EARLY CIVILIZATIONS

ATHENS & SPARTAGREEK CONFLICT

ATHENIAN GOLDEN AGEGREEK CONTRIBUTIONSALEXANDER THE GREAT

ANCIENT GREECE

• MINOANS • MYCENEANS

EARLY GREEK CIVILIZATION

MINOANS

• Located on the island of Crete in the southern Aegean Sea

• Home to many sea traders

• Established widespread trading connections

MYCENEANS• Located on the Greek

mainland• Adopted many aspects of

Minoan civilization• The government

maintained a high level of control over the economy

• Participated in long distance trade

EARLY GREEK CIVILIZATION

LITERATURE• Homer, author of the

Illiad and the Odyssey• Illiad tells the story of

the Trojan War• Odyssey tells the story

of a Greek hero, Odysseus

WAR• Trojan War was fought

between the Myceneans and the Trojans

• Trojan prince kidnapped the wife of a Greek King

• Trojan horse

EARLY GREEK CIVILIZATIONLITERATURE AND WAR

WHERE IS TROY?

GREECE AEGEAN SEA

• Monarchy with 2 kings, the Assembly, & Council of Elders• Trade and travel not allowed• Military society

o Age 7: began military trainingo Age 20: men were allowed to marry

• Wanted healthy babies & healthy mothers• Girls trained to be mothers of soldiers• Women were expected to produce healthy babies• Women had to obey fathers & husbands, but were

allowed to own property• Helots (slaves) did all nonmilitary

2 CITY-STATES: SPARTA

• Limited democracy• Laws made by Assembly• Only male citizens in Assembly• Trade with other city-states• All citizens were equal• Women & slaves were excluded from becoming citizens• Women inferior & did not take part in public life• Education for boys• Boys learned to be well-spoken democratic citizens and

participated in athletic contests

2 CITY-STATES: ATHENS

ATHENS & SPARTA

• Conquered Babylon about 539 B.C.E. (Cyrus)• Cyrus the Great expanded territory• Tolerance policy• 522 B.C.E. – 486 B.C.E. – Darius unified the

empire – organized into provinces run by satraps (governors)

• Darius established a code of laws and a set of weights and measures (coinage)

WHO WERE THE PERSIANS?

PERSIAN EMPIRE

• Cause: The Persian Wars began when Ionian Greeks rebelled against Persian rule in Asia Minor, and Athens sent ships over to help

• Events: Athenians had victory at Marathon; Athens persuaded Sparta and other Greek city-states to join in the fight against Persia

• Results: Greeks defeat Persians; the Delian League (alliance) is formed; Athenian golden age

PERSIAN WARS

Pericles governed over Athens from 460 – 429 B.C.E.Political Life: Pericles made Athens more democratic

by direct democracy, in which a large number of citizens take direct part in the day-to-day affairs of government. Pericles believed that all male citizens, regardless of wealth or social class, should take part in government

Economic & Cultural Life: Athens became the cultural center of Greece (thinkers, writers, artists, public festivals)

THE AGE OF PERICLESA GOLDEN AGE FOR ATHENS

Pericles gave this speech at the funeral of Athenians

killed in battle. In this speech, Pericles praised the Athenian form of government, stressed the rights and duties of citizenship. It is considered one of the earliest and greatest expressions of democratic ideals.

THE AGE OF PERICLESTHE FUNERAL ORATION

For our government is not copied from those of our neighbors: we are an example to them rather than they to us. Our constitution is named a democracy, because it is in the hands not of the few but of the many. But our laws secure equal justice for all in their private disputes, and our public opinion welcomes and honors talent in every branch of achievement, not for any sectional reason but on grounds of excellence alone. And as we give free play to all in our public life, so we carry the same spirit into our daily relations with one another…

We are lovers of beauty without extravagance, and lovers of wisdom without unmanliness. Wealth to us is not mere material for vainglory but an opportunity for achievement; and poverty we think it no disgrace to acknowledge but a real degradation to make no effort to overcome. Our citizens attend both to public and private duties, and do now allow absorption in their own various affairs to interfere with their knowledge of the city’s. We differ from other states in regarding man who holds aloof from public life not as “quiet” but as useless; we decide or debate, carefully and in person, all matters of policy, holding, not that words and deeds go ill together, but that acts are foredoomed to failure when undertaken undiscussed. For we are noted for being at once adventurous in action and more reflective beforehand. Other men are bold in ingnorance, while reflection will stop their onset. But the bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding go out to meet it…In a word I claim that our city as a whole is an education to Greece, and that her members yield to none, man by man, for independence of spirit, many sidedness of attainment, and complete self-reliance in limbs and brain.

• Causes: Many Greeks resented Athenian domination and formed the Peloponnesian League to counter the Delian League; Sparta was against democracy

• Results: Sparta defeated the Athenians. Athenian domination came to an end. It eventually revived and remained a cultural center, but democracy suffered for years to come

PELOPONNESIAN WARS

GREEK AGAINST GREEK: WHY DID ATHENS LOSE?• Sparta had more of an advantage over Athens

because of its inland location• A plague broke out in Athens killing a third of its

population• Spartans overpowered Athenians and captured

Athens in 404 B.C.E.

PELOPONNESIAN WARS

• Son of King Philip of Macedonia (area of land North of

Greece)• King Philip conquered Greek city-states, and when he

was assassinated, Alexander took over• Alexander made many conquests from Greece to Egypt

to Persia to India• Introduced ideas involving marriage, education, and

money• Responsible for the assimilation and blending of

cultures• Created the Hellenistic Civilization

ALEXANDER THE GREAT

HELLENISTIC CIVILIZATION