Friday, March 11, 2011

The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization

From 3/11 revised on 3/16
Today in class we are watching a movie about the Greeks. Here is what I learned
  •      They changed the world
  •      508 B.C: people turned on their rulers
  •           Athens: people turned on their rulers, they are demanding freedom
  •      Cleisthenes: an a Athenian noble; an aristocrat 
  •      Cleisthenes was born to be a ruler
  •           He saw that they should have freedom
  •      He set them on the path to empire
  •      He was born in 570 B.C. and lived in Athens 
  •      Athens was not big it was very small
  •      Seemed impossible that Greece would rule an empire
  •      Town was built around an Acropolis 
  •      Life was tough 
  •      They lived under the rule of aristocrats
  •           They had no part or share in anything
  •      Greece didn't look like a place to grow a civilizations
  •      Divided into nations called city-states
  •      Athens wasn't the most powerful
  •      One city-state had military power
  •      Sparta was raised to be soldiers at birth
  •      They were raised in field, separated by their family, started at age 6-7
  •      Cloaks died red to symbolize blood
  •      Sparta conquered everything around them
  •      One thing that inspired Greeks is their stories
  •      2 most famous storied are still preserved: Iliad and The Odyssey 
  •      Poems called epics      Images of heros are all over Greek art
  •      Cleisthenes was raised to become a real life hero and to be like the heros in the stories 
  •      To seize control over a country- Tyrant
  •      Pisistratus rode into town with a woman next to him who said she was a Greek goddess
  •      Turned to Athenians for help to be ruler     
  •      Pisistratus was Cleisthenes brother-in-law
  •      Pisistratus reduced taxes and introduced loans to allow people to build up their farms 
  •      Because of this move their were more vines and olives
  •      They produced the best olives in the Greek world     Eastern Medertirain was greatest market place in the ancient world
  •      Everyone was willing to trade for Athenian oil; wealth and prosperity was on the rise
  •      Greatest art: the vase 
  •      Inside of the pot was more important than the pot itself
  •      Today it is beautiful, but back then it was barely thought of
  •      Pisistratus died 527 B.C. and buried in the Athenian graveyard
  •      His son, Hippias, took over
  •      Hippias ruled as his father at first, but then he changed
  •      Hippias' brother was murdered 
  •      He executed the murdered and tortured one of their wives
  •      He ordered numerous executions in revenge for his brother
  •      Cleisthenes wanted to over throw Hippias
  •      Hippias was captured and banished from Athens forever


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