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Ancient Greece
The ancient greek civilization starts around 3200 BC with the Cycladic civilization [followed by the Minoan (2700 BC) and the Mycenean civilization (1600 BC)] and flourished from the 7th century BC to the 2nd century AD, especially in the 5th century BC with the city-states of Athens and Sparta.
10,833 Questions
The Silk road was one ancient trade route the Greeks used. The Silk road went from China through Western Asia and then into the Mediterranean. The Spice road was another trade route used by the Ancient Greeks.
What term applies to a king-queen or emperor with total power?
Absolute Monarchy is the type of government that has a king, queen, or emperor that has total authority.
What advantages and disadvantages does the geography pose for the ancient Greece people?
An advantage of the geography in Greece, is mainly climate. The climate has very high temperatures, so as to make the Greeks very much outdoors men. In fact, because of the temperature most of their town meetings and holidays were celebrated outdoors. Another advantage would be that the Greeks were VERY close to sea, so therefor it was easier to grow crops, and have transport. That is why they are actually really famous for ship building.
Some disadvantages is that the Greece geography is mostly mountainous and has lots of hills. This therefor made the land for growing crops scarce. These are some advantages and disadvantages of the geography. Hope it is useful!
How did Greek gods come about?
- Most of them were exaggerated tales of prominent people in the society back then. Others were made up as an explanation for natural phenomenon, such as birth, the movement of stars, etc. The same way as belief in any deity to explain the natural world and to conquer the fear of death. Since they cannot explain the occurrence of thunder, lightning, drought, earthquake, tsunami, volcanic eruptions, etc., they invented a supernatural being who they thought were causing these. Most of them were made up to glorify the creations on heaven and earth
- The supreme god of the polytheistic Greeks, corresponding to Jupiter of the Romans. Zeus was a god of the sky and was viewed as having control of the winds, clouds, rain, and thunder, exercising his power over these natural forces for both a destructive and a beneficial purpose.From what source did the Greeks get this strange mythology? An author answers: 'Its ultimate origin seems to have been Sumerian. In these eastern stories we find a succession of gods,...' We have to look to ancient Mesopotamia and Babylon as the source of many myths that permeated other cultures.
- Greek mythology mostly was created by the blind poet Homer. It is poetry like a song. Troy never has been found foolishly being sought all these centuries. Perhaps, we should leave it with American Heritage's definition of myth: A fiction or half-truth, especially one that forms part of an ideology.
- The bulk of Greek mythology as that of their philosophy is Egyptian. All of your great Greek philosophers can attribute their education to Egypt. The gods were already in place before Homer's writings.
Many people believe that men invented gods because human beings are the only animal that can anticipate problems in the relatively distant future and worry about them. Since humans can't control things like the weather, floods, other natural disasters, sudden military raids, fertility, etc., they made up gods to control these things, then made up ways to control the gods through offerings, contracts, and the like. Most likely, the first prayers were about simply asking the clouds or sky to bring rain, or the wind to stop, or the sun to become warm again. From there, the wind, rain, sun, etc. became gods themselves, and in many cases, were later given anthropomorphic shapes (but not in all cases).
As time progressed, the gods of many pantheons became able to grant favors across a wide spectrum of human endeavor. The issue of asking a god to do a favor, then sacrificing to that god, and not having the favor happen could be attributed to many factors, among them a too-small offering, an incomplete or inaccurate recitation of a ritual, interference from another god whom one has offended, or direct opposition from a different pantheon of gods, for instance, in losing a war.
Monotheism was a brilliant invention that simplified all this into "one-stop shopping." As before, the single, one, true God will protect and provide for his worshipers if the rules are followed, and usually if the rules are followed by all in a given group.
