Ancient Greece, final study, part 1

Final study of Ancient Greece with Bob Jones University World History.  There is a lot here to go over and learn so I am breaking this up in to several different posts.  There are wars, kings, famous folks, gods and goddesses, myths, and a myriad of other things to cover.

Ancient Greece:

Mycenean

~The first civilization in Greece was the Minoan civilization.  This civilization was formed on the island of Crete around 2000 BC.

~Eventually, the Minoans were conquered by the Myceneans around 1450 BC.

~In the ancient days, countries were divided into city states.

~The largest of these city states were Athens, Sparta, Corinth, and Thebes.  These city states were always at war with each other especially Athens and Sparta.

~In 508 BC, Athens was the most powerful.

Zeus

~The Olympic Games started around 700 BC in the southern city of Olympia.  This was to honor Zeus-the king of the gods.

~Ancient Greece is usually divided into 3 main time periods which include the Archaic Period, the Classical Period, and the Hellenistic Period.

~The Archaic Period (the Greek dark ages) is the time when the Greek government began to form city-states like Athens and Sparta.  The Greeks were also interested in theater and philosophy during this time period.

~During the Classical Period, democracy was introduced in Athens.  This is also the time period that the Athenians and the Spartans fought in the Peloponnesian Wars and Alexander the Great conquered most of Europe and Western Asia.

~The Hellenistic Period (323 BC) began after the death of Alexander the Great.  Greece began to lose power and was conquered by Rome (146 BC).

~Athens: 

495 BC-429 BC

*Athens is one of the oldest cities in the world and also one of the greatest cities in the world, present day.

*Athens is the capital city of Greece today with about 40% of the population living there.

*The Democratic systems was developed in Athens under the leadership of Pericles.  He was the greatest leader in Athens during the Golden Age (The Age of Pericles).

Parthenon

*Athens is named after Athena, the Greek goddess.  Athena was the goddess of war, wisdom, and civilization.

*The Parthenon is a shrine built for her on the top of a hill in the center of Athens.

~Sparta:
*Sparta was the most powerful city-state in Ancient Greece.

*Sparta was known as a warrior society.  The men of Sparta spent all of their time training to become warriors which began at the age of 7 and lasting until they were age 60.  They believed they were all descendants of Hercules.  This was a pretty intense group.

*The females from Sparta spend all of their time training in athletics and exercise starting at age 7 as well.

*The Spartan society was divided by class, the Spartans (the citizens-just the men), the Perioikoi (the free people), and the Helots (the slaves).

*The Spartans led the Greeks in the war against Persia and then went on to start a war against Athens in the Peloponnesian War (Greeks versus Greeks).  Sparta was the stronger of these two city states so the Athenians lost the war.

Here, here, and here you can find our previous Ancient Greek studies from a few years ago.
John Green Crash Course Greeks and Persians-Khan Academy
Mr. Donn
The British Museum 
BBC
BBC Ancient Greece interactive for the younger kiddos

"Happiness depends upon ourselves" - Aristotle-Famous Greek