The Greek Civilization Assignment PDF

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Assignment: The Greek Civilization The Greek Civilization 1. Briefly explain the geography of Greece Mainland Greece is a mountainous land almost completely surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea. Greece has more than 1400 islands. The country has mild winters and long, hot and dry summers. Greek cities were founded around the Black Sea, North Africa, Italy, Sicily, France and Spain. The Greek peninsula has two distinctive geographic features that influenced the development of Greek society. First, Greece has easy access to water. The land contains countless scattered islands, deep harbors, and a network of small rivers. This easy access to water meant that the Greek people might naturally become explorers and traders. 2. Mention the sources of history on the Greek civilization The term Ancient, or Archaic, Greece refers to the time three centuries before the classical age, between 800 B.C. and 500 B.C. Archaic Greece saw advances in art, poetry and technology, but most of all it was the age in which the polis, or city-state, was invented. The Archaic was a period of when people lived scattered throughout Greece in small farming villages. As they grew larger, these villages began to evolve. Most built a marketplace and a community meeting place. They developed governments and organized their citizens according to some sort of constitution or set of laws. They raised armies and collected taxes. These were also known as city-states.

3. Identify the main aspects of the Minoan civilization

The Minoan  civilization flourished in the Middle Bronze  Age on the island of Crete  located in the eastern Mediterranean from c. 2000 BCE until c. 1500 BCE. With their unique art and architecture, and the spread of their ideas through contact with other cultures across the Aegean, the Minoans made a significant contribution to the development of Western European civilization as it is known today. Labyrinth  -like palace   complexes, vivid frescoes depicting scenes such as bull-leaping and processions, fine gold jewellery, elegant stone vases, and pottery  with vibrant decorations of marine life are all particular features of Minoan Crete. 4. Describe social stratification in the Minoan civilization Men ran many parts of the society, but the Minoan civilization allowed women to do the same things men did. This civilization had a large navy, so when the men in the navy were off at sea, women would help run much of Minoan society and politics. Women and men even participated in the same sports. 5. Who were the founders of the Mycenaean civilization? The Mycenaean Civilization rose to prominence around 1600 BC and flourished in Greece until the collapse of the Bronze Age, in roughly 1100 BC. There is no proof of the exact origins of the Mycenaean civilization. Many believe that Mycenaeans were originally from Crete. The Mycenaeans were influenced by the earlier Minoan  civilization (2000-1450 BCE) which had spread from its origins at Knossos, Crete to include the wider Aegean. Architecture, art and religious practices were assimilated and adapted to better express the perhaps more militaristic and austere Mycenaean culture.

6. Who were the Dorians?

Dorians were the people of ancient Greece. Their name was mythologically derived from Dorus, son of Hellen. Originating in the northwestern mountainous region of Epirus and SW Macedonia, they migrated through central Greece and into the Peloponnesus probably between 1100 and 950 BC, defeating and displacing the Achaeans. 7. Explain the emergence of city states in the Greek civilization Greece's mountainous terrain led to the development of the polis, also known as city-state, beginning about 750 B.C.E. The high mountains made it very difficult for people to travel or communicate. Therefore, each polis developed independently and, often, very differently from one another. Eventually, the polis became the structure by which people organized themselves. Athens and Sparta are two good examples of city-states that contrasted greatly with each other. 8. Describe Spartan militarism Sparta was a warrior society in ancient Greece that reached the height of its power after defeating rival city-state Athens in the Peloponnesian War. Spartan culture was centered on loyalty to the state and military service. At age 7, Spartan boys entered a rigorous state-sponsored education, military training and socialization program. Known as the Agoge, the system emphasized duty, discipline and endurance. Although Spartan women were not active in the military, they were educated and enjoyed more status and freedom than other Greek women. Because Spartan men were professional soldiers, all manual labor was done by a slave class, the Helots.

9. Explain Athenian democracy Athens was the first democratic government to be formed. Under this system, all male citizens had equal political rights, freedom of speech, and the opportunity to participate directly in the political arena. Further, not only did citizens participate in a direct democracy whereby they themselves made the decisions by which they lived, but they also actively served in the institutions that governed them, and so they directly controlled all parts of the political process. 10. Who fought the Peloponnesian War? Peloponnesian war was fought between the two leading city-states in ancient  Greece, Athens and Sparta. Each stood at the head of alliances that, between them, included nearly every Greek city-state. The fighting engulfed virtually the entire Greek world, and it was properly regarded by Thucydides, whose contemporary account of it is considered to be among the world’s finest works of history, as the most momentous war up to that time. 11. What is philosophy in Greek? Mention the main Greek philosophers Western philosophical tradition began in ancient Greece in the 6th century BCE. The first of these philosophers are called "Presocratics" which designates that they came before Socrates. The Presocratics were from either the eastern or western regions of the Greek world. Athens -- home of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle -- is in the central Greek region and was late in joining the philosophical game. Their scientific interests included mathematics, astronomy, and biology. As the first philosophers, though, they emphasized the rational unity of things, and rejected mythological explanations of the world. The knowledge we have of them derives from accounts of early philosophers, such as Aristotle's Physics and Metaphysics .

12. Mention the main aspects of the Greek civilization The Greeks made important contributions to philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, and medicine. Literature and theatre was an important aspect of Greek culture and influenced modern drama. The Greeks were known for their sophisticated sculpture and architecture. Greek culture influenced the Roman Empire and many other civilizations, and it continues to influence modern cultures today....