Ch. 5: Classical Greece
- ______Civilization (1750-1400 BC?)
- On the Mediterranean island of Crete
- Great traders, traded with Egyptians, Mesopotamians
- Capital at a fantastic palace at Knossos
- Destroyed by a combination earthquake/tsunami c. 1400 BC
- The ______(1400-1200 BC)
- Replaced the Minoans as great traders
- Lived in city-states on the Greek mainland
- Fought the ______War between Greece and Troy (1250 BC)
- Mythological cause = Trojan prince Paris kidnapped Greek queen Helen
- Real cause = Trojans and Mycenaeans were trading rivals
- Troy lost after a long war and the city was destroyed
- ______
- Blind poet who lived around 750 BC
- Composed the Iliad, a story of the Trojan War
- Composed the Odyssey, a story of the hero Odysseus trying to get home from the Trojan War
- Classical Greece
- Many small ______separated from one another by mountains and the sea
- Monarchy, or rule by kings (750-500 BC), gave way to ↓
- Aristocracy, or rule by land owning elite, but as the middle class (artisans, merchants) grew in numbers, this gave way to ↓
- Oligarchy, or rule by a small, powerful elite from the business class
- The two most powerful city-states: Sparta and Athens
- ______
- Had very rigid laws, designed to keep their slaves in line
- Slaves outnumbered Spartans
- Militaristic society
- Sickly male babies abandoned to die
- Boys began training for military at age 7
- Males lived in military barracks until 30
- Even girls had to exercise rigorously, so as to be able to bear and raise strong children
- Disliked their neighbors, had no use for the arts
- ______
- Great wealth from trading
- Began to move toward a democratic government under the leadership of Solon in 594 BC
- Process continued under Cleisthenes in 507 BC, who created the Council of 500, the world’s first legislature
- Still, only male citizens could participate in government, and much of Athens power came from a base of slavery
- Boys, if the family could afford it, went to school and were encouraged to learn and think
- Polytheistic religion; Zeus, Apollo, Athena, Ares, Poseidon, and Aphrodite were central gods and goddesses
- Greeks considered themselves superior to all non-Greeks; all non-Greeks were called “barbaroi” or barbarians.
- The ______Wars
- 499 BC – Athens tries to help Greek city-states in Ionia rebel against Persian rule
- Persians crush rebellion, decide to attack Athens for helping
- King Darius I of Persia landed an army at Marathon in 490 BC to invade Athens
- Themistocles of Athens, though greatly outnumbered, leads the Athenian army to victory at Battle of Marathon
- 480 BC, Darius’ son Xerxes leads another attack
- A small group of Spartans, led by their king Leonidas, hold off the Persian army at Thermopylae, allowing the Athenians time to retreat
- After finally defeating the Spartans, Xerxes captures and burns an abandoned Athens
- Athenian navy ambushes and destroys Persian navy at Salamis, ending the Persian threat
- The Golden Age of ______
- Leader of Athens from 460-429 BC
- Made Athens a direct democracy where every citizen had a say in government
- Rebuilt Athens into a beautiful, rich, and powerful city
- 431 BC Sparta and its allies went to war with Athens and its allies in the Peloponnesian War
- war lasted 27 years
- Spartans eventually won in 404 BC, ending Athens golden age.
- Greek culture
- Philosophers
- ______: believed that knowledge was gained only through questioning society; sentenced to death for “corrupting the youth”
- ______: student of Socrates, ran a school called the Academy; believed in rational thinking
- ______: student of Plato, ran a school called the Lyceum, believed in studying all branches of knowledge
- Arts
- Architecture
- Sculpture
- Drama
- Tragedy
- Comedy
- History
- ______the Great
- Philip, King of Macedonia, a small land to the north of Greece, conquered Greece between 359-338 BC. When he was assassinated, his 20 year old son Alexander became King over all of Greece
- Alexander attacked and conquered Persia and marched as far as India before dying suddenly at age 32
- His new empire was quickly divided among his generals
- His wars introduced Greek culture to far away lands and vice-versa; this new mixed east-west culture was called Hellenism.
- ______culture
- Great city of Alexandria was built in Egypt
- Great Library of Alexandria
- The Pharos, or lighthouse, one of the 7 Wonders
- advances in math under Pythagoras
- advances in astronomy under Aristarchus and Eratosthenes
- advances in invention: Archimedes perfected the lever and pulley
- advances in medicine under Hippocrates