The Ancient and Medieval World

HST 108    Greece: from the Minoans to Alexander

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I. Geography and Environment [MAP]
	A. islands, peninsulas and mountains lead to small, isolated communities (city-states)
	B. surrounded by the sea

II. Bronze Age Greece (3300-1150 BCE) [MAP]	
	A. Minoans (2500-1450 BCE)
		1. centered on the island of Crete
		2. king Minos and his palace at Knossos
		3. strong navy
		4. devastated by tsunami generated by volcanic eruption
	B. Mycenaeans (1600-1200 BCE)
		1. centered on the Greek mainland
		2. destroyed the weakened Minoan civilization around 1450 BCE
		3. they themselves were destroyed around 1200 BCE

III.  Dark Age Greece (1100-750 BCE)
	A. cities are destroyed
	B. writing disappears

 IV.  Homer's Iliad (8th c. BCE)
	A. part of Greek oral tradition from the Dark Age and Bronze Age
	B. the Trojan War
	C. religion
		1. polytheistic
		2. mythopoeic
		3. Olympia 
			a. Zeus
			b. athletic contests
		4. Delphi 
			a. Apollo
			b. the oracle
	D. culture
		1. areté		
		2. honor
		3. fate
		4. excerpt from the Iliad, Book VI
			- the Trojan prince Hector says the following when bidding farewell 
			to his wife Andromache before heading out to the field of battle:
				...with what face should I look upon the Trojans...if I shirked battle 
				like a coward?  I cannot do so: I know nothing but to fight bravely
				in the forefront of the Trojan host and win renown alike for my father
				and myself...  My own wife, do not take these things too bitterly 
				to heart.  No one can hurry me down to Hades before my time, but if
				a man's hour is come...there is no escape for him...  Go, then, within
				the house, and busy yourself with your daily duties...for war is man's
				matter.
	E. position of women in society
		1. generally relegated to the domestic sphere
		2. no political rights
		3. divorce was difficult to get for women
		4. women could not own property by themselves
		5. wealthy women could not leave the house by themselves
		6. men could have mistresses who lived in the house with them

V. Archaic Greece (750-500 BCE) [MAP]
        A. population growth
		1. decrease in warfare
		2. iron age = better tools = increased food production
	B. urbanization
	C. reintroduction of writing 
		1. did not return to their system of symbols, Linear B
		2. instead, they borrowed the Phoenician alphabet
	D. colonizing the Mediterranean
                1. spread of Greek culture
                2. increased trade
        E. political Change
                1. ethnos
                2. polis = city-state
		3. hoplites
		4. phalanx                 
		5. democratization of warfare = democratization of political life 
		6. those who fight are those who vote

