Monday, February 29, 2016

Alexander's Empire

Peloponnesian War → weakened Greek city-states (decline in military and economic power)
King Philip II (Macedonia) wanted to take control of Greece and then moved against Persia to seize wealthy

Philip Builds Macedonian Power
The kingdom of Macedonia → north of Greece
Had rough terrain and cold climate
Macedonians lived in mountain villages
Macedonian nobles → Greeks; Greeks thought them→ uncivilized foreigners

Philip's Army
In 359 BC Philip became the king of Macedonia
Peasants → well-trained army
Phalanxes (16x16) armed with 18-foot pikes
Tactics: phalanx break through enemy lines then cavalry crush the opponents

Conquest of Greece
Demosthenes tried to unite all city-states against Philip → failed
In 338 BC Athens and Thebes joined but too late
Macedonians defeated Greeks at the battle of Chaeronea → ended Greek independence
Self-government in local affairs but firmly under the control of a succession of foreign power
Philip died on his daughter's weeding in 336 BC
His son proclaimed himself king of Macedonia → Alexander the Great

Alexander Defeats Persia
Became the king at the age of twenty
Taught by Aristotle
Enjoyed Homer's description of heroic deed (Iliad)
Started military training when he was young
Destroyed 6000 Theban rebels → frightened other city-states

Invasion of Persia
In 334 BC Alexander invaded Persia
Two forces met at the Granicus River (35,000 Macedonian soldiers and 40,000 Persian defenders)
Alexander ordered his cavalry to attack first
Then Darius III raised a huge army (50,000-75,000) to crush the invaders but failed
Alexander broke through a weak point in Persian line and the army charged straight at Darius
This victory gave Alexander control over Anatolia

Conquering the Persian Empire
Darius tried to negotiate a peace settlement (the lands west of Euphrates River)
Alexander rejected → conquer the entire Persian Empire
In 332 BC Alexander marched to a Persian territory, Egypt
Egyptians welcomed him as the liberator → crowned him pharaoh
Founded the city of Alexandria at the mouth of Nile
Two armies met at Gaugamela (250,000 Persian soldiers)
Alexander: phalanx and cavalry → his victory ended Persia's power
Occupied many wealthy cities and burned Persia's royal capital

Alexander's Other Conquests
Alexander → ruler of southwest Asia
Followed Darius to a deserted spot south of the Caspian Sea → Darius already died
Continued east → his army fought across the desert wastes and mountains of Central Asua

Alexander in India
In 326 BC reached Indus Valley → Indian army blocked the path
The morale of Alexander's army was low → agreed to turn back
In 323 BC reached Babylon → wanted to construct cities and conquer Arabia
Did not carry out → became ill and died a few days later (32 years old)

Alexander's Legacy
After he died generals fought for the control of the empire
Three leaders who won out:
1) Antigonus: Macedonian king (Greek city-states)
2) Ptolemy: Pharaoh (Egypt) → established a dynasty
3) Seleucus: most of the old Persian Empire (Seleucid kingdom)
Impact of Alexander's conquests
- he adopted Persian dress and customs
- married a Persian women
- included people from Persian and other islands in his army
New culture emerged from the blend of Greek and Eastern customs

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Golden Age of Athens Continue

Greek Art
Sculpture
- about gods and highly skilled
- made of marble
- Statue of Athena and Statue of Poseidon
Pottery
- 800 BCE human body and animal appear on pottery first time
Mosaic Art
- could be on wall or on floor
Architecture
- used column
- Parthenon
Metal Art
- usually used bronze
Renaissance and Greek Art
- Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello

Government
Democracy Strengthen
- lower class citizens had a chance to be officials (paid salaries)
- should be male and adult (above 18)
- laws voted directly by all Athenian citizens
- executive branch is made up of appointed or elected officials
- defendants have attorneys
Delian League
- made of approximately 150 city-states
- leadership belonged to Athens
- headquarter is Delos

Architecture
- be famous for temples
- open-theatre
Doric Column
- origined from western Greece
- simplest
- short, heavy and fluted
- have no base
- capital plain
Ionic Column
- origined from eastern Greece
- slender, fluted pillars
- large base
- two opposed scrolls
- tinniest and smallest
Corinthian Column
- have most details
- most ornate out of the three
- ornate capital decorated

Parthenon
- traditional style (used for 200 years to create temples)
- in honor of Athena
- built by Pericles
Nike of Samothrace
- also called Winged Victory of Samothrace
- located in Louvre, Paris
- in honor of sea battle
Acropolis
- built on hill overlooking Athens
- fortness

