Geography and Early Greek Civilization

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Geography and Early Greek Civilization

• In this lesson, students will identify
  characteristics of Greeces geography and its
  impact on the development of ancient cultures.
• Students will be able to identify and/or define
  the following terms and concepts
• The Geography of Greece
• Geographic Effects on Greek cultures
• Polis

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Greece is mountainous.
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Greece is a mountainous peninsula with islands.
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The Geography of Greece

• Ancient Greece consisted of a large mountainous
  peninsula and islands in the Aegean Sea.
• Its hilly terrain made farming difficult
• Its location encouraged trade.

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Mountains separated Greek cities.
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The Effects of Mountains

• Greeces mountainous terrain separated the
  ancient Greek cities.
• As such, the ancient Greeks never developed a
  unified system of government.
• The ancient Greeks developed the polis or
  city-state.

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The Greeks lived in separate city-states.
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The Polis

• Polis was the Greek word for city-state.
• A polis was an independent city and its
  surrounding farmland.
• Every polis had its own government and laws but
  the Greeks shared a common language and religion.

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The ancient Greeks farmed but it was difficult.
Hills are not suited for farming.
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However, there is always the sea.
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Even today, the Greeks have access to the
Mediterranean Sea and the Aegean Sea.
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The Seas

• Greece is a peninsula and islands.
• Seas surround parts of Greece.
• The Seas allowed the Greeks to travel and trade.
• Trade encouraged cultural diffusion.

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Trade and Cultural Diffusion

• The seas allowed the Greeks to depend heavily on
  trade.
• Trade encouraged cultural diffusion.
• The Greeks were exposed to the Phoenician
  alphabet and Egyptian geometry.

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Questions for Reflection

• Why was it difficult to farm in ancient Greece?
• Why did the Greeks depend heavily on trade?
• List two geographic features and their effects on
  the Greeks.
• Why did the ancient Greeks never develop a
  unified system of government?
• Define polis.

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The Greek City-States

• In this lesson, students will identify
  characteristics of the Greek city-states.
• Students will be able to identify and/ or
  define the following terms
• Polis
• Golden Age
• Democracy
• Helots

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It is important to remember that
mountains separated the Greek city-states.
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The Polis

• The hilly terrain separated the Greeks. Though
  the Greeks shared a common language and religion,
  they never developed a unified system of
  government.
• The Greeks lived in separate, independent
  city-states.
• The Greek word for a city-state was a polis.

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This magnificent building is the Parthenon. The
Parthenon was a temple in Athens, a Greek polis.
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Athens

• Athens was an important polis in ancient Greece.
• The people of Athens developed democracy.
• Democracy is a system of government where
  citizens vote or participate in government.

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In Athenian democracy, only free men born in
Athens could vote. Women, slaves, and
foreigners could not vote.
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This is a painting of the famous
Athenian philosopher, Socrates. He
encouraged his followers to ask questions.
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The Golden Age of Athens

• Athens experienced a golden age.
• A golden age is a time of peace, prosperity, and
  great achievements.
• The Athenians produced great works of literature,
  philosophy, and art.

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Sparta was another important Greek polis.
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Sparta

• Sparta was a militaristic polis.
• In Sparta, all men had to serve in the military.
• Weak or disabled babies were left to die.

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A Spartans life revolved around the military.
A Spartan man was a soldier for most of his life.
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Helots

• The Spartans had helots or slaves.
• The helots farmed for the Spartans.
• While the helots farmed, the Spartans focused on
  military affairs.
• Life in Sparta differed greatly from life in
  Athens.

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The Spartans had enslaved the helots.
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Questions for Reflection

• What was a polis and why did the Greeks develop
  the polis?
• Define a golden age and name a Greek polis that
  experienced a golden age.
• List three differences between the ancient Greek
  polis of Athens and Sparta.
• Who were the helots and how were they treated?
• Describe Athenian democracy.

