Ancient Greece Flashcards
Main Idea-Greece
Physical geography caused separate groups of Greek speaking people to develop isolated societies.
What was the difference between Ancient and modern Greece?
ancient-a collection of separate lands where Greek speaking people lived vs modern-a united country
What is the geography of Greece? (two parts)
1) a mountainous peninsula jutting out into the Mediterranean sea and 2) a collection of islands in the Aegean and Ionian sea
Who were the Mycenaeans?
settlers of Greek mainland, first bronze age society in Europe
Where was Mycenae?
a steep rocky ridge surrounded by a thick wall
How long did the wealthy warrior kings rule for in Greece?
1600 BCE to 1200 BCE
Why did Mycenae flourish?
Ideally situated for trade by both sea and land
What was the symbol of Mycenaean power?
The Lions’ Gate
Mycenae lay unappreciated until what was discovered?
A treasure trove of gold
One way to judge a society’s architectural finesse is by ___?
the distance it can span w/o internal supports
In the Story of Troy, what was the king’s baby’s name?
Paris
What did the king’s daughter tell him? What was her name?
His daughter Cassandra told him Paris would one day destroy his city
How did the king react to Cassandra’s prediction?
He doubted her at first but then believed him.
What did the king do upon hearing Cassandra’s prediction?
Ordered soldiers to kill the baby
What was the Trojan war?
Conflict between Mycenae/Greece and Troy
What was the legend surrounding the Trojan war?
The story of Troy
What happened while soldiers were taking baby Paris to be killed?
Shepards saw the baby, ambushed the soldiers and took the baby.
How did the king feel at first about Paris?
He loved him.
What happened to Paris as a teenager?
The goddesses Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera asked to be judged on their beauty.
Which goddess did Paris pick?
Aphrodite
What happened after Paris chose the goddess?
He went to Sparta and took Helen, the queen, angering the king.
What did the king do after Paris took Helen?
He got 1000 Greek soldiers to go to Troy and retrieve Helen
What happened when the Greek soldiers stormed Troy for Helen?
Troy vs Greek for 9 years. No winner.
Who was Achilles?
An invincible Greek soldier.
How was Achilles invincible?
His mother dipped him in a magical river-the Styx-as a child, except for his heel.
What happened to Achilles’ heel?
Paris shot it with an arrow, making him lose his invincibility.
What did the Greeks use to win the war?
Not valor or strength, but deception.
What happened when the Greeks realized they couldn’t break through to Troy?
They took a huge wooden horse and hid their soldiers inside, and sent it as a surrendering gift to Troy.
What happened when Troy took the horse into the city?
That night, the Greek left the horse and signalled the soldiers hiding to come out. They destroyed Troy.
Where in the Story of Troy do we see the same Greek value identified in the story of the Minotaur?
Value of beauty. In the story of the Minotaur, Ariadne was obsessed with her beauty, as were the three goddesses of Troy.
What else can we learn from the story of Troy about Greek values?
Most of the stories are about fighting over a beautiful woman.
What does historical archaeological evidence say about the story of Troy?
There was probably an actual war, but it was just a Mycenaean raid against rival trading city Troy. Turned to legend over time.
When did Mycenaean society collapse?
After Trojan war.
Who were the Dorians?
Hellenic people that invaded Greece around 1100 BCE.
What was the name of Helen’s original husband?
Menelaus.
What were Homer’s writings?
The Odyssey and the Iliad.
What happened during the Dorian age?
Writing was temporarily forgotten.
What did a phalanx lead to?
A stronger polis
