Monday
Greece is a small country in Europe
The main part of Greece in on a penisula
Greece is surrounded by what three large bodies of water
Mediterranean Sea, Aegean Sea, and Ionian Sea
The rest of Greece is made up of islands 6000-227 being inhabited
Importance of Geography to Greece
The saw was extremely important
Trade
Transportation
Protection
Food
Resources
Did not live “on the land” but “around the sea”
Most Greeks lived within 85 miles of the sea
The sea linked all parts of Greece to other areas for trade which was essentials due to lack of resources
City- states
Mountains covered 3/4s of ancient Greece
Mt Olympus
Home of the 12 Olympian Greek gods
Zeus
Poseidon
Athena
Hera
Demeter
Apollo
Artemis
Aphrodite
Ares
Hermes
Hephaestus
Hestia
Dionysus
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
Ancient Olympics
From 776 Bc and lasted until 393 AD when the Romans Ended them
Lasted one day but then extended to 5 years
Happened every 4 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
1928- women were allowed
The big competition at the games was the Pentathlon
Long jump
Javelin
Discus
Stadion- 200 yards
Wrestling
Climate
50- 84 degrees
Minoans and Mycenaeans
Minoans
2000 BC- 1500 BC
Heavily influenced by the Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations
Named after legendary Cretan 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 its advanced cities Knossos
Not over crowded plumbing toilets sewers
Known for women having much higher status than in earlier civilizations
Know for their art and pottery
Tuesday
Gone
Wednesday
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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