Story of Greece

8/16/2019 Story of Greece

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/story-of-greece 1/28

GREECE

We do not

know



WESTERN CULTURE

DERIVES FROM ANCIENT GREECE

Ideas about:

democracy,

epic poetry,

lyric poetry,

tragedy,

history writing,

philosophy,

aesthetic taste

The richness of Greek’s cultural world has left a long-

lasting influence on western culture and beyond. Still

today, ancient Greece’s poets and philosophers are

widely read by students all over the world.



1 Greek Mainland

2 Peloponesse

3 Crete4 Ionian islands

5 Saronic islands

6 Evia

7 Sporades

8 East Aegean islands

9 Cyclades islands

10 Dodecanese islands

Greece is surrounded by all sides, except the

North, by water- (the Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea, and

the Mediterranean Sea).

GEOGRAPHY



Today more than ten million people live in Greece, the

southeastern most region of Europe. Greece is a peninsular

country located between Albania and Turkey, surrounded by

all sides, except the North, by water (the Aegean Sea, Ionian

Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea).In ancient times, the Greek world spread far beyond Greece

itself. Greeks established many colonies on the coast of

Mediterranean and Black seas and, during the Hellenisticperiod, their empire reached as far as East India.



A NCIENT GREEK CIVILIZATION

In a host of different ways—in the areas of

democracy, poetry, theater, history writing,

philosophy, aesthetic taste, and architecture and

sculpture—the cultural life of the West derives from

Greek models

Unlike modern representative democracy, ancient

Athenian democracy involved the direct

participation of every adult male citizen.



Although modern theater finds its antecedents in Greek

drama, the two also had important differences.a. Only a few dramatic performances were given in

ancient Greece each year.

b. Greek drama was performed in the setting of a

religious festival in honor of the god Dionysus.

Thera lies 200 miles northeast of Crete. It was wiped

out by a single, massive volcanic eruption.

Was Greece a civilization affected by natural

cataclysms?



The greatest of the poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey,

were written down around 725 BC. The previously

flexible oral tradition thus became solidified in a

single, monumental version. By then, the poems had

created a consistent legendary world that connected

the Greeks to a heroic past, centered on the Trojan

War and the return of the heroes. The importance of

the poems is that they nurtured a sense of Greek

identity even as the Greeks remained politically

fragmented.



TIMELINE:

3300-1000 BCE The earliest prehistoric civilizations

occupy the AEGEAN world. This period marks the rise andfall of the MINOAN and MYCENAEAN civilizations

2200 BCE Indo-European invaders, speaking the earliest

forms of Greek, enter the mainland of Greece, and theMYCENAEAN CIVILIZATION (named after the leading

Greek city on the peninsula, from 1600-1200 BCE emerges.

2000-1500BCE MINOAN CIVILIZATION (named after theCretan ruler Minos) reaches its height with its central power

in Knossos on the island of CRETE. This culture is more

female orientated and peaceful than others at the time.



1400 BCE MYCENAEAN civilization replaces MINOAN

civilization after the destruction of Knossos. Bronze

weapons, war-scenes on art, Cyclopean defense walls, and

the fact that male warriors were buried with their weapons

provide evidence that the Mycenaeans were militaristic.

The horse-drawn chariot emerges around this time. The

Mycenaeans dominate the Aegean world for about 200

years.

1250 BCE Stories state that the Mycenaeans wage war

against the Trojans of western Asia Minor, and are

successful.



1100 BCE The Mycenaeans are again at war with the

Trojans but lose and are taken over by these Dorian

invaders who possess iron weapons.

1100 BCE-800 BCE Greek culture enters the Dark Ages,

characterized by the disappearance of writing, a decline in

architecture and other aspects of material culture.

800 BCE Greece begins to emerge from the Dark Ages.

HOMER - The two Homeric epics, The Iliad and The

Odyssey are written. Trade increases. The establishment of

Greek City-States such as Athens, Thebes and Megara

begin the development of Greek political life.