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Golden Age of Athens

Pericles (477-441 BC)
- growth in intellectual artistic learning
- golden age of Athens

461-429 BC (the age of Pericles)
Three goals
- strengthen Athenian democracy
- hold and strengthen the empire
- glorify Athens

Stronger democracy
- increased the number of paid officials

Direct democracy
- a form of government in which citizens rule directly and not through representatives
- it is an important legacy during the age of Pericles
- Athens is one of the first city-states of its time

Delian League
- used cash from league to fund navy ship and buy gold and ivory

Aspasia
- companion of Pericles (not married)
- first sign as men treating women equally

Peloponnesian War
- between Athens and Sparta
- plague
- hubris

The Delian League
history - after Persian War Athens took control
reason - make a truce and keep all city-states together
United Nations is like a Delian League today

Monday, February 22, 2016

Presentation Preparing

Today we continued finishing our google slide and presentation

Theatre

  1. Theatre buildings were called a theatron. The theaters were large, open-air structures constructed on the slopes of hills. They consisted of three main elements: the orchestra, the skene, and the audience.
  2. Orchestra - A large circular or rectangular area at the center part of the theatre, where the play, dance, religious rites, acting used to take place.
  3. Skene - A large rectangular building situated behind the orchestra, used as a backstage.


History
  1. The Greek theatre history began with festivals honoring their gods.
  2. Dionysus, the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, was honored with a festival called by "City Dionysia".
  3. In Athens, during this festival, men used to perform songs  in the Theatre of Dionysus to welcome the god.


The Theatre of Dionysus
  1. The Greeks invented drama and built the first theatre of the world in Athens. This theatre was the Theatre of Dionysus. It is a major open-air theatre and one of the earliest preserved in Athens.
  2. The Theatre of Dionysus could seat 17,000 spectators.
Drama

  1. Athens was the main center for these theatrical traditions. Athenians spread these festivals to its numerous allies in order to promote a common identity.
  2. At the early Greek festivals, the actors, directors, and dramatists were all the same person. After some time, only three actors were allowed to perform in each play. Later few non-speaking roles were allowed to perform on-stage.
  3. Due to limited number of actors allowed on-stage, the chorus evolved into a very active part of Greek theatre. Music was often played during the chorus' delivery of its lines.

Costumes and Masks
  1. The actors were so far away from the audience that without the aid of exaggerated costumes and masks, they would be difficult to see.
  2. The masks were made of linen or cork, so none have survived. Tragic masks carried mournful or pained expressions, while comic masks were smiling or leering.
  3. The shape of the mask amplified the actor's voice, making his words easier for the audience to hear.

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Power Point


We made a google slide about the theatre in the Golden Age of Greece in class on Friday

The Theatre of DionysusThe Greeks invented drama and built the first theatre of the world in Athens, which was called the Theatre of Dionysus. It was used for festivals in honor of the god Dionysus, and it could seat 17,000 spectators.

Drama
Actors used colorful costumes, masks, and sets to dramatize stories
The plays were about leadership, justice, and the duties owed to the gods
They often included a chorus that danced, sang, and recited poetry
Tragedy and Comedy
Tragedy - a serious drama about common themes such as love, hate, war or betrayal
usually has an main character (tragic hero) with extraordinary abilities and the tragic flaw (excessive pride) caused his downfall
Comedy - contained scenes filled with slapstick situations and crude humor, made fun of politics and respected people and ideas of the time

Dramatists
Aeschylus (tragedy)
- wrote more than 80 plays
- most famous work is the trilogy Oresteia (idea of justice)
Sophocles (tragedy)
- wrote more than 100 plays, including tragedies Oedipus the King and Antigone
Euripides (tragedy)

- author of the play Medea (often featured strong women)
Aristophanes (comedy)
- wrote the first great comedies including The Birds and Lysistrata

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Democracy and Greece's Golden Age

Golden Age of Athens (447-431 B.C.): experienced a growth in intellectual and artistic learning

Pericles' Plan for Athens
Pericles dominated Athens from 461 to 429 B.C. (the Age of Pericles)
Three goals:
1) to strengthen Athenian democracy
2) to hold and strengthen the empire
3) to glorify Athens

Strong Democracy
Increased the number of public officials who were paid salaries → poor people could serve
Direct democracy: a form of government in which citizens rule directly and not through representatives (power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people)
In Athens, male citizens who served in the assembly established all the important government policies that affected the polis

