The first unit to my 2nd grade students

1. 1. Ancient Greece
2nd
ESO
Maira Gil Camarón

2. Natural environment
The Greek-speaking world was originally called Hellas:
In the south of the Balkan Peninsula
On islands in the eastern Mediterranean
On the coast of Asia Minor
Physical relief explains why Ancient Greece was not a
single and unified country:
Mountains divided mainland Greece into small valleys
Islands were separated from each other by the sea
Each valley or island was like a small country (city-state)

5. What united the Greeks of Hellas?
 Common origins
 In Crete, the Minoan civilisation
appeared around 2600 BC. The main
city was Knossos, which have many
luxurious palaces and its considered
Europe’s oldest city
 In the Peloponnese, the Achaeans
formed the Mycenaean civilisation
between 1600 and 1200 BC
 Same language and culture
 Greeks spoke Greek and used a
syllabic alphabet. Literature helped
to spread the same culture among all
the Greeks. Poems of Homer provided
them with common history as they
described the origins and deeds of their
ancestors
 Iliad tells of the war between the Greeks
and Trojans
 Odyssey tells of the adventures of
Odysseus (king of Ithaca) on his journey
home from the Trojan War

6. Same gods and rituals
Greeks were polytheistic and their gods were represented
in human form (anthropomorphic) and guided and ordered
people’s lives. The gods lived on Mount Olympus and
had powers and were immortal
Demigod (or hero): born from a union between a mortal
and a god
Myths and legends consist of the fabulous adventures of
its gods and heroes
To honour their gods, people celebrated religious, cultural
and sporting festivals
Similar ways of life
Peasants cultivated wheat, grapes and olives and raised
sheep, goats and pigs
Artisants/merchants lived in cities

7. Two great poleis: Sparta and Athens
The Greek city-states or poleis
Each polis was usually protected by walls and had a similar
structure:
The Acropolis, the upper part, was composed of a walled
citadel that included all the main religious buildings
The lower part contained the houses, which were grouped into
neighbourhoods. In the centre was the Agora, the market
place, which was surrounded by religious, political and
commercial buildings. The Agora was the centre of the
community life
Form of government in the poleis
Tyrany (takes power by force)  one man alone
Monarchy (hereditary)  one man alone
Oligarchy (rulers are chosen)  a group of men (aristocracy)
Democracy (voting or lottery)  All the male citizens in the
poleis

10. SPARTA was an oligarchy
Two kings held military and religious authority
Gerousia, a council formed by prestigious, older citizens. They
drew up laws and were responsible for justice
The ephors were five magistrates who carried out the
decisions of the Gerousia
The Apella (or assembly) consisted of all free men over 30
years old
ATHENS was a democracy (from the 7th
century BC)
Ekklesia (or assembly). All the citizens met to vote laws,
decide foreign policy and elect magistrates
Boule (council): 500 citizens chosen by ballot
Athenian leaders were magistrates. The archons were the
chief magistrates, and the strategoi led the army
Each year, members of the law courts were chosen by ballot

11. Athens: an unequal society
Athenian democracy was limited, as not all Athenians had
the same rights.
WOMEN were confined to the home and were dedicated to
the domestic life. They did not have the right to vote and
rarely participated in political life
SLAVES were the property of another person and had
no rights. They were considered inferior human beings.
Some worked in extreme conditions
CITIZENS were the male children of an Athenian
mother and father. They could vote and be elected to
a public position. They defended the city when there was
war, and paid for their own military equipment
METICS were the children of parents who were not Athenian,
and they were considered foreigners. They worked as
artisans and merchants. They paid taxes but could not
participate in politics. They could be part of the army, but they
could never hold positions of command

