Study Guide

Worksheet / Study Guide for

CLASSICAL GREECE

and

The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization

Want to do well on the next test?  Here’s where to start:  Know what’s on this sheet.  Post the answers on your blog.  Find the answers by checking your text, doing independent research, taking good notes while watching the video, or referring to the website that accompanies the video: http://www.pbs.org/empires/thegreeks .

IMPORTANT DATES:  In a sentence or two, describe what important or historical event took place on the following dates:

1600 – 1200 BC= The Mycenaean Civilization

1150 – 750 BC= The Dark Ages

776 BC= The Olympic Games were started

750 – 700 BC= Homer wrote the Iliad and The Odyssey

508 BC= Athens rebelled against their rulers and the aristocrats and Athens started their democracy. It was a new dawn form Athens they turned to Cleisthenes to run their democracy.

490 BC= Pheidippides runs from Athens to Sparta and the war of Marathon happens when the Persians( King Darius) try to take over Athens

480 BC= Themistocles built triremes. King Darius son tried to take over Athens again with a huge army. The people abandoned Athens and the woman  went to a city and the men fought on the triremes. They lured the Persians into the Strait of Salamis.

461 – 429 BC= Age of Pericles This is when he first took power and then the last date is when he died of the plague

447 – 438 BC= built the Parthenon

431 – 404 BC= Pericles took podium and wanted to go to war with Sparta because he thought they were a threat and they did. Its called the Peloponnesian war.  It ended the golden ages of Athens when they loose to Sparta. Athens lost about 1/3  or 2/3 of their population  during this war.

399 BC= Socrates dies of poison

336 BC= alexander the Great created his empire

MEN, WOMEN, GODS AND GODDESSES YOU SHOULD KNOW:  In one or two sentences, describe what is significant about the following people (or immortals):

Homer= an early poet that preserved the traditional myths of the deities personalities and deeds in his writings. He wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey.

Odysseus= Trojan War hero who spent ten years trying to get home to his wife.

Zeus= the ruler of the sky, presided over a divine family

-          Had many wives

-          God of sky and thunder

Athena= She was one of Zeus offspring/ she was an armed and warlike virgin

-          She was linked with skill and wisdom

-          Patron of Athens

-          Goddess of wisdom

 Not on the Test: Draco= formulate the Greek laws into one Greek written law

-          He was really strict

Pisistratus=came into Athens with the Goddess of Athens but she was really just another woman from another city. He became a tyrant of Athens and turned to the people for support. He was not a mean or harsh ruler he paved the way for democracy. He lent the common people money and reduced their taxes.

Cleisthenes= an aristocrat and was told since birth to be a leader of Athens. He was thrown out of power.

-          He saw that ordinary people should have freedom, so he sent the Greeks on the road to civilization

-          Born around 570 BC

Darius (the Great)= King of Persia during the battle of Marathon and he lost to Athens.

-Xerxes= Darius son and gained power as the new Persian empire.

Pheidippides= ran from Sparta to Athens to ask for help but was turned down. Ran 140 miles in just two days

Themistocles= built the triremes

            -fought in the marathon war

            -

Pericles= leader of Athens  and started the Polyponnesian  war

Aristophanes= Pericles partner

Socrates= one of the most famous philosphers

Plato

Aristotle

Alexander the Great

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION:  Be able to locate the following on a map:

Athens                         Sparta                                      Peloponnesus                          Ionia

Ionian Sea                               Aegean Sea                             Persian Empire

GREEK POLITICAL STRUCTURES: Describe these political institutions:

Monarchy= a state in which supreme power is held by a single, usually hereditary ruler.              Democracy= In ancient Greece, a form of government in which all adult male citizens were entitled to take part in decision.

 Oligarchy= A state in which supreme power is held by a small group

 Aristocracy= is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule called aristocrats

PERICLES’ THREE GOALS FOR ATHENS: Name ‘em; describe ‘em. 1 to strengthen Athenian democracy2 to hold and strengthen the empire

3to glorify Athens

GREEK ART: Identify and describe examples in these fields:

Sculpture = the greeks passion for beauty and their interest in human forms are clearly reflected in their sculpture

-          Early greek statues like their buildings reveal an Egyptian influence

-          The nudity and the smiling faces represent the nakedness of greek athletes and expressing the joy of victory are greek innovations

-          -The statues carved during the fifth century bc were chiefly of gods and goddesses and they resembled mortals

-          Phidias was the most highly respected sculpter of Athens in the golden ages and was in charge of the Parthenon sculptures.

-          He carved the gigantic wood statue of Athena that was 35 feet tall that was placed in the main inner chamber rof the Parthenon

-          The discus Thrower was another famous sculpture done by Myron                   

Architecture= they built open marketplaces enclosed by covered colonnades( rows of collumns), outdoor amphitheaters for dramatic festivials, open air gymnasiums, race courses, and stadiums but their main one was the temple. 

-          Parthenon of Athens was their best temple

-          The Parthenon was designed about 450 BC by the architects Ictinus and Callicrates a spart of Pericles plan for rebuilding the Acropolis after the Persians had destroyed the earlier sacred structures there. It measures 100 by230 feet                         

Drama (tragedy and comedy)  =  

-tragedy began in the 6^th century .

-The most successful writer of Greek comedy  was Aristophanes. He used his plays to make fun of local politicians, poets, and philosophers with whom he disagreed, as well as the politics and government of Athens democracy as in the Lysistrata and the assemblywoman.  

- Comedies and tragedies were presented during the festivial of Dionysus in open air amphitheaters

- the three biggest tragedy writers were Aeschuylus, Sophocles, and Euripides

-Aeschylus wrote the Orestes trilogy- Agamemnon, the libation bearers, and the Eumenides 

 - these stories are about the family crimes of the royal house of Atreus.