Athenian Empire
Athens took over leadership of the Delian League and dominated all the city-states in it
Used the money from league to make the navy strong → strengthen the safety
Other city-states formed their own alliances to resist Athens (Sparta)

Glorifying Athens
Used money from league to beautify Athens:
- buy gold, ivory and marble
- pay the artists, architects, and workers

Glorious Art and Architecture
Goal was to glorify Athens through sculptures and buildings
center → the Parthenon

Architecture and Sculpture
Parthenon (temple) → not unique in style, built to honor Athena
Pericles entrusted much work to sculptor Phidias who created a 30 feet tall statue of Athena with many precious materials in the center of temple
Classical art: shows serenity on face and the grace of idealized human body in motion (ideal beauty), uses harmony, order, balance, and proportion

Drama and History
The Greeks invented drama and built the first theaters in the West
Theatrical productions in Athens were expression of civic pride and tribute to the gods
Wealthy citizens bore the cost of producing the plays

Tragedy and Comedy
Tragedy - a serious drama about common themes such as love, hate, war or betrayal
usually has an main character (tragic hero) with extraordinary abilities and the tragic flaw (excessive pride) caused his downfall
Dramatists:
Aeschylus 
- wrote more than 80 plays
- most famous work is the trilogy Oresteia (idea of justice)
Sophocles
- wrote more than 100 plays, including tragedies Oedipus the King and Antigone
Euripides
- author of the play Medea (often featured strong women)
Comedy - contained scenes filled with slapstick situations and crude humor, made fun of politics and respected people and ideas of the time
Dramatists:
Aristophanes
- wrote the first great comedies including The Birds and Lysistrata

History
No written records from the Dorian period
Herodotus - his book on the Persian Wars is considered the first work of history
Thucydides (Athenian) - the greatest historian of the classical age
believed that certain types of events and political situations recur over time → study history can help understand the present

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Test Review 2

Key rivers and great civilization
Mesopotamia / Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
Egypt / Nile River
India / Indus River
China / Huang He River

Greece's geography
A mountainous peninsula (cover 3/4)
- developed small, independent communities (city-states)
difficult to unite because of the terrain
- had limited/poor natural resources → trade (olives)
- surrounded by water → had many skilled sailors and shipbuilders

Identify the following
- Aegean Sea
- Ionian Sea
- Adriatic Sea
- Peloponnesus
- Athens
- Sparta
- Crete
- Asia Minor
- Macedonia

Mycenaean
Dominated Greece from 1600-1100 BCE and controlled trade in the region
1400 BCE-  Mycenaeans invaded Crete and absorbed Minoan culture (writing system, language, art, politics, literature, religion)

Homer
A blind storyteller who composed the story of Trojan War
The Iliad - probably one of the last conquests of the Mycenaeans (the Trojan War)
The Odyssey (12,110 lines) - Odysseus attempts to return home after the Trojan War, being thwarted by the angry god of the sea, Poseidon

Government terms
- polis: fundamental political unit, made up of a city and the surrounding countryside
- monarchy: rule by a single person (a king, in Greece)
- aristocracy: rule by a small group of noble, very rich, landowning families
- oligarchy: wealthy groups, dissatisfied with aristocratic rule, who seized power (often with military help)
- tyrant: powerful individual who seized control by appealing to the common people for support

Aristocracy
Aristocrats attended symposiums, meetings where the elite men would enjoy wine and poetry, performances by dancers and acrobats, and the company of hetaeras (courtesans) while discussing politics

Leaders
Draco:
- all citizens are equal under the law
- death is the punishment
- debt slavery
draconian - very severe or cruel
Solon:
- outlaw debt slavery
- all citizens can speak at the assembly
- all citizens can press charges against wrongdoers
Cleisthenes:
- all citizens can submit laws for debate at the assembly
- created Council of Five Hundred
Citizen: free adult male property owners born in Athens. No women, slaves, or foreigners

Fighting
The most powerful infantry: Sparta (boys were trained for way at seven)
The most powerful navy: Athens (trireme)
Phalanx (Athens)
close-rank, dense grouping of warriors
- armed with long spears and interlocking shields
- soldiers would advance slowly toward the enemy, until they broke through their ranks

Friday, February 12, 2016

Test Review

Important to Know
1) Great civilizations and key rivers
2) 2000 islans in Ionian and Aegean Sea
3) Fertile valleys cover 1/4 of peninsula only 20% is arable
4) Dorian period: 1150-750 BCE
5) Draco, Solon and Cleisthenes
6) Fight: Sparta → infantry; Athens → navy (trireme) and phalanx

