march 23, 2011

Today in my Western Civilization class, my classmates and I took a 58 point quiz to test our knowledge and note taking skills on Ancient Greece.  It took up most of our whole two mods, but when we were done we could play on our computer.  Although I believe we are only half way through our Ancient Greece unit, I guess it was a good way to see where we are, so we don't become too far behind point, if that is to happen.

Aristocrat- member of the ruling class; has wealth & power

Athens - Town built around the acropolis

Acropolis - big outcropping of rock where Athens sits.
good advantage because you can see your enemies approaching

Cleisthenes - set Greece up on a path to empire

Arête- everything you do, you do it to the best of your ability

The Iliad and the  odyssey - Bards (storytellers) - were told in Cleisthenes Athens as a child to make him believe that he would become who he was

Homer wrote the Illiad and the Odyssey -blind

Tyrant - (ruler) ordinary man Pisistratus was Cleisthenes' brother in law 

Turned to common Athenians for support

He reduced taxes, they were able to keep more of the money they made

He started treating regular people really well

He offers loans- from government

Went into seizing power by bringing in a tall woman and saying she was a goddess - Athena

Becomes friends with everyone who was NOT an aristocrat

514 BC- Hippias went into law

The freedom that the common Athenians had gained from Pisistratus, was taken away

He was a paranoid dictator

Anti-democratic

Cleisthenes throws over Hippias

Greek society was changing,

Isagarus was an Athenian aristocrat, who grew up thinking that power WAS his right

Old friend of Spartans, and they immediately backed up his bit for power and betray his city

They ruled from the acropolis - top part of their city

Cleisthenes, - feeling betrayed started a revolution

After three days of fighting, Isagarus was forced to surrender

• This was a revolution of the common people.

508 BC - for the first time the people of Athens had changed the government

Agora-In the shadow of the acropolis, the citizens of Athens came to discuss the decisions they will make for the state;

The beginning of a democracy, a congress, etc.

Met and voted every 9 days to vote on things; black pebble for no; white pebble for yes

Athenian democracy - they ARE the government

Regular people can be heroes

Worlds first democracy tested in war with Persia;

490 BC - 18 years after the first start of democracy

Phidippides - ran the first marathon for the reason of saving his country;

Desperate mission was to run for help from Marathon to Sparta

Ran 140 miles in just 2 days

Athenians slaughtered over 6,000 Persians in 1 day

Themistocles - Athenian general who had fought on the line at the Persian war

He didn't come from aristocrats

Learned skills of leadership at the Agora

One of the worlds greatest leaders - the savior of his city

Created the trireme-

Trireme-  greatest battle ship of it's time; could move very quickly; lethal (could take another ship out very quickly)

483 BC - found riches

Athenians wanted to split the money among themselves but Themistocles wanted to buy more ships;

Athenians had the greatest naval force

Xerxes - Darius's son - a Persian king who was still pissed that the Persian were defeated by the Greeks;

Attempted to get revenge

Rumors had leaked back Athens

480 BC - the Persian army had set out for Greece

Xerxes drank rivers dry, Ravaged lands,

Xerxes was very confident

Athenians; scared, sent messages to the oracle to find out their fate;

Oracle- a priests who can community with the gods, most well-regarded one could be found at Delphi - (considered to be the center of the universe)

Basically told them to "run away, they are doomed, you won't be able to win"

Ordered the evacuation of Athens for the first time in their history:

Wanted to fight in the sea rather than on land; stronger navy

Themistocles wanted to fight in the little body of water between Athens and Salamis ( A small island to the left of Athens )

Persian navy is 3X the size of the Greeks

Themistocles was outnumbered on land & sea but had better equipment and strategy so Athens won the battle again

"Athens was put into the right situation to start building an empire"

Delian League- All contributed money to Athens

So they would protect them and be under their gov't

Athens became a vast trading network

Pericles- born into one of Athens's most elite families- Aristocratic origins

Started out as Aristocrat but ended up letting the people continue to rule their own government;

Came up with the idea of the Parthenon & was directly involved in the planning project

Began to plan a new adventure - Brought Athens not Glory, but the loss of their empire

Sparta was the only city state who matched Athens in power

The fatal flaw - You have a great person who does so many things but they have one flaw that they can't give up;

Huberous- excessive pride and arrogance

Parthenon- massive, beautiful building; with enormous statue of Athena in it

Cost over a billion in todays terms

It is the most glorious symbol of Athens

Statue of Athena was over 40 feet tall - taller than JC

Done as a labor of love

A bunch of friezes [ A narrow shallow little piece of marble; 2 1/2 inches thick in depth]

500 feet of these surrounding the statue- in the form of farmers, artisans, etc.

