The Glory That Was Greece

Resources for further research:

1. http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/Main_Page/

2. http://history-world.org/ancient_greece.htm

3. http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/

4. http://greece.mrdonn.org/

5. http://

www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/Greece.html

6. http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/

7. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/ancient_greeks/

Time Periods

• Minoan• Mycenaean• Dark Ages• Archaic• Classical • Hellenistic

The Geography of Greece

• Mountains– Hindered communication and unification– Caused growth of independent city-states

• Seas and seaports– Peninsula with irregular coastline– Seaports encouraged development of trade

• Poor farmland– Few crops could be grown– Forced to trade– Became leading traders of Aegean and eastern

Mediterranean

The Early Greeks

• Hellenes – Indo-European nomads – Dorian, Aeolian, and Ionian tribes

• Circa 1400-1000 B.C.E. – migration from Black Sea and Danube regions → modern-day Greece and Turkey

• Conquered Cretans and other natives• Circa 1000 B.C.E. – controlled Greece, some of

Asia Minor, and Aegean islands

Greece’s Colonies

• Circa 800-600 B.C.E.

• Colonized areas around the Mediterranean – Italy’s west coast (Naples), Sicily (Syracuse), southern France (Marseilles), Egypt, Byzantium (Constantinople/Istanbul)

• Spread Greek culture, language, religion

Mycenaean and Minoan Civilization

Greece and the Greek Colonies

Forces Uniting the Greeks

Ancestry Language Literature

Religion Olympic Games

Forces Uniting the Greeks

Ancestry

• Believed in a common ancestor – Hellen

Language

• Spoke different Greek dialects but could understand one another

• Used Phoenician alphabet and added vowels

Literature

• Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey

• Mythological tales

Greek Language and Alphabet

Forces Uniting the Greeks

Religion

• Greek pantheon of gods and goddesses living on Mount Olympus

• Zeus, Athena, Hades, etc.

Olympic Games

• Every four years• This four-year period was

called the Olympiad• Began in 776 BCE• Physical games – boxing,

broad jumps, chariot racing, dashes, discus throwing, distance running, javelin throwing

• Intellectual games – art, drama, music, poetry

Greek Religion

Olympic Games

Forces Disuniting the Greeks

First Loyalty Was to City-State

• Often fought one another

• This disunity eventually allowed the Macedonians to conquer Greece

Geography

• Mountains divided city-states and hindered communication

Different Types of Government

• Athens – democracy

• Sparta – authoritarian and militaristic nature

• Also aristocracies, oligarchies, and tyrannies

The Age of Homer

• Circa 1000 B.C.E.-circa 750 B.C.E.

• Greece’s “Dark Ages” – little information known

• Iliad and Odyssey• People – farmers, traders,

and warriors• Crops and livestock – cattle,

grapes, olives, sheep, wheat Homer

Legends of the Trojan War

• Greeks at Ionia preserved many stories about the Mycenaeans.

• Most famous legend was the Trojan War• Legends of the Trojan War were kept alive by

Homer, a blind poet who lived in Ionia around 750 B.C.

• He traveled from town to town, singing ancient stories

Trojan War cast of characters

• GREEKS– Achilles, known as strongest &

bravest– Odysseus– Telemachus (Odysseus’ son)– Greater Ajax – Lesser Ajax– Agamemnon, king of Mycenae,

had most powerful kingdom in Greece

– Menelaus, king of Sparta, husband of Helen, brother of Agamemnon (usually has red hair)

• TROJANS (FROM TROY)– Hector, Troy’s greatest

warrior– Paris (Hector’s brother)– Priam , king of Troy, Hector

and Paris’s father

Trojan War

Trojan War

• War starts with Aprodite, Hera, and Athena fighting because Eris, the goddess of discord) gave them an apple labeled “for the fairest”

• A Trojan prince named Paris decides that Aprodite wins

• Aprodite in turn makes Queen Helen fall in love with him

• Paris kidnaps Helen from her husband (Menelaus)• Agamemnon, Menelaus’s brother, led a 10 year war

against Troy

Trojan War

• Greeks Achilles and Ajax die= considered best Greek fighters

• Trojans Hector (Trojan prince, son of King Priam, honorable warrior) and Paris die

• Troy falls to concept of the Trojan Horse. The Greeks construct a huge wooden horse and hide their men inside

Spartan shield Trojan shield

Trojan Horse victory by the Greeks

• The Greeks pretended to sail away, and the Trojans pulled the horse into their city as a victory trophy. That night the Greek force crept out of the horse and opened the gates for the rest of the Greek army, which had sailed back under cover of night. The Greeks entered and destroyed the city of Troy, decisively ending the war.

Trojan Horse

• “Trojan Horse" has come to mean any trick that causes a target to invite an enemy into a securely protected bastion or space.

