Chapter 4: Ancient Greece - Review

Section 1

Vocabulary

1. Knossos: ancient Minoan city in the island of Crete; in this city was a vast palace where Minoan rulers lived
2. shrines: areas dedicated to the honor of gods and goddesses; altar, chapel
3. frescoes: watercolor paintings done on wet plaster that covered the walls of the palace at Knossos; they tell us a lot about Minoan society
4. Trojan War: a ten-year conflict that took place in 1250 B.C. due to economic rivalry between Mycenae and Troy
5. straits: narrow water passages connecting the Mediterranean and Black seas that were controlled by the Trojans
6. Homer: blind poet who lived around 750 B.C. wandering from village to village, singing of heroic deeds; he's credited with the Iliad and the Odyssey

The Minoans

• The people of Crete absorbed ideas from Egypt and Mesopotamia, like the Greeks absorbed ideas from them.
• We do not know what this civilization called themselves, but Arthur Evans (British archaeologist), who unearthed their ruins, named them after a legendary king of Crete who set important laws, Minos.
• King Minos claimed he was Zeus' son, there was a cave in Crete where Zeus was supposedly born and got married; Minos went to the cave once a year to receive laws and orders from Zeus.
• Peaked between 1600 B.C. and 1500 B.C.
• Traded with Egypt, Mesopotamia and throughout the Aegean; trade was the base of their success, not conquest.
• As Minoans traded goods, they acquired ideas they could adapt to their culture in fields like writing and architecture.
• A vast palace at Knossos housed this civilization's leaders; it also included rooms for the royal family, banquet halls, artisan working areas, and shrines.
• The palace walls were covered by frescoes, through these paintings we know that Minoans:
• gave a lot of importance to the sea
• worshiped the bull and a mother goddess
• gave women more rights than most ancient civilizations
• Mazes originated in Knossos, to get to the palace you had to go through a maze.
• Women took part in Minoan civilization.
• Disappeared by 1400 B.C. for reasons unknown to archaeologists, but it is certain that a Mycenaean invasion contributed.

The Mycenaeans

• Are the first Greek-speaking people of whom we have a written record; they spoke an Indo-European language, like the Aryans (who spread across India).
• Conquered the Greek mainland and then Crete.
• Dominated the Aegean world from about 1400 B.C. to 1200 B.C.
• Reached beyond the Aegean, to Sicily, Italy, Egypt, and Mesopotamia.
• Learned a lot from the Minoans, including writing; also absorbed Egyptian and Mesopotamian customs that the Greeks then absorbed from them.
• Lived in separate city-states on the mainland; wealthy warrior-kings ruled from thick-walled fortresses.
• Treasures, like fine gold ornaments, have been found in warrior-king's tombs.
• Are best remembered for their part in the Trojan War.
• Ended by the Greek-speaking Dorians, who attacked them from the north, in about 1100 B.C.
• After the Dorian invasion people lived in small isolated villages with little contact with the outside world, but they learned from the stories of Crete and Mycenae to then emerge a Greek civilization that would dominate the region.

The Trojan War

• Took place around 1250 B.C.
• Originated due to economic rivalry between Mycenae and Troy (rich trading city in present-day Turkey that controlled the vital straits).
• In Greek legend, its origins were when Paris (Trojan prince) kidnapped Helen (beautiful wife of a Greek king) and the Mycenaeans sailed to Troy to look for her.
• Lasted 10 years; at the end, the Greeks seized Troy and burnt it.
• People thought it was a legend until Heinrich Schliemann (wealthy German businessman) set out to prove it was real in the 1870s; he actually discovered evidence of fire and war dating to about 1250 B.C. in the site of ancient Troy, which he excavated.
• Not long after their victory, the Mycenaeans were attacked by the Dorians; people abandoned the cities as trade declined and from the end of Mycenaean civilization, 1100 B.C. to 900 B.C. Greek civilization seemed to go backward.
• Much of what we know about the war comes from the Iliad and the Odyssey.