Glorifying the common people as well, democracy

Makes democracy come to life

Aspasia - a prostitute

Pericles treated her as a normal person

Thought to have written Pericles's speeches

She was not from Athens - Foreign born

Astonishing that she had so much to say, so much input; while the women of Athens were to be seen but not heard

Athenian population would gather twice a year to watch popular entertainment at their theatre- they invented drama/theatre.

Greeks - people who emphasize freedom

Persians - put far more emphasis on obedience

Persians landed on Marathon;

Every male citizen came to the defense of his state;

Hoplite- closest thing to a professional army at that time

"a professional soldier"

Athenians were outnumber 2:1

Greek's created the vase - first artistic deal;

Artisans had no special or distinct respect

Life expectancy @ birth was less than 15 years

Regular Athenian citizens had no say in anything

Each city state was extremely independent and had it's own culture

The Corinthians dominated Greek trade

Spartans dominated in military instincts;

Children were brought up from a young age in camps to train to be a strong military man

march 21, 2011

Pericles- born into one of Athens's most elite families- Aristocratic origins

Started out as Aristocrat but ended up letting the people continue to rule their own government;

Came up with the idea of the Parthenon & was directly involved in the planning project

Began to plan a new adventure - Brought Athens not Glory, but the loss of their empire

Sparta was the only city state who matched Athens in power

The fatal flaw - You have a great person who does so many things but they have one flaw that they can't give up;

Huberous- excessive pride and arrogance

Parthenon- massive, beautiful building; with enormous statue of Athena in it

Cost over a billion in todays terms

It is the most glorious symbol of Athens

Statue of Athena was over 40 feet tall - taller than JC

Done as a labor of love

A bunch of friezes [ A narrow shallow little piece of marble; 2 1/2 inches thick in depth]

500 feet of these surrounding the statue- in the form of farmers, artisans, etc.

Glorifying the common people as well, democracy

Makes democracy come to life

Aspasia - a prostitute

Pericles treated her as a normal person

Thought to have written Pericles's speeches

She was not from Athens - Foreign born

Astonishing that she had so much to say, so much input; while the women of Athens were to be seen but not heard

Athenian population would gather twice a year to watch popular entertainment at their theatre- they invented drama/theatre.

march 18, 2011

483 BC - found riches

Athenians wanted to split the money among themselves but Themistocles wanted to buy more ships;

Athenians had the greatest naval force

Xerxes - Darius's son - a Persian king who was still pissed that the Persian were defeated by the Greeks;

Attempted to get revenge

Rumors had leaked back Athens

480 BC - the Persian army had set out for Greece

Xerxes drank rivers dry, Ravaged lands,

Xerxes was very confident

Athenians; scared, sent messages to the oracle to find out their fate;

Oracle- a priests who can community with the gods, most well-regarded one could be found at Delphi - (considered to be the center of the universe)

Basically told them to "run away, they are doomed, you won't be able to win"

Ordered the evacuation of Athens for the first time in their history:

Wanted to fight in the sea rather than on land; stronger navy

Themistocles wanted to fight in the little body of water between Athens and Salamis ( A small island to the left of Athens )

Persian navy is 3X the size of the Greeks

Themistocles was outnumbered on land & sea but had better equipment and strategy so Athens won the battle again

"Athens was put into the right situation to start building an empire"

Delian League- All contributed money to Athens

So they would protect them and be under their gov't

Athens became a vast trading network

march 17, 2011

Isagarus was an Athenian aristocrat, who grew up thinking that power WAS his right

Old friend of Spartans, and they immediately backed up his bit for power and betray his city

They ruled from the acropolis - top part of their city

Cleisthenes, - feeling betrayed started a revolution

After three days of fighting, Isagarus was forced to surrender

• This was a revolution of the common people.

508 BC - for the first time the people of Athens had changed the government

Agora-In the shadow of the acropolis, the citizens of Athens came to discuss the decisions they will make for the state;

The beginning of a democracy, a congress, etc.

