Ancient Greek civilization developed between the 8th-1st centuries BC in the territory of Hellas, which included the southern Balkan Peninsula, western coast of Asia Minor, and Aegean and Ionian islands. The geography of Hellas, characterized by mountains and islands, made unification difficult and led to the development of independent city-states called poleis such as Athens and Sparta. During this period, the Greeks also began colonizing the coasts of the Black and Mediterranean Seas. Ancient Greek civilization is typically divided into the Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods, during which time democracy was invented in Athens and the territory was later conquered by Macedon and incorporated into Hellenistic empires before

3. • TIME: 8th – 1st centuries BC.
• PLACE: the territory known
as “HELLAS” which
occupies:
 South of Balkan Peninsula
 Western coast of Asia Minor
 Islands in the Aegean and
Ionian seas.

4. Activity 1:
map of Hellas
Draw a map of Hellas in your notebook. Then
label the following geographical features:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Aegean Sea
Ionian Sea
Asia Minor
Balkan peninsula
Peloponnesian peninsula
Crete
Athens
Sparta

6. Activity 2: help yourself with this map to
answer ex.2 of page 114 (…“which countries
now occupy ancient Greek territories”)
ALB. = Albania
F.Y.R.O.M. =
Former Yugoslav
Republic of
Macedonia

7. TIME TO THINK!!!!
LOOK AT THE PHYSICAL MAP OF HELLAS....
• What 2 physical
characteristics call
your attention the
most?
• How do you think
these characteristics
influenced the
development of
Ancient Greece?

8. • Decisive characteristics of Hellas’ location:
 Being near to the sea  it enable them to develop a maritime commerce
through the Mediterranean (with Egyptians, Mesopotamians…) & a
maritime expansion.
 Many mountains & islands  it made it difficult to unify the territory.
That’s why Greeks were organized in “poleis” (independent city-states).

9. • Despite each poleis was independent, all Ancient
Greece’s territories had some common characteristics :
 Same geographical space (Hellas). It’s inhabitants called themselves
Hellenics.
 Same culture: same language (Greek), same religion…

10. Activity 3
a) When did Ancient Greek civilization
developed?
b) What is the name given to the territory
where it developed? Through which
areas did it extended?
c) Explain how did the physical
characteristics of Hellas influenced its
development.
d) P.114, exercise 3.

12. Activity 4: TIMELINE
You are going to build a PROPORTIONAL TIMELINE of Prehellenic &
Ancient Greece. STEPS:
1) Draw a 40-squares line in your notebook.
2) The first date in your timeline is 2,000 BC and the last one is 1 AD.
3) Divide the line in 4-square segments. There should be 10 segments in
total, with a difference of 200 years between each segment:
2,000 BC / 1,800 BC / 1,600 BC / 1,400 BC …
4) Once the structure of the timeline is built, you have to mark on it the
most important dates & periods…
ARCHAIC
PERIOD
CLASSICAL
PERIOD
HELLENISTIC
PERIOD
30 BC
800 BC
(8th Century)
DARK AGES
338 BC
MYCENAEAN
CIVILIZATION
1,200 BC
1,600 BC
2,000 BC
CRETAN OR MINOAN
CIVILIZATION
ANCIENT GREECE
500 BC
(end 6th Century)
PREHELLENIC GREECE

13. a) PREHELLENIC GREECE
 Cretan (or Minoan) civilisation
 Mycenaean civilisation
 Dark Ages

14. PREHELLENIC GREECE
• Ancient Greek civilization had it’s origin in
the Cretan & Mycenaean cultures.
Mycenaean
Culture
Cretan
(or Minoan)
Culture

15. PREHELLENIC GREECE
• 2,000 – 1,600 BC  a prosperous trade-based civilization developed in
the island of Crete: Cretan (or Minoan) culture. Its name comes from its
legendary king “Minos”. It’s most important city was Knossos. Historians
think that a huge eruption of Thera volcano (1626 BC) provoked a crisis in
the Cretan civilization, which allowed the Mycenaeans to conquer them
easily.
Legend of the
minotaur:
http://greece.mrdo
nn.org/theseus.html

16. PREHELLENIC GREECE
• 1,600 BC – 1200 BC in 1600 BC the Achaeans invaded Greece,
and began to dominate the Cretans.
The Achaeans settled in the Peloponnesian Peninsula, and their most
important city was Mycenae. That’s why this culture was also known
as Mycenaean culture. They had a Bronze Age lifestyle.

