Lesson Module The Greek World Click to enlarge Iron Age Governments Based on agriculture and centered on rivers King owns everything and has a special relationship with the gods Priests ID: 637363
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Slide1
The Early Greeks:The Ancient Greek World
Lesson ModuleSlide2
The Greek World
Click to enlargeSlide3
Iron Age GovernmentsBased on agriculture and centered on
riversKing owns everything and has a special relationship with the
gods
Priests
control
writing
and
knowledgeAristocratic nobles control the militaryPeasants work the land and are ownedSlide4
Iron Age ReligionsBound up with idea of fertility and harvest
Usually some sort of afterlife with rewards for the virtuous
Deeply
connected
to the government – king is divinely chosen and laws are divinely given
Patriarchal
in natureSlide5
Greek GovernmentGreek towns are small and
isolated by both mountains and seaIsolation results in small city-states and a range of government types
Kings exist but their power is
not
absolute
Size allows for
democracySlide6
Greek ReligionThe Greek Gods are not
connected to any human royal lineGreek Gods are unique in their humanityMystery religions popular in Greece
Orpheus
descends to Hades and returns with divine
knowledgeSlide7
Greek Advantage: The AlphabetEarliest alphabets are pictorial
and complexPhoenicians (1200 BCE) develop a phonemic alphabet – each symbol represents a soundGreeks
improve
upon Phoenician by adding
vowels
(800 BCE)
Easy to
learn – there are only 24 symbolsInfinitely flexibleSlide8
Greek Advantage: Trading
Many Greeks were
traders
, exchanging goods between colonies and Iron Age empires
Superior naval technology like the
trireme
made trade efficient and
profitablePrimary exports are wine and olive oilSlide9
Greek Advantage: CoinageNearby Lydia was the first to use currency in the form of
gold coins but the Greeks soon followedMoney is more efficient than barter causing trading to
increase
Greeks had easy access to rich gold mines, allowing for
seigniorage
Distinctive Athenian “owl” coin (5
th
century BCE)Slide10
The Persian Wars
499 to 494 BCE: Ionians revolt against Persian control with help from Greek city-states
490 BCE:
Persian invasion of Athens repelled at
Marathon
480 BCE:
Xerxes leads second invasion and is turned back at
Salamis (sea) and Plataea (land)