Greek presentation (gel vamou) i

GENIKO LYKEIO VAMOU
CRETE GREECE
GENIKO LYKEIO VAMOU CRETE 1

GREECE
Greece is a country in
southeastern Europe, known
in Greek as Hellas or Ellada,
and consisting of a mainland
and an archipelago of islands.

The total area of Greece is 131,957
km2 and consists of three main
geographic areas:
a peninsular mainland, the
Peloponnese peninsula, and around
6.000 islands and islets, scattered in
the Aegean and Ionian Sea, most of
them grouped in clusters, that
constitute the unique Greek
archipelago.

Eighty percent of the country consists
of mountains or hills; furthermore, it
has 16.000 kilometres of coastline of
which 7500 are found around the
thousands islands of the Greek
archipelago, a truly unparalleled
phenomenon on the European
continent.
• Official language: Greek
• The currency : Greece is a Member-
State of the European Union and uses
its uniform currency – the Euro.
• Climate: Mediterranean
• Population: 11.306.183 (2010
estimate)
• The country is a Presidential
Parliamentary Democracy

A short presentation of
Greek History

Paleolithic Age
The first traces of human
habitation in Greece appeared
during the Paleolithic Age
(approx. 120000 - 10000 B.C.),
but little is known to date to the
Paleolithic Era in Greece.
The skull from Petralona Cave in Chalkidiki
(350,000 or 200,000 BP) also belongs to the
anthropological type Homo sapiens praesapiens

Neolithic Period
Neolithic Period that followed
(approx. 7th – 4th Millennium
B.C.) and its civilization is traced
mainly in areas that included
Thessaly and Macedonia.
The neolithic settlements extended all over Greece , with
the greatest concentration in the Plain of Thessaly , where
the two most important settlements are located, Sesklo and
Dimini. The arrangement of the dwellings with their streets
and squares of the settlement constitute the first
architectural and town-planning forms on European ground.

Dimini. Marble schematic
anthropomorphic figurine. Late Neolithic
(c. 4800-4500 BC).
Neolithic statue called as 'the thinker'.
Large solid figurine from Karditsa Thessaly.
Final Neolithic Period 4500-3300 BC.

Bronze Age
• Civilisations with impressive achievements developed during the
Bronze Age (approx. 3000 – 1150 B.C.) in the Northeastern Aegean,
the Cyclades, Crete and the Greek Mainland, which are considered
to be the first of the great civilisations in Greece.

Cycladic is the term used for the civilization that developed in the
region of the Cycladic Islands during the Bronze Age (3200-1100 B.C).
The acme of this civilization was reached during the first phase of the
Bronze age (3rd millennium B.C.).

An important Bronze Age settlement is located in Akrotiri on the south coast of
Thera.
The wall-paintings from Akrotiri, Thera, are distinguished by the
originality of their iconography, the freedom in the design and
rendering of the figures, and the richness of their colours.

Minoan Civilisation (Crete)
• The first inhabitants of Crete probably came from western Asia Minor
well before 3000 B.C. In time, as the islanders mastered the sea, Crete
became a thriving maritime power.
• Minoan civilisation reached its height between 1550 and 1400 B.C.,
when Crete enjoyed its greatest influence in the Aegean world.

The bull-leaping fresco, which comes from the East Wing of
the palace at Knossos, shows the three successive stages of
the sport and thus gives us a full and clear picture of how it
was performed. As the bull charges, the acrobat first grasps
its horns, then somersaults on to its back and finally jumps
off. Both men and women took part in this dangerous
sport. 15th cent. B.C. Herakleion Archaeological Museum.
The feather prince from the palace at Knossos; part of the
Procession Fresco. It depicts a regal figure, probably, the
Priest King, wearing a crown of lilies and peacock plumes.
With his outstretched left hand he may have been leading
sphinx or a griffin. About 1550 B.C. Herakleion
Archaeological Museum

Minoan art
Knossos beak vase. Herakleion Archaeological
Museum
Kamares ware krater with moulded flowers.
Herakleion Archaeological Museum.
Gold pendant with two wasps from Mallia.
Herakleion Archaeological Museum.
Knossos snake goddess from the Temple Repositories in the
palace of Knossos. Herakleion Archaeological Museum

Mycenaean Civilization (1600-1100 BC)
Between 1400 and 1200, Mycenae reached the height of its
prosperity and created the most imposing monuments in all
Bronze Age Greece.
The citadel, which covers a surface area of 30,000 sq. m, is
surrounded by walls composed of huge boulders. The
stupendous walls were built between 1350 and 1300.

