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Greece Part 1

Ancient Greece developed between 800 BCE to 300 BCE from the cultural mixing of the Mycenaeans, Minoans, and Dorians. The geography of Greece, with its peninsulas and islands, made unification difficult and led to the development of independent city-states. Notable city-states included Athens and Sparta. The Greeks developed a polytheistic religion and epics like the Iliad and Odyssey. They experimented with forms of government from oligarchy to democracy. The Persian Wars in the 5th century BCE were important conflicts between the Greek city-states and the Persian Empire that resulted in victories for the Greeks at Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis.

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281 views17 pages

Greece Part 1

Ancient Greece developed between 800 BCE to 300 BCE from the cultural mixing of the Mycenaeans, Minoans, and Dorians. The geography of Greece, with its peninsulas and islands, made unification difficult and led to the development of independent city-states. Notable city-states included Athens and Sparta. The Greeks developed a polytheistic religion and epics like the Iliad and Odyssey. They experimented with forms of government from oligarchy to democracy. The Persian Wars in the 5th century BCE were important conflicts between the Greek city-states and the Persian Empire that resulted in victories for the Greeks at Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis.

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Ancient Greece

800 b.c.e 300


b.c.e. circa
.

Geography
Greeces

Geography had a very important role


in forming the Ancient Greek Civilization.

Peninsula w/ islands This separated the citystates & made it harder to unify Greece.

Mountainous land made it hard grow food.


Mediterranean Sea Supplied food & Transportation.
Climate = great! Nice to live there

Ancient Greeces Influences


3 groups culturally mixed and the result was the
Greeks.
-Mycenaeans

- Came from Central Europe


-Minoans Brought the Greek writing systems
-Dorians Gave them language
*The Phoenicians gave them an alphabet

The Results of this cultural diffusion was the


ancient Greeks who:
-Were

Great Sailors
-Were Culturally diverse
-Had a writing system that was not complicated
More people could read & write

Ancient Greek Stories & Myths


850 b.c.e. (circa) a blind poet named Homer
writes 2 Epic Poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey
-The

Iliad tells of the war between Greece and

Troy
-The Odyssey tells of Odysseuss (one of the
Greeks) trip home

Greeks were polytheistic; they created stories to


explain the unknown
-The

Animal Kingdom where do spiders come


from?
-Life and Death
-Nature - Why does the Earth shake?

Governments
-Oligarchy

A few powerful People i.e. a king

& subjects
-Aristocracy The most powerful rule
-Democracy Ruled by the People
-Monarchy King Only

City-States & War


Greece had hundreds of city states, famous ones
were
- Athens
- Sparta
- Thebes

Most city-states had a king in charge of the land


i.e. Leonidas I was the king of the Spartans
The Athenians were different They used an
aristocracy then a democracy
Draco was an Ancient Athenian legislator who
created laws for all Citizens to follow. The laws
were often harsh but did make ALL Citizens
equal.

Persian Wars

The Persian Empire was born


Used Peace & Tolerance to Unify hundreds of city-states and the largest army
the world had ever seen
o Due to the size of the Empire, the Persian Kings created the Royal Road
o

The Persian & Greek Civilizations both wanted


control of the Mediterranean & went to war!

Greeks
-

vs.

Better trained
Defensive
Used a Phalanx

Persians
- Larger Army
- Surprise attacks
- Used intimidation

We know about the wars because of the Greek


Historian Herodotus History is written by the
winners!!!

Famous Battles
Marathon 10,000 Greeks vs. 25,000
Persians

City-state of Marathon attacked

Greek forces defeated the Persians

The Greek messenger Pheidippides ran


26.2 to Athens to tell of victory, and then
he died!

Thermopylae
2000 Greeks w/ 300 Spartans vs Xerxes I army of
over 1,000,000!

Persia surprise attacked southern Greece with


the largest land army in history.

The Spartans used the Phalanx to slow the


Persians

Persians finally broke through, but the rest of


Greece was able to immobilize

The 2000 Greeks & 300 Spartans all died but


Gave Greece Pride & showed organization is
better than size of army!

TRIREME

Triremes derived their name from


having three banks of rowers
who sat almost on top of each
other on each side of the ship.
Build for speed and
maneuverability rather than
strength, they relied primarily on
the muscle-power of their 170
rowers and used their front ram
to devastating effect

Salamis

Naval Battle fought of the coast of Salamis


Large Persian fleet is ambushed by Greeks
Greeks are better sailors and have smaller, quicker
ships
Persians fleet is wiped out

Salamis was a Very important battle because the Persians


were defeated & gone for good

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