This document provides an overview of ancient Greece from 2000 BC to 300 BC. It discusses the rise and fall of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations, followed by a Greek Dark Age. The development of city-states and different forms of government are examined. Key events like the Trojan War, Persian Wars, and battles of Marathon, Thermopylae and Salamis are summarized. The roles of important figures like Homer and Spartan culture are also highlighted. Geography played a large role in shaping Greek civilization and limiting its population size.

1. The Story of Ancient Greece
2000 BC-300 BC
Ch. 5

3. Greek gods, Titans, Heroes, Myths, and
Creatures Project-50 Points
• Choose one of each of the above topics and
create either a Powerpoint style presentation
or a video documentary
• Focus on good content, good visuals and good
delivery.
• Two sources per topic-Use Easybib
• Website on Greek Mythology

4. Questions?
• What do you know about ancient Greece?
• How can geography play an important
role in the development of a civilization?

8. Colossus of Rhodes
• Statue of Helios, Greek
Titan god
• Was made of bronze
• Same size as Statue of
Liberty
• One of the 7 Wonders of the
Ancient World
• Lasted just over 50 years
due to earthquake
• Believed to have been
melted down and sold by
Arab invaders

9. The Temple/Statue of Artemis
• Built around 800 B.C.
• Artemis is the Greek Goddess of Fertility
• The temple was destroyed several times due to
wars
• Current day archeologists have found the
foundations of 5 temples built on top of each other

10. The Statue of Zeus at Olympia
• Built around 450 BC
• The statue was said
to be made of gold
and marble
• Eventually
destroyed after
being taken apart
and moved

11. • Built around 353 BC
• Tomb was built by Queen Artemisia as a tribute to
her husband/brother King Mausolus.
• Destroyed by earthquakes in the 1100-1400’s AD
• All that survives today are the foundation blocks
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus

12. Lighthouse of Alexandria
• The lighthouse was built in 280 BC
• It was the worlds first lighthouse(reflected sunlight by
day/fire at night)
• Most likely destroyed by earthquakes from 956-1325 AD
• Remains were found in the Mediterranean Sea in 1994
• Egypt is building an underwater museum for tourists-Link

14. Key Terms/People Section 1
• Peninsula
• Minoan
• Mycenaean
• Trojan War
• Dorian
• Homer
• Epic
• Myth

15. Geography of Greece
• Greece is a small country in Europe
• The main part of Greece in on a
peninsula
• Greece is surrounded by what three large
bodies of water?
– Mediterranean Sea, Aegean Sea, and Ionian
Sea
• The rest of Greece is made up of islands
– 6000(227 being inhabited)

18. Mykonos Island

19. Crete

20. Rhodes

23. Importance of Geography to
Greece
• The sea was extremely important to the
Greeks-Why?
– Did not live “on the land” but “around the
sea”
– Most Greeks lived within 85 miles of the sea
– Used the sea as a means of transportation
– The sea linked all parts of Greece to other
areas for trade which was essential due to
lack of resources

24. Geography Continued
• Mountains covered around ¾’s of ancient
Greece

25. Mt. Olympus-
Home of the 12 Olympian Greek gods

27. Twelve Olympian Greek gods
• Zeus
– King of the gods, sky, thunder
• Hera
– Women, marriage
• Demeter
– Harvest, agriculture
• Poseidon
– Sea
• Athena
– Wisdom, courage, etc.

28. • Apollo
– Music, poetry, healing
• Artemis
– The hunt, wild animals, childbirth
• Aphrodite
– Love, beauty, pleasure
• Ares
– War

29. • Hermes
– Transitions and boundaries
• Hephaestus
– Blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans
• Hestia
– Hearth, home, domesticity, family
• Dionysus
– Vine, Grape Harvest, Winemaking, Wine

30. • Due to mountains, transportation over land
was difficult
• Greeks did not have much fertile land for
agriculture
• Due to these issues, ancient Greece never had
a large population-no more than a few million
• These issues might have led some leaders to
look to expand(map on slide 3)

31. Greek City-States
• Due to Greece’s geography, city-states
developed instead of a unified country
• What is a city-state?
• More to come on Greek city-states!