VI. Athens
	A. the Archaic Period: Athens rising to power
		1. monarchy
			a. prevalent during Bronze Age and Dark Age
			a. single, all-powerful ruler, such as a king
         	2. oligarchy: rule by a few = rule by aristocrats
			a. aristocrats overthrew the king
                 	b. they ran the government through the areopagus (the council)
			c. only aristocrats could sit on the areopagus
		3. aristocrats dominate society
			a. they made life difficult for the common people
			b. by the 7th century, large numbers of commoners
				were broke, without land and often enslaved
			c. the commoners agitate for reforms
				a. economic reforms
				b. political reforms
			d. rights
				a. all free men get the right to vote
				b. wealthier men get the right to hold office
		4. tyranny
			a. classical tyranny very different than modern tyranny
			b. a tyrant was simply someone who seized control of the government
			b. Peisistratus (d. 527 BCE)
				1. champion of the poor
				2. seized power in 560 BCE
				3. redistributed exiled nobles' land
			d. Cleisthenes (d. 500 BCE)
				1. followed the example of Peisistratus
				2. redistricted Athens to dilute the power of the aristocrats
				3. given the nickname "the democrat"
	B. the Classical Period: the height of Athens' power
 		1. The Persian Wars (499-479 BCE) [MAP]
        		a. the Persian Empire encompassed Macedonia and Ionia [MAP]
			b. Athens assists the Ionians in revolt (499 BCE)
			c. Darius I wants revenge
			d. Marathon (490 BCE)
				1. Athenians defeat much larger Persian army
				2. superior discipline and tactics of hoplite warfare
         		e. Thermopylae (480 BCE) 
				1. Xerxes wants revenge
				2. small Spartan-led contingent holds off massive Persian army for a week
				3. the Persians eventually surround and crush the Greeks
         		f. Salamis (480 BCE)
				1. Athenian-led navy lures Persian fleet into narrow Bay of Salamis
				2. the Greeks win due to bottlenecking and superior ships
				3. the trireme [Image 1] [Image 2] [Image 3]
		2. The Delian League [MAP]
			a. Sparta was preoccupied with the helots
			b. thus, Athens leads a league of city-states intended to defend the region
			c. named after the island of Delos where its treasury was located
			d. Athens manipulates the league and it basically becomes Athens' empire
		3. Democratic Athens
			a. democracy flourishing in Athens; even more people now eligible for office
			b. but it's not a true democracy
			c. excerpt from Thucydides Funeral Oration of Pericles:
				Our constitution does not copy the laws of neighboring states; we are 
				rather a pattern to others than imitators ourselves. Its administration 
				favors the many instead of the few; this is why it is called a democracy. 
				If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private 
				differences; if to social standing, advancement in public life falls to 
				reputation for capacity, class considerations not being allowed to interfere 
				with merit... Such is the Athens for which these men, in the assertion of 
				their resolve not to lose her, nobly fought and died; and well may every 
				one of their survivors be ready to suffer in her cause.... 
			d. the citizen must be willing to fight and die for Athens
			e. but only adult males born in Athens get full citizenship
				- i.e., only about 15% of the population got full citizenship rights
		4. The Peloponnesian War, 431-404 BCE [MAP]
			a. cause: Sparta's fear of Athens' steadily rising power
			b. spark: Athens butting into Sparta's sphere of influence
				1. Phase 1
					a. Athens aids Corcyra against Corinth (435 BCE)
        				b. Sparta invades Attica (431 BCE)
        				c. plague in 430 BCE, but Sparta still can't defeat Athens
        				d. peace in 421 BCE
				2. Phase 2
					a. rise of Alcibiades in Athens
        				b. Athens attacks and is defeated by Syracuse (415 BCE)
        				c. Alcibiades defects to Sparta
					d. Sparta, with help of Alcibiades and Persia, renew the war
       					e. the Spartans destroy the Athenian fleet at the Hellespont (405 BCE)
        				f. Athens unconditionally surrenders to Sparta (404 BCE)

VII. Philip II of Macedon (382-336 BCE)
        A. Macedonia had been weak and disorganized in the 5th century [MAP]
        B. Philip takes the throne in 359 BCE
	C. he leads campaigns to the north
		a. occupies the warrior aristocrats
		b. creates a buffer zone to protect against Persian invasion
	D. Philip intervenes in Greece in 346 BCE
        	1. 346-338 BCE -- Philip takes control of the Greek city-states
                2. military innovation -- infantrymen with longer spears [Image]
       		3. 338 BCE -- Battle of Chaeronea; Philip creates League of Corinth [Map]
        E. Philip decides to attack Persian Empire, but dies in 336 BCE

VIII. Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE) [Map]
        A. takes the throne in 336 BCE
	B. defeats the rebellious Greek city-states (destroys Thebes) [Map]
	C. heads eastward and creates a massive empire over the following decade
        	1. 334 BCE - victory at Granicus in Asia Minor (against Persian governors)
        	2. 333 BCE - defeats Darius III at Issus (Darius escaped)
		3. 333-331 BCE - conquers Egypt
        	4. 331 BCE - defeats Darius III at Gaugamela (Darius escaped again)
        	5. 331 BCE - Darius murdered; Alexander in control of Persian empire
        	6. 326 BCE - Alexander crosses the Indus River
        	7. 323 BCE - Alexander back in Babylon; dies at age 32

IX. The Hellenistic World [Map]
        A. Alexander's gigantic, multi-ethnic empire is divided up
        B. Alexander had established Greek cities throughout his empire
        C. these cities facilitated the spread of Greek culture
	D. Hellenistic culture
                1. society
			a. Alexander's cities (e.g., Alexandria in Egypt) were very cosmopolitan
			b. filled with people from all over the Middle East
		2. economy
			a. greatly expanded trade
			b. cities became centers of manufacturing
			c. Greek was a universal language
			d. many rulers used a standardized currency
   		3. opportunities for women
			a. economic power: they could own/sell property and make loans
			b. personal freedom: they could travel more openly and freely
		4. education
			a. gymnasium becomes a public, state-sponsored institution
			b. no longer focused only on athletics
			c. music, literature, history
		5. philosophy
			a. emphasis on individual happiness
			b. Epicureanism (Epicurus)
			c. Stoicism (Zeno)
		6. religion
			a. also emphasized individual happiness
			b. promised individual salvation
			c. typically called mystery religions