ancient greece summary 1

ancient greece summary 1

1. Minoans and Mycenaeans

   • Minoan Age was from about 2000 - 1400 BC and was known as the stone age
   • Centred on the island of crete
   • named after the king minos
   • after the Trojan Wars the Mycenaeans went through a period of civil war
     • country was weak so a tribe called the Dorians took over
   • The period after the collapse of Mycenaean civilisation was known as the Dark Age.

2. Archaic Period

   • from 620 to 480 B.C.
     • development of art through the style of pottery and sculpture
       • characteristics developed into the naturalistic style of the Classical period
         • advances in political theory: beginnings of democracy,
           • use of written language

3. Classical period

   • from 500 B. C to 323 B.C
     • Greeks began to come into conflict with the kingdom of Persia
       • death of the Macedonian king and conqueror Alexander the Great in 323 B.C.
         • democratic system of government under Pericles
           • building of the Parthenon on the Acropolis
             • tragedies of Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripides
               • founding of the philosophical schools of Socrates and Plato.

4. Archaeology of Minoans, Mycenaeans

   • Bronze Age
     • arose on the island of Crete
       • flourished from approximately the 27th century BC to the 15th century BC.
         • rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century by Arthur Evans
           • The early inhabitants of Crete settled as early as 128,000 BC
             • Early inhabitants of crete settled in the middle paleolithic age
               • agriculture started in 5000 bc

5. Troy

   • first known only through the stories of Homer
     • 1870: Heinrich Schliemann discovered parts of troy
       • nine consecutive levels of occupation at Hisarlick
         • two levels that the period Homer described which are named Troy VI and Troy VII
           • The war is thought to have lasted about ten years or more
             • eventually the Greeks won by using the trick of offering the Trojans a statue of a Horse as a gift
               • The statue was filled with the Greek warriors who burned the city.
                 • The 'Iliad' and 'The Odyssey' were written by a blind poet named Homer,
                   • may have lived between850 and 750 BC
                   • some believe he was just a legend
                   • poems began as part of an oral tradition
                     • The 'Iliad' tells the story of Achillies in the Trojan War that supposedly took place in the early 12th century BC
                       • The 'Odyssey' tells the adventures of one of the heroes of the war, Odysseus, on his 10 year journey home from the war.

6. Gods and Goddesses

   • many gods worshipped, each had a different power
     • These gods had control over many different aspects of life on earth
       • They could be kind or mean, angry or pleasant, cruel or loving
         • They fell in love with each other, argued with each other and even stole from each other.
           • King of all the gods and goddesses was Zeus, who controlled lightning and weather
             • lived with the other gods on Mount Olympus