17. PREHELLENIC GREECE
• 1,200 – 800 BC  In 1,200 BC the Dorians,
who used iron weapons (Iron Age lifestyle),
invaded Greece & defeated the Mycenaeans.
Due to this invasion, many Mycenaeans
moved to the western coasts of Asia Minor.
Probably the famous mythological Trojan War
was related to this invasion.
With the Dorians a period of cultural recession
began: THE DARK AGES.
In the 8th Century BC Greece began to
recover of this crisis.
Legend of the Troyan Horse: http://greece.mrdonn.org/trojanwar.html

18. Activity 5:
PREHELLENIC GREECE
1) Give the name & chronology of the three periods of
Prehellenic Greece.
2) To which civilisation do the city of Knossos & the
legend of the Minotaur relate to?
3) Why did the Cretan civilisation enter into a crisis
that made it very easy to conquer around 1,600 BC?
Who put an end to their civilisation?
4) During which period this the famous “Trojan War”
took place?

19. b) ANCIENT GREECE
 Archaic period
 Classical period
 Hellenistic period

20. 1. Archaic Period (800 – 500 BC)
a) The poleis became organised.
– A polis was an independent city-state.
– There were more than 200 poleis.
The most important ones were Athens & Sparta.
– Each of them had its own government, laws, army
and currency: they were independent.

21. – However, all the poleis had a common
 Same language (Greek)
culture:

22.  Same religion (Polytheistic)

23. – Poleis structure
• Urban centre:
– Acropolis (“upper city”)  where temples were.
– Lower part  where houses, shops & public buildings were.
It was organized around the agora (main square).
• Surrounding farming land, forest and pastureland.

24. b) During this period, Greeks started the
colonisation of the coasts of the Black &
Mediterranean seas.
• What is “COLONISATION”: colonisation occurs when
people migrate away from their original territory (the
“metropolis”) to a different territory where they establish a
new settlement (the “colony”).

25. Which were the CAUSES of colonization:
– Greek population increased.
– Land was not well distributed.
– There was not enough food for everybody.

26. • Which were the CONSECUENCES
of colonization:
– They founded Greek colonies all around the
Mediterranean & the Black seas.
COLONY = a city set up abroad by the citizens of
a city-state. The original city-state is called the
metropolis.
Some Greek colonies in Spain were: Emporion
(Ampurias), Hemeroskopeion (homework!),
Mainake (homework!)...
– Thanks to the colonies, Greek culture spread
(use of iron, money, their alphabet, their art...)

27. Activity 6:
ARCHAIC PERIOD
1) Define “Poleis” / “Acropolis” / “Agora”
2) Answer to the following questions about
colonisation:
a) Define “colonisation”, “metropolis” & “colony”.
b) During which period did it happen?
c) Which were its causes? And its consequences?

28. 2. The Classical period
(500 - 338 BC)
• This was the greatest period for
the Greek poleis: democracy
was invented & brilliant
philosophers, dramatists &
artists appeared.
• However, there were also
several conflicts...

29. a) The Greco-Persian Wars
(or Median Wars)
• They started when the Persians
attacked Greek poleis in Asia Minor,
continental Greece and in the
islands.
• In 499 BC Greeks rebelled against
the Persians.
• Greeks fought together, but the Athenian army was
essential to win the war. That’s why Athens became the
most powerful polis after these wars.
• In 478 BC the Delian League was created: a military
alliance between Greek poleis under the leadership of
Athens to prevent Persian attacks.

30. Greco-Persian Wars  Persia VS Greek poleis (allied
under the panhellenic league)

31. Delian League (under the leadership of Athens)

32. b) The Peloponnesian Wars
• After the Greco-Persian Wars, Athens
dominated the rest of the poleis (the
poleis had to pay high taxes, Athens
used the Delian League’s treasure in its
own benefit...)
• Sparta rebelled against Athens, and
they fought against each other for the
dominion over Greece.
• Athens was defeated, and Sparta
became the most powerful polis.
However, Sparta’s oppressive
dominion provoked revolts, internal
struggles and division.

