GREECE THE GREEK POLIS

GREECETHE GREEK POLIS SSWH3 The student will examine the political, philosophical, and cultural interaction of Classical Mediterranean societies from 700 BCE to 400 CE. Compare the origins and structure of the Greek polis, the Roman Republic, and the Roman Empire. WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ANCIENT GREECE? WHERE IS GREECE?

The polis (plural, poleis) was the ancient Greek city-state. • The word politics comes from this Greek word. • In the ancient world, it was the central urban area that could also have controlled the surrounding countryside. • The word polis could also refer to the city's body of citizens.

Polis, literally means city in Greek. • It could also mean citizenship and body of citizens. • In modern historiography "polis" is normally used to indicate the ancient Greek city-states, like Classical Athens and its contemporaries • polis is often translated as "city-state."

PARTS/ELEMENTS OF POLIS • Self-governance, autonomy and independence (city-state) • Agora: the social hub and financial marketplace, on and around a centrally located large open space • Acropolis: the citadel • Greek urban planning and architecture, public, religious, and private (see Hippodamian plan) • Temples, altars

Athens, Sparta, Thebes, Corinth, etc. • The polis began to emerge as a new form of social and political organization in the eighth century B.C.

“Men are the Polis.”-Thucydides“Man is an animal whose nature it is to live in a polis”-Aristotle

The period that the polis began to emerge can be considered not only as the time of recovery but also the peak of Greek Civilization in terms of politics, society, economy and culture. • Poleis were city-states established by the group of Greek people who proudly termed themselves “Hellene”. • Independent and self governing; 30,000 to 300,000 in population • All spoke Greek, believed in the pantheon of gods, practiced forms of government, and had the same culture.

TWO FORMS OF GOVERNMENT • OLIGARCHY • RULE BY THE FEW • DEMOCRACY • RULE BY THE PEOPLE

ATHENS cultural achievements during the 5th century BCE laid the foundations of western civilization. ECO BASED ON TRADE AND SEAFARING BIRTHPLACE OF DEMOCRACY SPARTA ECO BASED ON FARMING MILITARY BASED PRACTICED OLIGARCHY TWO MOST FAMOUS CITYSTATES

WARS • PERSIAN WARS, 490 – 481 BCE • GREEK CITYSTATES LED BY ATHENS AND SPARTA VS. PERSIAN EMPIRE • GREEK VICTORY • PELOPONNESIAN WARS, 431 – 404 BCE • ATHENS VS. SPARTA • SPARTA VICTORY • SPARTA DOMINATED GREEK CITYSTATES

SOCRATES 469 BC – 399 BC classical GreekAthenianphilosopher A founder of Western philosophy Plato and Xenophon, famous students Socratic method, type of pedagogy in which a series of questions are asked not only to draw individual answers, but also to encourage fundamental insight into the issue at hand knowledge of the man, his life, and his philosophy is entirely based on writings by his students Plato, Xenophon, Aristotle, and Aristophanes FAMOUS GREEKS

SOCRATES • Rather than upholding a status quo and accepting the development of what he perceived as immorality within his region, Socrates questioned the collective notion of "might makes right" that he felt was common in Greece during this period. Plato refers to Socrates as the "gadfly" of the state (as the gadfly stings the horse into action, so Socrates stung various Athenians), insofar as he irritated some people with considerations of justice and the pursuit of goodness. His attempts to improve the Athenians' sense of justice may have been the source of his execution.

Death of SocratesJacques-Louis David (1748–1825)

SOCRATES • found guilty of both corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens and of impiety ("not believing in the gods of the state"), and subsequently sentenced to death by drinking a mixture containing poison hemlock.

“THERE IS ONLY ONE GOOD, KNOWLEDGE, AND ONE EVIL, IGNORANCE.”

429-349 BCE ClassicalGreekphilosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world helped to lay the foundations of Western philosophy and science FAMOUS LITERATURE, THE REPUBLIC WROTE DIALOGUES, BOOKS, WHICH WERE CONVERSATIONS BETWEEN A CHARACTER NAMED SOCRATES AND OTHER ATHENIANS PLATO

PLATO’S REPUBLIC • The Republic • Socratic dialogue written by Plato around 380 BC concerning the definition of justice and the order and character of the just city-state and the just man • MAIN IDEA: HIS VISION OF A PERFECTLY GOVERNED SOCIETY • ANTI-DEMOCRACY • SOCIETY OF 3 GROUPS • 1 FARMERS AND ARTISANS • 2 WARRIORS • 3 RULING CLASS • A PHILOSOPHER-KING WOULD BE CHOSEN FROM THE RULING CLASS.

384 BC – 322 BC Greekphilosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects founding figure in Western philosophy ARISTOTLE

ARISTOTLE • RULES OF LOGIC • SUMMARY OF KNOWLEDGE OF THE TIMES • BASIS OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD • TUTOR OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT, SON OF PHILIP OF MACEDONIA • FOUNDED SCHOOL CALLED THE LYCEUM WHICH RIVALED THE ACADEMY

July 356 – 10/11 June 323 BC By the age of thirty, he had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world, stretching from the Ionian Sea to the Himalayas He was undefeated in battle and is considered one of history's most successful commanders ALEXANDER THE GREAT

Alexander's legacy includes the cultural diffusion his conquests engendered • He founded some twenty cities that bore his name, most notably Alexandria in Egypt • Alexander's settlement of Greek colonists and the resulting spread of Greek culture in the east resulted in a new Hellenistic civilization, aspects of which were still evident in the traditions of the Byzantine Empire • He became the measure against which military leaders compared themselves, and military academies throughout the world still teach his tactics

GREECE THE GREEK POLIS