Greek Legends and Stories

• Homer (750 B.C.) is credited with two great epic poems that were passed on orally for generations before being written down, these copies survived the burning of the Library of Alexandria:
• the Iliad or Wrath of Achilles
• chief source of information about the Trojan War
• There were 3 goddesses who wanted to know who was the prettiest, so they call Paris (prince of Troy) to pick.  The goddesses all start offering him things, but Aphrodite offers him the most beautiful woman's love, so he chooses her and as promised, Helen falls for him, but she was already married to Menelaus (king of Sparta).  According to the romantic legend, Troy steals Helen so an alliance of Greeks attack Troy to get her back.
• Troy was a Greek colony (many Greeks settled there and formed it, but it had nothing to do with Greece politically, like Chinatown).
• The Iliad begins in year 10 of the Trojan War, which is basically tied.  One of the battles is won by the Greeks, and in this battle the Greek take two Trojan women as servants, Criseida and Briseida.  Agamemnon, who was the brother of Menelaus, was in charge of the Greek troops, and took Criseida, and Achilles (son of a nymph called Thetis), the Greeks' best soldiers because of his brute strength and pride, took Briseida.
• Achilles was invincible because when he was a baby his mother, Thetis, submerged him in a sacred river; his only non-invincible spot was his heel, from where his mother had grabbed him.
• Achilles was given to choose between a long, calm life or a short and glorious one, and he chose to have a short, glorious life.
• Criseida was the daughter of a priest of Apollo, so he contacts Apollo and Apollo releases a plague upon the Greek until they release Criseida (Agamemnon's servant), so the Greek release her, and Agamenon decides to take Briseida (Achilles' servant) for himself.
• Achilles got mad (wrath) and refused to fight anymore with the Greek, even when he was offered Briseida back, because of his pride. As a result, the Trojans started to win.
• Patroclus (Achilles' best friend) steals Achilles' god-made armor and goes to fight as if he was Achilles, but he wasn't such a good fighter, so Hector (Trojan prince, older brother of Paris, a heroic figure but a familiar man) kills him and steals Achilles's armor.
• Achilles gets mad (wrath) and feels guilty, so Vulcan (god of fire and volcanoes) makes him another set of armor and he goes to fight.  Athena was on Achilles' side, so she confuses Hector and Achilles kills him and drags his body with a carriage; this was very bad because the Greek honored their bodies. 
• The Illiad finishes when Hector's dad asks for the body back Achilles gives it back, restored, the Trojan Horse does not appear in the Illiad. 
• In this epic, we see fury, glory, vengeance and persistence.
• the Odyssey
• Tells the struggles of the Greek hero Odysseus on his return home to his faithful wife, Penelope.
• The Odyssey begins at the end of the Trojan War; the soldiers are sailing to arrive in Greece in 2 weeks.
• When Agamemnon got home, his wife killed him.
• Odysseus sails towards his faithful wife, Penelope (romantic heroine).
• On his first journey, Odysseus stops on an island and offends Poseidon, so he repays him by making his trip back 10 years long.
• On those 10 years, Odysseus goes on numerous adventures that all have lessons; the Odyssey narrates these adventures, some of them were:
• Lotus Eaters (plants that made you forget and want to stay)
• Cyclops Island ("Noman", all his men die)
• Aeolus' Island (wind god that had bags of wind that made a storm)
• Scila's Island (he knew 6 of his men would die here, but he continued, and 6 died)
• Calypso Island (nymph that wanted him to stay with her)
• Homer's two poems reveal a lot about the values of the ancient Greeks; the heroes display: honor, courage, eloquence
• Theseus and the Minotaur
• King Minos' wife, Europa, has sex with a bull and conceives the Minotaur.  Minos ordered a labyrinth to be built to put the Minotaur in there, Daedalus (Athenian genius who invented masts and helped Minos be the first man with a navy; had fled to Crete because of problems) had designed it.  Every year, Minos demanded money and youth from Athens to sacrifice to the Minotaur.  Prince Theseus of Athena volunteers and Ariadne (daughter of Minos) falls in love with him; they plot with Daedalus to kill the Minotaur.  Theseus is successful but he leaves Ariadne in a stranded island; however, the gods punished him for this, since his father had told him to change his sails to white if he returned alive, but he forgot, so his father, Aegeus, killed himself.  The Aegean Sea is named in his memory.
• Icarus' Death
• After Theseus and Ariadne escape, Minos imprisons Icarus and Daedalus as a punishment for helping them.  They escape with wings made of wax and feathers Daedalus made, but Icarus ignores his father's warnings and flies too high, so his wings disintegrate because the wax melts due to the heat of the sun.  Daedalus dies later due to a riddle about a conch that Minos had set up.
• Birth of Hellen
• The Gods sent out a huge rain out of rage once, all the Greeks died except Deucalion and Pyrrha.  They wanted to populate Earth, so they go to the oracle who tells them: "To populate Earth throw back the bones of your mother."  The oracle referred to Mother Earth (bones = rocks).  When Deucalion threw a rock back a man appeared, and when Pyrrha threw a rock back a woman appeared.  Hellen is the real son of Deucalion and Pyrrha.
• Zeus Kidnaps Europa
• Europa was beautiful, she was the daughter of the king of Phoenicia; while she was gathering flowers she saw a bull quietly grazing her father's fields.  The bull was actually Zeus, king of all the Greek gods; he had fallen in love with her and when she reached up to place flowers on his horns, he bounded into the air and carried the princess across the Mediterranean to the island of Crete.  Legend says she eventually married the king of Crete and gave her name to a new continent, Europe.
• The Trojan Horse
• The story of the Trojan Horse was very significant to ancient Greeks; artisans often used the image of the horse to decorate their work.  This strategy invented by Odysseus consisted of a horse statue the Greeks put soldiers in and left in Troy.  At night, the Greek soldiers got out and infiltrated it.

