The Genius of the Ancient Greeks

The Genius of the Ancient Greeks — page 1 — the Ancient Greeks Who The first great Greek civilizations were the Minoans who lived on the island of Crete from 3000 to 1450 b c e and the Mycenaeans who lived on mainland Greece from 1650 to 1100 b c e After the Mycenaeans Greece entered a 300-year period known as the Dark Ages No one is sure why but the Greeks of the Dark Ages stopped writing creating detailed artworks and building large settlements Bulls were very important in Minoan culture This stone carving was found in a palace in Knossos Crete Around 800 b c e small villages began to grow into cities Each city became a separate city state controlled by its own ruler This is partly because Greece’s geography of islands and mountains physically separated different areas so they developed independently During this time known as the Archaic period a more advanced civilization started to return to Greece This map shows some of the important places and city states in ancient Greece There were over 1,000 city states across the Greek world 4

The Genius of the Ancient Greeks — page 2 — The height of the ancient Greek civilization was the Classical period from 508 to 323 b c e This was a time of innovations scientific discoveries new ideas about philosophy and theater and the beginnings of democracy During the Hellenistic period 323 to 30 b c e the ancient Greeks controlled a huge territory across the Mediterranean and the Middle East This jar was given as a prize during the Panathenaic Games in which different city-states competed against each other see pages 28 29 What happened Beginning around 146 b c e the Romans and other groups started to take control of Greece and Greek territories The civilizations that took over the Greek world were highly influenced by many aspects of Greek culture including science and literature The legacy of ancient Greece can be seen today around the world in modern politics architecture and language The remains of this temple can be seen in Delphi Greece There are ruins of many ancient Greek buildings across Europe and the Middle Eas t 5

The Genius of the Ancient Greeks — page 3 — CITY STATES Ancient Greece was not one country politically It was divided into small city states such as Athens Sparta and Corinth Although people across Greece spoke the same language and followed the same religion people considered themselves Athenians or Spartans rather than Greeks genius ORGANIZED COMMUNITIES Local identities Many different social groups lived in each city state including citizens or people born in the city state non citizens and enslaved people All social groups shared a common city state identity Citizens especially male citizens enjoyed the most freedom and often gathered in special meeting places such as the agora The agora in Athens sat at the foot of the Acropolis The remains of the agora are open to visitors today PEL

The Genius of the Ancient Greeks — page 4 — brain wave Until around 625 b c e Greeks had no system of money Instead they traded goods and services for other goods and services Then some city-states began making their own currencies The coins were for use within the city state and any visitors to the city-state had to exchange their currency Some coins had special symbols on them For example coins from the city-state of Rhodon had a rose on them because the Greek word for rose is rhodon These coins from Athens are decorated with the goddess Athena the patron of the city and an owl a symbol of Athena Different rulers City-states were ruled in different ways such as monarchies or oligarchies Eventually one city-state developed a style of ruling that worked particularly well In 508 b c e the city-state of Athens became a democracy Men who were born in Athens and who were over 20 years old could vote and make decisions on how the city-state was run At war City-states fought each other to show power and to gain new territory The most famous war between city states was the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta from 431 to 404 b c e Almost every Greek city-state joined in the war which was finally won by Sparta City states also worked together to fight a common enemy From 492 to 449 b c e several city-states fought in a war against the Persian Empire City-states including Athens Corinth and Megara came together to fight against the Persian Empire which was trying to conquer Greek territory Greece won the war 7

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