This document provides an overview of ancient Greek civilization from 1000-400 BCE. It discusses the rise of the polis system and Greek city-states like Athens and Sparta. Key events included the Persian Wars, where Greek city-states resisted the Persian Empire, and the Golden Age of Athens in the 5th century BCE under the leadership of Pericles, when Athenian democracy and culture flourished. The document provides historical context on the political, social, and cultural developments of ancient Greece.

1. The Civilization of Greece
1000-400 B.C.E.

2. Why the Civilization of Ancient Greece Is
Important in Western Civilization History?
 Greeks united around a common language and culture
 Viewed themselves as separate & unique
 Experimented with democracy and participatory
government
 Social mobility not solely dependent on birth
 Humanities and intellectual investigation
 art, drama, literature
 scientific investigation
 philosophy separated from religion

3. Bronze Age Greece
 Minoans & Mycenaeans
 Age of Heroes
 Important and well-integrated
part of the Mediterranean
World
 Minoan Thalassocracy
 A sea empire
 Sir Arthur Evans’s discovery of
palace of Knossos on Crete
 Close contact between
Funeral Mask of Agamemnon
Minoans on Crete &
Mycenaeans on mainland
Greece
 Linear B

4. Political and Commercial
Foundations of Mycenaean Greece
 A powerful palace headed by a powerful king who was
also a military leader
 A warrior aristocracy
 Local bureaucracy
 State-regulated land-holdings
 Redistributive economy (plunder and patronage)
 Large territorial Kingdoms

5. Trojan War

6. The Burning of Troy
The Burning of Troy oil painting by Johann Georg Trautmann

7. Greek Mythology
Zeus
Athena
Aeres

8. The Age of Heroes

9. What Caused the Demise of the Minoan
and Mycenaean Civilizations?
 Leading hypotheses
 Sea Peoples: documentary evidence in Egypt, Ugarit
 Environmental Catastrophe: physical evidence on
Santorini
Thera
Volcanic Ash & Craters on Santorini today

10. Dark Age of Greece
 1150-800 B.C.E.
 Depopulation of up to 90% of Greek mainland except at
Athens after 1200 B.C.E.
 Settlements shrank in size and moved inland away from
the sea.
 Little economic contact with other Greek cities much less
the wider world.
 Economic equalization: headmen had little more than
anybody else.
 Gave rise to presumptions of political and economic self-
sufficiency of individual households
 Greatly influenced Greek political attitudes during the
classic period

11. Heroic Tradition
 Trade resumed around 1000B.C.E.
 Emergence of small group of wealthy citizens
 Believed that their elite status was a reflection of their
own superior qualities as “best men”
 Aristocracy = rule by the best
 Wealth not only factor
 Singer of songs, doer of deeds, winner of battles
 Success in life = Favor by the gods (a prosperity gospel in
today’s terms)

12. Homer
Bust of Homer dating to the
Hellenistic Period (400 B.C.E.)
From the British Museum
Date of Birth is unknown.
Herodotus suggests Homer lived
Around 850 B.C.E.
Modern Researchers suggest either
8th or 7th century B.C.E.
Homer’s works greatly influenced
Greek culture: especially the Heroic
Tradition.

13. The Iliad
 The story of the Trojan War from the Greek perspective.
 What is the Heroic Code?
 How does Homer portray heroes?
 Are heroes always just?
 Are heroes merciful?
 Are heroes only men?
 What is the role of women in the heroic code?
 What do all heroes have in common?
 Are the gods heroes?
 Can the gods be counted upon to help a hero or anybody else?

