Notes on Ancient Greece 3/11/11

Clysteneese

• would set his fellow Greeks on the path to an empire
• born around 570 BC
• from Early on he had been taught that he was an aristocrat, Greek
• Athens was built around the acropolis
• reading and writing was a rare skill, no science and medicine, and life expectancy was around 15 yrs
• common athenians were ruled under the aristocrats

Physical world of Greece

• too many mts.
• not really associated with the impearial world
• off the3 coast was tiny little islands
• all cities divided into little City-States
• Corinth
• Clysteneese-Athens
• On city state with military power
• Sparta
• taught from a very early age to fight, taken from families
• life striped of comforts
• wore red, so that blood could not be seen
• ruthless expansionists
• Clysteneese has always been a great invionist

Mythology

• travleing bargs told stories to anyone who would lay
• Most famous
• the Illiad
• and the Odyssey
• Greek heroes, determined to seek victory at all costs
• Model of a great hero was what Clysteneese was brought up to follow
• Clysteneese was not the only one to take the tales of the hero to heart
• One man seized the cities
• Woman he claimed, was Athena
• was actually Clysteneese's brother-in-law
• Pisistrotus
• With the rise of Pisistrotus, the land prospered. Through olive production, they were able to make  trades out of it and even trade out of the city, to even Egypt
• Athen's greatest prosperity
• the Vase and artists. Artists were not highly regarded
• These Athenians painters created a new, never beofre seen style
• Pisistrotus rule did not last long
• His son Hippias took over
• followed in his dad's footsteps
• Athenians soon discovered tyranny
• Hippias's brother was murdered
• He not only killed the men who killed his brother, but tourtured one of their wives to death
• Clystennese decided to take his first gamble, over-throwing Hippias
• he assembled a small army to overthrow the tyrant
• 501 BC nad Clystennes was now the most powerful man

Oympia

• once every four years, men gathered to test their abilities
• ancestor of modern olympics
• anyone could participate
• competitions based on the heroic stories
• now real prize, just a wreath and nationwide fame
• 40,000 greeks would gather for the games

Isagarus

• most powerful aristocrat conspiring against Clystennes
• went to the Spartans to betray his country
• Spartans accepted
• first targets were the other aristocrats, Clystennese most of all
• all houses were cast out

Athens

• the people of athens took their destiny into their own hands
• they rose up in revolution
• Isagarus held out for two days, and then surrenderd
• first steps to empire
• people were taking a say
• they turned to one man: Clystennese
• He was asked to build the gorvernment
• he has a secret meeting place built, were the whole city would gather, and people could have a say in the government
• insittuded the rule of the people: white stone for yes, and black for no (vote)
• gathered every 9 days: from the raising of taxes to the bulding of roads,  the price of figs to the declaration of war