A New Form of Government → direct democracy
Cleithenes around 500 BCE: citizens (only1/5 Athenians) could participate → everyone got chance to speak their minds
Ruled by citizens
Rule is based on citizenship (white/black stones) → small enough to do (4/50,000)
Majority rule decides vote

Persian War
Persian vs. Greece: Persian Empire looks big, Persians have a huge army and unlimited resources
Persian disadvantages:
1) long way from home (march)
2) professional army (was paid so fought as job)
2 versions of Pheidippides: 1) Marathon → Athens 2) Marathon → Sparta

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Cyber Day

1. What is the Greek Acropolis?
The Acropolis overlooks the city of Athens. The name Acropolis means "top city", it was the heart of ancient Athens. The Acropolis is a rock formation that rises 400 ft and covers about seven acres.

2. What was the Acropolis used for?
Ancient Athenians would come here to pray, or for protection in times of invasion. 

3. When and why was the Parthenon built?
The Parthenon was built over 2500 years ago as a temple to the Goddess Athena. The Athenians believed she helped the Greeks defeat the Persian Empire.

4. Who ordered the Parthenon to be built?
Pericles, a famous Greek politician.

5. When was the Parthenon constructed?
It started in 447 BC, and took thousands of artisans and craftsmen more than nine years to build.

6. What is the Parthenon made of?
It is made of 30,000 tons of the finest white marble.

7. What do we mean by "Doric-style" construction?
Doric: simple, unadorned style characterized by simple columns.

8. What can be found inside the Parthenon?
A 40 foot statue of Athena.

9. When was the Parthenon damaged, and by whom?
The building was severely damaged in 1687 when the Venetians attacked Athens. After this, the building fell into disuse.

Monday, February 8, 2016

Class Work

3. How does an aristocracy differ from an oligarchy?
An aristocracy is a government ruled by a small group of noble, landowning families. These very rich families often gained political power after serving in a king's military cavalry.
An oligarchy is a government ruled by a few powerful people. It was formed by a new class of wealthy merchants and artisans. When these groups became dissatisfied with aristocratic rule, they sometimes took power or shared it with the nobility.

4. What contributions did Solon and Cleisthenes make to the development of Athenian democracy?
Solon: 
1) outlawed the debt slavery 
2) all citizens, regardless of class, could participate in the Athenian assembly 
3) any citizen could bring charges against wrongdoers 
Cleisthenes: 
1) broke up the power of the nobility by organizing citizens into ten groups based on where they lived rather than on their wealth 
2) allowed all citizens to submit law for debate and passage at the assembly 
3) created the Council of Five Hundred to propose laws and counsel the assembly, members were chosen at random

6. How was living in Athens different from living in Sparta?
Athens: 
Democratic, ruled by the people. In Athens, citizens participated directly in political decision making. 
The sons of wealthy families received the formal education around the age of seven in order to be good citizens. They studied reading, grammar, poetry, history, mathematics and music. They also received training in logic and public speaking, spent time in athletic activities. When they got older, boys went to military school to help them prepare for defending Athens.
Girls were educated at home to learn how to be good wives and mothers, some of them could learn read and write. They had very little to do outside the boundaries of family and home.
Sparta:
Citizens could elected officials and vote on major issues. They did not value arts, literature, or other artistic and intellectual pursuits. 
Boys left home and moved to army barracks at the age of seven, they were expected to serve in army until the age of sixty. 
Girls also received some military training, they were taught to put service to Sparta above everything. As adults, Spartan women had considerable freedom, especially in running the family estates when their husbands were on active military service.

Saturday, February 6, 2016

Main Ideas

3. What steps did Pericles take to strengthen democracy in Athens?
To strengthen the democracy, Pericles increased the number of public offices who were paid salaries
Direct democracy: power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people
In Athens, male citizens who served in the assembly established all the important government policies that affected the polis

4. What were the battle strategies of Athens and Sparta in the Peloponnesian War?
Athens: avoid land battles with the Spartan army and wait for a opportunity to strike Sparta and its allies from the sea
Sparta: march into Athenian territory and swept over the countryside, burning the Athenian food supply.