14. Archaic Greece (800-480 B.C.E.)
 Colonization: between 800 and 700 B.C.E. the Greeks
founded several hundred new colonies from the Black
Sea to the western Mediterranean
 Western shores of Anatolia
 Southern Italy and Sicily (called Magna Graecia by the
Romans)
 Intensified contacts with Egypt and Phoenicia
 Greek awareness of their own common identity and
perspectives as Hellens or Hellenism
 Hellenism did not encourage greater political
cooperation among the individual city-states

15. The Rise of the Polis
 As the Greek dark ages ended, contact with the Phoenicians led
to renewed seafaring activity:
 Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet and improved upon it by
converting some consonants into vowels,
 Dramatic population growth as result of increased prosperity,
 Geography:
 mountainous
 limited land suitable for agriculture
 Growth of local communities and traditions
 Village growth and repopulation
 economic contact with other towns increased
 Conflict with other towns over trade and competition increased
 Political system for cooperation in a local area
 Rise of city-states and more developed ideas of government than existed
in Sumer

16. Polis/Poleis
 Literally translated –city
 Polis is more than the geographic space.
 Includes the body of citizens
 Identifies the rights of citizenship
 Greeks did not refer to the place “Sparta” as the polis
but to the Spartans or the Athenians as the polis
 Asty is the Greek word which describes the urban
buildings and spaces of a polis

17. Acropolis at Athens
Contained both civil
& religious buildings
Set on limestone hill
To protect it from
invaders

18. Ekklesia
 Ekklesia- the assembly of adult male citizens of a polis
for deliberation and voting.
 Did not include immigrants, women, children or slaves
 Even among free men, there were levels of authority
 Each city-state was organized differently and held
different views of “democracy” and “voting”.

19. Rock cut platform called
The bema where the
Ekklesia of the polis in
Athens met to discuss
Issues raised by the town
Council during the 4th
Century B.C.E.

20. Citizenship Rights
 Adult males born legitimately of citizen parents
 Citizens with full legal rights but no political rights
 Women & children whose rights to property were held
in trust by husbands or nearest male relative
 Transdwellers were citizens in their own polis but not in
the polis in which they chose to live
 no voting rights,
 could not be elected to office
 had no right to serve in the military except in their own polis
 Slaves: had no privileges but what their owner granted
or revoked at will, considered property of their owners

21. City-states and hoplite forces
 Competition for resources and trade led to conflict
among city-states.
 Every city needed a military
 Farmers who could afford the armor could join the
local hoplite force.
 Hoplites named for their shield.
 Hoplites became a political and social force demanding
greater political rights and limits to aristocratic power.

22. Hoplites
 Foot soliders
 Armed with short swords
 Protected by a large round shield called a hoplon
 Also protected by breastplate, helmet, wrist and leg guards
 Phalanx: Soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder several rows
across and several rows deep
 Carried shields on left arm to protect the right arm (sword-
bearing arm) of the man standing next to him
 Each soldier leaned with his shield on the man in front of
him. If the man in front fell, the man behind took his
place

23. Hoplite Armor
Hoplon: wood covered with
Bronze outside; inside
covered with leather.
Weight: 17.65 lbs.
Decoration: Gorgon heads.
Gorgons were women whose
hair is made of snakes and
who turns to stone any man
who looks in her eyes.

24. Hoplite Helmets
Iron helmet found in tomb of Phillip II Bronze helmet from 5th Century

25. Hoplite Breastplate
Breastplate from Tomb of
Phillip II (Iron and gold)

26. Bronze Greaves

27. Hoplite Short Sword

28. Aristocrats
 Political office
 Symposium: gathering of elite men
 Wine
 Women
 Poetry
 Dancing competitions
 Homosexuality: older men mentored younger men in
return for sexual favors. Did not preclude marriage.
 Symposia became more restrictive over time.