Met and voted every 9 days to vote on things; black pebble for no; white pebble for yes

Athenian democracy - they ARE the government

Regular people can be heroes

Worlds first democracy tested in war with Persia;

490 BC - 18 years after the first start of democracy

Phidippides - ran the first marathon for the reason of saving his country;

Desperate mission was to run for help from Marathon to Sparta

Ran 140 miles in just 2 days

Athenians slaughtered over 6,000 Persians in 1 day

Themistocles - Athenian general who had fought on the line at the Persian war

He didn't come from aristocrats

Learned skills of leadership at the Agora

One of the worlds greatest leaders - the savior of his city

march 16, 2011

Aristocrat- member of the ruling class; has wealth & power

Athens - Town built around the acropolis

Acropolis - big outcropping of rock where Athens sits.
good advantage because you can see your enemies approaching

Cleisthenes - set Greece up on a path to empire

Arête- everything you do, you do it to the best of your ability

The Iliad and the  odyssey - Bards (storytellers) - were told in Cleisthenes Athens as a child to make him believe that he would become who he was

Homer wrote the Illiad and the Odyssey

Tyrant - (ruler) ordinary man Pisistratus was Cleisthenes' brother in law 

Turned to common Athenians for support

He reduced taxes, they were able to keep more of the money they made

He started treating regular people really well

Greek's created the vase - first artistic deal;

Artisans had no special or distinct respect

Life expectancy @ birth was less than 15 years

Regular Athenian citizens had no say in anything

Each city state was extremely independent and had it's own culture

The Corinthians dominated Greek trade

Spartans dominated in military instincts;

Children were brought up from a young age in camps to train to be a strong military man

crucible of civilization

crucible of civilization - "Athens was the center of the world"

cleisthenes - father of Athenian democracy
broke up power of nobility , so that not just the rich and aristocrats had all of the power.

Geography of Greece:

• Mountainous peninsula - Mountains cover 3/4 of Greece
• Approx. 1400 islands in the Aegean and Ionian Seas
• Location shaped it's culture
• skilled sailors (easiest way to get around the land)
• Poor natural resources
• Difficult to unite the ancient Greeks because of the terrain; developed small, independent communities - city states
• only 10% suitable for farming
• fertile valleys cover 1/4 of Peninsula
• Greek diet due to geography - grains, grapes & olives
• lack of resources most likely led to colonizations
• temperatures range from 48 in winter to 80 in the summer

Mycenaean's:

• began around 2000 BC
• Mycenae is located on a rocky ridge and protected by a 20 ft. thick wall
• Mycenaean kings dominated Greece from 1600-1200 BC - controlled trade in the region
• 1400 BC Mycenaean's invaded Crete and absorbed Minoan culture and language
  Decline of Culture:
• 1200 BC sea people began to invade Mycenae and burnt palace after palace
• The Dorian's moved into the war-torn region
  -far less advanced
  -economy collapsed
  -writing disappeared for 400 years

Homer and Myths:

• Only stories were kept and passed on by word of mouth
• Homer lived at the end of the "Greek Dark Ages"
• Recorded stories of the Trojan War in The Iliad and The Odyssey (written 750-700 B.C.)
• Homer was probably blind
• Trojan war was probably one of the last conquests of the Mycenaeans

Concepts:

• Arete - virtue and excelle
  do everything as well as it should be done
• Epics - narrative poems celebrating heroic deeds
• Myths were created to explain creation:
  Zues: leader of the gods
  Hera: Zeus' wife
  Athena: goddess of wisdom

march 11, 2011

After starting our new unit on Ancient Greece, we watched a movie/documentary on it.  I think a really strong point they were trying to stress to you is that the country was "physical" one of the least expected areas to grow to be such a strong nation, due to all of their mountains.  By the end of the day, it was easier to sail along the coast to get from West to East than to walk across the mountains themselves.  Also, Spartans were born as fighters.  Boys were taken from their family at a young age to go train in their barracks.  Spartan boys were warriors. 

march 9, 2011

Today in western civilization class we started our unit on Greece.  As a class, we created a Google docs power-point and my topic was Herodotus; an ancient Greek historian who had been renamed " The father of history."  He was said to be born in 490 BC.

Daily life :

S o c i a l h i e r a r c h y ;

Pharaoh

Government officials - Nobles, Priests

Soldiers

Scribes

Merchants

Artisans

Farmers

Slaves and Servants

slaves and servants helped the wealthy with household and childraising duties - not abused and sheckalled like USA slaves

farmer raised wheat, barley, lentils, onions- benefitted from irrigation of the Nile

artisans would carve statues and reliefs showing military battles and scenes in the afterlife

merchants - the money/barter system was used - merchants might accept bags of grain for payment - later, coinage came about

scribes-  kept recordds, told stories, wrote poetry, describes anatomy and medical treatments

soldiers used wooden weapons (bows&arrows, spears) w/ bronze tips and might ride chariots

Upper class known as the "white kilt class" - priests physicians, engineers

pharaohs- the political and religious leader of the Egyptian people,

holding the titles: Lord of the Two lands

and High priest of every temple

Hatshepsut was a woman who served as pharaoh