THE GREEKS

Prepared by Muhammad Rashid Akbar

Location of the evolution of Ancient Greek Culture
Location of the evolution of Ancient Greek Culture
Location of the evolution of Ancient Greek Culture
Location of the evolution of Ancient Greek Culture
 THE FIRST GREEKS

• Either were Neolithic farmers who

migrated from Asia Minor around 3000 BC
• Or were an Indo-European tribe from
southern Russia who migrated into the
region around 2300 BC
• In either case, when people did arrive in the
peninsula, they soon came into contact with
an already civilized people who lived on
the nearby island of Crete
– The Minoans
 THE FIRST GREEKS

The Minonians and the Myceneans

 MINOAN COMMERCE
• Minoan controlled the commercial, agricultural, and manufacturing
activities of surrounding regions
• Exported wool, olive oil and timber in exchange for other raw materials
and luxury items
• Built large and technologically advanced merchant and military navy
 MINOAN WOMEN
• Women played important role in society
• Most of their gods were femal. Headed by the so-
called “Snake Goddess”
• Women also portrayed at the head of processions
and as participants in athletic event……….Even
bull-leaping
• May not have been a matriarchy but women
nonetheless enjoyed a prominent social position

Snake Goddess
minoan’s powreful female goddesses
 END OF MINOAN CIVILIZATION

• Civilization came to an end between1450 and 1350 BC

• All palaces destroyed and never rebuilt

• Theory 1
Invaded by Mycenaeans in 1400 BC
• Destroyed Crete to eliminate Minoans as trade
rivals
• Theory 2
Massive volcanic eruption on island of Thera
showered Crete with debris, ash, and poison gas
• Destroyed fleets with tidal waves
 MYCENEAN AGE 1600-1150 BC

Semi-barbarian Myceneans Cultures had

some contact with Minoan civilization by
at least 1600 BC
Contact with Minoans gradually upgraded
some of their barbarism and allowed them
to develop a More Sophisticated Culture
Myceneans religion and culture

Great Mother goddess was major goddess derived from

Minoan Snake Goddess

Myceneans began to emphasize male gods like ZEUS,

POSEIDON, HERMES, & APOLLO
 The Influence of Phoenicians play significant role in development of Greek
Civilization
• Semitic/Hebrew in origin
• Located on the eastern Mediterranean (today's Lebanon)
• Founded colonies around the Mediterranean
• Developed the alphabet
• Had trade links with minoians and mycenians.
 The Greeks

in the backdrop of Minoans and Mycenean civilizations and influence of Phoenicians

emerged the Greek Civilization
The Trade line in Mediterranean
The Trade line in Mediterranean
Location
Located in southeastern Europe, Greece is defined by a series of mountains and surrounded
on all sides by water except the north.
History

•around 2000 B.C. By 1600 B.C Greek CIVILIZATION started ,the Greek people had built
fortified cities in the major valleys around

•In 480 B.C the Greeks UNITED to defeat the invading Persians

•Around 477 B.C the Greeks UNITED to defeat the invading Persians

•In 480 B.C Greece had its GOLDEN AGE in Athens.

•around 477 - 431 B.C two city-states, ATHENS AND SPARTA are built

•In 334 B.C ALEXANDER THE GREAT, leader of the country of Macedonia to the north.
Economy

Based on Agriculture:

•The most important crops were: olives, grapes, and barley.

•CROPS: The Greeks used OLIVES for eating and to make olive oil.

•GRAPES:to make wine.

•BARLEY: was used to make bread .

•LIVESTOCK: The ancient Greeks kept CHICKENS, PIGS, SHEEP, and GOATS (for
milk and meat).

•Generally, they did not eat a lot of meat, but instead depended on FISH and Vegetables.
TYPES OF GOVERNMENT:

The Greeks had a lot of different kinds of governments, because there were
many different city-states in ancient Greece.

1.Democracy (rule of the people)

2.Oligarchy (rule of the few)

3.Monarchy (rule of a king)

Greek Architecture :

The Greeks created a wonderful and lasting legacy of architecture.

Besides just houses and marketplaces, Greek cities had many different types of
specialized buildings.

