Ch. 4: Civilization of the Greeks

Ancient Greece 'n' stuffff (LAST UPDATED WITH DAY 2)

Polis

Ancient Greek city-state encompassing both an urban area and its surrounding countryside; a small but autonomous political unit where all major political and social activities were carried out in a central location

Hoplites

Heavily armed infantry soldiers used in ancient Greece in a phalanx formation

Phalanx

Rectangular formation of tightly massed infantry soldiers

Tyrants

In ancient Greek polis (or an Italian city-state during the Renaissance), a ruler who came to power in an unconstitutional way and ruled without being subject to the law

Oligarchies

Rule by a few

Tyranny

In an ancient Greek polis (or an Italian city-state during the Renaissance), a ruler who came to power in an unconstitutional way and ruled without being subject to the law

Helots

Serfs in ancient Sparta, who were permanently bound to the land that they worked for their Spartan masters

Socratic Method

Form of teaching that uses a question-and-answer format to enable students to reach conclusions by using their own reasoning

Epicureanism

Philosophy founded by Epicurus in the fourth century BCE that taught that happiness (freedom from emotional turmoil) could be achieved through the pursuit of pleasure (intellectual rather than sensual pleasure)

Stoicism

Philosophy founded by Zeno in the fourth century BCE that taught that one could obtain happiness by accepting one’s lot and living in harmony with the will of God, thereby achieving inner peace

Balkans

Area of Southeast Europe, including modern day Greece, Turkey, and neighboring areas

Crete

One of the main islands off the coast of Greece; a mountainous area with many steep valleys and rocky soil (not good for farming)

Aegean Sea

Sea between Greece and modern day Turkey (or Anatolia or Asia Minor) that has a lot of historical significance

Peloponnesos

Region of Southern Greece with very hot, dry summers and mild, sometimes rainy winters; olives come from this region, which are an extremely important crop (food, body oils, etc.); grapes (wine) and fishing from this area as well; herding goats and sheep

• Olives have to be cured and pressed, so it is a whole process

  • Creates cultural difference between the North and South, as the North uses butter, and the South in the more Mediterranean region uses olive oil (and many even become lactose intolerant) 

• This rough terrain is difficult for horses initially, but that changes over time

Minoans

One of, if not the, first groups of people in Ancient Greece; first European civilization; 2,800 BCE (if not earlier) the first societies in this region emerged in Crete

• Hierarchical society with buildings/palaces and a plumbing/sewer system 

• Had a lot of cultural influence on Egypt and Anatolia

  • Traded with Egypt, Anatolia, Cyprus, Peloponnesos, and other areas of Greece

• Settle in many satellite colonies in the Aegean Sea

• Did baby sacrifices 

• Bull jumping was a very popular sport amongst these people, where you would grab the horns of a bull and attempt to jump over it 

  • Boxing, gymnastics, and swimming were also popular sports 

• The sea influences every area of their life, as they lived along the seafront, used the sea to get things and food, etc. 

• Linear A

• Well organized, had a bureaucracy, had a belief system 

• Oldest road in Europe is from these people and is located in Crete still

Linear A

Developed a script (Minoans) that is similar to hieroglyphics, but not quite (we do not know for sure because it has never been cracked)

Hellens

What the Greeks call themselves; the first Greeks

Hellas

What Greeks call Greece

Myceneans

Early, early group of Greeks—possibly the first after the Minoans (first official?); height of their civilization was 1400–1200 BCE

• Linear B

Linear B

Language used by the Mycenaeans, which has been cracked

Dark Ages

Greek period between 1150–700 BCE where literary output disappears

Achean

Refers to a region of Greece, or the people who settled in Micenea

Ionia

Refers to the area between Greece and Anatolia

Iliad

An epic piece of Greek literature, talking about the Trojan War

• Great example of the Greek language at that point

Sappho

Epic Greek poet who came from the island Lesvos who often wrote not only about men, but her burning desire for women

Kouros

The form preferred in “youthful male” Greek statues; the highest form of beauty

• Muscular, lean, if they have an er3ction you can see it

• Smaller male gen!tals are seen as proper, modest, and desired, so Greek statues have very small p3nises 

• Callipygian

Callipygian

Shapley buttocks of a kouros, round and tight

Kore

Name of the first female Greek statues, but they were rarely done in favor of the males 

