Ancient Greece: Civilizations, Leaders, and Culture Overview

Minoans

Located on Crete, traders, earliest Aegean civilization

Mycaneans

Militaristic, inspired by Minoans, defeated Troy in legend of Trojan Horse

Dorians

Conquered Mycaneans

Homer

Wrote the Odyssey, we rely mostly on his poems for knowledge of Greek Dark Ages

Zeus

Chief god in the Greek religion, 'king of gods and man,' ruled over Mt Olympus

Athena

Patron goddess of the city of Athens

Anthropomorphic

'Having human form or attributes'

Polis

Greek city

Monarchy

One ruler

Oligarchy

A few rulers

Tyranny

Tyrant gains complete control of the government

Democracy

'Rule by the people'

Helots

Spartans who were enslaved by the Dorians

Peloponnesian League

Protected Sparta from invasion

Archon

Chief magistrate

Solon

Statesman in Athens who started driving Athens toward democracy

Darius I

Persian ruler who fought Athens

Xerxes

Darius's son, continued Persian war

Delian League

Defensive alliance among Greek city-states to protect from Persia

Pericles

Influential leader of Athens, improved Athenian culture through art, science, literature, drama, and architecture

Peloponnesian war

Athens became more powerful than Sparta, caused civil war between Greek city-states, plague killed soldiers and ⅓ of city, Athens's leader Pericles died but Athens wouldn't stop fighting, Athens lost and Golden Age ended

Alexander the Great

Macedonian who led the Greeks against Persia and conquered many countries, died at a young age, took Syria, Tyre, and Egypt, became king of Asia

Darius III

Leader of Persia who fled after attempting to fight Alexander

Hellenic

Describes Greek culture

Hellenistic

'Like the Greek'

Humanities

Study of human thought and culture

Philosophers

'Lovers of wisdom'

Thales

'Father of philosophy,' first to explain universe in natural terms, thought water was original substance of all things

Socrates

'Know thyself,' asked his students questions and analyzed their answers

Plato

Pupil of Socrates, established the Academy, thought republic was the ideal society

Anarchy

Breakdown of government and order

Aristotle

Syllogism

Syllogism

Studied at Plato's Academy, three step thinking process

Epicurus

Happiness achieved through avoidance of pain

Zeno

Founder of stoicism, man must accept fate

Pythagoras

Universe could be explained through mathematical terms

Hippocrates

Father of medicine

Euclid

Father of geometry

Eratosthenes

Determined circumference of the globe

Herodotus

Wrote history of the Persian wars, was biased and believed myths

Thucydides

Wrote more accurate history than Herodotus

Sophocles

Tragedy writer (famous Greek dramatist)

Aristophanes

Comedy writer (famous Greek dramatist)

Parthenon

Spectacular temple for the gods

Olympic games

Held every four years in honor of Zeus and Olympia, physical contest pleased gods

Greek religion

12 chief gods, religion was different from others at the time because no powerful priests, no creed, not much magic, not much about otherworldliness/afterlife

Greek dark ages

1150-750 BC, invaders neglected Greece's beautiful architecture, our knowledge of it relies on Homer's writings

Greek comedy

Often mocked political figures rather than being slapstick like today's comedy

Greek art

Reached its highest during classical period, art represented the ideal man, often nude and very detailed body

Greece's mountainous geography

Created independent towns, local patriotism

Self control in Greek culture

'Nothing in excess, everything in proportion'

Greece

Cradle of western culture

Greek polis

Was often at the base of acropolis

Athens

Focused on beauty and art above war but had a powerful naval force

Sparta

Focused on military power and infantry