Section 2

Vocabulary

1. polis: Greek city-state; consisted of a major city and its surrounding countryside
2. acropolis: highest and most fortified point within a Greek city-state where there were luxurious temples
3. citizen: free residents that shared a responsibility for their city-state's triumphs and defeats
4. monarchy: government in which a hereditary ruler exercises central power
5. aristocracy: government in which a hereditary landholding elite rules
6. oligarchy: government in which a small, wealthy elite has the power
7. phalanx: massive tactical formation of heavily armed foot soldiers
8. Sparta: distinguished Greek city-state in Laconia (south part of Peloponnesus) built by the Dorians that stressed military virtues and stern discipline, it was about the size of Connecticut (biggest polis)
9. Athens: distinguished Greek city-state in Attica (north of Peloponnesus) that extended political rights
10. democracy: government developed in Athens in which the people hold the power
11. tyrant: people who gained power by force, but were not necessarily bad leaders
12. legislature: lawmaking body that debated laws and decided to approve or reject them

Greek Development

• The Mediterranean and Aegean seas were central to the development of Greek civilization, like the Nile was to the Egyptians; they used it to trade and for food (fish).
• Greeks absorbed many ideas from the older civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt.
• Most early civilizations rose in fertile river valleys, but Greece was in the Balkan peninsula (which extends southward into the eastern Mediterranean Sea); mountains and sea divided it into isolated valleys and rocky islands, making intercommunication and governing very difficult.
• Greece was made up of many independent small city-states they called polis (not like Egypt or Persia that was one big empire).
• The Greeks were proud of their city-states, not Greece as a whole; there were numerous wars between the polis, and the Greeks fought for their polis.
• Greece had hundreds of bays; they became expert sailors because the seas were their link to the outside world.
• They carried cargoes of olive oil, wine, and marble throughout the eastern Mediterranean, and returned with grains, metals, but also ideas.
• The Greeks adapted the Persian alphabet to them, and our alphabet is based off the Greek.
• The Greeks left three gifts for the world, those were:
• love of liberty (fought for their liberty, but were so dedicated that they never united as a country, were individualists)
• love of truth (searched for answers to philosophical questions with logic and science)
• love of beauty (loved simple, beautiful things and their arts, like literature and paintings)
• Rapid population growth in 750 B.C. expanded Greek horizons and scattered them from Spain to Egypt.