29. Tyrants
 Tyrannos: someone who seizes power outside the
traditional political framework;
 Tyrants: often seized power from the aristocratic elite
with the help of the hoplite class;
 Tyrants extended rights of the hoplites in return for
political support;
 Tyrants: held power until a new tyrant rose up with
assistance of new generations of hoplites

30. Athens
 Archaic Period: Athens had distinctly agricultural
economy;
 Aristocratic dominance rested on elected magistrates
(judges)
 Council of State composed of former magistrates
 Archons: held executive power
 Served 1 year term
 Served for life on Areopagus Council
 Areopagus Council = high court of justice

31. Debt Slavery & Drakon
 Individuals secured loans by pledging one’s person as
collateral
 If default occurred, debtor became indentured to
creditor until the loan was re-paid
 Indentured servitude was not much better than slavery
 Drakon: Archon charged with setting written laws
 Made debt slavery even more harsh
 Imposed the death penalty for even minor crimes
 By 594 B.C.E. Athens on brink of civil war
 Our word “drakonian”

32. Solon (638 B.C.E. -558 B.C.E.)
 Made archon in 594 B.C.E. by agreement between aristocrats and
hoplites
 A merchant not beholden to any one interest;
 Forbade debt slavery;
 Establish fund to buy back Athenians in foreign debt slavery;
 Encouraged olive and grape growing to establish a commercial cash
crop;
 Encouraged ship-building
 Broadened political participation
 Eligibility for political office based on property ownership not birth
 Established court of appeals with broad range of citizens as jurors
 Ekklesia had right to elect archons

33. Sparta

34. Spartan Polis
 4 villages combined
 Dual monarchy: two royal families and two lines of
succession
 Conquest of Messenia (C. 720 B.C.E.)
 Messenians worked the land
 Spartans owned the land
 Messenians had no political rights
 Helots
 Often revolted but were unsuccessful
 All citizens of Sparta were warrior-champions.

35. Militaristic Culture
 Sparta: oriented toward maintaining Hoplite Army
 Every citizen (Spartiate) member of the phalanx
 Every child examined at birth:
 left to die
 raised to be a soldier
 Children trained in Spartan educational system at age 7
 Boys and girls trained together until 12;
 Girls trained to be literate;
 Girls married at 18;
 Boys went to military barracks at 18
 Fought to gain membership in gymnasium (communal mess tent)
 Failure meant expulsion and denial of Spartan citizenship
 Acceptance meant soldier’s life until age 30 when permitted to marry
 Low birthrate in Sparta
 Men: active duty until 60

36. Spartan Citizenship Rights
 All males age 30+ were members of citizen assembly
(apella)
 Could vote “yes” or “no” without debate on matters
proposed by council of 28 elders (gerousia)
 Elders were 60+
 5 ephors managed the educational system and guarded
Spartan traditions
 Power to depose even the king
 Supervised a secret state security service who spied
primarily on the Helots but also on citizens

37. Helots
 Outnumbered the Spartans by 10 to 1
 Spartans ritually declared war on Helots every year
 Spartans reluctant to send their army abroad for fear
the Helots would revolt at home

38. Miletus
 Ionian Peninsula
 Center of Greek speculative thinking and philosophy
 Sought physical explanations for locations of the stars
 Formulated rational theories to explain the physical
universe
 Marginalized the gods or ignored them altogether
 Xenophanes concluded than men made gods in their
own image
 Rejected by the majority of Greek population

39. Persian Wars
 Herodotus (father of history) main source for Persian War
history
 Persian War caused by a political conflict in Miletus;
 501 B.C.E. Aristagoras believed that he was falling out of favor with
Darius the Great of Persia;
 Roused the Milesians to revolt and sought support from the
mainland
 Athens and Eretria sent army and burned the Persian
administrative center at Sardis and went home;
 Milesians were defeated by Persians in 494 B.C.E.
 Darius: punitive invasion to teach Athens and Eretria a lesson
 In 490 Darius invaded and burned Eretria and moved onto the plain of
Marathon to attack Athens;
 Athenians requested aid from Sparta who declined because they were in
the middle of a religious festival;

40. Battle of Marathon (490 B.C.E.)
 Athenian commander: Persians were watering horses
leaving the Persian infantry vulnerable
 Athenians attacked though vastly outnumbered:
 Casualties according to Herodotus:
 6,400 Persians killed
 192 Athenians killed
 Athenians recognized as a military power
 Athenians still vulnerable to larger Persian army
 Used proceeds from a silver mine to build and equip a
fleet of naval ships in anticipation of Persian attack