Some wrong information in the answers, above:
1. It is unlikely that Zeus was derived from the Sumerians. He corresponds more closely to other Indo-European sky gods, and was probably brought from whatever land developed proto-Indo-European. It is quite certain that, as societies intermixed, they borrowed myths from each other and attributed those myths to their own gods. It is also quite certain that ancient peoples came to see gods of other cultures as their own gods under different names. But it is not at all certain, or even likely, that all gods originate from Sumer.
2. Homer did not create Greek mythology, though we owe him much for recounting so many myths and gods that would have been lost to us, today, had his poetry not been written down. Homer was clearly working from a much older, oral tradition. Not only does his poetry contain mnemonic devices to aid the singer working from memory, but it also contains references to things (like boar's tooth helmets) that didn't exist in his time, but existed earlier. In addition, when Homer breaks strict meter, it is often because the words he is using dropped the "w" at some point, and used to fit the meter, but didn't any longer.
Homer is writing about the Mycenaean period in Greek history, and there are Linear B tablets from that period enumerating some of the gods about which Homer wrote.
3. Troy has quite definitely been found, and it is where Homer said it would be, and his description is remarkably accurate, right down to the location of springs. Troy is at a site called "Hisarlik" in Turkey, on the eastern side of the Dardenelles, just east of the island of Bozcaada.
4. Egypt may have had some influence on very early Greeks, but the Greek gods bear little resemblance to the Egyptian ones, being Indo-European in flavor. Most Greek philosophers did not learn from the Egyptians, who had nothing like the variety of philosophies extant in the Periclean Era and beyond.
5. Every god was and is made up by people. There is no such thing in reality. Get over it already.
What was the Roman government's position on religion in the centuries BC?
The Romans were actually pretty open minded and tolerant towards other religions, but only if they did not cause any problems, probably such as trying to convert others, protesting, causing riots, etc.
What three areas made up a city-state in ancient Greece?
A typical city-state would comprise a fertile plain/valley to produce food, protected by mountains, with a river for water, and often beside the sea for fishing and trade. A piece of high ground would be walled and used as a defensive sanctuary (acropolis) in time of invasion. A city would grow up around the acropolis as the state developed and urbanised.
Why did ancient Greeks hold festivals?
Most Greek city states had these rituals and festivals for their gods and goddesses because they believed if they kept the gods happy, good deeds would come to the people. They also built temples for the gods to keep them "happy" as well.
PHS High School
Dylan B.
Why was mythology important to the ancient Greeks?
Myth is a traditional stories about their gods. Epics is a long narrative poem celebrating the deeds of legendry or traditional heroes. Through the myths the greeks sought to understand the mysteries of natureband the power of human passions. A greek could display this ideal on the battle field in combat or in athletic contests on the playing field.
What kind of laws did the oligarchs pass in ancient Greece?
they included laws that were fair to alll
How did the ancient Greeks contribute to democracy?
They had an experiment in direct democracy in the 5th Century BCE. It reached it's peak in the second half of that cemtury in Athens as a direct democracy - that is the citizens gathered each fortnight and gave directions to the Council and passed laws put before them. It was not very successful as the people were easily deluded by orators leading them up false paths, and into a disastrous 27-year war with the Peloponnesian League which they lost. The people began to lose interest in it, and more autocratic forms of government returned.
To day we have representative democracy, electing representatives to parliament as the ability to get the populace together is impracticable in most countries.
They produced the idea, but we implement it in a quite different way, and often not all that successfully. The general feeling in ancient Greece was that a well-conducted oligarchy was a better form of government than a democracy where the people were manipulated. Not much different from today.
What did ancient Greece use to travel?
Ancient Greeks used to travel on foot because they were whell trained but if the distances where too long they used horses.
The ancient Greeks used to travel on foot because they were well trained.They used to travel very long distances for example 500 km so they had some places or sth like hotels to rest.But going on foot such a long trip was exausting so sometimes they used horses or even took them why they were travelling on foot so when they couldn`t walk any more they ride them to continue there trip. they also rode in chariots.
What was religion like in Athens?