12. The Greeks colonise the Mediterranean
Reasons for emigration
Thanks to the long Greek coastline and large number of
islands, Greeks were expert sailors
Many Greeks abandoned their poleis due to an increase
in population, after the 8th
century BC, and a lack of
land suitable for cultivation
Greek colonies
Greeks looked for places to establish new colonies where
they could cultivate the land, trade with local peoples and
extract raw materials  places with good access by sea,
easy to defend, a water supply and an indigenous
population
The most important areas of Greek colonisation: Southern
Italy and Sicily (Magna Graecia), the Iberian Peninsula
and the shores of the Black Sea

14. How did they establish a colony?
 Before leaving
 The inhabitants consulted the gods (in
oracles such as Delphi) before the journey
about whether it was advisable to go or not.
They only set off on their voyage if they
received a favourable reply
 The voyage
 They travelled on boats powered by oars and
sails. The Greeks practised cabotage. They
only crossed the open sea when it was
necessary
 Founding a colony
 When they found a suitable location, the
colonists disembarked and founded a new
city (colony). The colonies were
independent from their city or origin
(metropolis). However, they maintained
commercial and agricultural ties to it. The
colonists lived from agriculture, fishing and
trade with local peoples and the metropolis.
Many colonies ended up creating their own
currency

15. Trireme, a Greek ship

16. The rule of Hellas: from Athens to
Macedonia
The Persian Wars (499-479 BC)
They took place when the Persians tried to conquer Athens
after conquering many of the poleis in Asia Minor. The
Athenians fought back and defeated Persia in the battles of
Marathon and Salamis. After the victory, Athens became
the richest and most influential poleis
Under the leadership of Athens, many poleis formed a
union called the Delian League to defend the city-states
against future Persian attacks

17. The Peloponnesian War
(431-404 BC)
 The domination of Athens
threatened other poleis, such
as Sparta, and some of them
supported Sparta in the
Peloponnesian League,
which opposed the Delian
League of Athens and its
allies
 This started the
Peloponnesian War, which
ended with the defeat of
Athens and its League
 The war ended the Golden
Age of the Greek poleis

19. Macedonia conquers Hellas: Alexander the
Great
In the 4th
century BC, Macedonia was a mountainous
kingdom, north of Greece.
In the mid-4th
century BC, Philip II of Macedonia took
advantage of the decline of the poleis, defeated the
Athenians and began the conquest of Greece, but he was
assassinated in 336 BC
Phillip’s son, Alexander the Great, continued his
conquests. Between 334 and 323 BC he defeated the
Persian Empire. He ruled territories from Greece in
the west to the Danube in the north, Egypt in the
south and western India in the east
Alexander founded many cities in the conquered territories.
Greek culture spread through many regions, but was also
influenced by eastern ideas. This fusion was called
Hellenism, and the monarchies that appeared in this
territories after the death of Alexander were Hellenistic
monarchies

22. Religion and culture
Gods and heroes: polytheistic religion
Gods were immortal but looked human. They loved and
fought with each other. They lived on Mount Olympus
Heroes (demigods) were born from the union of a god
and a human being: Achilles, Heracles… were extremely
powerful, but they weren’t immortal. Many cities had
foundation myths, which explained how they were
founded by a great hero
Greek myths were colourful stories about all theses gods
and heroes. They features fantastic creatures like the
Cyclop (one-eye monster), and the centaurs (horses with
a human head, chest and arms)

24. Culture

26. Arts

29. The Acropolis in Athens
When people talk about the acropolis, they normally mean
the acropolis in Athens. On the Athens acropolis there was
a famous temple, the Parthenon. It was built arround 440
BC in honour of the Goddess Athena, who was the
protector of Athens. There was also a 9-metre bronze
statue of the Goddess Athena

33. Activity (individual / in pairs):
In a colourful sheet, write the main characteristics of
the Greek Architecture. After that, look for photos and
information about two buildings (not the same ones that
appear in this Power Point) and write the name of the
architect, the period, the place… all the information that
you consider important
In other colourful sheet, write the main characteristics of
the Greek Sculpture. After that, look for photos and
some information about two sculptures (not the same
ones that appear in this Power Point) and write the name of
the sculptor, the period, the place… all the information
that you consider important