Ancient Greece

1. Ancient Greece

2. Impact of Geography • Greece consists of a mountainous peninsula in the Mediterranean sea. • Includes 2,000 islands • Expanded to lands around Aegean sea

3. Impact of the Sea • Similar to the rivers in the early river valley civilizations. • Civilization was rarely more than 85 miles away from the sea • Seaways linked the pieces of Greece together and linked Greece to other societies • Sea travel became essential as much of Greece lacked natural resources.

4. Impact of the Land • Rugged mountains covered about ¾ of ancient Greece • Mountains divided Greece into different regions • Divided politics into a group of individual local communities • Terrain made land travels and trade difficult • Could take days to travel what normally would take hours. • Only a small portion of the land was arable • Usable for farming • Rivers couldn’t support large irrigation projects. • Couldn’t support a large population • Motivated Greeks to search for new colonies.

5. Impact of the Climate • Greece had a Varied climate ranging from 48 degrees in the winter to 80 degrees Fahrenheit • Supported the outdoor lifestyle • Lead to outdoor events • Sports • Politics • Plays

6. Mycenaean Civilization • Early Greek Culture grew out of Indo-Europeans who migrated around the Mediterranean • Became known as the Mycenaean because of their main city of Mycenae • A well fortified city in Southern Greece • A king ruled the surrounding areas in Southern Greece • Including Tiryns and Athens • Ruled from 1600 to 1100 BC

7. Influence of the Minoans • Around 1500 BC the Mycenaean's came in contact with the Minoans • Learned the value of sea trade • Started trading all over the Mediterranean • Mycenaean adapted the Minoan writing system to the Greek Language and decorated vases with Minoan Designs • Minoan culture would form the core of Greek religious practices, art, politics, and literature

8. The Trojan War • During 1200 BC the Mycenaeans fought a ten year war against Troy • An independent trading city located Anatolia. • According to legend, a Greek army besieged and destroyed Troy because a Trojan Prince had kidnapped Helen, the wife of the Greek King. • Legends state that the Greeks defeated the Trojans with the use of the Trojan Horse • Unknown if true, but modern research is showing that Troy existed and it was possibly the last Mycenaean battle.

9. Mycenaean Civilization • Not long after the war the Mycenaean culture declined • Around 1200 BC sea raiders attacked and burned many Mycenaean cities. • A new group of people, the Dorians, moved into the war-torn country • Spoke a dialect relatives of the Bronze Age Greeks

10. The Dorians • Were far less advanced than the Mycenaeans • Economy collapsed under the Dorians • Lost written language and art under the Dorians • Because of this little is known about this period of Greek History • What is known comes from stories passed down • One of the greatest story tellers was Homer

11. The Epics of Homer • Some believe that homes composed his epics between 750 and 700 BC • Narrative poems celebrating heroic deeds • The Iliad is a story set against the Trojan War • Include Achilles and Hector of Troy as heroes • Both demonstrate a Greek ideal of arete • Virtue and excellence

12. The Greek Myths • The Greeks also developed a rich set of Myths • Traditional stories about their Gods • Many developed out of the stories of Homer and Hesiod. • Helped the Greeks understand nature and the power of passion. • Attributed human qualities to the gods • Gods lived forever

13. Greek Gods • Zeus • Zeus was the god of the sky and ruler of the Olympian gods. Zeus overthew his Father Cronus. He then drew lots with his brothers Poseidon and Hades. Zeus won the draw and became the supreme ruler of the gods. He is lord of the sky, the rain god. His weapon is a thunderbolt which he hurls at those who displease him. He is married to Hera but, is famous for his many affairs. He is also known to punish those that lie or break oaths.He was the rain god, and the cloud gatherer, who wielded the terrible thunderbolt. His breastplate was the aegis, his bird the eagle, his tree the oak. He is represented as the god of justice and mercy, the protector of the weak, and the punisher of the wicked.