Greek people are very strict about religion. Most people of Greece follow one religion and one religion only that is certainly the Greek Orthodox religion. Us Greeks worship God at our beautiful Church, God's home were a lot of us visit every Sunday. Although there are a lot of us that do not visit every Sunday we are all very passionate about our love for God. We have special days such as Name Days, Greek Easter ( which is called Greek Easter because it is on a different day to regular Easter) The Elevation Of Our Holy Cross and Christmas. This great religion was created over a thousand years ago but no, it was not brought to Earth by Jesus but it was brought by the Apostils and people like John the Baptist and Moses. Jesus was the man, the God that defined us about the world and about him. To this day Christianity is the biggest religion in the world and in my opinion it is a great religion but I not forcing people to agree with me. Also in my opinion I believe for the reasons I have stated that Greece has chosen this beautiful, pure religion for my current reasons.
How was the roman culture changed by contact with the Hellenistic of Greece?
Several Greek city-states established colonies (settlements) in southern Italy and Sicily in the 8th and 7th century BC, presumably due to insufficient land to support population growth in the homeland. Being a more advanced civilisation, their arrival had a big impact on all the Italic peoples they came in contact with during the archaic (early) period. This led, among other things, to the adoption and adaptation of the western Greek alphabet by all Italic peoples, including the Latins and the Romans (the Romans were Latins).
Etruscan civilisation arose out of trade with and influence by these Greeks in what has been called the orientalising period; a term which refers to a period when Greek art was influenced by motifs from their east/orient, notably Syria and Egypt. The wealth which gave rise to Etruscan civilisation came from their mines and selling their metals to the Greeks. The Etruscans imported Greek manufactures, particularly pottery. They also adapted and adopted the orientalised style for their own pottery.
The Italic peoples also adopted stone houses and temples and the columns used to support roofs or for porticoes of the Greeks. Recent archaeological finds have shown that the archaic Latins were also involved in this process described above and that there was influence by the Greeks of Cumae (a Greek city near Naples, some 125 miles south of Rome) as well as the Etruscan neighbours.
Very early Roman religion was influenced by the Sabines and the Etruscans. The Sabines were part of the early population of Rome. The foundation of Rome involved a fusion between the Latins and the Sabines who lived on the Seven Hills of Rome. The second king of Rome was a Sabine from the nearby land of the Sabines. He laid the foundation of archaic (early) Roman religion (which then decayed). The Etruscans were Rome's next door neighbours.
The biggest influence on Roman religion was the Greeks. Originally it came for the colonies (settlements) the Greeks established in southern Italy and Sicily from the 8th and 7th century BC. Then with the beginning of contacts with mainland Greece, there was also influence for that part of the Greek world.
Already the 6th century BC the Romans started using the books of the Sibylline who were Greek oracles, some of whom lived in Greek city of Cumae in in southern Italy, just 125 moles south of Rome. They also adopted the Greek god Apollo, who was an oracular god (that is he was the god of the oracles) and built the Temple of Apollo Medicus (the doctor) in in 431. BC. Apollo's son, who mediated Apollo's association with medicine and healing, was also adopted. The Senate was instructed to build a temple in his honour by the Sybil oracles in 293 BC. The Romans also procured a statue of him from Greece. The Romans also adopted the Greek twin gods Castor and Pollux and the mythology associated with them by the late 5th century. They turned Heracles, the Greek mythological hero (whom they called Hercules) into a god because he was said to have killed Cacus, a fire-breathing giant who was terrorising the Roman countryside during his 10th labour and founded an altar of Hercules. During the Second Punic War (218-202 BC) they 'imported' Cybele (whom they called Magna Mater, Great Mother) a Greek goddess because the books of the Sibyl oracles said that with this Rome could defeat Carthage. Besides adopting some Greek gods, at one point the Romans linked their gods to the Greek gods and their associated mythologies
With contact with mainland Greece, there was also influence from this part of the Greek world. The first professional teachers in Rome were Greeks. The children of the rich received an education in both Latin and Greek and were fluent in Greek. The pinnacle of their education was a stay in Greece to study Greek philosophy. From Augustus onwards, the Romans modelled their statues on the Hellenistic ones. They also copied and modelled statues on those of the great classical sculptors of Greece. They adopted Greek medicine and Greek sports. They adopted and greatly improved on the Greek cranes and the ballista (a crossbow-like) catapult. Latin tragedies and comedies and theatre were based on the Greek ones. Roman theatre architecture was inspired by that of the Greeks. However, whilst the seating of Greek theatres were always built on hillsides, the Romans also built theatres with their own foundations which could be built on flat land.