King Agamemnon, king of wealthy Mycenae

Achilles and Hector

Achilles’ heel

Trojan Horse

Persian Empire

• Founder= Cyrus the Great, very tolerant• Persians were Ayrans, like the people who migrated to

India• Now this region is called Iran, which comes from word Ayran

• Cyrus’ last conquest was Babylonians, treated the conquered well, allowed Jews to returned to homeland and gave Jews money to rebuild temple, which Babylonians had destroyed

• Much info. comes from writing of 1st Greek historian Herodotus

Cyrus the GreatCyrus and clemency (merciful)

More a liberator than conquerer; Mentioned in the Old Testament 22 times; Freed Jews from Bablylon and allowed them to return to homeland; helped pay for rebuilding of Temple of Jerusalem when destroyed (1st time)

1st Greco-Persian Battle

• Starts with Cyrus conquering Ionia• Ionians used to being ruled by tyrants, not a

merciful Cyrus• Set up tyrants in area but wasn’t working• Ionian Revolt• Hoplite warfare• Battle of Marathon

First Persian War

• Cyrus the Great had conquered Greek city-states of Ionia

• Ionians hated Persian rule and Persian taxes• 499 B.C. they asked Athens for help• Athens burned Persian city of Sardis• Persian troops recaptured Ionian leaders and

Darius was angry• Revenge was to conquer all of Greece

Battle of Marathon• 490 B.C. 20,000 Persian soldiers set sail for Greece• Land near Marathon, 26 miles from Athens• Small force of 10,000 Athenian infantry- no archers, no cavalry,

outnumbered 2 to 1.• Athenians vote to attack, & next day at dawn, Greek phalanxes attack

on all sides- Persians retreat• As Greeks closed in, Persians fled to their ships• Fastest runner, Pheidippides, had just returned from carrying a

message to distant Sparta. Although exhausted, he set out for Athens• On reaching the city, he gasped, “Rejoice! We have won.” and then he

collapsed and died• To honor battle and Pheidippides marathon runners cover the same

distance of about 26 miles Pheidippides ran nearly 2,600 years ago

Results of 1st Persian War

• was a watershed in the Greco-Persian wars, showing the Greeks that the Persians could be beaten

• highlighted superiority of Greek hoplites• famous for the inspiration of the Marathon race

Darius the Greattribute, roads, common currency, Persepolis, local govt.

Daric satrap

Royal RoadPersepolis

Darius• Conquered people had local self govt. but had to send tribute to

the Persian emperor• Each province would pay only what produced- much more fair tax

code• With the money, Darius built Persepolis• Darius created a common currency so gold coins could be

accepted across empire from Ionia (Greece) to India and Babylonia

• Used wealth to build roads- the Royal Road stretched from Sardis in Lydia to Susa in Babylonia

• According to Herodotus, it took 3 months to carry a message from one city to the other. Postal stations were located a day’s ride apart along the way to get new messengers and fresh horses.

Persian Empire

• Darius the Great- under his rule, Persia became a HUGE multicultural empire

• One approach, could follow example of China’s first emperor Shi Huangdi, by imposing uniform laws and standards

• Persians created politics where there was local self-government

• Darius divided empire into satrapies, with laws made by locals

• Darius also sent each satrap (local official) a secretary who was the king’s spy and reported directly to Darius

Persian defeat- Darius more determined

• But before he could launch another attack, he dies

• Son Xerxes wants to now punish Greeks• Herodotus describes the huge invasion forces

Xerxes assembles, and decides to not take huge army in ships by land

• Creates a floating bridge and leads about 100,000 men into Greece to start Second Persian War

2nd Greco-Persian Battle

• Xerxes (Darius’s son) is Persian leader• 3 Major Battles:– Thermopylae (300, Leonidas, enduring strength of

Spartans)– Salamis (naval battle)– Plataea and Mycale (terrestrial battle, showed

military prowess of hoplite soldiers)

Xerxes versus Spartans in Thermopylae- 300

• Many Greeks thought Persians were unstoppable• King Leonidas, ledge a small Spartan force to stop

Persians at a narrow mountain pass called Thermopylae• Spartans held off the invaders, then a traitor showed

the Persians another path through mts.• 300 Spartans chose death defeat• Herodotus wrote that when their weapons were gone,

they fought on “with their hands and teeth” until every man was killed

• (like Masada by Israelites instead of being defeated by Romans)

Wooden Walls of Athens- Battle of Salamis about to occur

• Terrified Athenians consulted the Oracle at Delphi• It said that “wooden walls” could save the Athenians• Many Athenians thought that meant city walls• Themistocles believed that the wooden walls meant

ships• When Persians reached Athens, they found the

harbor empty• Athenians had fled by ship to nearby islands• Persians burn down Athens, including temples on

the Acropolis

Battle of Salamis- by sea

Battle of Salamis

• Xerxes had throne set on a hill near Athens; Xerxes very confident and ready to watch his fleet destroy the Greek navy

• He has 1,200 warships, and Greeks 380 ships• Themistocles had set a trap• Keep his fleet hidden while Persian ships filled narrow

strait• Then Greeks attacked and rammed the crowded Persian

ships• Soon strait was crowded with broken ships and impossible

for Persians to escape• Instead of losing rest of his fleet, Xerxes sails for home

“Golden Age” for Athens

• Athenians celebrate their victory by introducing a “golden age” of art and learning

• Pericles leads the way with a program for rebuilding the city

• Athenians create marvels of art and architecture, including the Parthenon

• Athens enjoys a golden age of philosophy, science, and literature.

Timeline

http://www.holoka.com/pdf-files/hist_323_lect.pdf