1. The Legacies of
Ancient Greece

2. What is a legacy?
Traditions, skills and knowledge of a
culture that get passed on to people in
the future
Something a culture is known for
A gift from the past
What will
they write
of your legacy?

3. The Legacies of Ancient
Greece
architecturearchitecture
philosophyphilosophy
OlympicsOlympics
epicsepics
Greek
mythology
Greek
mythology
tragedy
comedy
tragedy
comedy
trial by
jury
trial by
jury
democracydemocracy
scientific
method
scientific
method
Socratic
Method
Socratic
Method
theatertheater
classificationclassification
marathonmarathon
Hippocratic
Oath
Hippocratic
Oath

4. Democracy
Athens developed
the first democracy
Greek word meaning
“power of the
people”
A government where the people have the
right to make decisions about leaders and
laws
The U.S. government is
based on Athenian
democracy.

5. Athens had the first democratic
constitution (a set of rules for how the
government should run)
All men over 20 years old could
participate in the Assembly (the
lawmaking group)
Each year 500 names of citizens were
drawn to be on the Council of Five
Hundred who ran the daily business of
Athens
Democratic Roots

6. Trial By Jury
When a group of citizens decides if a
person is innocent or guilty of a crime
Serving on a jury was a citizen’s
duty
About 500 jurors for a trial
Jurors were paid for service

7. Athenian
Democracy
US
Democracy
Both
Citizens: male, 18 years
old, born of citizen parents
Laws voted on and
proposed directly by
assembly of all citizens
Leader chosen by lot
Executive branch
composed of a council of
500 men
Juries varied in size
No attorneys; no appeals,
one-day trials
Citizens: Born in US or
completed citizenship
process
Representatives elected to
propose and vote on laws
Elected President
Executive branch made up
of elected and appointed
officials
Juries composed of 12
jurors
Defendants and plaintiffs
have attorneys; on appeals
process
Political power exercised
by citizens
Three branches of
government
Legislative branch passes
laws
Executive branch carries
out laws
Judicial branch conducts
trial with paid jurors

8. Four major TYPES OF GOVERNMENT evolved in ancient Greece:
• Monarchy (rule of a king) limited by an aristocratic council and a
popular assembly.
• Oligarchy (rule of the few) arising when the aristocratic council
ousted the king and abolished the assembly.
• Tyranny (rule by one who ruled without legal authority) riding to
power on the discontent of the lower classes.
• Democracy (rule of the people), the outstanding political
achievement of the Greeks.

9. Parthenon
Erechtheu
m
Erechtheio
nPinakothe
ke
Theater of
Dionysius
King’s
Shrine
Sanctuary
of
Odeum of
Herodes Atticus
Stoa of
Eumenes
The Acropolis of Athens
The POLIS (city-state) consisted of a
city and its surrounding plains and
valleys. The nucleus of the polis was
the elevated, fortified site called the
ACROPOLIS where people could
take refuge from attack. With the
revival of commerce, a TRADING
CENTER developed below the
acropolis

10. • Power resided in a board of TEN ELECTED GENERALS.
• To insure that the POOR COULD PARTICIPATE IN GOVERNMENT, Athens
paid jurors (a panel of 6,000 citizens chosen annually by lot) and members of the
Council.
• WOMEN, SLAVES, and RESIDENT ALIENS
were DENIED CITIZENSHIP.
• These groups had no standing in the law courts.
(If a woman sought the protection of the law, she
had to ask a citizen to plead for her in court.)
During the GOLDEN AGE of Greece (461-429 B.C.), the
great statesman PERICLES guided Athenian policy.
Although DEMOCRACY was an outstanding achievement,
it is important to keep in mind that the majority of the
inhabitants of Athens were not recognized citizens.

11. The city-state of Sparta expanded by conquering and enslaving its
neighbors. To guard against revolts by the state slaves (helots), who
worked the land, Sparta transformed itself into a militaristic
TOTALITARIAN STATE.
• For the small minority of ruling Spartans, it was a
democracy.
• For the masses, it was an oligarchy (rule by the
few).
• The state enforced ABSOLUTE
SUBORDINATION of the individual to its will.
• Every Spartan was first of all a solider.
• Sickly infants were left to die on lonely
mountaintops.
• Boys were taken from their families at age 7 to live
under rigorous military discipline.
• Girls were trained to be the mothers of warrior sons.
• Spartan women bid the men farewell by saying:
"Come back with your shield or on it."
Sparta to 500 B.C.
Sparta remained BACKWARD
culturally and economically.
Trade and travel were prohibited for fear
that alien ideas would disturb the status
quo.
A SELF-IMPOSED ISOLATION
resulted in:
Intellectual stagnation
Rigid social conformity
Military regimentation

12. The Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C.)
Nearly all of Greece was polarized between two alliances.

13. • In 478 B.C., Athens invited the city-states bordering on the Aegean to form a
defensive alliance called the DELIAN LEAGUE.
• To maintain a 200 ship navy that would police the seas, each state was assessed
ships or money in proportion to its wealth.
• By 468 B.C., after the Ionian cities had been liberated and the Persian fleet
destroyed, various League members thought it unnecessary to continue the
confederacy.
• Motivated by fear of the Persians and by the need to protect free-trade, the
Athenians suppressed all attempt to secede and created an informal EMPIRE.
• By aiding in the suppression of local aristocratic factions within its subject states,
Athens emerged as the leader of a union of democratic states.
• However, its HUBRIS (excessive pride) proved to be its undoing.

