Sep 19-
Geography
Greece is a small country in Europe
Main part is a peninsula
Greece is surrounded by the Mediterranean, Aegean and Ionian Sea
The rest of Greece is made up of islands
The Seas were important to Greece because of defense, transportation, trade, fishing
Most Greeks lived within 85 miles of the sea
Mountains covered around ¾’s of ancient Greece
Mt. Olympus; home of the 12 Olympian Greek gods
Due to mountains, transportation over land was difficult
Greeks did not have much fertile land for agriculture
Due to these issues, ancient Greece never had a large population
These issues might have led some leaders to look to expand
City-States
Due to Greece’s geography, city states developed instead of unified country
Olympics
Olympics date to 776 BC and lasted until 393 AD when the Romans ended them
Lasted one day at first but eventually extended to five
Happened every four years (Olympiad)
Started as a tribute to Zeus and has a mythological origin
Started again in Athens Greece in 1896
The big competition at the games was the pentathlon
Long jump, javelin, discus, Stadion- 200yds, Wrestling
Minoans and the Mycenaeans
Heavily influenced by the Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations
Named after legendary Crete King Minos of Greek mythology
Known for its trade on the seas
Due to its isolation on the island of Crete, generally peaceful
Known for it’s advanced cities
- Not overcrowded, plumbing
Sep 20-
Known for women having much higher status than in earlier civilizations
Known for their art and pottery
Ended abruptly
Historians think it could have been an earthquake which leveled cities and their ships
They could have been overran by the Mycenaeans
Some historians think Minoa could have been Atlantis
Plato
Greek philosopher
Only source discussing location of Atlantis
Mycenaeans
Heavily influenced by the Minoans
Much more war-like than Minoans
Known for their trade around the Mediterranean Sea, Aegean Sea
Known for their piracy on the seas surrounding Greece
Known for the city-states of Athens, Mycenae, Plyos, and Tiryns
Historians aren’t sure if city-states were independent or more united
Mycenaeans did unite to fight the Trojan War against Troy
The mycenaeans fell apart due to wars and the Sea Peoples sacking their city-states
Dorians came down from the north and took over Greece
Came from the area north of Greece
Less advanced
Trade and culture slowed
Greece went into a dark age
Homer
Greek poet
Narative poems about heroic deeds
The Iliad was about the Trojan War
Trojan War
- Fought between Mycenaean Greeks and Troy
Sep 21-
Key Terms
Polis- city
Acropolis- a settlement in a city on higher ground used for defense and a place to discuss politics
Monarchy- ruled by one person usually a king or queen
Aristocracy- government ruled by a small group of wealthy, landowning families
Oligarchy- 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
Athens only allowed citizens to participate
Not women, slaves and foreigners
Athens Education
Only for sons of wealthy families
Started at age 7 and focused on developing good citizens
Studied reading, grammar, poetry, history, math, music, logic and public speaking
Public debate and athletics were also stressed
Once older, boys went to military school
Girls were educated by their mothers in the home to do cleaning, cooking, child-rearing, etc.
Sparta
Powerful and had its own army
Defeated the Messenians
Unlike Athens and other city-states, it did not have democracy
Built a military state
Sparta conquered other city-states to gain wealth and power
Valued duty, strength and discipline over freedom, beauty and learning
Only men born in Sparta 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
The could own businesses but not become citizens
The third class were helots/ slaves
Worked in fields
Spartan Warriors
Learning to read and write in sparta was not very important
Training to become a good soldiers was stressed
Young boys left home at 7 and trained to be soldiers until they were 30
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
Sep 22- Work day
Sep 23- Work day
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