ANCIENT GREECE

An Overview

Bell-ringer
Make a list of 7-10 things that remind

you of Greece or make you thing of

Greek history (individually!)
Write down as many Ancient Greek
cities that you can think of (do this
individually too!)

The Ages
The Bronze Age, 2700-1200 BC
Minoan Civilization, 2700-1400 BC
Mycenaen Civilization, 1400-1200 BC
The Greek Dark Ages, 1200-800 BC
Archaic Period, 800-479 BC
Emergence of Greek poleis or city-states

Classical Period, 479-323 BC

Persian Wars
Peloponnesian War
Alexander the Great and the expanding Empire

Hellenistic Period, 323-31 BC

The Bronze Age

Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations
Society of warrior elites and the Heroic Code

The age of the Iliad and Trojan War

Class system determined by military honor

and wealth
Oral tradition
Linear B

The Greek Dark Ages

Why dark? All writing disappears-therefore little is known

about this period.

Since there is no written record about this time period,
what do you think historians have used to learn about
Greece at this point in time? (think about BE 1 summary
questions)
Archaeology!
Tools
Burial sites
Traded goods
Pottery

**Does this remind you of some of the earliest river civilizations?

The Archaic Period

Revival in agriculture, literacy, and international exchange

with a significant population increase

Why was the revival of literacy important?
Oral histories and poems finally written down and immortalized
Homer (the Iliad and the Odyssey)

Development of city-states (the beginning of Empire)

Athens, Sparta, and Corinth
Colonization city-states began to colonize areas in Italy and
other Mediterranean sites
Emergence of democracy in Athens for the first time

The Classical Period

Greek culture and city-states continue to develop
Athens
Democracy, law courts, and rhetoric

Are some of these things part of American politics and culture today?
Sparta
Militarized state ruled by an oligarchy
Culture
Wealth gap widens

Patriarchy, slavery
Gamesthe Olympic and Pythian Games emerge
Festivals and Greek dramaboth dedicated to the gods

Comedy & Tragedy

Emergence of the Empire under Philip II and Alexander the Great of

Macedonia

The Hellenistic Period

Advances in art, science, and philosophy
Science & Mathematics
Euclid and Archimedes
Philosophy
Socrates, 470-399 BC
Emphasized morality

Plato, 430-347 BC
Metaphysics what is truth?

Aristotle, 382-322 BC

City-State/Civilization Project
In groups of four, you will each explore one of the central civilizations/city-states of

Ancient Greece: Minos, Mycenae, Athens, Sparta, & Corinth. Create, using
credible sources, either a Google doc, Google presentation, or poster that
addresses the following questions:

What system of government did your city-state have?

What belief systems were present in your city-state? What myths were

important to your city-state? Founding myths for cities? (Athens in

particular)
What kind of written language did your city-state use?
What kind of class system existed in your city state? What determined the
classes? Were slaves present?
What was the relationship like between your city-states and other citystates? What were your military strengths and weaknesses? Did location
play a role in military advantages/disadvantages?
Did your city-state engage in trade with other nations or Greek city-states?
If so, who?
What role did geography play in their development? In relation to food/
military?

**Once you are done make sure to share the document or presentation with

me via my email! Though these will not be presented in class they are still
graded.

Resources Available for Project

The British Museum: Ancient Greece

http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/dailylife/home_set.html
Ancient Greek City-States
http://greece.mrdonn.org/city-states.html
Ancient Greece (I know it says for kids, but this one has
a lot of information!)
http://www.ducksters.com/history/ancient_greece/
greek_city_state.php
You may use any other sources you find, but they must be

cited (Wikipedia allowed, but use at least one other

source as well)