32. Climate
• What does Greece’s average temperature’s
tell you about how they might have lived?

33. Mycenaeans and Minoans

34. Minoan Civilization
• 2000-1500 BC
• Heavily influenced by the Egyptian and
Mesopotamian civilizations
• Named after legendary Crete King Minos of
Greek mythology
• Known for its trade on the seas
• Due to its isolation on the island of Crete,
generally peaceful
• Video Link

35. Minoans
• Known for it’s advanced cities-Knossus
– Not overcrowded, plumbing, toilets, sewers

37. Minoans
• Known for women having much higher status
than in earlier civilizations
• Know for their art and pottery

38. Downfall of the Minoans
• Around 1500 BC, the Minoan civilization
ended abruptly
• Historians think it could have been an
earthquake which leveled cities and their
ships
• They could have been over ran by the
Mycenaeans
• Some historians think Minoa could have
been Atlantis--Video

39. Mycenaeans-Video
• Controlled the area around Greece from 1600
BC-1100 BC
• Heavily influenced by the Minoans
– Much more war-like than Minoans(based on art)
• Know for their trade around the Mediterranean
Sea, Aegean Sea
• Known for their piracy on the seas surrounding
Greece
• Known for their city-states-Athens, Mycenae,
Pylos, Tiryns

42. • Historians aren’t sure if city-states were
independent or more united
• Mycenaean's did unite to fight the Trojan
War against Troy
• The Mycenaean's fell apart due to wars
and the Sea People’s sacking their city-
states
• Eventually the Dorians came down from
the north and took over Greece

43. Dorians-1150-750 BC
• Came from the area
north of Greece
• Less advanced than
the Mycenaean’s
• Trade and culture
slowed
• Greece went into a
Dark Age

44. Homer
• Was a Greek epic poet
from 750-700 BC
• Narrative poems
celebrated heroic
deeds
• The Iliad was about
the Trojan War
• The Odyssey was a
sequel that was after
the Trojan War

45. Trojan War-Video
• Fought between Mycenaean Greeks and Troy

46. Trojan War- 1194–1184 BC
• War began after the abduction of Queen Helen
of Sparta by the Trojan prince, Paris
• Helen’s husband, Menelaus, convinced his
brother Agamemnon, King of Mycenae, to lead
an expedition to get her back
• Agamemnon was joined by the Greek
heroes Achilles and Odysseus
• They crossed the Aegean Sea and laid siege to
Troy
• Demanded Helen’s return

48. Movie Clip-Troy

49. Ch. 5.2-Warring City States
• Polis
• Acropolis
• Monarchy
• Aristocracy
• Oligarchy
• Tyrant
• Democracy
• Military state
• Helot
• Phalanx
• Persian Wars

50. Greek City-States
• Polis
– city—Minneapolis, Indianapolis
• Acropolis
– a settlement in a city on higher ground used for
defense and a place to discuss politics—Below is
the Athens acropolis

51. Types of Government in City-
States
• Monarchy
– government ruled by one person-king, queen
• Aristocracy
– government ruled by a small group of wealthy,
landowning families
• Oligarchy
– A government ruled by a few powerful people

52. Types of Governments in City-
States
• Tyrants
– Powerful individuals who seize control from the
government
– Could be good or bad
– Today we see tyranny as a bad thing
• Democracy
– Rule by the people
– Athens had perhaps the world’s first democracy
– Only allowed citizens to participate
• Women, slaves and foreigners were not citizens

55. Education in Greece
• Only for the sons of wealthy families
• Started at age 7 and focused on developing
good citizens
• Studied reading, grammar, poetry, history,
math, music, logic and public speaking
• Public debate and athletics were also stressed
• Once older, students went to military school
• Girls were educated by their mothers in the
home to do cleaning, cooking, child-rearing,
etc.

