 years, they were in the army until age 60.
Government
Ruled by a group of five men called Ephors
They were responsible for educating the youth
And monitoring citizenship
Two kings led the military
Council of Elders:
Consisted of 2 kings, 28 citizens over the age of 60
Made all decisions – did not debate
Citizenship “ideas were dangerous”
They were not allowed to travel
Discouraged from studying philosophy, literature, or the arts, because
Limited Democracy
Solon = (wise and trusted leader), he
outlawed debt slavery and Freed those
who had already been sold into slavery for debt.
Pisistratus – seized power in 546 B.C. – he helped
farmers by giving them loans and land taken from nobles. He was the first Tyrant.
Cleisthenes = he set up a council of 500 whose
members were chosen by lot from among all citizens.
The council prepared laws for the assembly and ran the
day to day needs of the government.
Created a legislature. All citizen over the age o f 30
were members of the assembly.
They practiced expelling people = this became known
as “ostracism” = once a year people could point to
The Persians lead by Darius crossed
the Aegean to punish Athens for its
interference in Asia Minor.
The Athenians got help from the
Spartans.
The Greeks and Spartans were able
to break through the Persian lines
and engaged the enemy in
hand-to-hand combat.
The Greeks were so excited they sent one of
their runners, named Pheidippides to Athens
to deliver the news of their victory.
Pheidippides had just run 150 miles.
The run to Athens was 26 miles. When
Pheidippides arrived to announce the
victory he collapsed and died.
Darius’ son Xerxes sent a larger force to attack Athens.
Led by the Spartan king, 300 Spartans and 700 Greeks
tried to guard the narrow mountain pass at Thermopylae.
After defeated the Spartans, Xerxes marched to Athens –
when he found the city empty he burned it down.
The Athenians moved to the island of salamis, launched a
Athens becomes the center of power for the Greek
world.
Athens formed the Delian league – an alliance with other
Greek city states .
Headquarters were located on the Island of Delos
They were able to defeat their territories that had been
conquered by Persians.
The economy thrived, the government became more democratic
Formed a direct democracy - citizens took a direct part in the day-to-day affairs of the government.
The assembly grew to 43,000 men. Usually only about 6,000 men participated in government. They would meet every 10 days to pass laws.
They started paying a stipend to men who held public office and to the poor to take part in public affairs.
Jury trials were set up with up to 100 members on the jury.
As Athens grew the Spartans began resenting that power.
In 431 B.C. the Spartans attacked the Athenians. The war
lasted 27 years.
When Sparta invaded Athens, Pericles ordered all the people
into the city.
A terrible plague broke out, killing at least 1/3 of the
population including Pericles.
The rulers after Pericles were not strong enough to defend the city.
Sparta aligned itself with the Persians and in 404 B.C. they
were able to defeat the Athenians.
They did not however destroy the city of Athens out of
Only male citizens could participate in government.
In 430 B.C. the population was around 150,000 in Athens,
35,000 foreigners, 35,000 slaves.
Economy was based on farming and trade.
Women were citizens who could take part in most religious
festivals, but they were otherwise excluded from public life.
They could not own property beyond personal items.
She was expected to be a good wife, bear children, take care
of the family and home.
They were married at the age of 14 or 15.
They believed that the gods lived on Mount
Olympus.
The most powerful god was Zeus – he
presided over all the affairs of gods and humans, and his wife Hera.
His brothers were Poseidon, god of the sea,
and Hades, god of the underworld.
Ares the god of war, Athena the goddess of
Apollo the god of the sun and poetry
Aphrodite goddess of love,
Every 4 years the Greeks would get
Playwrights discussed moral and social issues. The Greatest
Athenian Playwrights: wrote tragedies that told of human suffering and disaster
Euripides – questioned traditional values, questioned war and its
brutality.
Sophocles wrote Oedipus Rex - tells how Oedipus will kill his
father and marry his mother. Antigone – explores what happens when an individuals moral duty conflicts with the laws of the state
Aeschylus wrote Orestteia It focuses on the tragedy of
Agamemnon a hero in the Trojan War Evil breads evil, but in the end good triumphs evil.
