Ancient Greece

Question 1

Minoans

Answer 1

• Civilization in eastern Mediterranean (island of Crete) of Crete
• tropical climate
• First settlers sailed to island (7000 - 6000 BCE)
• Food: ; rudimentary knowledge of farming (growed grain crops); pasturing sheep and goats; hunting and fishing

Question 2

Early Minoan period (3200-2000 BCE)

Answer 2

• Early Bronze Age; use of metal to make better tools and weapons
• Bronze: nine parts copper to one part of tin
• Engaged in agriculture; had a form of writing, social organization, advanced metal working, and highly skilled forms of art

Question 3

Middle Minoan (ca. 2000 - 1550 BCE)

Answer 3

Wealthy people built bigger and finer houses; these eventually became palaces

Question 4

Knossos

Answer 4

• The site of the largest and most important palace on Crete
• The oldest of similar palaces on Crete
  a centre of political power; most likely a home to a powerful monarch, king, or queen
• Rooms used for administrative, residential, religious purposes; storage and workshops
• Frescoes: watercolour paintings done on wet plaster
• earthquakes destroyed earlier palaces

Question 5

Late Minoan (1550 BCE - 1100 BCE)

Answer 5

• 1450 BCE: all palaces destroyed except for Knossos
• Knossos fell to Mycenaeans; took over Knossos
• Palace at Knossos destroyed by a great fire: Mycenaeans did not bother to rebuild
• King Minos - legendary king of Knossos

Question 6

Mycenaeans

Answer 6

• People who lived on mainland Greece
• Neolithic farming villages scattered in the narrow valleys from 6500 BCE - 3000 BCE
• Bronze Age : from 2200 BCE, pace of change quickened
  Carefully planned houses; increased wealth; use of seals to identify personal property
  Invaders from the north resulted in people reverting to a poorer and simpler farming life (2000 BCE)

Question 7

Middle Helladic ca 2000 - 1500 BCE

Answer 7

• Myceneans spoke an early form of Greek
• A very wealthy civilization sprang up; the political centre of this culture was Mycenae
• Kings lived like feudal lords; each governed his own wide area of Greece from a well fortified palace; all of these kings may have owed some allegiance to the King of Mycenae (most powerful state)
  1200 BCE - all of the citadels (except Mycanae) were captured and Destroyed. Mycenae eventually fell 100 years later

Question 8

Theseus and the Minotaur - how does this story relate to history?

Answer 8

Concept of ritual human sacrifice; reflected in Minoan art (young men and women leaping over bull horns); archaelogists have found recent evidence of this

Question 9

Heinrich Schliemann - Who was he?

Answer 9

Archaelogist who discovered Mycaenae in fall of 1876; was unsure of what he originally found

Question 10

Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey

Answer 10

• Homer (750 BCE) : an Ionian Greek; believed to be from the island of Chios; a professional writer; his tales would have been passed down orally, and then eventaully written down-
• Iliad and Odyssey: two epic poems; creited to Homer, but may have been the work of many people
  Iliad - chief source of information regarding the Trojan War; story involves gods, doddesses, and a talking horse
  Odyssey - tells of the struggles of the Greek hero Odysseus returning home to his wife Penelope (after the fall of Troy); Odysseus encounters a sea monster, a race of one-eyed giants, and a beautiful sorceress who turns men into swine

Question 11

Trojan War - destroyed in a battle ca. 1240 BCE.

Answer 11

• Story of conflict between the kingdom of Troy (western Turkey) and Mycenaen empire
• Myth has story of construction of a wooden horse; it was used in a rouse to fool Priam (leader of Troy); he had taken Helen as prisoner (wife of Mycenean King). Horse was filled with soldiers who ransacked and destroyed Troy

Question 12

Olympic Games - began in 776 BCE

Answer 12

• Considered to be very important; the fragmented city states would for the events
• Free born Greeks could participate; participants seeked fame and honour; not for money
• A Spartan women (Kyniska) was the first woman to win an event at the ancient Olympic Games; she was part of a 4 horse chariot team; married women were banned from Olympia during the games

Question 13

Democracy

Answer 13

• Athens: 700 BCE : noble landowners (aristocracy) held power and chose the chief officials; nobles judged major cases in court and dominated the assembly
• Discontent spread amongst ordinary people; merchants and soldiers resented the nobles
• Farmers demanded change also; forced to sell their land to nobles in hard times; some sold themselves and their families into slavery to pay their debts 620 BCE : written code of law is created

Question 14

Ostracism

Answer 14

• a proposal put for by Cleisthenes (a member of a noble family)
• Allowed the state to send any citizen, along with huis family.into exile for 10 years.
• Was meant as a means to rid Athens of any citizen who might try for tyranny (create instability in athen)
• Assembly voted to decide if the ostracism procedure was needed; 600 minimum votes were cast among citizens; the name that appeared most was sent into exile.