800-500 BCE This is the Archaic Period, marking the

developments of Literature, the arts, politics, philosophy and

science. The Peloponnesian City of Corinth and the Greek

city of Sparta and other cities on the coast of the Aegean

Sea flourish. 700 BCE Greece’s second poet, HESIOD

begins composing The Theogony and Works and Days.

(First poet is Homer)

640 BCE Sparta’s form of government, which is adapted

from the Dorians, is militarianism. The Messenian Wars

begin Sparta’s change and they remain isolated, ban trade

and travel outside of the Sparta territory.



612 BCE Sappho, the Female Greek lyric poet of

Lesbos is born. Her poetry explores female sexuality and

values in a male dominated society.

585 BCE In the city of Miletus, THALES predicts a total

eclipse of the sun. Thales teaches that all things are

composed of moisture; he is the first to create a rational

explanation of the cosmos.

530 BCE Pythagoras and his followers found the city of

Croton and combine philosophy and literature with

political activity as the foundation for their community.



Pythagoras is known for the Pythagorean Theorem and the

Pythagorean Table of Opposites (the “dualism” that

underlies Greek thought). 508 BCE Cleisthenes, the father

of Athenian democracy, rules Athens. His reforms grant full

rights to all free men of Athens

500 BCE The era of Greek sculptures beings. One of the

first creators is PHIDIAS whose masterpieces include that

statue of ATHENA in the PARTHENON and the statue of

ZEUS in the Temple of Olympian Zeus. The second mostimportant sculptor, MYRON, is renowned for his statue of

“the discus thrower



490 BCE The PERSIAN WARS begin, ending in 479

BCE. PERSIA is the most powerful civilization in western

Asia and establishes rule over Greek-speaking cities in

Asia Minor. DARIUS THE GREAT is defeated at the

BATTLE OF MARATHON in 490 BCE and the Greeks

emerge victorious.

485 BCE The high point of Greek Democracy, the

INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTION, with its beginnings in

SOPHISM. The SOPHISTS mix ethics and politics with

philosophical language and discourse.



The leading Sophist, PROTAGORAS states “Man is the Measure of All

Things.” They leaders of the opposition to the sophists are PLATO and

ARISTOTLE. 487 BCE Athens joins with other Greek City-States in the

formation of the DELIAN LEAGUE. It continues after the Persian Wars

and transforms the naval empire with Athens as its leader.

469 BCE SOPHOCLES is born (Dies in 406 BCE). The greatest of the

Greek dramatists. His works include Oedipus Rex and Antigone.

SOCRATES is born (Dies in 399 BCE when condemned to death for

corrupting the youth and introducing new gods into Greek thought).

Socrates is a philosopher of ethics and a major critic of popular belief in

Athens. He leaves no written philosophy.

461-429 BCE The AGE OF PERICLES when Athenian democracy

reaches perfection; the court systems are completed. A jury system is put

in place with the jury serving as authority in judicial matters.



431-404 BCE The PELOPONNESIAN WAR between

Athens and Sparta is caused by Athens’ growth in

imperialism and economic and cultural differences betweenthe two City-States. The political supremacy of Athens ends,

their trade is destroyed, Athenian democracy is overthrown

and Athens is forced to surrender becoming a Subject-State

of Sparta. Sparta replaces many democracies with

oligarchies.

427 BCE PLATO, Socrates’ distinguished student is born.

(Dies in 347 BCE). Considered the important of the Greek

philosophers. Among his works are The Apology, The

Symposium, The Phaedo, The Phaedrus and The Republic.



384 BCE ARISTOTLE is born (Dies 322 BCE). Plato’s most

distinguished student. He enters Plato’s Academy at the age

of 17. He spends several years as the personal tutor to

Alexander the great. He then returns to Athens and founds

the LYCEUM. He writes on issues of logic, metaphysics,

ethics, politics, rhetoric and the natural sciences.

350 BCE HELLENISTIC GREECE witnesses the new

philosophy of the CYNICS. Their leader, DIOGENES,

proposes the first argument against conventional life. The

Cynics believe that people should live naturally and strive for

self-sufficiency.



When Alexander the Great invaded Asia Minor, Egypt and

Mesopotamia, he established the largest empire everseen.