33. • Consequences of the Peloponnesian Wars:
 King Phillip II of Macedon
took advantage of the
situation and organised a
big army. Macedon was a
kingdom to the north of
Greece. Macedonians were
considered barbarians by
the Greeks.
 By 338 BC he dominated all
Greece, except for Sparta.

34. Activity 8:
CLASSICAL PERIOD
1) Why do we say that the Classical Period is the greatest period
of Ancient Greek’s history?
2) Greco-Persian wars:
a)
What other name do they receive?
b)
Why did they started?
c)
Who fought?
d)
Who won?
3) What’s the “Delian League”? Explain why & when was it formed,
who led it, and its consequences.
4) Peloponnesian Wars:
a)
Why did they started?
b)
Who fought?
c)
Who won?
d)
What were its consequences?

35. 3. Hellenistic Period
(338-30 BC)
• Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), the
son of Philip II, continued his expansion.
• He unified Greece to confront the Persian
Empire.
• When he defeated the Persians, he created
a great empire that ranged from the
Mediterranean to India.
• The poleis became part of a great empire,
governed by one emperor.

38. • When Alexander died, his generals divided
the empire into several kingdoms: the
Hellenistic monarchies:
– They were ruled by monarchs (kings) who
had absolute power.
– They spread Greek culture through the East.
This process is called Hellenism.
– They were finally conquered by the Romans,
and they became a province of the Roman
Empire.

40. Activity 9:
HELLENISTIC PERIOD
1) Who was Alexander the Great? Why is he
famous for?
2) What happened to Alexander’s empire when
he died?
3) What is “Hellenism”?
4) By 30 BC, who conquered the former
territories of the Greek empire?

42. Open your notebook, and in a new page write the
title “Social organisation” and draw 2 pyramids.
Social organisation
Athens
Sparta

43. CITIZENS
Free
· Born from
Athenian parents.
· Only men (not
women!) over 18 had
political rights
·Obligation to serve as warriors
for the polis, but also had other jobs.
METICS
Not
Free
·Foreigners that lived in Athens.
·Free, but no political rights. They also had
to pay more taxes.
·Worked as traders or craftsmen.
SLAVES
·They were property of the state or of free families.
·No freedom and no political rights.
·Worked in agriculture & farming.

44. SOCIAL GROUPS IN ATHENS
CITIZENS
NON CITIZENS
Women
Metics
Had political rights
Didn’t have political rights
Slaves

45. SPARTANS
(the “Equals”)
· Born from
Spartan parents.
· Men over 30 had
Free
political rights (women didn’t).
· Exclusively worked as
warriors for the polis (since they were 7, they
were educated by the polis with a military discipline)
PERIOICOI
· Foreigners that lived in Sparta.
· Free, but no political rights.
· Worked as traders or craftsmen.
Not
Free
HELOTS (kind of serf)
·They were owned by the state. The state lend them to
the Spartans to cultivate their lands.
·No freedom and no political rights.
·Worked in agriculture & farming.
Spartan hoplite
(citizen-soldier)
Scene from the
movie “300”:
https://www.yout
ube.com/watch?
v=gI6sARmxEuc

47. Political organisation
Classical period
OLIGARCHY
Hellenistic period
In Sparta  OLIGARCHY
ABSOLUTE
MONARCHIES
In Athens  DEMOCRACY
Sparta
Athens
EPHORS
GEROUSIA
(2 kings +
28 elders)
APPELA
MAGISTRATES
ATHENIAN
DEMOCRACY
(9 archons & 10 strategoi)
SPARTAN
OLIGARCHY
BOULE
DEMOCRACY: type of government in
which the power is held by the people, who
vote to chose their laws or their
representatives. It comes from the Greek
words “dêmos” (people) and “kratos”
(power): “the power of the people”.
(Council of 500)
OLIGARCHY: type of government in
which the power is held by a small
group of privileged men called the
“arisoti” (which means “the best”).
ECCLESIA
At the end of the
class your page
should look like
this one…
Archaic period
(Citizens’ assembly.
30,000)
Open your notebook,
and in a new page
write the title
“Political
organisation”.
REMEMBER: Ancient Greece was organised in independent
poleis, which had their own government, laws, etc., so each
polis had a different political organisation.

