Vocabulary
Labyrinth Pancratium
Shrines Pentathlon
Megaron Oracles
Tenants Philosophia
Civil wars Hypothesis
Polis Political science
Acropolis Scientific method
Agora Hostage
Aristocrats Alliance
Helots Orator
Perioeci
Oligarchy
Mercenaries
Constitution
Democratic
Triremes
The Minoan civilization began on the island of Crete located in the Mediterranean Sea. They were the world�s first sea-faring civilization.
The men of Crete farmed and fished.
They grew grapes, olives, and grains.
They traded surplus crops for items they could not produce on Crete.
Women tended to their homes and hunted using chariots.
Sports were important to the people of Crete.
They attended sporting events in open air arenas.
Minoan cities were centered around a palace.
They depended on their navy and the sea for protection.
Knossos was one of the largest cities on Crete.
In the center of the city was a large palace that served as the government building, temple, and warehouse.
The rooms and hallways created a labyrinth.
Around the palace were homes of the merchants, sea captains, and ship builders.
Behind these homes were artisans� houses.
All homes were built around courtyards.
People entered and exited their homes through the roof using a ladder to climb to the ground.
Preist-kings ruled the Minoan civilization on Crete.
They made laws and related information from the gods.
The main Minoan god was Mother Earth.
The double ax symbol represented Mother Earth and was considered sacred.
It stood for Mother Earth�s power and the authority of the king.
In 1400 BC, the Minoans lost control of the Mediterranean Sea and Crete to the Mycenaneans.
The Mycenaneans settled in the lowlands of Greece after migrating from southern Russia.
They built fortress-palaces on hilltops where they took shelter during battles.
These palaces contained megarons where the king held meetings and social events.
Mycenanean land was divided into estates which were farmed by tenants.
Mycenanean people adapted many customs of the Minoans.
They learned to build and sail ships, grow olives, and trade.
Mycenanean people were warriors.
They built pirate ships and raided nearby lands.
The Mycenaneans attacked Troy, a major trading city in Asia.
A famous Greek poet name Homer wrote two poems about the war.
One poem was called The lliad.
It told the story of the war.
The other poem was called The Odyssey.
It told about the journey home of the Mycenanean war hero, Odysseus.
According to The Iliad, the Trojan War was fought over Helen, the wife of the Mycenanean king.
Paris, the prince of Troy, fell in love with Helen and took her to Troy.
The Mycenanean king sent his soldiers to Troy to bring Helen home but they could not enter the city because of its high walls.
The Mycenaneans and Trojans fought a ten year battle.
Eventually, the Mycenanean war hero Odysseus developed a plan to defeat the Trojans.
He directed the soldiers to make a hollow wooden horse.
Then, some of the most powerful soldiers hid inside the horse.
The other Mycenanean soldiers left Troy in an act of pretend surrender.
The Trojans saw the Mycenaneans leave and brought the horse inside their walls as a prize of their victory.
When night fell and the Trojans were sleeping, the Mycenanean soldiers inside the horse came out and defeated the Trojans.
They burned the city and took Helen home.
After the Trojan war, the Mycenaneans suffered through a period of civil wars.
This period is known as the �Dark Ages.�
People forgot how to write or keep records.
Artisans stopped creating artwork.
Local leaders began ruling small communities.
Each community controlled its own government and laws.
The polis was the center of Greek life.
It included a farming village and the fields surrounding an acropolis.
On top of the acropolis was a temple dedicated to the local god.
At the base of the acropolis was the agora.
Near the agora were the homes of the artisans, traders, and upper class.
The two greatest city-states were Athens and Sparta.
Sparta had the strongest army in Greece.
It was located in southern Greece.
Aristocrats ruled Sparta.
They were the only group who could be Spartan citizens.
Citizens over 20 years old were members of the Assembly.
The Assembly created laws.
In addition to these other jobs, the aristocrats trained for the army.
Kings lead the army and presided over religious services.
Land in Sparta was farmed by helots.
They gave half of their crops to the aristocrats.
Perioeci conducted business and trade.
Spartans were only concerned with being the strongest people in Greece.
Unhealthy babies were abandoned.
When boys turned seven they were sent to military camps.
They learned to read, write, and use weapons.
Men lived harsh lives in military barracks until age sixty.
Athens was located on the coast northeast of Sparta.
The nobles and merchants set up an oligarchy in Athens.
This type of government caused many problems so the world�s first democratic constitution was written under the leader Cleisthenes.
The constitution gave Athenians freedom of speech.
All males over twenty years old could be in the Assembly.
Elections were held to select generals and judges.
The Council of Five Hundred handled Athenian government business.
All people were required to send their children to school.
In school, children learned to write, study math and music, and practice sports.
The Athenians built a powerful navy when rich silver mines were discovered on Athenian land.
They bought triremes to help protect themselves from their enemies.
When Athens attacked one of Sparta�s allies, Sparta declared war on Athens.
The Peloponnesian War lasted about 30 years and cost Athens about one quarter of its population.
As a result many Athenian men became mercenaries in the Persian Army.
In ancient Greece each city-state had its own patron god.
Priests served as oracles to fortell the future.
The Greeks all worshiped the gods of Mt. Olympus.
The twelve major gods were:
Zeus � king of the gods and god of weather
Aphrodite- goddess of love
Apollo- god of sun
Ares- god of war
Armites- goddess of the moon
Athena � goddess of wisdom
Demeter- goddess of harvest
Dionysus- god of joyful life
Hephaestus- god of fire
Hera- goddess of marriage
Hermes- god of commerce
Poseidon- god of sea
People built temples to worship the gods
They believed the temple was the god�s home.
They did not enter the temple but worshipped outside.
They also held festivals for the gods.
Every four years the Greeks held a festival for Zeus.
The festival was the Olympic Games.
It was so important that the Greeks would stop all wars during the games.
Only men could participate or watch the games.
The events included pancratium and chariot races.
The winner of the pentathlon was considered the best all-around athlete.
The winners were crowned with an olive-leaf wreath and honored with parades.
Poets read their works between events to entertain the crowd.
The theater began during festivals for the god Dionysus.
The first Greek plays were tragedies.
Plays were about peoples� relationships with the gods.
Later comedies developed.
Actors wore canvas masks.
Play were performed in open-air theaters.
The Greeks valued intellect and wisdom.
They called the love of wisdom philosophia.
They encouraged all people to have this love for wisdom.
A famous person who searched for wisdom was Socrates who lived in Athens.
He taught people to think using questions that eventually revealed the truth.
Many people felt threatened by Socrates who was sentenced to death by the government.
Plato was a student of Socrates.
He wrote the first book about political science called The Republic.
He believed that only the wise and good should govern.
Thales, the first Greek scientist, developed the first two steps of the scientific method.
They were collect information and develop a hypothesis.
Aristotle, a student of Plato, developed the third step.
It was to test the hypothesis.
Hippocrates was a Greek doctor who cured illnesses using scientific medicine.
He drew up a list of rules about how doctors should use their skills on patients.
The list was called the Hippocratic Oath.
It is still used today.
Philip II of Macedonia took over Greece in 338 BC.
He learned to love Greek culture when he was held hostage in Greece during his childhood.
He also learned during that time that he wanted to change Greek government.
The Greeks trusted Philip although the Greek orator Demosthenes warned that Philip would unite the city-states if he ever came to power.
Philip did just that when he invaded Greece.
Alexander the Great, Philip�s son, took over the empire after his father�s death.
He wanted to unite the Greeks, Macedonians, and Persians into a large empire.