Monday-
Greece geography-
small country in Europe
main part of Greece in on a peninsula
Greece is surrounded by Mediterranean, Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea
The rest of Greece is made up of islands (6000, 227 being inhabited)
Was important because protection, transportation, and trade
“The did not live on the land, they lived around the sea”
Most greeks lived within 85 miles of the sea
Mountains made up 3/4 of ancient greece
Mt. Olympus- home of the 12 olympian greek gods ( zeus, hera, demeter poseidon, athena)
Due to mountains transportation was difficult
Not much fertile land
Never had a large population
Olympics
Records of olympics date to 776 BC and lasted until 393 AD when the Romans ended them
Lasted only 1 day, eventually extended to 5 day
Happened every 4 years
All started as a tribute to Zeus
Modern Olympics Games started up again in 1896
Events: Long jump, Javelin, Discus, Stadion, Wrestling
Tuesday
Minoan Civilization-
2000-1500 BC
Heavily influenced by the egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations
Named after legendary Crete King Minos of greek mythology
Known for trade by sea
Peacefully
Known for its advanced cities
Known for women having much higher status than in earlier civilizations
Art and pottery
Downfall-
Around 1500 BC
Historians think it could have been an earthquake
Could have been ran over by mycenaeans
Could have been Atlantis
Plato- Greek philosopher
Mycenaean Civilization
Controls the area around greece from 1600 BC- 1100 BC
Influenced by the minoans
Known for trade around mediterranean sea, aegean sea
Pirates
Know for city-state- athens mycenae, pylos, tiryns
Historians are sure if city state were independent or more united
Unite to fight the trojan war against troy
Fell apart due to wars and the sea people sacking their city states
The Dorians came down from the north and took over greece
Less advanced than mycenaeans
Trade and culture slowed
Greece went into dark age
Homer- epic poet 750- 700 BC, poems celebrated heroic deeds, Iliad was about trojan war, wrote the odyssey was a sequel that was after the trojan war.
Trojan war-
Fought between mycenaean greeks and troy
1194-1184 BC
War began after the abduction of Queen Helen of Sparta by the Trojan Prince, Paris
Agamemnon was joined by the greek heroes achilles and odysseus
Cross the aegean sea and laid siege to troy
Greek City-States Athens/Sparta
Polis
City
Acropolis
A settlement in a city on higher ground used for defense and a place to discuss politics
Types of government
Monarchy
Government ruled by one person-king queen
Aristocracy
Government ruled by a small group of wealthy landowning families
Oligarchy
A government ruled by a few powerful people
Tyrants
Powerful individuals who seize control from the government
Could be good or bad
Democracy
Ruled by the people
Athens had perhaps the world’s first democracy
Only allowed citizens to participate
Women slaves, and foreigner were not citizens
Education in Athens
Only for the sons of wealthy families
Started at age 7 and focuses on developing good citizens
Studied reading, grammar, poetry, history, math, music, logic, and public speaking
Public debate and athletics were also stressed
Once older, students went to military school
Girls were educated by their mothers in the home to do cleaning, cooking, child-rearing, etc
Sparta
Sparta was very powerful and had its own army
Defeated the Messenians in 725 BC and in 650 BC
Unlike Athens and other city-state, it did not have democracy
Build a military state
Sparta conquered other city-states to gain wealth and power
Valued duty, strength and discipline over freedom beauty and learning
Sparta Classes
Only men born were citizens
Women were not allowed to become Citizens
The second class in Sparta were people who came from other city-states or other countries
They could own businesses but not become citizens
The third class were helots /slaves
Worked the fields or were servants
Spartan Warriors
Learning to read and write in Sparta was not very important
Training to become a good soldier was stressed
Young boys left home at 7 and trained to be soldiers until they were 30
Athletics were stressed
Spartan Women
Service to Sparta was stressed
Received some military training
Athletics were stressed
Had quite a bit of freedom in comparison to athens
Could run family estates when husband was off at war
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