Nine royal tholos tombs were built in the immediate vicinity of the Mycenaean
citadel in the 15th and 14th centuries BC.
The tomb of Atreus (Agamemnon)

The amazing wealth of the grave gifts reveals both the high social rank and the
martial spirit of the deceased: gold jewelry and vases, a large number of decorated
swords and other bronze objects, and artefacts made of imported materials, such as
amber, lapis lazuli, faience and ostrich eggs. All of these, together with a small but
characteristic group of pottery vessels, confirm Mycenae's importance during this
period, and justify Homer's designation of Mycenae as 'rich in gold.'

Soldier armor
Linear B’

Dark Ages circa 1100 – 800 BC.
During the Dark Age, for all its lack of
dramatic activity, the population of
Greece must have increased, with
unfortunate consequences. Greece was
relatively poor in agricultural resources,
and by about 750 the population
threatened to outgrow the local
capacity to feed it. In effect, the
mainland Greeks of the eighth and
seventh centuries, instead of
importing foodstuffs, exported their
excess population.

Geometric Period Circa 900-700 B.C.
The Geometric period was a time of startling innovation and transformation in Greek society. The
population dramatically increased and proto-urban life re-emerged, bringing with it overcrowding and
political tensions. The Greeks moved to new lands to the east and west where they founded
commercial trading posts and colonies. The literature of the period was mainly oral, but the epic
poetry crystallized towards the end of the period thanks to the re-introduction of literacy.

During this epoch Greek population recovered and organized politically
in city-states (Polis) comprised of citizens, foreign residents, and
slaves. This kind of complex social organization required the
development of an advanced legal structure that ensured the smooth
coexistence of different classes and the equality of the citizens
irrespective of their economic status. This was a required precursor
for the Democratic principles that we see developed two hundred
years later in Athens.
The archaic period 700 – 480 BC.

• During the Archaic period the fundamental changes that determined
the face of Greek culture took place. The reacquisition of writing
combined with social developments gave a new boost to literature.
• The epic, was worthily represented in Hesiod although works of the
standard of Homer were not created. However, the form that rapidly
developed with great diversity was lyric poetry, which met the new
demands.
• Thales (624-547 B.C.), Anaximander (610-546 B.C.) and Anaximenes
(585-525 B.C.) explicitly denied the mythological and religious
interpretation of the world and tried to explain its origin in a
materialistic way, based that is, on an original substance, the motion
and the changes of which create every object and phenomenon. Each
one was systematically engaged in sciences, such as mathematics and
astronomy, and established the basis of the Greek exact sciences.

• At the end of the 8th century B.C. an
almost sudden transition took place
from the austere schematization of the
Geometric period towards a more
physiocratic and anthropocentric
model. The new styles were inspired by
eastern standards, which gave the name
"orientalizing period" to the art of the
7th century B.C. However, the
absorption of eastern elements
happened with selectivity and creative
imagination, a fact that allowed the
development of a pure Greek archaic
characteristic the following century.

• The Archaic period is the era of great innovations in architecture. The design of its
most important buildings, the temples, becomes more complex and is subjected
to austere symmetry.
• The temples of the Archaic period are the first stone temples built in Greece.
• They demonstrate a developing knowledge of stone building through their use of
decorative spaces on buildings.
• Designers utilized the spaces on the metopes to depict individual mythological
events on earlier temples, and then as a collective series of moments in an event,
such as the Twelve Labors of Herakles on the Temple of Zeus at Olympia.
• At the same time, two architectonic orders were formed, the Ionic and the Doric.

Wilhelm Lübke's illustration of the
temple as it might have looked in
the fifth century BCE
The massive temple of Zeus is
considered by many to be the perfect
example of Doric architecture.

Classical Greece
The Classical Period produced
remarkable cultural and scientific
achievements. The city of Athens
introduced to the world a direct
Democracy.
The rational approach to exploring and
explaining the world as reflected in
Classical Art, Philosophy, and Literature
became the well-grounded springboard
that western culture used to leap
forward.