41. Xerxes Defeat at Thermopylae
 Darius’s son Xerxes: grand invasion of Greece with 150,000
men
 Led the campaign himself
 Many Greek cities capitulated
 Athens, Sparta, Corinth and 30 other city-states refused
 Formed the Hellenic League
 Under military leadership of Sparta, outnumbered Greeks
held off Persian invasion for 3 days while Athenian navy
fought Persians at Artemisium
 Spartans died but Athenians inflicted heavy losses on Persian
fleet;
 Xerxes burned Athens but Athenians defeated and destroyed
Persian fleet at Battle of Salamis

42. Athenian Rising
 Athens: premier naval power in the Eastern
Mediterranean; rivaled Sparta for military might on
land
 Athens: leader of Delian League—a group of the poleis
determined to continue the Persian War
 Controlled resources and funds;
 Athenians increased influence abroad;
 Athenian culture and democracy flourished;
 Levied high taxes to support military on other Delian
League members.

43. Pericles & Direct Democracy
 By 460 B.C.E. Thetes (naval rowers) demanded
political power
 Pericles (though not a military man) was elected
strategos on a platform of expanded citizenship rights
for everyone
 Every Athenian citizen: right to propose and amend
legislation;
 Poor citizens: participate in the Ekklesia by paying a
day’s wage;
 All citizens could participate in the appeals courts;

44. Golden Age of Athens
 Athenian democracy and the golden age were fueled
by Athenian empire
 Delian League members not permitted to withdraw;
any attempt to do so was brutally put down by Athens

45. Literature and Drama
 Epic and lyric Greek poetry well established art forms
 Drama: developed in Athens when poetic odes were
chanted by choruses to the god Dionysius
 Aeschylus: introduced a second and third character
into the ode making it possible to present human
conversation and conflict on the stage
 Themes of Greek Tragedy
 Justice
 Law
 Conflicting demands of piety and obligation that drove
heroic men and women to destruction

46. Comedy and Current Events
 Comedic Themes
 Life on the farm
 The good ole days
 Sex
 Nightmare of politics
 Strange manners of the town
 Aristophanes: greatest Greek comedic playwright
 repeatedly dragged into court to defend himself against
politicians he had attacked;

47. Women’s Life: Who really invented the
burka?
 Short Answer: The Greeks
 Public space reserved exclusively for men
 Women of good character (i.e. not slaves or prostitutes) were
NEVER or RARELY seen in public and were always veiled
(except their eyes)
 Girls married at 14
 Dowry
 Primary job: bearing children, weaving
 Women married much older men often as the second or third
wife
 Women usually died around 35 as result of hardships of
childbirth

48. Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C.E.)
 Other Delian League members angered by Athenian
taxes and dominance;
 Corinthians: threatened by Athenian naval control of
Aegean Sea allied with Sparta;
 By 431 B.C.E. Athens and Sparta fighting a stalemate
 Athens could not defeat Sparta by land
 Sparta could not defeat Athens by sea

50. Plague of Athens
 429 B.C.E.
 Killed over 1/3 of population of Athens
 Killed Pericles
 1999 Conference at University of Maryland concluded
the Plague of Athens was caused by “Epidemic Typhus
Fever”

51. Disaster at Syracuse (415 B.C.E.)
 Athenian Expedition to attack Syracuse killed thousands;
 Sparta was aided by Persians;
 Athens abandoned democracy; voting in an oligarchy of
400 citizens
 Lysander of Sparta destroyed the Athenian fleet in 404
B.C.E. and besieged Athens
 Permitted surrender and imposed Spartan style oligarchy of
40 citizens on Athens
 Cost of war impoverished most city-states
 Greece entered a new phase of disunity and was conquered
by Philip of Macedonia by 346 B.C.E.