Ancient Greece

Discover how Greek geography shaped its civilization and democracy!

Geography Shapes Greek Life BACKGROUND:The civilization of ancient Greece flowered more than 2500 years ago but the ideas of the ancient Greeks continue to influence the way we live today. Greece is made up of a peninsulaand group of islands in southeastern Europe. A peninsula is a piece of land that is almost surrounded by water. The people of ancient Greece attempted to explain the world through the laws of nature. The ancient Greeks made important discoveries in science. They developed democracy, where people govern themselves rather than being ruled by a king. The Greeks also valued beauty and imagination. They wrote many stories and plays that continue to be performed today.The people of ancient Greece could not farm most of their mountainous, rocky land, so they became excellent sailors who traveled to distant lands. Greek sailors learned from many different cultures and spread their ideas to many lands far from their home. The Greeks learned the alphabet from the Phoenicians, a sea-faring people from modern day Syria and Lebanon.Ancient Greek geographers divided the world into regions we still use today. The lands west of Greece are still known as the western world, while the lands east of Greece are often referred to as the eastern world.A cradle is a small bed for an infant. Many of the ideas that flourished in the western world were “born” in ancient Greece. This is why Greece is often known as the Cradle of Western Civilization. Fill in the blanks using the text above Greece is made up of a peninsulawhich is a piece of land mostly surrounded by water. Greek people valued beauty and imagination. Greece is in the Alpine Region of Europe which means its covered with mountains. The Balkans mountain range made it difficult for Greek people to farm their mountainous, rocky land, so many of them became sailors. This allowed them to interact with the Phoenicians, who taught them how to use the alphabet to keep records. Today Greece is known as the cradle of Western Civilization because its where many ideas were born. Look at the map of Greece above. What fact about the geography might make traveling by sea be easy for the ancient Greek people? Athensand Democracy Athensis the capital and largest city in modern Greece, but Athens also has a long history that dates back 7000 years. Modern ideas about democracy first developed in ancient Athens. Athens developed as a merchant city which traded with many faraway places. The traders were exposed to many new ideas. The first Athenian rulers were warriors who controlled the city state by force. The warrior families called themselves aristocrats. Aristoi- comes from a Greek word meaning “best people.” The tyrant was the leader of the aristocrats. Today we use the term tyrantto describe a cruel ruler, but many of the Athenian tyrants were kind and effective leaders.About 622BCE, a tyrant named Draco created a written legal system and a court to enforce his laws. Draco’s court meted out harsh punishments for even minor offenses. Today we use the word draconianto describe laws that are unnecessarily harsh or unjust.In 594BCE, Solon became the leader of Athens. Solon repealed Draco’s harshest laws and assembled a group of ordinary citizens to vote on how Athens was to be governed. The Assembly gathered forty times a year and was open to all male citizens with at least two years of military service. The word for people in ancient Greek was demos. Kratos meant rule. The government created by Solon was a democracy, where the people ruled the city state. Most democratic nations have elected representatives to make laws, but Athens was a direct democracy because the citizens acted as lawmakers. Direct democracy was possible in ancient Athens and even today is the system by which many small towns operate.Athens encouraged outsiders to move to their city state, but only free-born males could vote. Women could own property but were not allowed to participate in the democratic process. About one in four people living in Athens were slaves. The members of the Assembly had time to work on public affairs because slaves did most of the physical work in the city state. Consequently, only about one-fourth of the total population of Athens could vote.Participation in government by common people was an idea that eventually became a model for other nations. The democratic government in Athens inspired the writers of the American Constitution. Athenian democracy was limited, but it gave some people the opportunity to make decisions about how they were governed. Make up a Draconian punishment for something that might happen today. How did Solon Change how Athens was governed? Solon set up harsh laws Solon replaced harsh laws with no laws Solon established himself as a tyrant Solon set up a democratic system Matching Match the word with the definition from the reading above Athens First Democratic City state in Greece Aristocrats Means "best people" in Greek Tyrant One-man Ruler Draconian Describes cruel or harsh laws or punishment Democracy Rule by the people 1 of the population How many people were part of the democratic system in Athens Alexander The Great Alexander the Great was a brilliant Greek military leader who conquered vast amounts of land East of Greece. He was trained by Aristotle, who was a philosopher from Athens, and he spread the ideas and culture of ancient Greece to many new places. At this time, the Greek people called themselves the Hellas. Therefore, the culture and ideas that Alexander spread was called Hellenism. Although his empire was short-lived, the cultural footprint he left is still evident in many places. After Alexander died, his generals divided up his land into the yellow and green regions on the map above. According to the map, what was traded in the Eastern Ptolemaic area of Africa? Gold Grain Horses Lumber According to the map above, which two items were gathered from outside the Ptolemaic and Seleucid areas of control? gold and horses wood and pearls gold and pearls Greece vs. USA Sort the characteristics of Athens and the United States USA representative democracy republic all citizens can vote large plains easy to farm Enjoys theatre Greece direct democracy pure democracy only 1 of the population can vote rocky land difficult to farm Enjoys thatre