5-2 greek notes
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5.2 Greek Government & Society
I. Greek Culture
A. Blind poet Homer wrote 2 epics
i. Iliad: Trojan War Greeks vs. Troy - last for 10years, ends with Odysseus idea of Trojan Horse,
Greeks win
ii. Odyssey Odysseus journey home
Religion
iii. Polytheistic (ex. Zeus head of gods, Aphrodite
goddess of love and beauty)
iv. Deities were humanlike1. explained nature myths
2. explained extreme emotions
3. benefits luck, harvest
v. Oracles where gods spoke through priests
B. Olympic Games
i. To honor Zeus every 4 years
ii. Only men could participateiii. Boxing, running, javelin, wrestling, etc.
II. Polis
A. The polis, a city-state, was the basic political unit
of the Hellenic Civilization. (The words police and
politics come from the word polis.)
B. A typical polis included the city and surrounding
villages, fields and orchards.
C. At the center of the city was an acropolis, a
fortified hill, which held the temple of the local deity.
D. An agora was the public square at the foot of the
acropolis where meetings took place.
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III.Society & Economy
A. Greek women had no political or legal rights.
B. Economy for city-states was based on agriculture.
C. Each polis set up colonies in coastal areas along the
Black and Mediterranean Seas (because of a lack offood after the Dark Ages).
IV. Govt
A. In most Greek city-states before 500 BC, citizenship
and voting rights were usually extended to male
landowners only.
B. Small group of landowners aristocrats, overthrew the
kings by 700 BC. But they abused their power overtime.
C. Tyrants , one man who seizes power (illegally, but had
peoples support), ruled Greek city-states 650-500
BC. (Tyrants usually were NOT cruel; a few who were
cruel gave us our current definition of tyranny.)
D. From 500 BC to 336 BC, many Greek city-states
were ruled by a small group of wealthy people, calledan oligarchy.
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E. Spartan women were brought up to be as healthy and strong
as possible. (Sparta was the only Greek society where the
girls received as much food as the boys. They trained in
wrestling, gymnastics, and boxing.)
F. Spartan women had more personal rights and freedomsthan women of any other Greek city-state did.
ATHENS
I. History & Geography
A. Athens was located on Attica, peninsula of central Greece.
They were descendants from the Mycenaeans.
B. Athens is named after the goddess Athena.C. Sea traders because of unfertile land.
II. Life in Athens
A.Only Athenian born men had full political right. Women could
not vote or hold political office.
B. By 507 BC all free MEN could participate in the Assembly
regardless of whether they owned land.C. 9 Archons were elected who served one year terms to run
the govt.
III. Changes in Govt
A. Dracoscode of law was considered an improvement because
it eliminated inconsistent laws and punishments, but very
harsh.
B. Solonpromoted the growth of Athenian industry by
extending citizenship to foreign-born artisans, also
canceled all land debts. He set up a bicameral legislature.
C. Peisistratusgave citizenship to men who did not own land.
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D. Cleisthenes introduced laws establishing Athenian
democracy (direct democracy).
IV. Democracy
A.All citizens could belong to the Assembly, the major politicalinstitution of Athenian democracy. They were equal before
the law and had freedom of speech.
B. The Assembly passed laws and also served as a supreme
court.
C. Every year, the members of the Athenian Assembly chose
the Council of 500 by a general lottery, which administered
taxes, treaties, and public works.D. Citizens of democratic Athens favored lotteries over
elections because they believed election could be dominated
by the wealthy or well spoken.
E. Athenian system for removing bad politicians from office was
called ostracism.
F.Athens laid the foundation for the Western concept of
democratic government.