Theater of Dionysius Parthenon Stoa of Eumenes

(Archade)
 Building for the Gods
• The Parthenon’s graceful
proportions perfectly
balance width, length, and
height, exemplifying the
Greek ideal of the
“golden mean”

Building for the Gods

the Greeks were “lovers of the beautiful
 Drama and Theater
• The Greeks were the first people to write and perform plays, presented twice a year to honor
Dionysus.

TRAGEDIES, in which the lead character struggles against fate only to be

doomed to an unhappy ending

Eventually the Greeks also wrote COMEDIES, plays with humorous themes
and happy ending
The orders in Greek Architecture

Doric Ionic Corinthian

The Religion

The Greeks were POLYTHEISTIC and did not all worship the same
gods. Some of the most famous gods were :Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Artemis,
Poseidon, Aphrodite, Athena , Ares, and Hades.
Venus Apollo and mars
Mercury and Diana
Athena and Volcan
Jupitor/ Zeos
Greek Life Style
GREEK HOUSING: Citizens wanted to live within the CITY because it was the CENTER OF
CIVIC LIFE

MEN did most of the hard works The WOMEN took care of THE HOUSEHOLD and
CHILDREN , grow SMALL GARDENS around the house

GREEK CLOTHING: Greek clothing was very SIMPLE. Men and women wore LINEN IN
THE SUMMER and WOOL IN THE WINTER.
Clothes were MADE BY THE MOTHER, her daughters, and female slaves.

The first OLYMPICS took place in 776 BC. They became a central aspect of Greek culture .
 The Olympics to honor Zeus

• Olympic Games were held in Olympia

every 4 years
• Olympics were religious festival in
honor of
• Athletes came from all over Greek-
speaking world
• Women not permitted, even as
spectators. Women’s games in honor
of Hera held in different location
• Trading and fighting stopped
 The Olympic Games

• The Olympic Coins

• Winners were crowned with wreaths of

olive leaves

• To celebrate it further sometimes,

taxes were dismissed
Greek Writing

The Greeks were the first Europeans to learn to write with an alphabet, and from them
alphabetic writing spread to the rest of Europe.

They adopted the alphabet of the Phoenician script.

when paper was hard to get, they did actually use goat and sheep skins to write on.
THE GREEK MIND

Greeks believed the mind could understand everything.

Philosophers, or thinkers, produced remarkable ideas.

Philosophy means, “the seeking of wisdom”.

A foundation was laid for new disciplines like history, political science, biology, and
LOGIC—the science of reasoning
Greek Philosophy
Socrates: Founded the Socratic method or questioning process.
Plato: Student of Socrates and wrote down Socrates teachings in Dialogues.
Aristotle: Student of Plato and father of the system called “logic”
Philosopher
Socrates
Plato
Aristotle
Herodotus
Thucydides SOPHISTS
Thales In 400s B.C., education provided
Pythagoras by sophists
Hippocrates Sophists: “knowers”
Traveled polis to polis
Claimed they could find answers
to all questions
Greek Art of War
 Greek Art of Pottery
– They did paint murals
but non survived. Their
works are captured on
vases
– Large vases were called
amphora and normally
uses for wine or oils
– pottery Painting on vases
were everyday scenes
Greek murals stucco and mosaic
 Greek Art of Sculpture

Greek sculpture

Gods in anthropomorphic personification

• The great sculptor Phidias was in charge of the

Parthenon’s sculptures and carved the towering statue
of Athena that was placed inside.
 Greek Art of Sculpture

• Praxiteles: A great Greek Sculptor

– Sculptures were life-size, graceful, not powerful people but
of Ordinary people and deities and heroes.

