HIST 112. Lecture 1.The Greek World..pptx

HIST 112: THE GREEK WORLD. Lecture 1 13.05.24  Expected Learning Outcome. Upon successful completion of this lecture, the student should be able to: Identify and discuss the different periods of ancient Greek history,...

HIST 112: THE GREEK WORLD. Lecture 1 13.05.24  Expected Learning Outcome. Upon successful completion of this lecture, the student should be able to: Identify and discuss the different periods of ancient Greek history, 2  Key Terminologies. Polis: the Greek word for a city-state. Acropolis: a fortified area at the top of a hill in a Greek city-state. Democracy: rule of the many. Oligarchy: rule by the few. Helots: people captured by the Spartans. Epic poem: a long poem that tells the deeds of a great hero. Department of History, SOA Slide 3  The Greek World Timeline. Civilization Name: Greek Civilization Period: 2700 BC – 1500 BC Originated Location: Italy, Sicily, North Africa and as far west as France Current Location: Greece Major Highlights: Concept of Democracy and Senate, Olympics 4  The impact of Geography & Topography. Compared with Egypt, Mesopotamia, Chinese and Persia, Greece is small. It consists of a peninsula and many surrounding islands. It is made of small plains and river valleys surrounded by high mountains. The mountains influenced Greek history, because they separated Greeks from each other. 5  This caused different Greek communities to develop their own ways of life. The sea also influenced Greek history. Greece has a long seacoast with many harbours, so Greeks became seafarers. Department of History, SOA Slide 6  Methodology: Sources and problem. Literary sources for Greek history are; Homeric epics, Iliad and Odyssey. Most challenging to interpret. Historians described it as the “historians headache”. Composed orally before the existence of Greek alphabet. The Epics was not written down until 6th C, BCE. 7  However, archaeological evidence allows historians to fill some of the gabs in literary evidence. 8  From Mythology to History. Mythology refers to stories that are clearly false, or long-forgotten gods, and heroes and their miraculous feat. History on the other hand refers to actual events that involved real people. But both are opposite of each other, the Greeks saw mythology and history as related concepts. And sometimes as ‘two sides of the same coin’. 9  Periods in Greek History. 1. Bronze Age (Minoan) The Minoan civilization existed on the large island of Crete, southeast of Greek mainland. It was called the Minoan civilization by the English archaeologist, Arthur Evans (who discovered it). He named it after Minos, the legendary king of Crete (Knossos). The Minoans were traders. Department of History, SOA Slide 10  Bronze Age (Mycenae). The term Mycenaean comes from Mycenae, fortified site in Greece that was discovered by the German archaeologist Heinrich Schiliemann. This civilization flourished between 1600 and 1100 BCE. The Mycenaeans were part of the Indo-European peoples. Department of History, SOA Slide 11  The Mycenaeans were warriors, they took pride in their heroic deeds in battle. Some historians believed that Mycenaeans conquered Crete. Through the poetry of Homer, the military adventures of Mycenaeans came to light. By 1100 BCE, Mycenaean civilization had collapsed, invaders moved into Greece from the north. Department of History, SOA Slide 12  2. The Dark Age. After the collapse of Mycenaean civilization, Greece entered a period when food production dropped and population declined. Historians called this period the Dark Age, because there are few records to tell us what happened during this time. This period lasted from 1100 to 750 BCE. During this period, many Greeks left the mainland, they settled in an area called Ionia. 13  In the 8th century, the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet – this made learning to read and write simpler. Near the end of the Dark Age, the work of Homer appeared. He wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey. He used stories about the Trojan War to write the Iliad and the Odyssey. 14  THE POLIS: Center of Greek Life. Greek villages gradually expanded and became city-states. The Greek word for a city-state is polis. The word politics comes from this Greek word. The polis was a town, a city or even a village, along with its surrounding country-side. The polis became the center of Greek life. The main gathering place in the polis was a hill. Department of History, SOA Slide 15  At the top of the hill was a fortified area called an acropolis. The acropolis was a place of refuge during attacks. Sometimes it was also a religious center where temples were built. The polis was a community of people who had a common identity and common goals. Department of History, SOA Slide 16  The polis consisted of 3 main groups: 1. Citizens with political rights (adult males). 2. Citizens with no political rights (women and children). 3. Non-citizens (slaves and people from foreign lands) The citizens of the polis had rights, but they also had responsibilities. Department of History, SOA Slide 17  Tyranny in the city-states. The increase in trade and industry created a new group of wealthy people in many city-states. These men wanted political power, but they found it difficult to get (aristocrats). This led to the rise of tyrants in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE. Tyrants were not necessarily wicked, as the word implies. Department of History, SOA Slide 18  Greek tyrants were rulers who seized power from the aristocrats. The new group of wealthy men supported the tyrants, so did the poor peasants who were in debt to the aristocrats. By the 6th C, the tyrant had fallen out of favour, but their rule was important in Greek history. Department of History, SOA Slide 19  This allowed many new people to be involved in government. In some city-states, this led to the development of democracy (rule of the many). Other city-states remained committed to rule by the few or oligarchy. The differences in these 2 forms of government can be seen in Sparta and Athens. Department of History, SOA Slide 20  Sparta. The Spartan government was an oligarchy headed by two kings. Males spent their childhood learning military discipline. At age 20, they entered the army. Spartan women lived at home. Spartans were not allowed travel abroad, so they had little contact with the outside world. 21  Athens. Athens developed differently from Sparta in the Lyric Age. Athens moved from aristocracy to democracy not oligarchy. The reformed which created democracy were by the peasantry. 22 Thank you so much for listening….