Pingry School



Unit Seven: Ancient Greece-Focus Questions

Day 1-Introduction to Greece: Geography and Chronology-Minoans and Mycenaeans. Reading due: text, pp. 89-94, study map on p. 92

How did geographic forces shape Greece differently from previous civilizations? Who were the

Minoans and Myceneans? Where did they settle, build their cities, and organize their government

and economy? Which group was more commercial, which more warlike? Who dominated in the

end? Why?

What about the Greek Dark Age? Why did it come? Who were those Dorians, anyway? Did they

topple the Mycenaeans, or simply come in to pick up the pieces?

Day 2-Archaic Greek Civilization-Overseas Expansion and the Development of Sparta and Athens.

Reading due: text, pp. 94-97; Lycurgus and comparison handouts; study for Map Quiz

Terms to define-polis, acropolis, agora, monarchy, aristocracy, oligarchy, democracy, tyranny. Why did the Greeks develop city-states instead of one, unified nation? Why did the Greeks

find it necessary to trade and to colonize to prosper?

For Sparta-be able to define and explain the following: Lycurgus, the first and second

Messenian Wars, the helots, the Krypteia, the ephors, how Spartan government worked, how women were treated, how children were raised

For Athens-who were Solon and Cleisthenes, and what were their important reforms and their impact on Athens' development? After Cleisthenes' reforms, do you think Athens had a democracy? Why or why not? Define demos, boule, ecclesia

Why do you think Athens and Sparta emerged as the most important city-states in Greece?

What did they have going for them?

Day 3-Classical Athenian Artistic and Intellectual Life. Reading due: text, pp. 96-100, 104-106;

Greek art handouts

What were the genuinely GREAT artistic accomplishments of ancient Athens? Identify original

Athenian accomplishments in the fields of drama, architecture, and sculpture. What did Athens have to brag about? Major figures to know: Aeschylus, Euripedes, Sophocles, Aristophanes

Figures to know: Hippocrates, the Sophists, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Herodotus, Thucydides

What was original and important about Athenian intellectual accomplishments in science, medicine, history, philosophy, and education?

Day 4-Greek Religion and Daily Life in Athens Reading due: text, pp. 100-104; Medea handout

What was distinctive about Greek religion? How did it conflict with Greek philosophy and

science? How was Athenian society organized, and was it really democratic?

Day 5-7-The Wars that Made and Broke Greece: the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars

Reading due: text, pp. 96-100; excerpts from Aeschylus' The Persians and Thucydides,

Pericles' Funeral Oration, The Plague of Athens, The Melian Dialog; Euripides'

Women of Troy

Why did the Persian Wars begin (use your imagination; develop an answer from both the Greek

and Persian viewpoints) What was the importance of the battles of Marathon, Thermopylae, and

Salamis? Why did the Greeks win (come up with a hypothesis you can DEFEND)? Why was this

conflict an inspiration to all Greeks? What had they proved? How is this attitude of confidence

and devotion to Athens and Greek civilization reflected in Pericles' Funeral Oration, given fifty

years after the Persian Wars?

Why did the Peloponnesian War begin? How did it do ancient Greece irreversible damage? Who

were the major opponents, and why did they fear each other? In what ways do both Thucydides

and Euripedes criticize Athens' conduct in the Peloponnesian War? How do their criticisms

compare and contrast? How do think Pericles would have reacted, had he been alive? Why?

Was Athenian self-criticism a strength or weakness?

Day 8-The Great Athens/Sparta Debate-Get ready! Who had the superior civilization, and why?

Reading due: nothing new. Review previous material

Day 9-Philip and Alexander, and the spread of Hellenistic Culture into Africa and Asia

Reading due: text, pp. 106-108, 110-114; excerpts from The Philippics; handout on Alexander the

Great

How and why was Philip of Macedonia able to conquer and unite all Greece? How did Alexander

come to follow Philip as Macedonian king, and conquer Persia? Why did his empire not last?

What were Alexander's personal strengths and weaknesses?

Day 10-The Ongoing Greek Heritage: Hellenistic Achievements in Art, Philosophy, Science, and Medicine

Reading due: text, pp. 114-119; handouts on Greek influence on Asian art

Who were Diogenes, Epicurus, and Zeno, and what were the teachings of their philosophies:

Cynicism, Epicurianism, and Stoicism? Do their ideas remind you of any Chinese philosophies?

Did their ideas serve the same purpose? How did Aristarchus on one side and Aristotle and Claudius Ptolemy disagree over heliocentrism? What were the achievements of Euclid, Archimedes, Eratosthenes, Theophrastus, and Herophilus? Greece had the knowledge to

industrialize! Why didn't it?

Day 11-Review for test or question sheet

Day 12-Test or Question Sheet and start of new unit

MR. RABY'S FIRST QUESTION SHEET ON ANCIENT GREECE FOR 40 POINTS-You may answer directly on this sheet because you will have space to do it. Remember to write your name,

class period, and Honor Pledge in the upper right hand corner of this page.

1. For two points, name the two writers who are generally given credit for starting Greek

literature.