Goddess Venus by Praxiteles

 ARCHAIC CLASSICAL HELLENESTIC

CONVETIONALIZED .Rigid NATURALISTIC .Fluent EMOTIONAL

.Contortion
GREEK YOUTH /kouros NIKE LAOCOON
The Greek Gods
Greek names GREEK PRIMODIAL GODS
Primeval Goddess of air, Chaos is believed to be one of the first
beings to exist in the universe. Chaos is not really depicted as having a
personality or physical form.[1] Chaos is the lower atmosphere which
Chaos surrounded the earth. Her name Khaos means the gap, or the space
between heaven and Earth.[2] Mother or Grandmother of Nyx (night),
Erebus (Darkness), Aither (Light), and Hemera (day).
Erebus God of darkness. Son of Chaos. Husband of Nyx.
Goddess of the Earth (Mother Earth), mother of Kronos,
Gaia grandmother of Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, etc.
Goddess of night Daughter of Chaos. Wife of Erebus and mother of
Nyx Hemera (day). Goddess of Hellhounds.
Primordial God/Goddess of Creation. Thesis is sometimes
Thesis thought to be a child of Chaos. Thesis is thought to have
emerged with Hydros before Gaia.
Ouranos (Father Sky) and father of the Titans. Roman name Uranus.
 Goddess of love, beauty, and desire. She was married
Aphrodite Venus to Hephaestus. Ares is her lover and she loves him as
well. Eros is her son.
Apollo Apollo God of the Sun, music, archery, poetry, healing, and
prophecy. He is Artemis' twin brother, and Son to Zeus.
God of war, murder and bloodshed. Brother to 
Ares Mars Hephaestus, and is the lover of Aphrodite and son of
Zeus.
Goddess of the hunt, wilderness, wild animals,
Artemis Diana especially deer and fawns, night, and the moon. Apollo
is her twin brother. Artemis is the virgin goddess and is
also protector of maidens.
Athena Minerva Goddess of wisdom, weaving, the arts, warfare and
reason. She is the favourite daughter of Zeus.
Demeter Ceres Goddess of fertility, grain and harvest. Demeter is a
sister of Zeus. Her daughter is Persephone, Hades' wife.
Dionysus Bacchus God of wine, parties/festivals, madness and merriment. He is a son of
Zeus.
Hades Pluto God of the Underworld. Brother of Poseidon and Zeus.

God of fire and the forge. Ugly son of Hera and Zeus is his father in
Hephaestus Vulcan some accounts. Married to Aphrodite, but she does not love him
because he is deformed and as a result is cheating on him with Ares.

Hera Juno Goddess of marriage, women and childbirth. Zeus' wife and sister.

Hermes Mercury God of flight, thieves, commerce and travellers. Messenger of the gods.
Zeus's son by Titanness.
God of the sea, . His sons are the Heavenly Tripplets, Polyphemus and
Poseidon Neptune Triton and the Cyclops. His weapon is a trident by which he can stir up
the seas, wreck ships and drown sailors.

The father of all fathers, the wisdom and light. The king of the gods
after killing his father, Kronos, who ate Zeus's siblings but their mother
managed to save baby Zeus. When Zeus grew up, he fed Kronos a
mixture of wine and mustard to make him vomit his immortal siblings
Zeus Jupiter who had grown up in Kronos's stomach. Zeus is the ruler of Mount
Olympus and the god of the sky, thunder and lightning. Though he is
 Greek gods and morality
• Greek gods represent the blind forces of the universe that humans
cannot control
• Anthropomorphic personifications
• Gods are not necessarily connected with morality
• Morality is a human creation, and though the gods may approve of
it, they are not bound by it
• Gods cannot feel the ultimate consequence of violence: death is a
human fear, and the courage to face it is a human quality
• There is a double standard; one for gods, and one for mortals,
 Greek Art
• Greeks emphasized on
Anthropomorphism the
individual—thus excelled at
portraying the human form
• In both painting and sculpture,
the Greeks excelled at
portraying the human form.

• Poseidon the "God of the

Sea".
 Greek Mathematicians
• THALES, first prominent Greek
scientist
– Studied astronomy in abylon
and mathematics in Egypt
– Foretold solar eclipses
– Theory that water was basic
substance of all things
 Greek Mathematicians

• Pythagoras tried to explain

everything in math terms
– Wrote the Pythagorean Theorem
– Taught world was round and
revolved around fixed point
 The last of Greeks the Hellenistic Culture

• The three centuries of Greek history between

the death of the Macedonian king Alexander
the Great in 323 B.C.E. and the rise of
Augustus in Rome in 31 B.C.E. are collectively
known as the Hellenistic period
 Hellenistic Art and Literature
• Hellenistic artists departed
from Hellenic styles
– No carvings of idealistic
figures
– People shown in grip of
powerful emotions
– Carved portrait heads—
art was now business
 Hellenistic Art and Literature

• Playwrights wrote comedies

rather than tragedies
• Menander most renowned
playwright
End of Greek.

68BC Rome defeats Macedon at Pydna.

Greece itself declined to the point that

the Romans conquered the land (168 BC onwards),
though

Greek culture would in turn conquer Roman life