What skills did rich Athenian boys learn in a school?
They began with the usual 3 Rs - reading, riting and rithmetic, then could move on to philosophy/science, literature or arts.
Miltiades the Elder (died c. 524 BCE) wealthy Athenian, and step-uncle of Miltiades the Younger Miltiades the Younger (c. 550 - 489 BCE), tyrant of the Thracian Chersonese; took part in the Battle of Marathon Pope Miltiades (died 314), African saint and pope
Why in 431 BC did Sparta and other city-states join forces against Athens to fight the war?
After the Persian War, Athens turned the 180 city-states it had led against the Persian Empire into an empire of its own. It then tried to use this power to dominate other city-states. The final straw was when it tried to bankrupt its neighbour Megara, which belonged to the Dorian Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. Megara asked for help, Sparta demanded Athens back off, Athens continued and the devastating 27-year Peloponnesian War followed.
The Greeks invented the idea of democracy. However, their concept of democracy was different. Nowadays we have indirect democracy, which means that the people elect representatives of the people and it is them who vote on bills. The Greek had direct democracy, which means that it was the people themselves, gathered in the assembly of the people, who voted on bills. Demorcacy means power by the people in Greek.
Both the Greeks and the Romans had the concept of citizenship and the idea that citizens had rights. During the Roman Republic and in the Greek democracies, this included the right to vote. It has to be noted that not all Greek states had democracies and in that other states (such as kingdoms, oligarchies and tyrannies) there was no voting. During the period of rule by emperors which followed the Roman Republic the people no longer voted and there was absolute rule by emperors.
During the Roman Republic there was also the power of veto. The idea for American veto system came from the Romans.
What effect did the geographic setting have on the greek civilization that grew there?
Geography had a profound effect on the early civilization (and also later) of Greece in the ancient world. With the rugged land-terrain preventing easy unification or domination by any one group, distinct Greek populations were forced to for themselves and develop according to their own particular conditions and inspirations. Thus, great variety was possible, which gave rise to distinct accomplishments of distinct kinds. Further, the dominance of water around Greece and its many islands forced the Greeks to become outstanding sea-farers. This skill enabled them to defend themselves from invasion and spread their culture to the far corners of the Mediterranean Basin.
What did Greek city states have in common?
The Helenistic culture, which is the language, religion, etc.
- That's after Alexander the Great..
Greek City State
The ancient Greeks shared a common language, culture, and religion. They considered anyone who did not speak Greek a barbarian. Although the Greek people had much in common, they were also very independent of each other. They took great pride in what city-state (also known as a polios) they belonged to. A city-state was an independently ruled city with its own laws, customs, money, and army. A Greek citizen's loyalty was directed to his city-state. These city-states often made alliances with other cities, forming into leagues, confederations, or federations while maintaining an independent identity. When the very rocky landscape around a city no longer supported the growing population, they sent people to start colonies in other areas along the Mediterranean Sea.
What city's are in Ancient Greece?
In Ancient Greece there were city states that had a variety of political systems like democratic [Athens at Classical Era], oligarchy [Thebes], monarchy [Sparta, Macedonia, Epirus, Thrace etc..]
