Ancient Greece was the birthplace of what we call Western ...
The Greeks: A Civilization of Achievement and Tragedy
Ancient Greece was the birthplace of modern civilization. The staggering achievements of the Greeks in government, science, philosophy, art, architecture, athletics and literature still influence us today.
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Ancient Athens Map of Ancient Greece
City-States- Ancient Greece consisted of a rugged, mountainous peninsula that jutted into the Mediterranean Sea. It had a warm climate, but the fertile land areas for farming were limited. Around these areas the Greeks constructed city-states. This was a city or town that controlled the farm land around it. The Greek city-states often fought against themselves, but were bound together by common language, culture, and religious beliefs.
The two most famous city-states were Athens and Sparta. Athens was a trading city with a strong navy. Athenian people were very industrious and interested in new ideas. Athens became a center for much of the greatest achievements in Greek civilization. Sparta was a city-state built around a powerful army. Spartan children were trained to be excellent soldiers and prepared for this all their lives. The Spartans were the most feared soldiers in the world during their time.
Family-The husband was the authority in the Greek household. Women were generally limited to the home, and the raising of children. A wealthy Greek woman would also be in charge of the slaves (which was a common practice during this time). Greeks parents usually arranged the marriage of their children. Girls typically married in their mid-teens, while most men married in their mid to late 20’s. Greek families rarely had more than three children.
Religion- The Greeks believed in a pantheon of related gods and goddesses. They believed that these beings watched over human affairs and would even control everyday events. The Greeks believed that their gods behaved much as people did with emotions and desires, except the gods were immortal and had superhuman abilities. Some Greek gods include: Zeus- the most powerful of all the gods, Aphrodite- the goddess of love, Apollo- the god of music and light, Ares- the god of war, and Athena- the goddess of wisdom. Greeks worshipped these gods in various festivals and flocked to shrines called oracles where it was believed a human priest or priestess could speak for the gods, and reveal the future.
Philosophy/Science- Philosophy, a word that means love of wisdom, developed in ancient Greece. Greek philosophers wanted to understand truth in the universe. Socrates is noted as the world’s first philosopher. Socrates would search for truth using a careful questioning method. His student, Plato, explored the nature of the natural world, justice, and the structure of governments. Plato’s student, Aristotle, studied many aspects of science and mathematics. Because of the thinking methods developed by these philosophers, Greek science flourished in the realms of biology, medicine, physics, astronomy, and mathematics. These Greeks, like the famous mathematician Pythagoras, were so far ahead of their time, that no significant advancements were made for 1,500 years after they died!
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Socrates Plato Aristotle
The Arts- The Greeks were also excellent sculptors, painters, architects, and musicians. They attempted to create beauty through proper balance and proportion. Sculptors often made statues of the gods. Greek architects designed massive government buildings, temples, and fortifications. Greek architecture, with its white stone buildings and mighty columns, is still a common design theme today. The Greeks invented a new form of written expression called literature. Some literature was in the form of stories or epic poems like the Iliad or Odyssey written by Homer. This literature was written in the Greek language, which became the basis of many future languages. The Greeks also invented a new form of expression and entertainment—theater. They wrote plays that explored complex relationships and emotions. These dramas were enjoyed in large outdoor stadiums, and were the forerunners to our movies and TV today.
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The Parthenon Athenian theater
Politics- The Greeks also made important advancements in the realm of government. The people of Athens, led by the statesman Cleisthenes, developed the world’s first democracy in 508 BC. A democracy is a form of government in which the citizen have the power through voting. In Athens, all male adult citizens could vote on everything from the declaration of war, to the day to day operation of the city. This development would influence future nations in the development of their own form of democracy.
Athletics- Greeks believed that a person should be strong mentally and physically, so they stressed exercise and athletic competition. Sports that began in Greece include: wrestling, boxing, sprinting, hurdling, relays, javelin throw, and the marathon. Every four years Greek athletes would meet to compete in the Olympic Games.