• The teachings of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle among others, either
directly, in opposition, or mutation, have been used as reference point of
countless western thinkers in the last two thousand years.
• Hippocrates became the “Father of modern medicine”, and the Hippocratic
oath is still used today.
• The dramas of Sophocles, Aeschylus, Euripides, and the comedies of
Aristophanes are considered among the masterpieces of western culture.
• One of the greatest ancient historians, Thucydides (c.460 B.C.–c.400 B.C.).
His “History of the Peloponnesian War” set a standard for scope, concision
and accuracy that makes it a defining text of the historical genre.

The ancient Greeks are rightly famous for their magnificent Doric and Ionic temples, and the
example par excellence is undoubtedly the Parthenon of Athens. Built in the mid 5th century BCE in
order to house the gigantic statue of Athena and to advertise to the world the glory of Athens, it still
stands majestically on the city’s acropolis.
The combination of refinements which the artists used makes
the temple seem perfectly straight, symmetrically in harmony,
and gives the entire building a certain vibrancy.

The Theatre of Dionysus at Athens Cape Sounion and the Temple of
Poseidon

Greek artists of the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. attained a manner of
representation that conveys a vitality of life as well as a sense of permanence,
clarity, and harmony.
One of his most important sculptural works, the
Diadoumenos of Polykleitos
Spartan warrior as depicted on a Greek red-
figured vase, c. 480 bc.
The Artemision Bronze (National
Archaeological Museum of Athens).

The forth century – Rise of Philip II of Macedon
During the mid-fourth century B.C., Macedonia (in northern Greece)
became a formidable power under Philip II (r. 360/59–336 B.C.), and the
Macedonian royal court became the leading center of Greek culture.
Philip defeated the united armies at the battle of Chaeronea in 338 b.c,
and thereafter was the undisputed leader of Greece.
Vergina Sun

Alexander the Great
After Philip's assassination in 336
BC, Alexander succeeded his father
to the throne and inherited a strong
kingdom and an experienced army.
Alexander was awarded the
generalship of Greece and used this
authority to launch his father's
Panhellenic project to lead the
Greeks in the conquest of Persia.
The extraordinary campaigns of
Alexander changed the course of
history in a decisive manner.
Alexander fighting king Darius III of
Persia", Alexander Mosaic, Naples
National Archaeological Museum.

The Hellenistic Period
The death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. marked the beginning of a new
stage in world history. Hellenic civilization, properly defined, was now at an end.
Gradually a new pattern of civilization emerged based upon a mixture of Greek
and Oriental elements. Τhis new civilization lasted until about the beginning of
the Christian era.

The character of this new era
• Though the language of the new era was Greek, and though persons of
Greek nationality continued to play an active role in many affairs, the spirit
of the culture was largely the spirit of the Orient.
• The classical ideal of democracy was now superseded by despotism
perhaps as rigorous as any that Egypt or Persia had ever produced. The
Hellenic devotion to simplicity and the golden mean gave way to
extravagance in art and to a love of luxury and riotous excess. The
Athenian economic system of small-scale production was supplanted by
the growth of big business and ruthless competition for profits.

• Though progress in science continued,
the sublime confidence in the power of
the mind which had characterized the
teachings of most of the philosophers
from Thales to Aristotle was swallowed
up in defeatism and ultimately in the
sacrifice of logic to faith.
• In view of these changes it seems
justifiable to conclude that the Hellenistic
Age was really the era of a new
civilization as distinct from the Greek as
modern civilization is from the culture of
the Middle Ages.

Roman Greece covering a period from the Roman
conquest of Greece in 146 BC to 324 AD
• The Greek peninsula became
a Roman protectorate in 146 BC.
• Roman culture was heavily influenced
by classical Greek culture as
Horace said, Graecia capta ferum
victorem cepit (Translation: "Captive
Greece took captive her rude
conqueror").

Roman Agora of Athens was built between 19 and 11 B.C. with a donation
of Julius Caesar and Augustus.

Byzantine Greece
• Byzantine Greece covers a period from the establishment of the capital
city of Byzantium, Constantinople, in 324 AD until the fall of
Constantinople in 1453 AD.
• At the same time Greece and much of the rest of the Roman east came
under the influence of Christianity. The apostle Paul had preached in
Corinth and Athens, and Greece soon became one of the most
highly Christianised areas of the empire.
• Greek peninsula was one of the most prosperous regions of the Roman
and later the Eastern Roman/Byzantine Empire.