Greek Government

• Greek polis were independent, but they all shared certain traits, like:
• small in size (300 to 500 square miles)
• little in population (less than 10,000 people)
• Since only adult men could participate in politics, sometimes they were less than 1,000.
• were the most important thing to their inhabitants
• made up of a major city and its surrounding countryside; they were typically built in two levels.
• The acropolis was on top of a hill (high city), here were marble temples.
• Below lay the walled main city with its marketplace, theater, public buildings, and homes.
• had agoras (public meeting place and market)
• Polis' populations were small, and citizen rights were unequal because male landowners held all the political power.
• From 750 B.C. to 500 B.C. Greek government developed through different forms; from monarchy to aristocracy to oligarchy.
• As power shifted to a class of noble landowners the government developed from monarchy to aristocracy.
• As trade expanded and a middle class made up of merchants, farmers, and artisans emerged, the government developed from aristocracy to oligarchy.
• The power of the middle class was increased due to changes in military technology; in 650 B.C. the phalanx was developed, where all soldiers were equal and required.

Sparta

• Dorians from the north conquered Laconia and built the city-state of Sparta.
• They turned the conquered people into state-owned slaves they called helots; they made them work the land.
• Helots outnumbered their rulers, so Spartans set up a strict control system.
• Spartans were always armed in fear of a Helot rebellion.
• Spartan government consisted of two kings and a council of elders who advised them.
• An assembly of citizens (male, native Spartans over the age of 30) also had to approve major decisions.
• Within this assembly, five ephors (officials) who ran day-to-day affairs were elected.
• Spartans were educated from childhood to form part of a military state.
• Newborns were examined by officials and sickly or weak children were abandoned to die.
• At age 7, boys moved into barracks and were toughened by a course diet, hard exercise, and rigid discipline that made them excellent soldiers.
• Boys were encouraged to steal food, but were beaten if caught.
• At age 20 a man could marry, but would still live in the barracks (until age 30).
• In the barracks they joined a mess, they did everything (eating, training...) with this clan.  A man with no mess had no pride.
• At age 30, after further training, men took place in the assembly.
• They served in the military and ate in the barracks until age 60.
• Spartans fought in sworn bands, groups of 24 men that were loyal and mobile.
• The women of Sparta were very privileged and considered in comparison to other city-stated of the era.
• Girls had a rigorous upbringing as well since they were expected to produce healthy sons for the army.
• They bathed in wine since they thought this helped them have healthy babies.
• Women had to obey their fathers or husbands, but could inherit property.
• Women also took on responsibilities, such as running the family estate, when their men were occupied with war.
• Sparta was on a valley, protected by mountains and sea; it wasn't walled, because they had a wall of men (army).  The military was their greatest pride, the city itself wasn't pretty.
• Spartans were taught to come back "With their shields, or on it".
• The shields were heavy, so if they fled battle and were cowards they were going to have to come back without their shields.
• If they all returned, victorious, they would come back with their shields.
• If they returned dead, they would return on their shields.
• Aristodemus was a spartan boy that started training in the army at age 12, at age 28 he could join a mess (clan), and a age 30 he became an equal (highest education).
• Spartan defenses were put to the test when Xerxes (king of Persia) attempted conquering them.
• Aristodemus was sent to the Battle of Thermopylae (gates of heat).
• The Greeks defeated the Persians in Thermopylae, even when Xerxes sent in the elite Persian forces, "the immortals".
• The Persians found a secret path and caught the Greek unprepared; the Greek withdrew to the hill and all except 2 were killed.
• Aristodemus was one of the ones who did not die, when he returned he was called "Aristodemus the Coward".
• Spartans isolated themselves; they looked down on trade and wealth, and were not allowed to travel.  They weren't very expressive either, they used few words.
• Other city-states admired Sparta's military, but didn't imitate their way of life, some said: "Spartans are willing to die for their city because they have no reason to live."