5. Why do you think some Athenians found the ideas of Socrates so disturbing?
Because Socrates encouraged Greeks to go farther and question themselves and their moral character, forced people to think about their values and actions, which was different from traditional ways of life (corrupting the youth of Athens and neglecting the city's gods)

Friday, February 5, 2016

Philosopher Lollapaloozas

Socrates
- look to science and logic explanation of how the world worked (not mythological gods)
- Socrates Method fostered critical thinking (you think about, you use your brain)
- I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think
Everyone came to Athens to learn and communicate with others (connected people from other places)
Trouble: dare to teach young people question teachers, elders, etc. (not believe in god)
- the unexamined life is not worth living
- was charge with serious crimes: impurity (disrespecting of God) and corrupting youth of Athens
- he described himself as a stinging gadfly and Athens as a lazy old horse
- did not deny what he had done, asked for free dinners
- found guilty by an Athenian jury, died because of drinking hemlock

Plato
- the student and follower of Socrates
- Apology (means explanation): Socrates' teaching
- Republic (one of the most influential book on philosophy): Socrates' discussion of justice and ideal state

Aristotle
- the student of Plato
- helped foster the idea of Athens as an intellectual destination 
(if people go to Athens, they will not only learn about Athens also other places because many people go here)
- his school Lyceum: focus on cooperative research, build on knowledge gathered from all over the world (his idea)
→ like the Internet, dream of having a sum of mankind's knowledge easily accessed in one location
- wrote many topics (logic, physics, biology, ethics, etc.)
- tutored Alexander the Great

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Athens and Sparta

Clash of the tyrants
- Hippias was a tyrant who ruled from 527 to 510 BCE
- After his brother was murdered his rule became harsh (probably the next one)
- He made a lot of enemies and was expelled from Athens (being ostracized)
- In revenge, he worked with Persian King and helped them invade Marathon (because Persians was different kind of people and had different language etc.) → provided information

Hippias was expelled and lost power → Isagoras and Cleisthenes (both aristocrats) engaged in the power struggle
Isagoras: support from fellow aristocrats from Sparta
Cleisthenes: majority of Athenians
Isagoras finally became archon eponymous tyrant → ostracized Cleistnenes
Cleisthenes' supporters and the original Athenian citizens revolt against his tyranny → first time regular people revolt their leader
They trap Isagoras for 2 days, on third day he fled and banished
ON 508 BCE
He told the secret path to Persian King when Greeks blocked them on Marathon

Cleisthenes and Democracy
- member of elites
- very rich
- insulated from the 'hoi polloi"
- a crafty politician
- first one shared power with others and made people be able to vote → always had one leader to make decision
- saw the value of the non-aristocrats (middle class citizens) but not women

God and Goddess
Unique: Gods have interaction with humans
Odysseus - God Poseidon

The fighting Spartans
Greeks are warlike people especially the Spartans
Spartans: known as their tough, ruthless infantry (soldiers who fought on land) → boys trained at the age of 7
Real Spartans were much more fearsome than oily rats in movie 30 (IMHO)

A naval power
Athens had great infantry but that cannot compare with their navy
The most effective weapon: trireme
- technological marvel
- the fastest ship in ancient time
- because rowed by 170 men on three levels
- be used as battering ram
- agile, fast
Phalanx (couple hundred of people) - worked for centuries
enermies cannot get anyone because weapons were around them

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Warring City-States Notes

Transformation of government
During the seventh and sixth centuries BCE, aristocrats ran the show in the most of Greece
Rich people wielded much more influence in society, and held much more governmental power than the middle class or poor
principles, players, companies can make much more money than presidents, and they usually got rich by some other ways

Aristocracy (nice work if you can get it)
Aristocrats: members of the ruling class
They attended symposium, a meeting where elite men enjoyed wine and poetry, performance by dancers and acrobats, and the company of hetaeras (courtesans) while discussing politics, also like a big crazy party
No women (except the entertainment)
No middle class
No slave
No certain aristocrats (no much connection)

Tyrant seize control
Aristocrats who worked together with common people to live better
Tyrant now: Kim Jong-un, Bashar al-Assad
Aristocrats would form alliances with hoplites (well-armed soldiers), and set up an alternative form of government called a tyranny.
Tyrant: someone who rules outside the framework of the  the polis.
Modern meaning of tyrants: an abusive or oppressive ruler.
Greek meaning of tyrant: someone who simply seize the power. (usually with hoplite help)
Someone wanted to be a tyrant so he found a women pretended as Athena and convinced common people