Monastery of Osios Loukas at Steiri Boiotia

The Ottomans had begun their conquest of the Balkans and Greece in the late
14th century and early 15th century.
Emperor Constantine was defeated and killed in 1453 when the Ottomans finally
captured Constantinople. After the fall of Constantinople, the Ottomans also
captured Athens and the Aegean islands by 1458.
The Greeks held out in the Peloponnese until 1460, and the Venetians and
Genoese clung to some of the islands, but by 1500 most of the plains and islands
of Greece were in Ottoman hands. The mountains of Greece were largely
untouched, and were a refuge for Greeks who desired to flee Ottoman rule and
engage in brigandry.
Ottoman Greece

The last Emperor of Byzantine

Modern Greece
The history of modern Greece covers the history of Greece from the recognition of
its autonomy from the Ottoman Empire by the Great Powers (Great Britain, France,
and Russia) in 1828, after the Greek War of Independence, to the present day.
The Grateful Greece

• Administration of Ioannis Kapodistrias On his arrival, Kapodistrias launched a major reform and
modernisation programme that covered all areas. Assassination of Kapodistrias and the creation of the
Kingdom of Greece.
• Reign of King Otto, 1833–1863 Otto's reign would prove troubled, but he managed to hang on for 30
years before he and his wife, Queen Amalia, left the same way they came, aboard a British warship.
• Reign of King George I, 1864–1913 At the urging of Britain and King George, Greece adopted the much
more democratic Greek Constitution of 1864.
• Balkan Wars 1912-13
• World War I 1914-19
• Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922)
• Republic and Monarchy (1922–1940)
• World War II 1940-1944
• Civil War 1946-1949
• Postwar Greece (1950–1973)
• Greek military junta of 1967–1974
• Transition and democracy (1973–today)

The Greek Parliament
Greece as 10th member of E.O.C. (E.U.)
Olymmpic Games in Athens 2004

Greek educational system
• Pre-school education (Nursery school, all-day Nursery schools, special Nurseries
• Primary education (elementary school, ages 6-12, all-day Elementary schools, special
Elementary schools)
• Lower secondary education is offered at Gymnasiums, ages 12-15
• Higher secondary education is offered by the Unified Lyceums and Technical
• Vocational Institutes, ages 16-18 Besides day schools there is also evening Unified
Lyceum offering four-year courses for young workers. There are also Unified Musical
Lyceums, Unified Ecclesiastical Lyceums, Model Experimental Lyceums, and Unified
Lyceums for multicultural education, as well as Special Unified Lyceums and integration
classes for pupils with special education needs.
• Post-compulsory, Upper Secondary Education which provides vocational training (IEKs)

• Post-secondary, non-university education (The Higher Education System also
includes various institutes which provide vocational training in the field of
religion, art, tourism, the navy, the army and public order. More specifically, these
include the Higher Ecclesiastical Institutes, the Merchant Marine Academy, the
Higher Institute of Dance and Dramatic Art, the Higher Tourist Training Institutes,
the Ηigher NCO Institutes of the Ministry of National Defence, and the Police
Academy.
• Higher Technological Education, which is provided by the Technological
Educational Institutes (TEIs).
• University Education, which is provided by Universities (AEIs)
• Postgraduate studies (post-graduate studies lead to the award of a Post-
graduate Diploma of Specialisation. )
• Doctoral studies lead to the award of a Doctorate.

Bibliography
• http://www.ancient.eu/greece/
• http://ancient-greece.org/history.html
• https://www.boundless.com/art-
history/textbooks/
• https://www.britannica.com/
• http://earlyworldhistory.blogspot.gr/2012/03/gree
k-colonization.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonies_in_antiquit
y
• https://fysi.wordpress.com/culture/apokoronas/
• http://www.greeka.com/greece-history/
• http://www.interkriti.org/vamos/grindex.htm
• http://www.ime.gr/chronos
• http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/grge/hd_gr
ge.htm
• http://odysseus.culture.gr/index_gr.html
• https://www.usu.edu/markdamen/ClasDram/chap
ters/031gkhist.htm
• http://www.visitgreece.gr/

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