Monday- Notes on Greece
Tuesday- Notes on Greece
Wednesday- Notes on Greece
Thursday- Work day
Friday- Work day
Geography
-Greece is a small country in Europe
-The main part of Greece is on a peninsula
-Greece is surrounded by three large bodies of water
- mediterranean sea, Aegean sea, and Ionian sea
- The rest of Greece is made up of islands (6000)
Importance of Geography to Greece
-The sea was extremely important to the Greeks- Why?
- did not live” on the land” but around the sea””
-Most greeks lived within 85 miles of the sea
-used the sea as a means of transportation
-The Sea linked all parts of Greece to other areas for trade which was essential due to lack of resources
-¾ mountains covered of ancient greece
-Mt. Olympus- home of 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- no more than a few million
-These issues might have led some leaders to look to expand
Greece City- states
-Due to Greece’s geography, city states developed instead of unified country
Ancient Olympics
-Records of 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 days
-Happened every four years-an Olympiad
-Started as a tribute to Zeus and has a mythological origin
-The modern Olympic Games started up again in 1896 in Greece
-The big competition at the games was the pentathlon(Pente-5(athlon-competition.)
-Long jump, Javelin, Discus,Stadion(200 yards), Wrestling
Climate
- Had very warm weather all year long
Minoans and Mycenaeans
Minoans
-2000-1500 BC
-heavily influenced by the Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations
-Named after legendary Crete King Minos of Greek mythology
-Know for its trade on the seas
-Due to its isolation on the island of Crete, generally peaceful
-Know for it’s advanced cities _knossus
-not overcrowded, plumbing, toilets, sewers
-known for women having higher status than in earlier civilizations
- Known for their art and pottery
Downfall
- Around 1500 BC the Minoan civilization ended abruptly
-Histroiens think it ocul have been an earthquake which leveled cities and their ships
-They could have been ran by the mycenaeans
-Some historians think Minoan could have been Atlants
Plato
-Greek philosopher
-Only known source discussing location of Atlantis
Mycenaeans
-Controlled the area around Greece from 1600 BC- 1100 BC
-Heavily influenced by the Minoans
-Much more warlike than Minoans (based on art)
-Know for their trade around the Mediterranean Sea, Aegean Sea
-Know for their piracy on the seas surrounding Greece
-Known for their city-states-, Athens, Mycenae, Pylos, Tiryns
-Historians aren’t sure if city-states were independent or more united
-Mycenaean’s did unite to fight the Trojan War against Troy
-They Mycenaean’s fell apart due to wars and the Sea People’s sacking their city-states
-Eventually the Dorians came down from the north and took over Greece
Dorians 1150- 750 BC
-Came from the area north of Greece
-Less advanced than the Mycenaean’s
-Trade and culture slowed
-Greece went into a Dark Age
Homer
-Was a Greek epic poet from 750- 700 BC
-narrative poems celebrated heroic deeds
-The Iliad was about the Trojan War
- The odyssey was a sequel that was after the Trojan War
Trojan War
-Fought between the Mycenaean Greeks and Troy
-War began after the abduction of Queen Helen of Sparta
Key Terms
-Polis-City
-Acropolis- A settlement in a city on higher ground used for defence and a place to discuss politics
-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. Women, slaves and foreigners were not citizens
Education in Athens
-Only or the 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, students went to military school
-Girls were educated by their mothers in the home to do cleaning, cooking, child-rearing, etc.
Greek City-State Sparta
-Sparta was very powerful and had its own army
-defeated the Messenian in 725 BC and in 650 BC
-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
Spartan Classes
-Only men born in Sparta were citizens
-Women were not allowed became 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 soldiers was stressed
-YOung boys left home at 7 and trained to be soldiers until they were 30
-Athletics was also 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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