14. Greek Gods • Poseidon • God of the sea, protector of all waters. Poseidon is the brother of Zeus. After the overthow of their Father Cronus he drew lots with Zeus and Hades, another brother, for shares of the world. His prize was to become lord of the sea. He was widely worshiped by seamen. He married Amphitrite, a granddaughter of the TitanOceanus. • At one point he desired Demeter. To put him off Demeter asked him to make the most beautiful animal that the world had ever seen. So to impress her Poseidon created the first horse. In some accounts his first attempts were unsucessful and created a varity of other animals in his quest. By the time the horse was created his passion for Demeter had cooled. • His weapon is a trident, which can shake the earth, and shatter any object. He is second only to Zeus in power amongst the gods. He has a difficult quarrelsome personality. He was greedy. He had a series of disputes with other gods when he tried to take over their cities.

15. Greek Gods • Hades • Hades is the brother of Zeus. After the overthrow of their Father Cronus he drew lots with Zeusand Poseidon, another brother, for shares of the world. He had the worst draw and was made lord of the underworld, ruling over the dead. He is a greedy god who is greatly concerned with increasing his subjects. Those whose calling increase the number of dead are seen favorably. The Erinnyes are welcomed guests. He is exceedingly disinclined to allow any of his subjects leave. • He is also the god of wealth, due to the precious metals mined from the earth. He has a helmet that makes him invisible. He rarely leaves the underworld. He is unpitying and terrible, but not capricious. His wife is Persephone whom Hades abducted. He is the King of the dead but, death itself is another god,Thanatos.

16. Greek Gods • Hestia • Hestia is Zeus sister. She is a virgin goddess. She does not have a distinct personality. She plays no part in myths. She is the Goddess of the Hearth, the symbol of the house around which a new born child is carried before it is received into the family. Each city had a public hearth sacred to Hestia, where the fire was never allowed to go out. Of all the Olympians, she is the mildest, most upright and most charitable.

17. Greek Gods • Athena • Athena is the Greek virgin goddess of reason, intelligent activity, arts and literature. Athena is the daughter of Zeus. She sprang full grown in armour from his forehead, thus has no mother. She is fierce and brave in battle but, only wars to defined the state and home from outside enemies. She is the goddess of the city, handicrafts, and agriculture. She invented the bridle, which permitted man to tame horses, the trumpet, the flute, the pot, the rake, the plow, the yoke, the ship, and the chariot. She is the embodiment of wisdom, reason, and purity. She was Zeus's favorite child and was allowed to use his weapons including his thunderbolt. Her favorite city is Athens. Her tree is the olive. The owl is her bird.

18. Greek Gods • Apollo • Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto. His twin sister is Artemis. He is the god of music, playing a golden lyre. The Archer, far shooting with a silver bow. The god of healing who taught man medicine. The god of light. The god of truth, who can not speak a lie. • One of Apollo's more important daily tasks is to harness his chariot with four horses an drive the Sun across the sky. • He is famous for his oracle at Delphi. People traveled to it from all over the Greek world to divine the future. • His tree was the laurel. The crow his bird. The dolphin his animal.

19. Greek Gods • Hermes • He was the cleverest of the Olympian gods, and messenger to all the other gods. • Hermes is the son of Zeus and Maia. He is Zeus messenger. He is the fastest of the gods. He wears winged sandals, a winged hat, and carries a magic wand. He is the god of thieves and god of commerce. He is the guide for the dead to go to the underworld. He invented the lyre, the pipes, the musical scale, astronomy , weights and measures, boxing, gymnastics, and the care of olive trees

20. Greek Gods • Hephaestus • Hephaestus is the son of Zeus and Hera. Sometimes it is said that Hera alone produced him and that he has no father. He is the only god to be physically ugly. He is also lame. Accounts as to how he became lame vary. Some say that Hera, upset by having an ugly child, flung him from Mount Olympus into the sea, breaking his legs. Others that he took Hera's side in an arguement with Zeus and Zeus flung him off Mount Olympus. He is the god of fire and the forge. He is the smith and armorer of the gods. He uses a volcano as his forge. He is the patron god of both smiths and weavers. He is kind and peace loving. His wife is Aphrodite.  • Aphrodite • Aphrodite is the goddess of love, desire and beauty. In addition to her natural gifts she has a magical girdle that compels anyone she wishes to desire her • The myrtle is her tree. The dove, the swann, and the sparrow her birds. Her favorite lover is the god of war, Ares. She represented sex, affection, and the attraction that binds people together.