Key Terms
Homer
Trojan War
Helot
Pericles
Alexander the Great
Olympic Games
Tyrant
Persian Wars
Peloponnesian War
Sappho
Stoics / Big Picture
Arguably no society has cast a longer shadow over the Mediterranean, European, and American worlds than that of the ancient Greeks. The influences of Greek democracy, tragedy, and philosophy continue to shape minds today. At the core of the Greek mind was an inquiring spirit and refusal to accept anything less than the truth. After escaping near disaster in the Persian War, the Greeks went on to create one of the world’s most glorious cultural epochs. In the end, unfortunately, the Greeks’ own arrogance and warlike manner led to their destruction in the Peloponnesian War. The conquests of Alexander of Macedon created the Hellenistic age and a perpetuation of Greek brilliance
Learning Objectives
  • Compare and contrast the development of early Greek societies.
  • Explain the origins and the influence of thepoliswithin classical Greek society, including the similarities and differences between Athens and Sparta.
  • Identify key features of Greek colonization throughout the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean basin and explain the reasons behind Greek-Persian conflict.
  • Explain the rise of the Macedonians and the emergence of the Alexandrian and Hellenistic empires.
  • Discuss the role of trade in the integration of the Mediterranean basin.
  • Identify and discuss features of Greek family and social life.
  • Explain the key features and impact of classical Greek intellectual and cultural achievements.

Language Objectives
  • List the similarities and differences in the development of early Greek societies.
  • Tell the origins and the influence of thepoliswithin classical Greek society, including the similarities and differences between Athens and Sparta.
  • Identify key features of Greek colonization throughout the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean basin and explain the reasons behind Greek-Persian conflict.
  • Tell about the rise of the Macedonians and the emergence of the Alexandrian and Hellenistic empires.
  • Discuss the role of trade in the integration of the Mediterranean basin.
  • State the features of Greek family and social life.
  • Explain the key features and impact of classical Greek intellectual and cultural achievements.

Essential Understanding

  1. Where was Minoan civilization located? With what 3 activities were the Minoans primarily occupied?
  2. Where did the Mycenaeans come from?
  3. Who did the Mycenaeans go to war with? In what famous work is this war chronicled?
  4. What is a polis? How did they develop? What were the two most important poleis?
  5. Who were the helots? What was their role in Spartan society?
  6. What values lie at the heart of Spartan society?
  7. What values lie at the heart of Athenian society?
  8. Why was Solon such an important reformer in Athenian government?
  9. Who was Pericles?
  10. Why was it necessary for Greece to establish colonies around the Mediterranean?
  11. List 3 effects of Greek colonization.
  12. What defensive league is created in Greece after the Persian wars? What arrangement do its members reach? Why does this lead to war among the Greeks?
  13. What sides emerge in the Peloponnesian War? Who emerges victorious? What happens at Melos? How does this aid Macedonia in its conquest of Greece?
  14. How did Alexander go about dismantling the Achaemenid Empire? How far west did he go? Why did he stop?
  15. When Alexander died, his three top generals carved his empire up, each taking a section. Who got what in the deal?
  16. What does the term Hellenistic mean? What are some characteristics of the Hellenistic world?
  17. Where was Alexandria (the main one)? What were some of its notable attractions?
  18. Why was Greece dependent on maritime trade?
  19. What factors contributed to a larger sense of Greek community?
  20. What was the condition of women in the poleis?
  21. Where did slaves come from in Greece?
  22. How did the Greeks pioneer the field of scientific inquiry?
  23. Who was Socrates? What did he believe?
  24. Who was Plato? What was his ideal state?
  25. Who was Aristotle? How did he differ from Plato?
  26. What was the state of Greek religion?