48. REMEMBER: Ancient Greece was organised in independent
poleis, which had their own government, laws, etc., so
each poleis had a different political organisation.
Archaic
period
OLIGARCHY
Classical
period
In Sparta  OLIGARCHY
In Athens 
DEMOCRACY
Hellenistic
period
ABSOLUTE
MONARCHIES:
kings governed
with absolute
power.

49. OLIGARCHY: type of government in which the
power is held by a small group of privileged men
called the “arisoti” (which means “the best”).

50. SPARTAN
OLIGARCHY
The Spartan
Oligarchy was
supported by 3
institutions.
5 EPHORS
GEROUSIA
(2 kings +
28 elders)
APELLA

51. APELLA (Assembly of the Equals)
•Formed by all Spartans/Equals (9.000)
•They vote on the laws that the Gerousia has prepared before. However,
the Gerousia could always overturn a decision made by the Apella!!!
Elect
GEROUSIA
(Council of elders)
•Formed by: 2 kings (from different families) &
28 elder aristocrats (over 60 years old) that
held their position for life.
•They prepared the laws.
•Kings inherited their position (weren’t elected),
and the had military and religious functions.
Elect
EPHORS (Magistrates)
•Formed by 5 members elected
annually.
•They controlled the actions of the
kings and the army.

52. DEMOCRACY: type of government in which the
power is held by the people, who vote to chose their
laws or their representatives. It comes from the
Greek words “dêmos” (people) and “kratos” (power):
“the power of the people”.

53. Athens’ democracy wasn’t perfect, but it
established the roots of democracy.
We owe Athenians a lot!!!

54. The Athenian Democracy
was supported by 3
institutions.
(9 archons & 10 strategoi)
MAGISTRATES
(Council of 500)
BOULE
(Citizens’ assembly.
30,000)
ECCLESIA
ATHENIAN
DEMOCRACY

55. ECCLESIA (or Citizens’ Assembly)
•Formed by all Athenian citizens (30.000).
•They took all the important decisions.
- Voted on the laws that the Boule has prepared before.
- Took decisions about war & peace.
- Elected the public representatives (magistrates).
By lot
(sorteo)
BOULE (or Council of 500)
•Formed by 500 citizens chosen
annually by lot.
•They prepared the laws.
Elect
MAGISTRATES
They carried out the Assembly’s decisions:
•9 ARCHONS  carried out the civil &
religious issues (leaders of justice tribunals,
religious ceremonies…)
•10 STRATEGOIS  carried out the military
issues (leaders of the army).

57. Economic organization
TRADE
Manufactured
and agricultural
products
AGRICULTURE
“Mediterranean
triad” (vines,
olives & cereals)
CRAFTWORK
Pottery, glass,
high quality
textiles
FARMING
Goats & sheep

59. CULTURE
The Greeks created a brilliant culture that still remains nowadays.
Greek culture is considered the foundation of Western Culture:
• SCIENCE:
 Math  PITAGORAS
 Physics  ARCHIMEDES
 Medicine  HYPOCRATES
He was the 1st person to believe that
diseases were caused naturally, not
because of superstition and gods!!!

60. • HUMANITIES:
 History  HERODOTUS
 Philosophy*  SOCRATES, PLATO & ARISTOTLE.
 Literature  HOMER (Homero). His most known epic poems** are
“The Iliad” & “The Odyssey”.
 Theatre: was the greatest literary creation of the Greeks. It had an
entertaining & educational function. There were 2 main genres:
 Tragedy: AESCHYLUS, SOPHOCLES…
 Comedy: ARISTOPHANES
 Fables***  AESOP (Ésopo)
*
PHILOSOPHY = Tries to explain the universe and nature from a logic point of view, using reason instead of religion.
** EPIC POEM = Long poem containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation
*** FABLE = A short fictional story in which animals, mythical creatures, plants, objects, forces of nature, etc., have human qualities. They
lead to an interpretation of a moral lesson (“moraleja”).

61. AESOP FABLE: “THE ANT AND THE DOVE”
http://www.kidcrosswords.com/kidreader/aesops_fables/aesops_fables9.htm
A thirsty ant went to the bank of a river for a drink,
but just at that moment the current swelled and the ant was carried
away.
A dove sitting on a tree overhanging the river saw that the ant was in
trouble, broke off a twig, and threw it into the water.
The ant climbed onto the twig and floated safely onto dry land.
Later that day, a hunter appeared with some twigs smeared with
birdlime (sticky substance that is smeared on branches or twigs to
capture small birds ) and started to set them in position to catch the
dove.
When the ant saw this, she bit the man sharply on the foot. In pain,
the hunter dropped the sticks, grabbed his foot and yelled.
The dove, frightened by the noise, flew off to safety.