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War Tests the Greeks

• In this lesson, students will identify
  characteristics of the Persian Wars and the
  Peloponnesian War.
• Students will be able to identify and/or define
  the following terms
• Causes of the Persian Wars
• Effects of the Persian Wars
• Causes of the Peloponnesian War
• Effects of the Peloponnesian War

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The Persians had built a vast empire.
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The Persians and the Greeks

• In 519 B.C., the Persians conquered a group of
  people called the Ionian Greeks who lived in Asia
  Minor.
• The Ionian Greeks asked the mainland Greeks for
  help.
• The Greeks did help and the Persian king was
  furious.

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The Persians invaded the Greeks.
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The Persian Wars

• The Persian army outnumbered the Athenian army.
• However, the smaller Greek ships could move
  easily in the water. The Greek ships destroyed
  the Persian ships.
• Many Greek city-states also united to defeat the
  Persians.

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Look at the map! Can you see why the smaller
Greek ships had an advantage?
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The Alliance

• After the Persian Wars, the Greek city-states
  united.
• Each city-state agreed to give money or ships to
  be used to defend all of them. Athens led the
  alliance. The alliance was called the Delian
  League.
• However, Athens used the alliance money to
  rebuild Athens.

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The Peloponnesian War

• Athens betrayed the trust of the alliance.
• The other Greek city-states declared war on
  Athens.
• This war was called the Peloponnesian War.

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Summation of Wars

• The Persian Wars strengthened the Greek
  city-states.
• However, the Peloponnesian War weakened the Greek
  city-states.
• Sparta led the alliance against Athens.

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The Spartans were skilled soldiers.
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War strengthened the Greeks and war weakened the
Greeks.
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Questions for Reflection

• Why did the Persians invade Greece?
• Why did the Persian Wars strengthen the Greeks?
• Define the Delian League.
• Why did the Peloponnesian War begin?
• Why did the Peloponnesian War weaken the Greeks?

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The Legacy of Classical Greece

• In this lesson, students will be able to
  identify accomplishments of classical Greek
  civilization.
• Students will be able to identify and/or define
  the following terms
• Democracy
• Parthenon
• Socrates
• Pythagoras

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A classical civilization is a civilization
that has given the world important ideas and
inventions that people still use today.
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Ancient Greek civilization is considered a
classical civilization.
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Athenian Democracy

• The ancient Greek city-state of Athens developed
  the first democratic government.
• A democracy is a system of government where
  citizens participate in government.
• Only free men born in Athens could be citizens.
  Women, slaves, and foreigners could not vote.

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The ancient Athenians were the first people to
use voting as a form of participation in
government.
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Architecture

• The Greeks built temples with beautiful columns.
• Greek architecture still influences people today.
• Many government buildings in the United States
  are modeled after Greek temples.

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The Parthenon was a Greek temple to the goddess,
Athena. Notice the use of columns.
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The U.S. Supreme Court building is clearly
influenced by the Parthenon.
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Classical Greek Philosophy

• The ancient Greeks were the first students of
  philosophy. They wanted to know the meaning of
  life and how people should live.
• Greek philosophers like Socrates, Plato, and
  Aristotle still influence people today.
• Socrates encouraged people to think for
  themselves and to ask questions.

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Socrates was a great Greek philosopher. He was
tried and found guilty of corrupting the youth of
Athens. For encouraging people to ask questions,
he was forced to commit suicide.
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The Greek Mathematicians

• The ancient Greeks also made advances in
  mathematics.
• Pythagoras, Euclid, and Archimedes were important
  Greek mathematicians.
• The Pythagorean theorem examines the relationship
  between the three sides of a right triangle.

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The ancient Greeks gave us many important
mathematical theorems.
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The Legacy of Classical Greece

• A legacy is defined as something handed down from
  the past.
• The ancient Greeks have passed down many
  important ideas and inventions to our modern
  world.
• Democracy, the use of columns, mathematical
  ideas, and philosophies are just a few of the
  ideas passed down to modern people from the
  ancient Greeks..

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The ancient Greeks were the first people to
perform plays and write comedies and dramas.
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Questions for Reflection

• Define legacy.
• List two important contributions of the ancient
  Greeks to the modern world.
• How do Greek ideas concerning government still
  influence us today?
• How do Greek ideas concerning architecture still
  influence us today?
• Why is ancient Greece considered a classical
  civilization?