Aren't You Astonished?

Today in class, we began watching a video on Greece. In this video, it went over the basic stuff that we already knew about. But there were a couple itty bitty bits that we took notes on. Eventually, Mr. Schick paused the video to tell us about one guy in the video that was going to use an astonishing amount of astonishes in the video. He-with the rest of the class joining him, willingly-made fun of this man's voice because it was awkward and high pitched. it was so hilarious. When we got farther in the video, we found out on very interesting thing. There was a man, his name started with a P but I forget what it was, wanted to be the ruler of the people so he simply used a tall and pretty girl and said that she was Athena. "This is Athena. She has come to down to be with me. This is a sign that I should be ruler....Make me your ruler!" And they people shrugged and simply responded, because they weren't smart enough to see it was a trick, "Okay." It was actually pretty smart and pretty stupid all at the same time. How astonishing!

Chapter 4 Study Guide

IMPORTANT DATES:

1600 – 1100 BC: the Mycenanean Age dates from around 1600 BC to 1100 BC during the Bronze Age. 

1200s BC: 1206 BC is the approximate starting date of the Bronze Age collapse, a period of migration, unrest and destruction in the eastern Mediterranean and Near East. Start of the Iron Age.

1150 – 750 BC: The Greek Dark Ages

776 BC: First Olympic Games

621 BC: Draco established the legal code.

600 – 371 BC: The archon named Solon brings BIG social reform to Athens; Spartan King Cleomenes I overthrows Athenian tyrant Hippias

594 BC: The archon named Solon brings BIG social reform to Athens.

508 BC: Cleisthenes grants full rights to all free men of Athens

490 – 471 BC:

490 BC: Darius, king of Persia, invades Greece

480 BC: the Greeks defeat the Persians at Salamis

480 – 430 BC: Golden Age of Athens

461 – 429 BC: First Peloponnesian war, between Athens and Corinth-Sparta

447 – 432 BC: “Thirty-Year Peace,” initiated by Pericles, ends First Peloponnesian War

431 – 404 BC: Second Peloponnesian War

399 BC: Socrates executed for being impious and contributing to the delinquency of minors; Spartans was against Persians in Asia Minor

336 BC: Phillip II assassinated; Alexander succeeds him

GODS & GODDESSES & MEN & WOMEN

Homer : A poet who told great stories involving historical events that occurred; author of the Iliad & the Odyssey.

Odysseus : A Greek king in the Odyssey; he was a hero

Zeus : Greek god; god of the sky and ruler of the Olympian gods

Athena : Greek goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice, warfare, and the arts; city-state named after her—Athens 

Draco : the first legislator of Athens in ancient Greece. It means lawgiver. He had a big part of the development of Greek government.

Solon : an Athenian statesman, lawmaker, and poet

Pisistratus : a tyrant who ruled Athens during the most part of the period between 561 and 527 BC; he used a tall and beautiful girl to play Athena and make the people of Athens their king.

Cleisthenes : a noble Athenian of the Alcmaeonid family; credited with reforming the constitution of ancient Athens and setting it on a democratic footing in 508BC; “the father of the Athenian democracy”

Darius (the Great) :  a tyrant king of Persia; led a war against Athens and lost

Xerxes : the son of Darius; led an army of 2 million men from Persia to fight Athens again and lost

Pheidippides : ran from Marathon to Athens to warn them about the Persians then ran to Sparta to ask for help; ran 140 miles in 2 days, a "marathon" was named after him and his town

Themistocles : on of history's greatest leaders; best leader for Athens if Persia attacked again; he used money to create the best ship possible, the trireme; learned how to be a leader through the democratic meetings in Athens; he had been ostracized and kicked out of Athens and later died in Persia

Pericles : Athens' new leader; a highly fit aristocrat; thought Athens' appearance should fit it high name; wanted to build a Parthenon; finished it in 15 years; inside was a 40 ft Athena and many sculptures of the people; had a relationship with a smart and classy prostitute named Aspasia; in an act of hubris, he attacked Sparta