56. Ancient Olympics
• Records of Olympics date to 776 BC and lasted
until 393 AD when the Romans ended them
• Lasted one day at first but eventually
extended to five days
• Happened every four years-an Olympiad
• Started as a tribute to Zeus and has a
mythological origin
• The modern Olympic Games started up again
in 1896-Where?

57. Ancient Olympics
• The big competition at the Games was the
Pentathlon(Pente-5)(Athlon-competition)
1. Long jump
2. Javelin
3. Discus
4. Stadion-200 yards
5. Wrestling

59. This is Sparta!!!!

60. Greek City-State
Sparta
• Sparta was very powerful and had its own army
– Defeated the Messenians in 725 BC and in 650 BC
• Unlike Athens and other city-states, it did not have
democracy
• Built a military state
• Sparta conquered other city-states to gain wealth and
power
• Valued duty, strength and discipline over freedom,
beauty and learning

62. Spartan Classes
• Only men born in Sparta were citizens
• Women were not allowed to become citizens
• The second class in Sparta were people who
came from other city-states or other countries
– They could own businesses but not become
citizens
• The third class were helots/slaves
– Worked the fields or were servants

63. Spartan Warriors
• Learning to read and write in Sparta was not very
important.
• Training to become a good soldiers was stressed
• Young boys left home at 7 and trained to be soldiers
until they were 30
• Athletics was also stressed

65. Spartan Women
• Service to Sparta was stressed
• Received some military training
• Athletics were stressed
• Had quite a bit of freedom in comparison to
Athens
– Could run family estates when husband was off at
war

68. Phalanx Military Formation
Video

69. Persian Wars(Greco-Persian)
499-449 BC
• Fought between the
Persian Empire and Greek
city-states(Athens,
Sparta, Thebes, etc.)
• Started when Persian
leader Cyrus the Great
took over Ionia in Greece
in 546 BC

71. • The Ionians(Greeks)
led a revolt against
the Persians after
Cyrus the Great died
Ionian Revolt-499-493 BC

72. Ionian Revolt
• The Ionian Revolt was led by
Athenian General Miltiades
• Ionia asked Athens to help them
which they did
• Darius quickly suppresses the
Ionian Revolt but is very mad
• Darius the Great vowed to burn
Athens to the ground before he
died

73. Miltiades Escapes
• Miltiades escapes back
to Athens and tells the
Athenians that the
Persians are coming to
burn Athens
• This sets up the
beginning of the Great
Persian War

74. • Persia was the largest
empire in the world at the
time and consisted of
millions of people
• Ancient Greece was about
500,000 total people
• It was truly a David vs.
Goliath battle
Ancient Greece vs. Civilization of Persia

75. Athens & Sparta United
• Athens & Sparta had
been fighting for
hundreds of years
• They now fought not
for Athens or for
Sparta but for
GREECE

76. Battle of Marathon-490 BC
• 25,000 Persians
• 10,000 Athenians
Who won?

78. • How did the Athenians win?
• The Phalanx
• The Persians were lightly armored and
not prepared

79. Pheidippides
• After the battle ended, he ran from
Marathon to Athens to tell the
Athenians of the victory over Persia
• Guess how many miles it was from
Marathon to Athens?

80. Battle of Thermopylae-
480 BC-Video
• Ten years after the Battle of Marathon, Persia
once again invaded Greece
• Darius the Great’s son, Xerxes, made it a goal
to destroy Athens
• The Persians won the Battle of Thermopylae
but not before the Spartan soldiers held out
for days allowing many Greek troops to retreat
• The movie 300 is based on this battle

81. Battle of Salamis
• At the naval Battle of Salamis, the
Greeks destroyed the Persian navy
• The Persians were never the same
after that and were eventually driven out of
Greece
• After the Persian Wars, the Delian League was
established setting up an alliance between the
Greek city-states
• Starting around 470 BC, Greece, and Athens
specifically, entered a golden age