14. • To many Greeks, especially the oligarchic SPARTAN LEAGUE and the aristocratic
factions within the Athenian empire, ATHENS WAS A TYRANT CITY and an
enslaver of Greek liberties.
• In 431 B.C., the PELOPONNESIAN WAR broke out between the Spartan League
and the Athenian empire.
• COMMERCIAL RIVALRY between Athens and Sparta's ally Corinth was an
important factor.
• Real cause: SPARTAN FEAR of Athens' growth of power.
STRENGTHS:
• Sparta's army had the ability to besiege Athens and lay waste to its fields.
• Athens' unrivaled navy could import foodstuffs and harass its enemies' costs.
WEAKNESSES:
• In 2nd year of war, a plague killed a third of the Athenian population, including
Pericles.
• Leadership of the Athenian government passed to demagogues.

15. • A compromise peace was reached in 421 B.C. During the succeeding period,
ATHENIAN IMPERIALISM manifested itself in its worst form.
• In 416 B.C., an expedition embarked for MELOS, A NEUTRAL AEGEAN
ISLAND, to force it to join the Athenian empire.
• Acting on the premise that "might makes right," the Athenians PUT ALL
MELIANS OF MILITARY AGE TO DEATH and SOLD THE WOMEN AND
CHILDREN INTO SLAVERY.
• This exhibition of HUBRIS was their downfall.
• In 404 B.C., ATHENS CAPITULATED after its last fleet was destroyed by a
Spartan fleet built with money received from Persia in exchange for the Greek
cities in Ionian.
• The once great city of Athens was stripped of its possessions and demilitarized.

16. Epics
Long poems written about gods, heroes
and history of a culture
Wrote the Iliad about the Trojan
War
Homer most famous author of Greek
epics.
The Odyssey about a Trojan War hero,
Odysseus

17. Greek Mythology
Myths are stories about gods &
goddesses that were used to explain
events in nature
Poseidon Hades Hermes
Hera Apollo Artemis Hephaest
us
Athena Demeter Aphrodite Ares
Zeus
12 Major gods & goddesses of Mt.
Olympus

18. SACRIFICES to please the gods were a major part of every Greek's
religion. Most gods preferred an animal sacrifice -- generally a
DOMESTICATED ANIMAL like a chicken, goat or cow.
When an animal was sacrificed, it was burned on top of an altar.
After it was fully cooked, it had to be EATEN ON THE SPOT --
usually before nightfall. These sacrifices were the property of the
god, and had to be eaten in his presence.
This was especially important because the ancient Greeks believed
that the god's spirit was within the animal sacrificed, and by eating
the animal, the worshippers CONSUMED HIS POWER. In this
way, they strengthened the connection between man and god.

19. Theater
Grew out of festivals dedicated to Dionysus
and developed into stories that were acted out
Theater was carved into a
hillside
Only male actors but women could
watch
Plays were performed at festivals and became
competitions
Actors wore masks to show gender, age &
mood

20. Theater
Greek theater in Miletus

21. Tragedy & Comedy
Types of plays first developed by the
Greeks
Tragedy: plays about
suffering
Comedy: plays with a happy
ending that pokes fun at
certain types of people
Aeschylus
Aristophanes

22. Olympic Games
Festival held in Olympia to honor Zeus
Every four years-began
776B.C.
Called a truce from
war
Only men: women couldn’t
watch
Won an olive wreath
Olympians swore not to
cheat
Winners were heroes

23. Olympic Games
Foot Races
Pancratium
Boxing
Warrior’s Race
Wrestling
Pentathlon
Javelin
Discus
Messengers &
Trumpeters
776 BCE

24. Marathon
Greeks defeated the Persians at
Marathon
Pheidippides ran to Athens (about 26
miles) to announce the victory
He reached Athens, cried out Nike!
(goddess of victory), and fell over
dead.
Footrace that is 26 miles, 385
yards long

25. Architecture
CorinthianDoric Ionic
The art and science of
building
Greeks well known for using
three styles of columns in their
buildings

26. Architecture
The Temple of Athena
Nike located very close to
the Parthenon was built in
the Ionic style.
The Parthenon on the
Acropolis in Athens was
built in the Doric style.

27. Architecture
The design of many buildings
today influenced by the
classical style of the Greeks.
Supreme Court Building in Wash.
D.C.
Why would many U.S.
government buildings have
been built using Greek
architecture?

28. Philosophy
Love of wisdom; trying to figure things
out through learning and reasoning
Socrate
s
Socratic
Method
Plato
Aristotl
e
Political
Science
Science &
Logic

29. Socratic Method
Teaching through step-by-step questions
that are designed to lead the student to
the truth
Socrates was a
Greek
philosopher who
wanted people to
question and think
for themselves
Athenians were
afraid and
threatened by his
ideas, so he was
tried and put to
death.

30. Classification of Living
Things
A system of grouping plants and animals that
have similar characteristics
Developed by
Aristotle
Helps scientists to handle a lot of
info.
Still used today

31. Scientific Method
Process used by scientists to study
something
1
Collect
Info
2
Form
Hypothesi
s
3
Test
Hypothesi
s

32. Hippocratic Oath
A list of rules about practicing
medicine that doctors today still
promise to follow
Hippocrat
es was the
“Father of
Scientific
Medicine”
460-370
BCE
Believed
that disease
came from
natural
causes not
evil spirits
4. Keep the secrets of
patients
3. Never give poisons
2. Do your best for the sick
1. Honor your teachers

33. Legacies of Ancient
Greece
What will our legacies be?