Aristophanes : the son of Philippus; a comic playwright of Athens

Socrates : an ugly man but a great philosopher; a leader in the revolution of the mind; used reason and logic to understand the world; "the unexamined life is not worth living"; Socrates stood against killing Athenian war heroes; arrested for undermining the state's religion and poisoning the minds of the youth; he was put on trial; he demanded free dinners for life; he called Athens a lazy horse and himself a stinging fly; the court found Socrates guilty and condemned him to death by hemlock; he openly took his death

Plato : a student of Socrates; helped to lay the foundations of Western philosophy and science

Aristotle : a student of Plato and teacher to Alexander the Great; one of the founding figures in western Philosophy

Alexander the Great : king of Macedon; student of Aristotle; created on the largest  empires stretching from Ionian Sea to the Himalayas; he was undefeated in battle and on of history's most successful commanders; he invaded Persia and conquered the Persian Empire; he died in Babylon in 323 BC

GREEK POLITICAL STRUCTURES
Monarchy : a form of government with king as head

Democracy : ruled by the people

Oligarchy : a small group of people having control of a country

Tyranny :  government ruled by a tyrant or dictator

Aristocracy : a form of government in which power is held by the nobility

PERICLES' THREE GOALS FOR ATHENS
1. to protect Athens - the Dealion League, and strengthening it's navy
2. beautify Athens and make it live up to its name - building the Parthenon
3. to make the democracy stronger - enhancing the democratic way

GREEK ART
Sculpture : the art of making two or three dimensional forms - the vase and different pottery, statues

Architecture : the art of designing and constructing buildings - the Parthenon, columns

Drama : a play for theater - ancient Greek plays - tragedies (when someone dies) - comedies (a play that ends with laughter and a happy ending)

Chapter 3 Test

Today in western civilization, I took my chapter 3 test. In the beginning of the test, I got a bit distracted at the funny things that were going on in the room, but soon enough, it was back to business. All in all, the test wasn't that hard. I found most of the answers in the text book and from my brain. I am pretty confident that I am going to get a good grade, even if I did go a little bit over time on the the test. But hey, at least it was the end of the day. Also in class, even though I wasn't working on it, Mr. Schick gave the class a new assignment; something about a chapter 4 study guide and such. While taking the test, that is what the rest of the class did. Pretty simple class today.

O Sick Luck!

Today for class, I was absent. My reason for being absent was I had some bad food on Saturday and it definitely didn't settle. So I was out for the count. But lucky me, I missed the chapter 3 test, which I was ready and prepared for with everything I needed highlighted in the book. Too bad. I will just have to take it another day before the end of this week. And I really hope I get to use my textbook for this. Anyway, I hope everyone did their best on the test today and I hope Mr. Schick had a good ol' jolly time with the seniors!

Chapter 3 Test Begins On Monday

Today in western civilization, Mr. Schick gave us some surprising news is positive in some ways and negative in others. He told us that our chapter three test on Monday is going to be changing a little. Because he wouldn't be here--deciding to go on the Holocaust field trip with the seniors instead of being with his wonderful and favorite western civ. class--he would allow us to use or text book for the test, instead of allowing us to look on our blogs. He reconciled with us by saying that it was only fair to the sub that will be coming in. I'm not sure if the rest of the class understood, but I know I did. After he gave us the devastating news, we continued with class and finished taking some notes from the outline to chapter. At the end of class, Mr. Schick said it would be wise and smart of us to use the outline and highlight everything in the text book. Lucky for me, being wise and all, I doing just that. I am definitely going to ace this test!

