Ancient Greece EARLY CIVILIZATIONS OF ANCIENT GREECE Minoans

Ancient Greece EARLY CIVILIZATIONS OF ANCIENT GREECE

Minoans • flourished between 2700 and 1450 B. C on the island of Crete • Palace at Knossos – numerous private living rooms for the royal family and workshops for making decorated vases, ivory figurines, and jewelry – bathrooms with elaborate drains, formed part of the complex – rooms were decorated with brightly colored paintings showing sporting events and nature scenes – Storerooms in the palace held gigantic jars of oil, wine, and grain, and items that were paid as taxes to the king. • 2 ideas about how the civilization collapsed: 1. Tidal wave triggered a volcanic eruption 2. Invasion from the Mycenaeans on the mainland

Palace at Knossos

p. 27 Early Greek Civilizations The Mycenaeans • Had fortified palaces on top of hills • Made up of influential rulers that had a loose alliance of independent states • They were a warrior people who took pride in doing heroic deeds • Most of what we know about them comes legends in Homer’s poetry - The Illiad and The Odyssey – about the Trojan War

The Trojan War – in 1200 BC, the Mycenaean kings fought a 10 year war against Troy, an independent trading city in Anatolia. – According to a blind Greek poet Homer, the city of Troy was destroyed because a Trojan prince, Paris, kidnapped Helen, the beautiful wife of a Mycenaean King – Thought to be fiction until 1871 when Heinrich Schlieman – uncovered the ruins of the – ancient city of Troy, buried – 7 th under several layers of – cities uncovered at the site.

The “Dark Ages” Dorian Age – Dark Ages • After the Mycenaean civilization collapsed, the Dorians moved into Greek territory. • They were not as advanced in skills such as writing and bronze making. The important skill of writing was lost at this time in Greece, leaving a 400 year gap in Greek History (known as dark ages) • People started relying on poets to relive history. The most famous poet of this time was Homer. This was when he wrote his stories of the Trojan War

p. 28: Types of Government in Greece By 750 BC, Greek villages gradually expanded and became independent city-states, or in Greek, polis – Acropolis - a fortified gathering place at the top of a hill which was sometimes the site of temples and public buildings – agora - an open area, below the acropolis, that served as a gathering place and as a market

Types of Government Each city-state in Greece had its own government 1) Monarchy – ruled by a king or monarch 2) Aristocracy – ruled by a small group of noble, landowning families 3) Oligarchy – ruled by a few powerful people (Sparta) 4) Democracy – ruled by the people 5) Direct Democracy – ruled by the majority vote (Athens) 6) Tyranny – ruled by a powerful individual, tyrant, who seized control of the government

p. 43 Athens Sparta