Question 15

Xerxes

Answer 15

Persian King; invaded Europe and moved towards Greece (480 BCE)
Athens and Sparta united to defend Greece

Question 16

Delian league

Answer 16

• was a permanent alliance to defend to defend Greek
  states from further aggression from Persia
• formed after Persian invasion of 480-479 BCE.
• Aristedes represented Athens; each Greek state paid an annual tribute (tax) toward a common naval fleet.
• Treasury and meetings held at the sanctuary of Apollo on the island of Delos (thus the name Delian League)
• This alliance did not include Sparta (did not want to be involved in affairs outside the Peloponnese)
• Eventually became a forced union; alliance members who wanted out were still forced to pay their share

Question 17

Pericles

Answer 17

• a young Athenian commander; tried to free the Greeks on the island of Cyprus from the Persians; started a revolt in Egypt against the Persians.
• Fear of revolt by Persians; Pericles had the treasury of the Delian League moved back to Athens in 454; Delain League became an empire controlled by Athens
• guided Athens for 30 years
  – every citizen could speak and vote on every piece of legislation in the assembly (direct democracy)
  – every man had an equal chance to hold every public office
• Women slaves, and foreigners could not hold citizenship
  Citizenship restricted to men whose parents (both mothers and fathers) had been born of citizen fathers.

Question 18

Peloponnesian Wa

Answer 18

• Sparta and other enemies of Athens formed the
  Peloponnesian League
• Sparta encouraged oligarchy in the Peloponnasin League; athens supported democracy amongst its allies
• Athen started to interfere with the affairs of Corinth’s colonies (corinth was a rich city state). It was a part of Peloponnesian League.
• 431 BCE - war breaks out between Sparta and Athens; lasted for 27 years
• Sparta was inland; difficult to attack
• Sparta marched north to Athens; Pericles allowed people from surrounding countryside to move inside city walls
• Overcrowding led to plague; a third of the population (including Pericles) died.
• Sparta allied itself with Persia to capture Athens (404 BCE).
• Athenian domination of the Greek world ended at this point

Question 19

Thucydides

Answer 19

wrote the history of the Peloponnesian War; he caught the Plague but survived.

Question 20

Parthenon

Answer 20

• the Acropolis is an ancient citadel in Athens; located on a high rocky outcrop; the Parthenon is a temple that is part of this structure.
• A temple dedicated to Athena; completed in 431 BCE

Question 21

Philip The Great

Answer 21

• gained the throne of Macedonia in 359 BCE; formed alliances with many Greek city-state
• defeated the combined forces of Athens and thebes in 338 BCE; brought all of Greece under his control.
• his goal was to conquer the Persian Empire
• assassinated at his daughter’s wedding
• Phillip’s wife outmaneuvered his other wives and children and put her own son (Alexander) on the throne.

Question 22

Alexander the great

Answer 22

• was 20 years old when he ascended to the throne
• began organizing forces to conquer Persia
• Persia was weakened at this time; Emperor Darius III was weak and provinces were in rebellion at different times against him.
• Persian Empire stretched over 2000 miles (from Egypt to India)
• started defeating the Persians in battles and gained territory
• Battle of Gaugamela 331 BCE: decisive battle victory over Persian army what is now Iraqi Kurdistan
• 331 BCE: Babylon is captured, and then other Persian capitals. Alexander’s troops moved eastward
• 326 BCE crossed the Hindu Kush mountains into northern India; faced soldiers mounted on war elephants.
• soldiers grew weary and refused to go further east; Alexander agreed to turn back and headed towards Babylon to begin planning a new campaign
• Alexander suddenly fell ill; after years of disorder, three generals divided up the empire
• Macedonia and Greece went to one general; Egypt to another general; and most of Persia to another general
• following 300 years: descendants of these generals competed for power over these lands,

Question 23

Legacy of Alexander the Great

Answer 23

• one of history’s most successful military leaders
• spreading of Greek culture
• founded many new cities (many named after him); Greek soldiers traders, and artisans settled these new cities
• building of Greek temples (architecture) display of Greek statues; athletic contests
• local people assimilated Greek ideas
• blending of eastern and western cultures
• Alexander married a Persian woman; adopted Persian dress and customs
• Hellenistic culture: blended Greek, Persian, Egyptian, and Indian influences

Question 24

Socrates

Answer 24

• Plato called him “the wisest, justest, and best of all I have ever known.”
• Socratic Method: he would pose a series of questions to his students; they would be challenged to examine the implications of their answers
• • seen as a way to help others seek truth and self knowledge
• at age 70, was put on trial; enemies accused him of corrupting the city’s youth and failure to respect the gods
• Socrates offered a calm defense; jury of 501 citizens condemned him to death
• he accepted the death penalty; died by drinking a cup of hemlock ( a deadly poison).