Mikenzhie's Birthday Causes Boring Class

Today in western civilization, we celebrated Mikenzie's birthday. Mr. Schick was so excited and happy for Mikenzie turning 15 that he made her wear his birthday hat and as a birthday present to all of us, made class as boring as he possibly could. For the majority of this class, we just basically took a few sides notes on Chapter 3. It was pretty boring for the most part, but it was in the vision of celebration. Mr. Schick told us that we should download the chapter 3 outline and use it to study for our test on Monday. Hurray! Celebration of the coming of age has turned into celebration of coming of test...

Chapter 3 Outline

I. The European Barbarians (LO1)

            A. The Earliest Europeans

                        1. by 4000BC, farming and village life had spread throughout the                                       continent

                        2. by 3500BC, increased population and wealth led to complex religious                             structures

                                   

            B. The Barbarian Way of Life

                        1. common way  of life as result of migrations of Indo-European nomads                           (c.2500BC onward) from the steppes that bordered Europe on the east

                        2. languages

                                    a. ancestor languages of Greek and Latin

                        3. elites of warriors

                        4. farming and village life

                        5. In this way, Europe came to be inhabited by peoples who spoke mostly                          Indo-European languages; who were skilled in farming, metalworking, trade, and warfare; and who were fairly well organized on the local level, but had no cities, written records, or fixed structures of government

                        6. c.2000BC-1000AD these barbarians came into contact with civilization

                        7. the first such European barbarian people to make contact with                                         civilization were the Greeks - their civilization, the first to emerge in Europe, was the first to definitively be labeled “Western”

II. The Aegean Encounter (LO2)

            A. Minoan Civilization

                        1. c.2200BC a distinct civilization known as Minoan arose on the Aegean                           island of Crete

                        2. Minoans drew wealth from control of the seas and trade with eastern                                      Mediterranean lands, especially Egypt

            B. The Arrival of the Greeks: Mycenaean Civilization

                        1. when the Greeks made their way to the Aegean, they seem to have been                         a European barbarian people much like any other

                        2. eventually they came under the influence of nearby Crete

                        3. by c.1600BC Greek chieftains had established settlements along the                               mainland’s southern shore and on some islands

                        4. Mycenaean Greeks

                        5. struggles between Mycenaeans and Minoans for control of the                                        commerce of the eastern Mediterranean lasted until c.1400BC, with the                                   destruction of Minoan towns, perhaps as a result of Mycenaean conquest

                                   

            C. The “Dark Ages”

                        1. Mycenaean civilization lasted until shortly after 1200BC due to the conquest of the Sea Peoples

                        2. c.1150 BC Myceneae was sacked and all settlements deserted - in addition, the population dropped, and writing fell out of use

                        3. this led to the eclipse of civilization for almost 400 years, known as the                           Dark Ages (1150 - 750 BC)

                        4. but the Greeks themselves survived and even expanded their territory

                                

            D. The Renewal of Greek Civilization

                        1. c.800 BC the Aegean region recovered

                        2. population expansion led to founding of colonies, c.800-600 BC

                        3. the Greeks joined the Phoenicians as the leading commercial and                                     seafaring nation of the Mediterranean

                        4. a common religion

                        5. new developments

                                    a. use of iron tools and weapons

                                    b. coined money

                                    c. borrowing of Phoenician shipbuilding and warfare techniques

                                    d. writing and the alphabet formed the Greek language

III. Citizens and Communities: The Greek City-States (LO3)

            A. City-States and Citizens

                        1. notion of citizenship seems to have originated partly in geography

                        2. hoplites: Greek infantrymen equipped with bronze helmets and armor,                                               round shields, long spears, and short swords

                        3. city-state, citizens, tradition, and myth

            B. Monarchy, Oligarchy, Tyranny, Democracy

                        1. in the earliest times, communities were ruled by kings

                        2. monarchy then gave way to new forms of government that distributed                            power more widely among male citizens

                                    a. oligarchy:  a minority of citizens dominated the government, and the                                                                     power of the majority was limited in various ways

                        3. but other city-states gave more power to the majority (particularly those              that developed into large commercial centers)

