Woman

For as advanced as the Greek culture was, women had a horrible life. For the most part, they were really only a step above a slave. Women were required to listen to their fathers until they were married, and then they were required to obey their husbands.

Women had no legal rights, or political rights. For example, if a woman was mugged at market, she could not tell the authorities until her husband felt it was important. Even after that, only the husband was allowed to talk to the authorities. Politically, women were never citizens. By this, they could never vote, be elected, or attend the assembly hearings.

Women were not allowed to own any type of property. By property I am talking about their own home or business. Usually Greek women were married between the ages of 14 to 16.

Athens vs. Sparta

The two major cities of Ancient Greece were Athens and Sparta. These two city-states dominated Greece like no other, but they were totally different. Lets look at Sparta first:

• Spartan women were required to defend Sparta. They were taught gymnastics and combat skills.

  Sparta was ruled by 2 kings. These kings received council from 28 elders and an assembly of Spartan citizens. Every year 5 of the 28 elders were elected to oversee the council. They were called the ephors.

• Total respect was taught by Sparta. An example of this was at an Olympics. An Athenian old man couldn't find a seat and the hot Greek sun was realy oppressive. No one in his home city of Athens would offer him a seat. Despirate, the old man looked everywhere. As soon as he reached the Spartan section, all the men rose to offer him their seats.
• The motto of Sparta was, "Never retreat in battle, however great the odds, but always stand firm, and to conquer, or die."
• Spartans were placed in a military lifestyle from birth.
  1. At birth newborns were taken to the ephors to see if they were strong enough to live and serve. The weak babies were sent to die on a hill side.
  2. At age 7, boys were sent to the military barricks to begins their training. They were given no shoes and few clothes for the winer. They were expected to steal to survive. If caught, they were beaten severely. This may seem cruel, but the Spartans believed this taught survival. Their hypothesis was imagine if you were stranded behind enemy lines. No one will help, you are on your own.
  3. At the age of 20, men were permitted to marry, but they had to live in the barricks until the age of 40. They were permitted to go home to eat dinner and interact until a certain time when they had to go back to the barricks
  4. At age 30, soldiers were given full citizenship. They were given land and slaves for their service to the state.

  Athens

  Athens was totally differenty than Sparta. Athens was like the United States in many ways.

  • Athens was the birth place of democracy.

    Athens encouraged open thought

  • Athens encouraged open communication with the rest of Greece. Sparta did not.

  • Athens let the arts and humanities flourish, the Spartan government told the people what was beautiful and artistic.

  The only thing that both city-states agreed on, was a strong army and navy.

  Greek Life and Thought

  The Greeks developed three types of entertainment:

  1. Tragedies: A tragedy was a play that focused on one major character and usually ended in a disaster.
  2. Comedies: Plays that ridiculed people,ideas, the government, or social customs.
  3. Poetry: Expression of emotion and thought without music.

  The Greeks had many great thinkers, but the three that stand out are Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.

  Socrates (469 BC-399 BC)

  Socrates searched for a code of conduct for all people to live by. His most famous quote is, "Know thyself." Socrates did not die an old man, rather he was executed for his beliefs. Mostly he was killed because Athens needed a scapegoat for losing the Peloponnesian War. Socrates promoted non-violence, so when many young Athenians refused to fight, or didn't fight well enough, Socrates was blamed. The charges brought onto Socrates was "corruption of youth," and "not praying to the gods." He was found guilty but was given the opportunity to leave and be exiled. Socrates saw this option as an admission of guilt, so he stuck to his principle and drank the hemlock.

  Socrates Bonus
  Socrates Bonus Worksheet

  Plato

  Plato was one of Socrates' students. Plato set up the Academy. The Academy was a place for all the great thinkers to go and be educated. It was like a college. Plato also wrote The Republic which was a book about the perfect society. In this book, Plato mixes the ideas of democracy with communism. Some people believe that Plato was talking about the city of Atlantis in his book. Some other people believe that Plato's concept was just cruel joke played by a very smart person knowing the people would analyze his work for meaning.

  Aristotle

  Aristole is mentioned more in the link for Alexander the Great.

  The Hellenistic World

  The Hellenistic world was spread by Alexander the Great. During his campaign against the Persians, in the flanks of his army he brought with him Greek officials, merchants, artisians, and artists. His goal was to mix cultures and learn as much as possible and obtain as much as possible from the world. Alexander encouraged the mixing of cultures. As an example Alex married a Persian princess and pushed for many of his soldiers to do the same. To further show an example, Alexander dressed in Persian fashion and followed Persian customs to show tolerance.

  Hellenistic culture is the blending of Greece, Persia, Egypt, and India. The center of the Hellenistic world was Alexandria located in Egypt. Alexander stressed the sciences and mathematics to be studied. There was research done with anesthetic for surgury; descriptions of the central nervous system, and blood circulation. The mathemetician Euclid studied geometry which is still used today, and the Greeks were able to mathematically prove that the world was round. Archimedes worked on the principles of the lever, double pulley, and the catepult.