62. AESOP FABLE: “THE ANT AND THE DOVE”
The Moral of the story is...?
a) Doves and ants make good friends
b) Ants should stay away from the water
c) Hunters should be afraid of ants
d) If you do something nice for someone, they will do something nice
for you.
And the correct answer is…………:
d) If you do something nice for someone,
they will do something nice for you!!!!!!

63. ART
• ARCHITECTURE:
 Materials: stone or marble
 Buildings were designed to a human scale: their scale was based
on human proportions (they weren’t as monumental as Egyptian
temples!!!)
 Greek architecture was lintelled (“adintelada”): building system that
consists in horizontal structures supported on vertical
columns/pillars. They didn’t use the arch & the dome.
Two pillars
support a
lintel or
architrave
PILLAR
PILLAR
ARCHITRAVE / LINTEL

64.  Their buildings had a double-sloped roof.
 They also used columns. Greeks invented 3 orders (styles, types) of
columns:
• Doric
• Ionic
• Corinthian
The function of columns was to support the buildings, but Greeks’ ideal
beauty was based on proportion (they thought that beauty depended
on symmetry and in the harmony of proportions) so they adjusted the
columns in size, angle, distance from each other, etc., so that from a
distance the columns looked perfectly symmetrical & proportional.

65. “Aurea proportion”
or “Golden ratio”
in Greek temples
The aurea rectangle is considered to
have harmonic proportions.

66.  Most important buildings:
 Temples:
 Function: The house of the god. A statue of the
god was kept inside the temple.
 Characteristics: 2 parts:
- Naos (cella): inner chamber of the temple,
where they kept the statue of the god.
- Peristyle: rows of columns surrounding the
temple.
 Examples:
- Parthenon
- Athena Nike
- Erechteum
PERISTYLE
NAOS
(OR
CELLA)

68. PEDIMENT
ENTABLATURE
TYMPANUM
CORNICE
FRIEZE
ARCHITRAVE / LINTEL
CAPITAL
COLUMN
ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS OF GREEK TEMPLES
(in English)
SHAFT
BASE

69. FRONTÓN
TÍMPANO
ENTABLAMENTO
CORNISA
FRISO
ARQUITRAVE / DINTEL
CAPITEL
COLUMNA
ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS OF GREEK TEMPLES
(in Spanish)
FUSTE
BASA

70. PARTHENON
WHAT ORDER IS IT…?
DORIC
ATHENA NIKE
WHAT ORDER IS IT…?
IONIC

71. ERECHTHEUM
It’s a special temple because instead of columns
they used CARYATIDS.
CARYATIDS: sculpted female figure serving as an
architectural support taking the place of a
column or a pillar supporting an entablature on
her head

72.  Theatres:
 Function: performance of theatre plays.
 Characteristics: built to take advantage of mountain slopes.
They had a perfect acoustic and visibility.
 Examples:
- Theatre of Delphi
- Theatre of Epidaurus

73. ART
• SCULPTURE:
 Aimed to achieve idealized beauty (perfect proportions).
 3 different periods:
 Archaic
 Classical
 Hellenistic

74.  Archaic:
 Rigid figures.
 Nude males (Kouroi) and dressed females (Kourai).

75.  Classical:
 Figures in movement. More realistic, though idealized.
 Famous sculptors:
 Myron
 Phidias
 Praxiteles
Athena
(Phidias)
The Discobolus (Myron)
Hermes and the infant
Dionysus (Praxiteles)

76. This is another famous
Greek sculpture of the
classical period….
Do you know its name??!!

77.  Hellenistic:
 Figures in movement and expressing feelings in face and body.
They no longer aimed to represent ideal beauty, they now aim to
represent nature as it is (happy, painful, beautiful, ugly, tragic…).
 Examples: Laocoön and his sons; Winged Victory of Samothrace.

78. • PAINTING & POTTERY:
ART
 Remains of Greek paintings can be found in pottery decorations.
 They represented: mythological episodes and sports competitions.
 Colors used: red over black or black over red.