Comedies were held in January and
February.
Humorous plays that mocked people or customs.
Best comedy writer was Aristophanes
In his comedy – Lysistrata, he shows how women forced
their husbands to end a war against Sparta.
Dramas and tragedies were held in March
and April.
Philosophy: an organized system of thought
“love of wisdom”
Sophists:
Traveled from city to city teaching speech, grammar,
poetry, gymnastics, math and music.
They questioned accepted ideas. They thought that
success was more important than moral truth.
They developed rhetoric – the art of skilful speaking.
They angered the citizens of Athens by saying there
Socrates
Plato
Socratic method “know thyself”
His goal was to ask “why” until a person began to doubt their
belief.
People were forced to recognize that they did not know the
answers to many questions.
He claimed that the “unexamined life was not worth living.
When he was 70 years old he was put on trial, accused of not
believing in the gods and corrupting the youth.
He was given a slow acting poison to drink and during that time
Considered to be the greatest philosopher of Western
civilization. His most famous book was “The
Republic”.
According to Plato:
Objects that we perceive with our senses are simply
Student of Plato
He is also considered the founder of the science of Biology
He rejected Plato’s idea of forms.
Aristotle thought that by examining individual objects we
could perceive their form.
He was more interested in analyzing and classifying things
based on observation and investigation.
After reviewing 158 governments he decided these were
the best three:
Herodotus – the father of History –Fact mixed with
fiction.
Wrote about the Persian Wars
Collected information from people who were there.
He often put his own interpretation into the story and
sometimes included myths.
Stressed the importance of research
Thucydides – truth Non-Fiction
Wrote about the Peloponnesian War. He described
what he saw
Architecture
Doric: no base,
20 vertical flutes.
Ionic: tiered
base, decorative
top, 24 vertical
flutes.
The Parthenon took
15 years to build, is
made of white
marble that changes
color with the
changing light.
They built the
Parthenon in honor
of the goddess
Architecture : architects wanted to convey a
sense of perfect balance to reflect the harmony
and order of the universe.
Sculpture and painting:
They developed new styles that emphasized
natural poses.
They sculpted people in their most perfect
Philip of Macedonia (father)
Demosthenes warned the Athenians about Philip
but they did not listen.
In 338 B.C. Philip defeated the Athenians and
Thebes forces at the Battle of Chaeronea.
Alexander the Great
Became king at age 20
He launched an attack against Persia, captured
Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine and Egypt.
After Persia he captured India and Pakistan.
He died at the age of 32 in Babylon
His generals were not strong enough to hold the
Spread of Greek Culture and language
He believed in the teachings of Plato. HE slept
with a copy of the Iliad and a knife under his pillow.
He sought to emulate Achilles
Brought gold and silver back to Macedonia to
increase the Greek and Macedonian economy.
Blending of people – encouraged his troops to
Mathematics:
Pythagoras developed the mathematical theory a+b=c
Euclid’s wrote a book “The Elements” which is the basis
for modern geometry.
Science:
Aristarchus wrote that the Earth rotated on its axis and
orbited the sun. This is called the Heliocentric theory.
Archimedes – created the lever and pulley system. He
also calculated the weight of an object in water. Created
the catapult
Hippocrates: Greek Physician.
Taught doctors to find the cure for diseases rather than
blaming the gods.
They took notes on diseases and remedies to use on the
next patient.
Physicians today swear an oath called the Hippocratic
Epicureanism :
A happy life was one that held the least pain and anxiety.
Wise people should not give into strong emotions.
He recommended the enjoyment of simple pleasures such as
talking with good friends.
Freedom from strong emotional, turmoil and worry
Stoicism: founded by Zeno.
Emphasized dignity, self-control and reason.
You should always accept what life brings and try to live
virtuously.
They urged people above all to remain calm, stoic has come