The rest of the questions are worth two points each. Define or identify each item which appears below:

acropolis

agora

archons

aristoi

demos

Dorians and Ionians

ecclesia

ephors

helots

idiot (the ancient Athenian definition, please)

Krypteia

Lycurgus

Minoans

monarchy

Myceneans

oligarchy

philosophy (the ancient Greek definition, please)

Solon

tyranny

MR. RABY'S SECOND QUESTION SHEET ON ANCIENT GREECE FOR 85 POINTS-

You know the drill about name, class period, and Honor Pledge. Circle the correct answer

on each multiple choice item. Word process your essay on your own paper and attach it to

this sheet.

Multiple-choice: 15 questions for 60 points

1. On which list are the periods of Greek history in proper order?

a. Mycenaean, Minoan, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic

b. Hellenistic, Archaic, Minoan, Mycenaean, Classical

c. Minoan, Mycenaean, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic

d. Classical, Archaic, Minoan, Hellenistic, Mycenaean

2. Which item below was NOT independently developed by the ancient Greeks,

but actually borrowed in its original form from the Phoenicians?

a. the alphabet

b. the analytical and critical study of the past we call history

c. the formal study of ideas, argument, and logic that we call philosophy

d. the theater

3. Who were the Spartan secret poilice that were allow to kill helots at will?

a. the Spartiates b. the ephors c. the strategoi d. the Krypteia

4. Sparta was unusual among greek city-states in every respect EXCEPT:

a. its military training for boys, which began at age 7

b. its polytheistic religion

c. its lack of written laws

d. its economy, based chiefly on farming instead of trade

5. In which respect might Athens be called less open-minded in its government than Sparta?

a. the participation of all citizens in making laws

b. its respect for freedom of speech, and openness to new ideas

c. its sponsorship of theater, architecture, and sculpture

d. its treatment of women

6. Which item below is NOT a reason why Athens lost to Sparta in the Peloponnesian War?

a. the unreliability of Athens' resentful allies in the Delian League

b. the superiority of the Spartan navy

c. Persian financial aid to the Spartan side

d. Alcibiades' rash and poorly executed attack on Syracuse

7. Which Greek philosophy stressed active citizenship, social responsibility, and the courageous

performance of one's duty in bad times as well as good?

a. Cynicism b. Epicureanism c. Stoicism d. humanism

8. Which Greek writers below were among the first to develop the theater?

a. Homer and Hesiod c. Aechylus and Euripides

b. Hesiod and Solon d. Herodotus and Thucydides

9. Which leaders below deserve MOST credit for developing Athenian democracy?

a. Lycurgus and Draco c. Cleisthenes and Pericles

b. Draco and Solon d. Alcibiades and Plato

10. What event listed below most likely destroyed Minoan civilization?

a. repeated Mycenaean sea raids between 1650 and 1450 BC

b. the Trojan War, @ 1200 BC

c. Dorian and Ionian invasions, @1100-900 BC

d. the plague of Athens, 430-29 BC

11. Which Greek philosopher said that the purpose of education is to "know thyself," and that

"the unexamined life is not worth living"?

a, Anaxagoras b. Socrates c. Plato d. Arsitotle

12. Which Greek scientist developed medicine as a profession, with its own code of ethics,

and streessed that natural events, such as disease, have natural causes?

a. Hippocrates b. Pythagoras c. Archimedes d. Eratosthenes

13. In which event did the Greeks save themselves from foreign conquest, enter a golden age,

and establish European civilization as equal to anything in Africa or Asia?

a. the Trojan War c. the Athenian attack on Syracuse in Sicily

b. the Persian War d. the Peloponnesian War

14. What conditions below enabled Philip of Macedonia to conquer and unite all Greece?

a. the physical tougness of Macedonia's own outdoor-living people

b. his willingness to borrow useful ideas from both Athens and Sparta

c. the mutual envy, suspicion, weakness, and disunity of the Greek city-states

d. all the above

15. This Greek city, located in Egypt, which became the center of trade and intellectual life during

the Hellenistic period, boasted the world's greatest library and research institute, and still exists

in Egypt today.

a. Cairo b. Suez c. Port Said d. Alexandria

ESSAY-25 points-Remember to word process it on separate paper. Choose ONE question below:

As you write, do the following:

In your INTRODUCTORY paragraph, set the stage (the who and the what, the evidence

you will be examining) and establish your THESIS, the point you intend to prove.

In your BODY PARAGRAPHS, discuss three pieces of evidence and show how they

prove your THESIS.

In your CONCLUSION, tie everything together so that your reader will have to agree

with you.

1. Was Pericles right to boast about Athens the way he did in his Funeral Oration, or was the

speech an example of Athenian hubris at its worst? Using any three examples of Athenian

achievement, failure, or behavior from the Golden Age (479-431 BC) or the Peloponnesian War

(431-404 BC), prove your point!

2. Assess the validity of this statement: Ancient Greece made many important contributions

to the world in politics, art, literature, drama, philosophy, education, and science. Of all these

contributions, the most important ones were in literature and drama. HINT: when you answer

this question, you need a CLEAR definition of what you think an IMPORTANT contribution is.

3. At the start of the Peloponnesian War, Pericles warned Athens, "We have more to fear from

our own mistakes than from the enemy's plans." Was he right?

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