Rules, codes, and laws...
- Draco (621 BCE)
1) all Athenians (rich or poor) are equal under the law
2) death is the punishment for many crimes
3) debt slavery is OK (unfair)
The Code of Hummurabi → created the first rules
People in different classes did something wrong but same would have different punishments, usually rich would only have a mild punishment but poor would have a severe one.
Draconian
- Solon's reform (594 BCE)
1) outlaw the debt slavery
2) all citizens can speak at assembly (first time came though not everyone)
3) all citizens can press charge against wrongdoers
- Cleisthenes (around 500 BCE)
1) allowed all citizens to submit laws for debate at the assembly
2) created the Council of Five Hundred (members chose randomly, to counsel the assembly) only citizens
Leading to democracy
But only free adult male property owners born in Athens were citizens
No female, no slave, no foreigner

The Persian Wars

Sparta: danger of a helot revolt → military state
Athens: struggles between rich and poor → democracy
Invasion by Persian armies → moved alike to glory

A New Kind of Army Emerges
Only rich could serve in army during the Dorian Age
Bronze → Iron (harder and cheaper): made a new kind of army composed of merchants, artisans, and small landowners
Hoplites (foot soldiers) with spears and shields → phalanx (the most powerful fighting force)

Battle at Marathon
Between Persian Empire and Greece began in Ionia on the coast of Anatolia (Persians conquered this area from Greeks around 546 B.C.)
Athens helped Ionian Greeks → Persian defeated and vowed to destroyed Athens
In 490 B.C., Persians landed on Marathon plain (25,000 men) but were not match for the Greek phalanx (10,000) so they fled the battlefield

Pheidippides Brings News
City was defenseless → chose Pheidippides to deliver message (Rejoice, we conquer) → after 26 miles died
When the Persians sailed into the harbor, they found the city heavily defended.

Thermopylae and Salamis
10 years later (480 B.C.) Xerxes (the son and the successor of Darius the Great) assembled an enormous invasion force to crush Athens
Met no resistance as it marched down the eastern coast of Greece (some city-states did not want to fight the Persians)
They were blocked by 7000 Greeks (300 Spartans) in a narrow mountain pass at Thermopylae for three days → Spartans made a great impression and were all killed (other forces retreated)
How best to fight: evacuated the city and fought at sea (Themistocles) →  positioned fleet in a narrow channel near the island of Salamis (southwest of Athens)
After setting fire to Athens, Xerxes sent warship to block both ends of channel → difficult turning and hulls were punctured by Greek ships → more than one third sank
Battle of Plataea → Persians defensive
Formed an alliance called the Delian League (headquarter) to continue to press the war against the Persians → drove them from the territories surrounding Greece and ended the threat of future attacks

Consequences of the Persian Wars
During the 470s, Athens emerged as the leader of Delian League (200 city-states) → used the power to control other members
Moved the headquarter to Athens and used military force against members that challenged its authority
City-states → provinces of Athenian Empire → entered its brief golden age (based on the prestige of victory and the wealth of the Athenian Empire)

Monday, February 1, 2016

Warring City-States Notes

The bodies of water surround Greece
Important to know and locate
- Aegean Sea
- Ionian Sea
- Adriatic Sea (north of the Ionian Sea)
- Peloponnesus
- Athens
- Sparta
- Crete
- Asia Minor
- Macedonia

Syrians usually traveled to Greece by boat
Greece needed to import many things
Only 20% countries had arable land

Some early people, first Mycenaeans
Began in 2000 B.C. and ruled Peloponnesus
Protected the country by building a big wall (20-foot)
King dominated Greece (1600-1100 B.C.) and controlled the trade
↓ when they took over a place, they asked people to do what they usually did
→ did have to change their language
→ less likely fight back or reclaim land

Trojan War (fact or fiction)
Most of stories were made up but the fight really exist
Paris chose Aphrodite to be the fairest goddess and made her get the apple. Then Aphrodite made Helen who was the wife of Trojan king fall in love with him in order to thank him.
Trojan horse

Sea People and Dorians
In 1200 B.C. Dorians invaded Mycenae and destroyed their cities
- far less advanced
- did not know how to write
- did not want to trade with other people
Homer: blind storyteller, composed the story of Trojan War, went to many towns to teach people these two stories
The Iliad and The Odyssey (12,110 lines)
No one knows if Homer really existed

Terms
Polis: fundamental unit, made up a city → politics (affairs of the cities)
Monarchy: ruled by the king (not queen) → father-son/brother
Aristocracy: ruled by a group of nobles
Oligarchy: ruled by some wealthy people who were not satisfied with aristocracy and took over
Tyrant: seized control by appealing to the common people for support