• Female genitalia is mysterious and hidden 

• Originally, women are shown as not fully human or prostitutes, but female nudes (in a better sense) become popular later

Archaic Period

Period of oversea expansion and advancements

Athens

• Originally an aristocratic rule, but tyrants come along, and by the end of the Archaic Period, there is a period of limited democracy

  • A man’s world, and women are meant to stay in, care for the house, and spin wool; if women went out, they were to be veiled and covered 

  • Males over 18 who are free citizens are the only ones allowed to vote

    • Women, slaves, and foreigners (those not from the polis) are NOT allowed to vote

  • State belongs to the people

• Pederastia

Pederastia

Tradition (mostly in Athens) where an older male (20s maybe) would go after and woo a younger, puberty age male, to become his mentor and show him how to be a good citizen; these relationships often turned sexual, and kids stayed in this relationship until about 16 and started growing a beard, and then the cycle continues 

• All of the Greek world has this, but mostly Athens and Thebes are the most notable 

• The term “gay” meant nothing, as everyone got married to the opposite sex, and high class males were allowed to go out and dispense their sexual energy however they wanted 

• The male and female worlds were completely separate except for when they married and had kids

Sparta

• Started enslaving fellow Greeks, which was seen as very distasteful

• In fear of an uprising, became very militaristic

• People belong to the state; children belong to the state

  • Female children stay home to learn how to do the tasks of a woman, but male children are taken when they get old enough to go to AGOGEE

• Dyarchy, Quasi-Democratic (as some could vote

• If babies were born with any imperfections, they were thrown off a famous cliff

• Women were very independent for the Greek world, and even though they were kept inside and away from men and society most of the time, they would go outside to exercise naked

  • Helped men to rationalize which woman they wanted to marry

  • Strong women give birth to strong babies

    • Women wanted their sons to go to battle, “come back carrying your shield, or come back on it” (do not come back alive if you did not win)

Agogee

Boot camp that young boys went to to learn how to be a warrior basically; some boys got beaten to death by other boys; taught how to read and write as well

• Once they turned 12, they are sent out into the wilderness

• Lasted until 19, and men live separate from women, even when they are married in the late 20s

  • Women often wore armor at their weddings to help ease their husbands “transition into heterosexuality”

Classical Period

(c. 500—338 BCE)

• Persian Wars (c. 499—479 BCE)

  • Battle of Marathon (490 BCE)

  • King Leonidas

  • Thermopyle (c. 480 BCE)

• Delian (477 BCE)

• Peloponnesian War (c. 431—303 BCE)

• Philip II (R.C. 359—336 BCE)

• Chaeronea (338 BCE)

• Birth of Alexander III

Persian Wars

(c. 499–479 BCE)

• The Persian Empire keeps creeping closer to Greek polis (area of Ionia specifically), which begins to really upset the Greeks (especially the Athenians), leading to the Persian Wars

• Ionian Revolt against the Persians, which makes King Darius (521–486 BCE) very upset, making him want to punish the Greeks 

  • Battle of Marathon (490 BCE)

Battle of Marathon

(490 BCE)

• King Darius sends fleets in through the north, has a battle about 26 miles north from Athens in Marathon, causing this famous battle where the Greeks end up victorious; a runner goes from Marathon to Athens after to tell them the news of the win, which is where we get the present day word “marathon” 

  • The terrain was very different from what the Persians were used to, which could have played a factor in their defeat

King Xerxes

(c. 486–465 BCE)

Persian king after Darius, who did NOT forget their defeat by the Greeks—sent an invasion instead of attack

• Persian invaders drank entire lakes in Greece dry; Xerxes was so angry with the Greeks that it was said he beat the water

• Thermopyle (c. 480 BCE)

  • Persians then go to occupy Athens 

    • Agora

  • Acropolis

  • Salamis

  • Plataea

• Persia retreats into the Aegean, but is pushed out, and the Athenians begin to rebuild

King Leonidas

King of Sparta during the time of high conflict with the Persian Empire and Battle at Thermopyle

• Thermopyle (c. 480 BCE)

  • Persians then go to occupy Athens 

    • Agora 

  • Acropolis

  • Salamis

  • Plataea

• Persia retreats into the Aegean, but is pushed out, and the Athenians begin to rebuild

Thermopyle

(c. 480 BCE)

