THE GREEKS THE ANCIENT WORLD


Temple of Zeus, Pergamon Museum, Berlin Image from AICT

The Greeks

Topic: Early Greece, the Minoans and the Mycenaeans


How do we know that the Minoans and Mycenaens existed?

What evidence do historians look at to determine what occurred in the past?

Was  there a relationship between the Minoans and  the  Egyptians and why do historians believe this connection existed?

What is an Indo-European language?

What were the Greek Dark Ages?

Why does historians label this period of time, "the Dark Ages?"

What  other  period of time is also labeled "the Dark  Ages"  and why?

Topic: Athens and Sparta

How were Athens and Sparta different?

  • consider: government and politics, culture, arts, economy
  • Did  the  Spartans "feel" threatened and why?  How  did  Spartan society react to this "perceived" threat?

  • Why  was  Athens  an "open" society? In what  ways  was  Athenian society also "nasty" or "cruel"?

  • What  is "democracy"? How was Athenian democracy different  from "democracy" in the United States today?

  • What  does the word "tyranny" mean? What Greek city  states  were "tyrannies" ?

  • What does Pericles (top of page 86) say about Athenian society?

  • What was the role of women in Athenian society?

    How did Athenian democracy work?

    *juries
    *assembly (Ecclesia)
    *executive (Governing Council also known as Council of 500)

    More terms to consider:

    *Spartiates
    * Helots
    * closed society

    What were the causes and consequences of the Peloponnesian War?

    What is the legacy of Greece?

    consider:  the  influence  of the Greeks on  the  development  of government,  diplomacy,  architecture,  the  arts,  literature, language, society, and philosophy in the Western world.



    Comments to: Stephen Ross Levitt
    Updated: October 4, 2000
    Copyright Stephen Ross Levitt and Liberal Arts Department