History-People first inhabited Greece about 2000 BC. The first Greeks were influenced by seafaring peoples the Minoans and the Phoenicians. By around 1400 BC a powerful Greek city state, Mycenae, emerged. It was this city that led the Greeks in the Trojan War. The Trojan War was a 10 year struggle between various Greeks and the city of Troy in Asia Minor (in what is now Turkey). According to the poet Homer, Troy was destroyed after the Greeks tricked the Trojans into opening their city gate to accept a huge wooden horse as a gift (the horse was filled with Greek soldiers which slaughtered the Trojan guards and opened the city gates to the main Greek army). Over time, Mycenae ceased to be a major power, and the Greeks slipped into a dark age. Around the 700’s BC the Greeks began to prosper again. New city-states like Athens and Sparta emerged as regional powers.
During the 500 & 400’s BC the most powerful civilization was the Persian Empire which was centered in what is today Iran & Iraq. The Persians rapidly expanded and began to conquer Greek city-states in Asia Minor. When the Persians learned that the Athenians had aided their Greek counterparts, the Persian king Darius was enraged. He ordered the invasion of mainland Greece and the destruction of Athens. A mighty Persian force advanced towards Athens, but was defeated at Marathon in 490 BC. In 480BC, Xerxes, the son of Darius, sent an even larger force to crush the Greeks. This force numbering perhaps 250,000 soldiers was almost inconceivable in ancient times. A small Greek force led by 300 Spartan hoplites held off this Persian army for several days at a narrow mountain pass called Thermopylae. This delay allowed the Athenian leader Themistocles to formulate a risky plan. He proposed abandoning the city of Athens, and evacuating to a nearby island called Salamis. The plan worked, because after Xerxes sent his naval forces toward Salamis, they were ambushed and destroyed by the Athenian navy. Without a navy to bring supplies, the Persian army could not stay in Greece, and therefore, had to retreat to Persia. The Greeks were saved again.
Unfortunately cooperation between the Greeks would not last. After the victories over the Persians, the city of Athens began its golden age. This was a time period in which the Athenians made many great achievements (such as the construction of the Parthenon) and were led by Pericles. Sparta was also recognized as a major power in Greece. A rivalry developed between the two sides, and every other Greek city-state chose to align themselves with Athens or Sparta. In 431 BC a war called the Peloponnesian War erupted between the two sides. During this time Sparta was a strong land power, while Athens was a naval power. By 404 BC Sparta had destroyed all of the farmland around Athens, and the Spartans eventually forced the Athenians (who had suffered disease and starvation) to surrender. Despite their victory, the Spartans had exhausted most of their
strength as well. These city-states would never dominate Greece again.
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Spartan hoplite Greek phalanx
Eventually, a new Greek power emerged, the city-state of Macedonia. In 338 BC Philip II the king of Macedonia united all the Greek city-states. When his son, Alexander came to power, he had even greater ambitions. He wanted to conquer the mightiest civilization of the day—the Persians. Alexander assembled a Greek army and set out on this quest in 334 BC at the age of 20. In less than a dozen years the once invincible Persian Empire was defeated. Alexander was more than just a military leader, however. He had been educated by the famous philosopher Aristotle. Alexander wished to combine all the knowledge of the known world together. Under Alexander’s rule new cities, libraries, and the first universities were built. It was here that Greek knowledge could be preserved and spread throughout the world. Alexander died suddenly and mysteriously in 323 BC, but his achievements in life, and the world he established before death earned him the name Alexander the Great.
Following Alexander’s death his empire was divided and
eventually fell apart as a new power emerged around 200
BC—the Romans. However the Romans realized the great
achievements of the Greeks, a proud people that brought us
democracy, philosophy, literature, theater, and science. Their
amazing achievements, and their emphasis on individual
achievement would outlast any empire. The Greeks
built the foundation for Western Civilization and our modern
world.
Alexander the Great
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