ANCIENT GREECE
Sparta
Allee Wheaton

GEOGRAPHY
Ancient Greece The acropolis

GEOGRAPHY
Ancient Sparta Territory

GEOGRAPHY
 It was settled in a valley within the mountains of
Greece.
 It had the river, Evrotas, flowing near the city-state.
 The farmers of Sparta benefited from rich, fertile soil,
which allowed them to have plenty of extra crops.
 25 miles from the sea.
 Sparta was settled in the perfect spot to grow a glorious
and powerful empire.
 There were 16,000 Spartan males
 They had hot, dry summers and damp, cold winters.
 The mountains were Taygetos, Kyllini, and Aroania.

RELIGION
 Created along with myths to explain how the
world works, there are dozens of them like:
Hestia, the
 Hestia, the goddess of hearth.
goddess of
 Asklepios, the god of medicine. hearth
 most significant are the twelve Olympian
Gods.
 live on Mount Olympus, the highest mountain
of Greece,
Asklepios, the god
of medicine.

RELIGION
 Those twelve gods are blessed with powers
and cursed with human emotions like love and
anger.
 Zeus is famous for his love affairs with semi-
goddesses and mortals, which always caused
the envy of his wife Hera.
 The twelve gods apart from human feelings,
have human needs.
 For their conservation nutrition was required.
 Believed gods only consumed nectar and
ambrosia.
 polytheistic religion.

RELIGION
 The gods also had immortality.
 Each one of them has the ability to appear in front
of mortals and provide them with advice and help.
 Many examples of that can be found in the Iliad and
Odyssey, works of the poet Homer.
 Athena appears in various forms to Odysseys, as
she has been his protector.
 Some of the ancient Greek gods to get angry with
the mortals and try to harm or punish them.

RELIGION
 Built temples and sacrificed animals or even humans for
them.
 They also constructed temple which were dedicated to
them.
 Very famous is considered the Parthenon, in Athens
Acropolis, which was constructed for the goddess
Athena,
 Another very famous temple is the one of Apollo in
Delphi.
 This temple has been the famous Delphic oracle, from
where the priestess Pythia gave her orations.
 Numerous festivals.
 Though they differed a lot, the goal of all of them has
been to maintain a goods relationship with the gods. The
festivals of Athens are the best known.

RELIGION
 Each festival has been dedicated to a god:
 Eleusinia – festival of games held at Eleusis near
Athens
 Panathenaea
 Anthesteria – festival of Dionysus and the new
wine
 Thesmophoria – festival of Demeter celebrated by
women, and many others In these festivals
everyone, whether reach or poor, could participate
– though usually there have been limitations for
women.

RELIGION
 In these festivals everyone, whether reach or
poor, could participate – though usually there have
been limitations for women.
 The ancient Greek religion as been the basis for the
religion of the Roman Empire later on.
 The influence has been that great that Romans
kept the characteristics of the deities and
transformed their names.
 For example, Jupiter has actually been the same
deity with Zeus.

THE OLYMPIANS
1. Aphrodite ,the goddess of love
2. Apollo , the god of the sun and of music
3. Ares , the god of war
4. Artemis , the goddess of the hunt
5. Demeter , the goddess of the harvest
6. Athena ,the goddess of wisdom
7. Dionysos , the god of high spirits and of wine
8. Hephaestus , the god of fire and of the forge
9. Hera ,the queen of gods
10. Hermes ,the god of travel and the messenger of the gods
11. Poseidon ,the god of the sea
12. Zeus ,the lord of the gods, most powerful and ruler of Mount Olympus and the sky
The gods

THE OLYMPIAN GODS
Apollo
Demeter

ART
 Was a large part of Ancient Greece.
 Many forms such as:
 Sculpting many statues
 Pottery made of clay
 Poetry
 Drama and theater
 Music
 Literature
 Architecture


SCULPTURE
Different types of materials including stone, marble
and limestone and clay.
 Very important as the vast majority of them tell us a
story about Gods, Heroes, Events, Mythical
Creatures. