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Greece

The document provides an overview of ancient Greek civilization from its origins with the Minoans and Mycenaeans through the classical period. It discusses the rise of the polis system and Greek colonies in the Archaic age. Key developments included the hoplite phalanx military formation and increased literacy due to adopting the alphabet. The classical period saw advances in philosophy, democracy, science and architecture that still influence modern society. Greek culture then spread throughout the Hellenistic world following the conquests of Alexander the Great.

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439 views

Greece

The document provides an overview of ancient Greek civilization from its origins with the Minoans and Mycenaeans through the classical period. It discusses the rise of the polis system and Greek colonies in the Archaic age. Key developments included the hoplite phalanx military formation and increased literacy due to adopting the alphabet. The classical period saw advances in philosophy, democracy, science and architecture that still influence modern society. Greek culture then spread throughout the Hellenistic world following the conquests of Alexander the Great.

Uploaded by

api-276881923
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Greek

Civilization
By: Adrin Roque
How and why do civilizations
succeed, fail, and evolve?

Early Greek Ages


The Minoans

Third and second millennia B.C.E., a Bronze Age civilization arose on Crete that influenced the
islands of the Aegean and the mainland of Greece. This civilization is called Minoan, after Cretes
legendary King Minos.
Divided into three major periods, Early, Middle, and Late Minoan.
Bronze Age settlements on the Greek mainland for which term Helladic is used, are derived from
the same chronological scheme
The civilization of the Middle and Late Minoan periods in eastern and central Crete centered on
several great palaces, the most important of which is Cnossus. The unique art and architecture of
these palaces reflect regional influences but are uniquely Cretan.
Minoan cities lacked defensive walls,
Excavations revealed clay writing tablets like those found in Mesopotamia.
These tablets have three distinct kinds of writing on them, one of which is an early form of Greek.

Early Greek Ages


(cont.)
The Mycenaeans

In the third millennium B.C.E., most of the Greek mainland was settled by people who used metal.
They built impressive houses, and traded with Crete and the islands of the Aegean.
They were not Greeks and spoke a language that was not Indo- European.
The Late Helladic period began soon after 2000 B.C.E., when many of the Early Helladic sites show
signs of invasions. These invasions probably signalled the arrival of the Greeks.
The Mycenaean world was different from the minoan culture.
Warriors led by strong kings who lived in palaces protected by defensive walls..
Palaces adorned with murals depicting scenes of war and boar hunting.
During this time Homer's epic poems
Made up of a number of independent, powerful, and well organized monarchies.
They were active and prospered in trade
1200 B.C.E, showed signs of trouble and by 1100 B.C.E it was gone
Reasons for collapse is not known.

The Age of Homer


Homer

Provided best picture of society in these dark ages.


Iliad and Odyssey, emerged from a tradition of oral poetry whose roots reached back to the
Mycenaean Age.
Throughout the centuries, bards sung tales of the heroes who fought at troy, preserving very old
material by using verse arranged in rhythmic formulas to aid the memory.
Homeric society was aristocratic.
Noble status was hereditary and associated with wealth.
Below the nobles were the thetes and slaves.
Thetes were landless laborers who endured the worst conditions in Homeric society.
Homer's poems became the schoolbooks of the Greeks, who memorized his texts.
The values of Homeric poems reflected an aristocratic that influenced all future Greek thought.
Highest virtue was arete: manliness, the excellence proper to a hero.
Usually shown by competing in an agon,.

The Polis
Development of the polis

Originally the world polis referred to a citadel, an elevated, defensible rock to which the farmers
of the neighbouring area could retreat when attacked.
Agora appeared and became the center of the town and the heart of thee greeks social life.
All the colonies established by the Greeks after 750 B.C.E. took the form of poleis; true monarchy
disappeared.

Hoplite Phalanx

Crucial to the dev. of the polis was a new military technique.


Became the basis of Greek warfare.
Infantrymen fought in close order, shield to shield, eight ranks deep

Greek Colonies

eighth and sixth century B.C.E., the Greeks vastly expanded the territory they controlled as well
as their wealth and their contacts with other peoples.
Greeks influenced much land which became Magna Graecia

The Tyrant
The Tyrant
Monarch who had gained power in an unorthodox way and
exercised a strong one man rule that was beneficent to society.
usually an aristocrat; sought the support of the politically
powerless, newly wealthy, and poor farmers.
Divided land among supporters
Fostered trade and colonization
Turned oppressive and fell.

Archaic Greece
Society

Most people farmed land, but the role of the artisan and the merchant grew important.
Aristocrats led privileged lives.
Philosophy flourished

Religion

Polytheist
The Greek pantheon consisted of Twelve Gods who lived on mount olympuss.
Zeus being the most important

Alphabet

greek traders in syria had learned craft techniques and much more from older civilizations of the
Near East.
750 B.C.E. they borrowed a writing system from one of the Semitic scripts and added vowels to
create the first true alphabet
Became widely literate society

Technological
Advancements

The ancient Greeks were sophisticated in mathematics, science, medicine, and


architecture.

They created the basis of geometry that we know today.

Hippocrates found that diseases were not punishments from the gods and that they
were natural reactions of the body.

Today, he is the known as one of the founding fathers of medicine.

Philosophers have influenced the way we think and have influenced our reason.

Democracy was also born in greece.

Modern day science would not have been what it is today without these discoveries

Classical Greek Culture

The repulse of the Persians marked the beginning of the Classical period in Greece, 150 years of
intense cultural achievement.

Among the achievements of this era were the philosophical works of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.
The same curiosity about the nature and place in the universe of human beings that motivated the
philosophers also animated the arts of the period.

Comedy was introduced and became one of the main sources of entertainment for Greek society.

In the Fourth Century the power of the poleis waned after the Great Peloponnesian War, some
Greeks tried to shore up its weakening institutions.

While others looked for radical alternatives. All these attitudes are reflected in the literature,
philosophy, and art of the period.

The Hellenistic World

In the beginning of the Hellenistic age was a time when Greek culture spread from its homeland to
Egypt and Asia. The result was a new civilization that combining Greek and Asian elements.
The end of the autonomous polis marked a turning point in Greek literature, philosophy, religion,
and art.
The confident humanism of the fifth century gave way to a kind of resignation to fate, a
recognition of helplessness before forces too great for humans to manage.
Soon after becoming king of Macedonia in 336 BCE, Alexander the Great began a campaign of
conquest that defeated the Persian Empire and won territory extending from Greece to
Afghanistan.
Throughout his new empire, Alexander introduced elements of Greek culture while also adopting
certain local (especially Persian) customs.
After Alexander's death, when his empire was divided into separate Hellenistic ("Greek-like")
kingdoms, this cultural fusion continued.
In the Mediterranean and Near East, the period from Alexander's death in 323 BCE to Rome's
conquest of Hellenistic Egypt in 30 BCE is known as the Hellenistic Age.

Bibliography
Bibliography:
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http://school.eb.com/levels/high/article/69009>.
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Dec. 2014. <http://school.eb.com/levels/high/article/106269#>.
"Athens and Sparta (Overview)." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web.
4 Dec. 2014.
"Greek literature." Britannica School. Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc., 2014. Web. 5 Dec. 2014. <
http://school.eb.com/levels/high/article/106273#>.
"Classical architecture." Britannica School.Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc., 2014. Web. 5 Dec.
2014. <http://school.eb.com/levels/high/article/472046>.
"Greek literature." Britannica School. Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc., 2014. Web. 17 Dec. 2014.
<http://school.eb.com/levels/high/article/106273>.

Greek Timeline

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