Athens

• Located in Attica, just north of the Peloponnesus.
• It was located on a hill and walled; it was a very pretty city.
• Athenian government evolved from a monarchy to an aristocracy, but by 700 B.C. landowners help power and voted for their chief officials (democracy).
• Under aristocracy, Athenian wealth grew, but ordinary people were discontent; this caused a slow move toward democracy, which had a different meaning then.
• Solon was a wise and trusted leader who was appointed archon (chief official) in 594 B.C. and made many reforms, for example:
• Outlawed debt slavery and freed those who had been sold into slavery for debt.
• Opened high offices to more citizens and granted citizenship to some foreigners.
• Gave the Athenian assembly more say in important decisions.
• Encouraged the export of wine and olive oil. (Economic reform, helped merchants and farmers, increased demand for their products)
• Despite all of Solon's reforms, citizenship remain limited and many positions were only open to the wealthy.
• Eventually tyrants rose by winning support from the poor by imposing reforms to help them, most tyrants were good.
• Pisistratus seized power in 546 B.C. and gave loans to farmers from land he took from nobles; he also created building projects that gave jobs to the poor and gave them a greater voice (weakened the aristocracy).
• Cleisthenes seized power in 507 B.C. and broadened the role of ordinary citizens in the government by setting up the Council of 500 (chosen among all citizens over the age of 30; the council supervised the government); he also made the assembly (all male citizens) a genuine legislature.
• Athenian democracy was quite limited since only citizens could participate in the government, and citizenship was restricted to landowning men (women, merchants, sons of non-citizens and the tens of thousands of slaves were excluded).
• Even with these limitations, they gave more people a say in decision-making than any other polis or ancient civilization.
• Only about 40,000 of the 400,000 inhabitants could vote.
• Women did not participate in the government at all; their most significant public role was in religion, where there participation was considered essential.  Women also managed the household (spun, wove, cared for the children and prepared food) but they were rarely seen in public; slaves or children were sent to buy food and get water from the well.
• Women only socialized on their wedding day.
• Poor women worked outside the home, tending sheep or working as spinners, weavers, or potters.
• Girls received minimal education and boys attended school if their families could afford it.
• In school they learned to read, write, studied music (at least 1 instrument), memorized poetry (Iliad and Odyssey) and studied public speaking to be able to voice their views in the future.
• They received military training and participated in athletic contests but knowledge was more encouraged.

Greek Unity

• Greek city-states rivaled because of economy, but they had many things in common, like:
• culture
• participated in common festivals
• honored the same ancient heroes
• they were all descendants of Hellen
• language
• through trade and expansion they came in contact with people with different languages; they called them barbaroi (barbarians) and considered them inferior
• Phoenicians and Egyptians were considered barbarians by Greeks
• religion
• were polytheistic prayed to the same gods on Mount Olympus
• Zeus (chief god, god of the sky and of thunder)
• Ares (son of Zeus, god of war)
• Aphrodite (daughter of Zeus, goddess of love and beauty)
• Athena (daughter of Zeus, goddess of wisdom and war)
• Hera (Zeus' wife and sister, goddess of women and marriage)
• Apollo (Artemis' twin, god of the sun and of truth)
• Artemis (Apollo's twin, god of the moon and of hunt)
• Poseidon (Zeus' brother, god of the sea)
• Hades (Zeus' brother, god of the underworld)
• Dionysus (god of wine)
• Demeter (goddess of agriculture)
• Hermes (messenger of the gods, god of thieves and trade)
• honored their gods with temples and festivals which included processions, sacrifices, feasts, plays, choral singing and athletic competitions
• consulted oracles (priests or priestesses through whom the gods were thought to speak)

Practice

Specify whether the characteristic belongs to the Minoans, Mycenaeans, Trojans, Dorians, Spartans, Persians, Athenians, or to the Greeks in general.  The underlined words are the possible options you can write in.

Identify the person, character, or god described.


REMEMBER TO STUDY FROM YOUR TEXTBOOK AND NOTEBOOK.  NOT ALL MATERIAL IS COVERED IN THE REVIEW.  THE REVIEW PRESENTS NO MAPS, WHICH MAY COME.

References

Esler, Anthony and Elisabeth Garnor Ellis.  Prentice Hall: World History.  New Jersey: Pearson, 2014.  Web.