Battle on a path guarded by the Spartans where all 300 Spartans die until the last man; one of the most famous battles in all of history, the Greeks lose but are remembered for their bravery 

• Persians then go to occupy Athens

Agora

Ancient Greek marketplace; where the word “agoraphobia” comes from

Acropolis

Edge of the polis; destroyed in Athens by the Persians; had a lot of history and religious significance (artwork)

Salamis

Place where there was a naval port where the Athenian navy hid out to fight back against the Persians

Plataea

Place where the Athenians finally defeat the Persians and win the Persian War

Delian

(477 BCE)

From the island of Delos, headed by Athens, which was an alliance between poleis 

• […] Alliance headed by the Athenians and Peloponnesian Alliance headed by the Spartans 

• […] Alliance and the Athenians make the most perfect building (structurally): the Pantheon 

• Athenians become very wealthy from all of the wealth in the area of their alliance

Peloponnesian War

(c. 431–404 BCE)

War between the Delian and Peloponnesian Leagues; called the Peloponnesian War because most of the battles take place in Peloponnesos; Greek civil war 

• Athens thinks they are safe behind their walls, but the Spartans siege

• Athens succumbs to a plague, dead bodies scatter the land, and crops fail to grow 

• Athens is destroyed, the walls around it are torn down, and the Spartans win the war, however, this comes at a cost as they are so weak by this point

• During this, the Persians begin creeping back to the Aegean as the Greeks are distracted

Philip II

(R.C. 359–336 BCE)

King of Macedonia, north of Greece

• Chaeronea

• Husband of Olympias and father of Alexander III

  • Had a huge respect for Greek culture, so he and Alexander III spoke the language, and he had one of the great philosophers Aristotle tutor his son (well educated)

Chaeronea

(338 BCE)

Battle where Philip defeats Thebes and continues to conquer Greece

• ((Prior to this, Thebes was the dominant power of Greece after they had defeated Sparta))

• Philip kills a band of Thebes (army of around 150 men), and says “what a pity we had to kill such noble valiant men” 

• Greece is united under Macedonian rule, helping to hellenize

  • The word barbarian comes from how the language of foreigners to poleis sound (remember how your polis is your entire identity)

• Was assassinated

Olympias

Name of Philip II’s wife who hated him; a very witchy woman who had snakes sleep with her (Philip II refused to because of this); said she was impregnated by Zeus as a snake instead of Philip II

• Presumed to be poisoned by Philip II because they hated each other

Alexander III

(c. 356–323 BCE)

Son of Philip II and Olympias, who ended up becoming a very powerful (Macedonian/Greek) ruler; tutored by Aristotle and well educated

• Very close with his mother, Olympias

  • By the time his parents died, he was already well-educated and knowledgeable about warfare 

  • People questioned whether he was fit to rule, so he really had to prove himself 

• Conquers Anatolia, Mesopotamia, parts of the Levant, Syria, Palestine, Israel; Egypt; Bactria, India; Pakistan, Afghanistan, Babylon

  • To prove himself, he decided to avenge King Leonidas and the 300 Spartans who fought to the last man

  • Battle along the Granicus River in 344 BCE where he either unlatches a latch or cuts a knot with his sword, showing his practicality 

  • Defeats Persians along the Issos River and keeps moving on (333 BCE)

    • Darius III is the Persian king at this time

  • Crowns himself Pharaoh of Egypt (Egypt is far past their unified period)

    • This is shocking to the Macedonian-Greeks, and he even encouraged his troops to intermarry and have relations with the Egyptians

  • Battle of Galgamea

  • Continues farther east; goes to the Caspian Sea (lake) into Bactria where he takes a few bridges and crosses the Indus into India

    • In 326 BCE, there was a battle along a river near the Indus (starts with H?)

• Drunk and upset, Alexander III kills his best friend/lover, and becomes extremely distraught and devastated

• Dies at the age of 33 having conquered almost the entire world up until that point (likely died because of liver issues because he drank so much)

  • A lot of the world was hellenized, but the Greek world now had influences from the other areas of the world as well

Battle of Galgamea

Alexander III goes back up to Anatolia after Egypt to take care of the Persians once and for all

• Alexander III takes the wives and female family members of Darius III, but lets them go without raping them (which was what usually happened); this is remembered in history, despite Alexander III committing atrocities in other areas