Key Terms: polytheism, city-state, acropolis.

Key Ideas: Greek mythology that entertains and expresses the values of the Greeks.

Identify: Homer, Heinrich Schliemann.

Identify the characteristics and the rise/fall of the following Early Greek civilizations: the

Minoans and the Mycenaeans.

Understand the main characters and events of the Trojan War.

•The Greeks were polytheistic, meaning

they worshipped many gods.

•Stories or myths about their gods expressed Greek

values. Statue of the goddess Athena, image – Wikipedia

Commons.

• Many Greek myths pointed to real cities, people, and events.

• They also explained natural phenomenon , human nature and how people were to behave.“Oedipus and the Sphinx”

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. 1808.

• Greek Myths demonstrated their cultural values:

• Strength, courage.

• Hospitality

• Beauty

Jacob Jordaens. Ulysses in the Cave of Polyphemus. 1630s

•Mt. Olympus was the home of the gods.

•They had human characteristics: jealousy, anger, love, courage, infidelity, etc.

•Chief of all of the gods on Mount Olympus.

•The “thunder-bolt” god.

•The jealous wife of Zeus.

•Queen of Heaven and Marriage.

Patron goddess of Athens, and wisdom.

•Goddess of beauty and love.

•Her son is Cupid.

•His arrows make people fall in love.

•God of War

•Lover of Venus.

•Patron god of Sparta.

•The god of the sea.

•He supports the Greeks in the Trojan War.

God of the sun, poetry and music. His sister, Artemis/Diana is the goddess of the moon.

•Theseus was the great hero of the Athenians.

•He is best known for his battle with the Minotaur.

•Theseus in the labyrinth with the Minotaur.

•The 1st Greek civilization was settled on the island of Crete.

•The 2nd was established on the mainland of the Greek Peloponnesus.

Map of Greece courtesy of Microsoft

Office.

•According to legend, the island of Crete was founded by the legendary King Minos.•Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

•Frescoes like this one show the popular sport of bull-dancing or leaping. •Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons. (Fresco from the palace at Knossos).

Minoan bull and Europa

•The Minoans were the 1st Greek

civilization.

•They settled on the island of Crete.

•This was a very wealthy civilization

based on trade. Minoan man - fresco

•The Minoans lived in peace and

prosperity.

•Most scientists believe that a series

of earthquakes destroyed the

civilization. Minoan Women - frescoes

•Around 2,000 B.C. – a group of warrior kings called the Myceneans took over the Peloponnesus.

•This was the 2nd Greek civilization.

The golden mask of Agamemnon. Image

courtesy of Wikipedia commons.

•This is the earliest known example of Greek monumental sculpture. •The Myceneans fortified their cities with walls that were 20’ thick. This was the outer wall of their kingdom.

The Lion Gate of the Myceneans.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

•The Greeks built their city-states on top of a hill, so that they could be fortified against enemy attacks.

•This was called an acropolis, or “city on a hill.”

•Homer - poet

•Wrote the Iliad about the Trojan War.

•Wrote the Odyssey about the journey home.

“To the fairest of all women…”

Hera, Venus, and Athena

•Paris was asked to decide which gift was the best.

•1st, Hera offered power.

•2nd, Athena offered victory in battle, and the wisdom to rule.

•3rd, Venus offered him the most beautiful woman in the world.

Painting, “The Judgment of

Paris.”

Image courtesy of Wikipedia commons.

•Helen was the wife of the King of Sparta, Menelaus.

•She fled to Troy with her lover, Paris, starting the Trojan War.

•It was said that she was the “face that launched a thousand ships.”

•Agamemnon led the Greeks on behalf of his brother, Menelaus, in the Trojan War.

•The Greeks crossed the Aegean Sea to attack the walled city of Troy.

•The Trojans were great horsemen and archers.Map of Homer’s Greece courtesy of

Wikipedia Commons.

•The top warrior for the Greeks, was Achilles.

•All Greek heroes like Odysseus and Ajax took part in the war.Painting, “The Rage of Achilles,”

image courtesy of Wikipedia commons.

•Priam was the king of Troy, but his son, Hector was the hero and leader of the Trojans during the war.

In the painting above, Hector reproaches his brother Paris and tells him that the Greeks

are on the beaches of Troy.

•After Hector killed Achilles’ cousin, Achilles killed Hector.

•Achilles would die the next day at the hands of Paris. Alexander Ivanov. Priam Asking Achilles

to Return Hector's Body. 1824

•After a 10 year stalemate with Troy, Odysseus came up with a daring plan…

•Hide the Greek army in a wooden horse, and leave it as a gift for the Trojans.

•The Greeks won, and they gained control of the Aegean Sea trade routes. They also gained new Greek city-states in Persia.

Map of Homer’s Greece courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

•So, did the Trojan War actually occur, or was it just a great story told by Homer?

•Archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann believed that a real war took place between the Greeks and the Trojans.

“Homer and his guide” image – Wikipedia

Commons.

•Discovered the lost city of Troy from his accounts of Homer’s

Iliad.Photo of Heinrich Schlieman

courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

A modern model and replica of ancient Troy.

•These are stories about the heroic actions of mortals.

•Greek values are expressed in these stories.

Jason and the Argonauts

What we know for certain:

• 1st Greek civilization were the Minoans who settled on Crete.

• 2nd – a war-like group of Mycenean kings settled in Greece, and warred

with the city, Troy.