Question 25

Plato

Answer 25

• execution of Socrates left him with a life-long distrust of democracy
• fled Athens for 10 year; returned and set up an Academy and wrote about his own ideas
• returned and set up an Academy and wrote about his own ideas
• emphasized the importance of reason; rational thought leads to the discovery of ethical values, recognize beauty, and better organize society
• “The Republic” - Plato described his vision of an ideal state
• Society should be divided into three classes:
  a. workers to produce the necessities of life
  b. soldiers to defend the state
  c. philosophers to rule : ensure order and justice; wisest would be a philosopher- king that would have the ultimate authority
• some women were superior to men generally, men surpassed women in mental and physical tasks
• Talented women should be educated to serve the state

Question 26

Aristotle

Answer 26

• Plato’s most famous student; developed his own ideas about government.
• found good examples of both monarchy and democracy
• was suspicious of democracy; felt it could lead to mob rule.
• favoured rule by a single strong and virtuous leader.
• promoted reason as the guiding force for learning;
• “golden mean”: good conduct is a moderate between extremes
• Education: set up a school (the Lyceum )
• left writings on politics, ethics, logic, biology, literature, and other subjects
• first universities in Europe evolved 1500 years later;largely based on the works of Aristotle

Question 27

Hippocrates

Answer 27

• approx. 400 BCE, studied the causes illnesses and looked for cures
• Hippocratic Oath - set ethical standards for doctors
  a. Physicians swear to “help the sick according to my ability and
  judgement but never with a view to injury and wrong”
  b. Physicians swore to protect the privacy of patients

Question 28

Sappho

Answer 28

• a poet / singer
• From the island of Lesbos; wrote about love and the beauty of her home island
• Ran a finishing school (etiquette) for aristocratic girls on lesbos; a common theme in her poems is an expression of deep love for certain students
• regarded by Greeks as among the most beautiful poetry ever produced

Question 29

How did Greek philosophers impact the development of their society?

Answer 29

• Greek thinkers challenged the belief that events were caused by the whims of gods; used observation and reason to find causes for what happened.
• believed that reason and observation could lead to discovery of laws that governed the universe
• Sophists: questioned accepted ideas; developed skills in rhetoric (art of skillful speaking)
• Sophists gained a following by young Athenians following the Peloponnesian War; older citizens felt that they were undermining traditional values

Question 30

Describe elements of architecture in Ancient Greece and its influences.

Answer 30

Doric and Ionic styles

• order, balance, and logic
  
  • product of tremendous engineering and mathematical skills

Question 31

What advancements were made during the Hellenistic civilization?

Answer 31

• New Schools of thought
• Zeno (founder) urged people to avoid desires and disappoints thru “stoicism” (calmly accept what life brings)
• stoics preached high moral standards (i.e - protect the rights of fellow humans
• Unequal people in rights (i.e - slaves and women) were morally equal because all had the power of reason.
• stoicism later influence many Roman and Christian thinkers

Question 32

Euclid

Answer 32

wrote The Elements textbook became the basis for modern geometry)

Question 33

Astronomy

Answer 33

Aristarchus argued that the earth rotated on its axis around the sun; theory of a heliocentric (sun centred) solar system; theory not accepted by scientists until about 2000 years later.

Question 34

Physics

Answer 34

Archimedes made practical inventions; mastered the use of the lever and pulley

Question 35

Role of women in Ancient Greek society? How did Sparta differ ? Changes during Hellenistic civilization?

Answer 35

Athens: women led sheltered lives; oversaw the running of their households; rarely ventured out in public (even to shop)
- Produced textiles , but cloth was usually woven to fill household needs (not commercial reasons)
Sparta: women enjoyed more independence and rights than other Greek women
- Military based Spartan society meant that men were often away from home (either at war aor barracks type conditions)
Hellenistic period: women were no longer restricted to their homes during the Hellenistic period
- More women learned to read and write; some became philosophers or poets