Monday-
Ancient Greece (continued)
- Geography of Greece
- Small country in southeastern Europe
- The main part of Greece is on a peninsula
- Surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, the Aegean Sea, and the Ionian Sea
- The rest of Greece is made up of islands
- 6,000 islands (227 being inhabited)
- Importance of Geography to Greece
- The sea was extremely important because of defense, trading, fishing, transportation
- 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
- Mountain covered 3/4 of Ancient Greece
- The most famous mountain is Mt. Olympus, it is 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- no more than a few million
- These issues might have led some leaders to look to expand
- Greek City-States
- Due to Greece's geography, city-states developed instead of a 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 Athens, Greece
- The big competition at the Games was the Pentathlon (Pente=5)(Athlon=competition)
- 1. Long jump
- 2. Javelin
- 3. Discus
- 4. Stadion (modern day stadium)- 200 yards
- 5. Wrestling
- Climate
- Greece's temperatures were beautiful year-round (low 50, high 80)
- This promoted them to be outside
- Minoans (Crete)
- 2000-1500 BC
- 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, they were generally peaceful and not militaristic
- Known for its advanced cities (Knossus)
- Not overcrowded, plumbing, toilets, sewers
- Known for women having much higher status than in earlier civilizations
- Known for their art and pottery
Tuesday-
Ancient Greece (continued)
- Downfall of the Minoans
- Around 1500 BC, the Minoan civilization ended abruptly
- Historians think it could have been an earthquake which leveled cities and their ships
- They could have been over ran by the Mycenaeans
- Some historians think Minoa could have been Atlantis
- Plato
- Greek philosopher
- Only known source discussing location of Atlantis
- Downfall of the Minoans
- Mycenaeans
- Controlled the area around Greece from 1600 BC- 1100 BC
- Heavily influenced bu the Minoans
- Much more war-like than the Minoans (based on art)
- Known for their trade around the Mediterranean Sea, Aegean Sea
- Known 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
- Mycenaeans did unite to fight the Trojan War against the city of Troy
- The Mycenaeans fell apart due to wars and the Sea Peoples 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 Mycenaeans
- 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
Wednesday-
Ancient Greece (continued)
- Key Terms
- Polis- city (Minneapolis, Indianapolis)
- Acropolis- a settlement in a city on higher ground used for defense and a place to discuss politics
- Types of Government in City-States
- Monarchy- government ruled by one person (king, queen, emperor, czar)
- 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- only allowed citizens to participate (women, slaves, and foreigners were not citizens)
- Education in Athens
- Only for 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
- 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-states, Sparta 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 to become citizens
- The second class in Sparta were people who came in from other city-state or other countries. They would own businesses but not become citiznes
- The third class were helot/slaves who 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 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
Thursday- Ancient Greece Project workday
Friday- Ancient Greece Project workday
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