Homer and the Trojan War

Homer and the Trojan War

• Homer was a celebrated ancient world storyteller, believed to be blind, who composed works between 750 and 700 BC.
• His most famous work, The Iliad, is based on the Trojan War, featuring heroic figures like Achilles (Greek warrior) and Hector (Trojan noble).
• Archaeological findings, especially those by Heinrich Schliemann in the 1870s and 20th-century studies, suggest that the Trojan War was possibly based on real events.

Geography and Life in Ancient Greece

• Ancient Greece was primarily a mountainous peninsula with numerous islands in the Aegean and Ionian Seas.
• The sea was central to Greek life; Greeks relied on the sea for sustenance and trade routes.
• They had easy coastal access, rarely traveling more than 85 miles from the coastline.
• The Aegean, Ionian, and Black Seas facilitated transportation and interactions with other cultures.
• Greece's lack of natural resources (timber, metals, fertile land) made seafaring and trade crucial.

The Mycenaeans

• The Mycenaeans were an early Greek civilization centered around Mycenae, a fortified city situated atop a steep, rocky ridge in Southern Greece.
• The city's impressive 20-foot-thick walls provided formidable protection.
• Mycenae kings dominated Greece roughly between 1600 and 1100 BC.

Greek City-States (Polis)

• By 750 BC, the polis (city-state) became the fundamental unit of Ancient Greece.
• Each polis encompassed a city and its surrounding countryside, usually with villages.
• City-states typically controlled 50–500 square miles of territory and had populations below 10,000 residents.
• A marketplace or acropolis (fortified hilltop) served as the meeting place for citizens for political discussions.

Political Structures in Ancient Greece

• Monarchy: Ruled by a single king.
• Aristocracy: Ruled by a small group of noble landowners.
• Oligarchy: Ruled by a few powerful individuals (traders, artisans, merchants, landowners).
• Direct Democracy: Ruled by the citizens, where majority votes determine decisions.

Early Athens

• Citizens actively participated in Athenian political processes.
• Draco (621 BC) established a legal code that treated all citizens, regardless of wealth, equally, but the code was harsh, often imposing the death penalty for crimes.
• Debt slavery was enforced.
• Solon (594 BC) abolished debt slavery, categorized Athenians into social classes based on wealth for political participation, but all could participate in the Assembly.
• Cleisthenes (500 BC) broke the aristocracy's control, grouped citizens by location, and created the Council of 500 (randomly selected members) to propose laws.

Athenian Education

• Wealthy Athenian boys received formal education, studying reading, grammar, poetry, history, mathematics, music, logic, and public speaking (debating was prominent).
• Military training was also integral.
• Girls were educated at home in domestic skills (childcare, weaving, cooking, household management).

Sparta

• Sparta, located in the Peloponnese, was a militaristic city-state distinct from other Greek city-states.
• It had a unique political structure.

Spartan Government

• The Spartan government included the assembly (citizen voters), the Council of Elders (30 older citizens proposing laws), and five elected officials overseeing law enforcement, education, and the judiciary.