                                    a. in these city-states the common people were too numerous and                                                active to ignore,                                 

                                    b. in these cities, social conflicts sometimes led to the emergence                                         of tyranny (rule by a dictator)

                                    c. but tyranny was often only a passing phase on the way to                                                         democracy (all government decisions were made by the majority                                         of male citizens)

                        4. although Greek city-states had many features in common, each was                                individual in character

            C. Sparta: The Military Ideal

                        1. Spartans were descendants of Greeks who had conquered part of the                              Southern mainland: Laconia

                        2. by 800BC they were a minority of landholders ruling over a majority of                          helots (noncitizens forced to work for landholders)

                        3. Messenian helots, however, frequently rebelled

                                    a. this forced Spartans to accept a governmental system that put                                                  them under almost total domination by a few among themselves

                        4. by 500BC, policy decisions had been taken over by a council of elders

                        5. thus the Spartan government was a leading example of oligarchy

                        6. Spartan male life was dedicated entirely to the service of the state

                        7. the relative freedom of Spartan women aroused both admiration and                              disapproval among other Greeks

                        8. to protect this way of life, Spartans tried to seal off their city-state from                                             outside influences

            D. Athens: Freedom and Power

                        1. c.800BC many old-established communities in the Attica peninsula                                 merged to form a single city-state that was known by the name of the most                 important community: Athens

                        2. over the next 300 years, Athens grew to become the wealthiest and one                          of the most powerful city-states, largely as a result of overseas trade

                                    a. produced and exported wine and oil

                                    b. workshops produced weapons, pottery, and articles of silver,                                                   lead, and marble

                                    c. these were trade overseas for metal, timber, and grain

                        3. with a rising population and greater wealth came social and political                                conflicts

                                    a. usually between aristocrats and increasingly numerous dēmos

                                    b. in conflicts with the aristocracy, the dēmos could generally find                                              aristocrats to lead them whom they respected and who wanted their                                   support

                        4. as a result, Athens passed through several stages of political growth,                               beginning with monarchy and including both oligarchy and tyranny

                                    a. eventually political power was extended to all adult male                                                         citizens, with aristocrats becoming leaders instead of rulers

                        5. The Persian Wars

                                    a. in the sixth century BC, the Persians had conquered a realm that                                              stretched from the border of India to the Nile and the Aegean

                                    b. now the empire was within striking distance of the Greeks, and                                               Persia conquered the Greek city-states in western Asia Minor

                                    c. when Athens aided a rebellion by these city-states, Persian king                                               Darius sought to extend his empire into mainland Greece, c.494BC

                                    d. the Persians lost the decisive battle of Marathon in 490BC

                                    e. then in 480BC, the Athenian navy crushed the Persians at                                                        Salamis, and the Spartans faced the Persians on land at Thermopylae and            then at Platea

                        6. when final peace was made with Persia in 445 BC, Athens was the                                 controlling power of the Aegean Sea

                        7. after Persia’s defeat, Athenian democracy entered a “Golden Age”

                        8. the workings of democracy

                                    a. a Council of Five Hundred and roughly one thousand public                                                    officials were chosen annually by lot

                                    b. chief military officers, the Ten Generals, were chosen each year                                       by vote of the male citizens

                                    c. adult male citizens were a minority of the population of Athens

                                                i. the rest of the population was composed of adult female                                                           citizens, adult noncitizens, and children

                                                ii. adult male citizens probably made up no more than one-                                                           fifth of the total adult population

                                                iii. the remaining four-fifths had no say in government

                        9. men and women in  Athens

                                    a. women were highly visible in religious affairs

                                    b. not much is known of women’s life lower down the social scale                                      or outside the city

                        10. slaves

                                    a. were a diverse group; not all of them lived lives of total                                                            subjection and powerlessness

                                    b. most slaves were non-Greeks, or the descendants of non-Greeks