After his death, a power struggle divided the empire into

several parts. The time period after Alexander the Great’sdeath became known as the Hellenistic Age.

The Hellenistic kingdoms combined elements of Greek

culture with Near-East cultures. Greek language became

widely used.



In the fourth century B.C., military conquests in central

Italy brought Rome into direct competition with the city

colonies of Magna Graecia in Southern Italy.

After a long period of warfare, the Greeks fell to Romans

in 31 B.C.. Greek states and colonies became part of the

Roman Empire.

Romans admired Greek culture and were deeply

influenced by it. Many elements of Greek religion were

adopted by the Romans.

Latin and Greek became the dominant languages of the

empire.



Landscape and Climate

• Greek mainland is a peninsula (body of land with water on

three sides)

• this peninsula sticks out into Mediterranean Sea

• southern tip is a second peninsula called the

Peloponnesus

• isthmus—narrow strip of land—links Peloponnesus to

rest of Greece

• Greece also includes thousands of islands • Mountains

cover 70 to 80 percent of Greece, divide land into regions



• Rugged landscape, lack of large rivers made

transportation hard

• made it diffi cult to unite Greece under single

government

• Mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers

• about 50 degrees Fahrenheit in winter, about 80

degrees in summer

• Climate encouraged outdoor activities, like athletic

competitions



The modern Greek nation came into existence as a result

of a long bloody war against the Ottoman Empire (Turkey)

early in the nineteenth century. The Greek were supported inthis struggle by the major Central European states and

Greece became an independent under the protection (and

the influence) of Britain, France and Russia.

Greeks believed in individualism and were keen observers of

the differences in personality and character. They were

fascinated by the contradiction that characterizes human life:

those very virtues that made a person great that could also

lead to one's undoing. Their myths and religion reflect

these traits.



SOCIETY, ECONOMY AND POLITICS

The many bays and natural harbors in the Mediterranean

allowed the Greeks to develop maritime commerce and a

culture that was inspired by many outside sources.

The mountains across the region served as natural barriers

and boundaries which dictated the political character of

Greece. From early times, a number of independent

communities were formed that lived quite isolated from one

another. Gradually, these communities evolved into larger

and more complex societies, which led to the creation of the

city-state.



The city-states are communities formed around an urban

center and are the first example of societies in which large

part of the population took part in political activities anddecisions. However, even in Athens, the city-state which had

adopted the most democratic form of government, there was

much inequality among different categories of people. Greekwomen were not allowed to participate in politics. Women

citizens could not represent themselves in court. The position

of slaves and foreigners in Greek society was bad. The

slaves were usually non-Greek people who had been

captured in war, or had been seized by pirates



RECENT GREECE

Economic activities are food and tobacco processing,

textiles, metallurgy, mining and petroleum.

The main agricultural products are wheat, corn, sugar

beats, olives, tomatoes, wine, tobacco, potatoes, beef,

and dairy products.

The majority of the Greek population are Christians(Greek Orthodox Church), though there is a minority

that is Islamic.

The richness of Greek’s cultural world has left a long-

lasting influence on western culture and beyond. Stilltoday, ancient Greece’s poets and philosophers are

widely read by students all over the world.



GREEK DEBT CRISIS

The freezing of Greece’s banking system is the most

dramatic moment of the country’s five-year debt crisis —

and perhaps its most pivotal. Since Monday, Greeks can

get only €60 a day at cash machines and can’t transfer

money abroad.

How long the remaining cash lasts and how unsettled

Greeks become will be big factors in the referendum on

creditors’ demands for more austerity in exchange for

more bailout funds.



“The worst nightmare as far as the business community is

concerned has come true,” said Constantine Michalos, the

president of the Athens Chamber of Commerce and

Industry.

Mr. Michalos also has a food wholesaling business, and

65% of his product line is imported. As of this week, his

foreign suppliers aren’t sending any more, leaving him with

about 20 days of remaining inventory. “I have the ability

and necessary funds in my bank account to import,” he

said. “I am not allowed to make an electronic transfer.”

Story of Greece

Documents

Transcript of Story of Greece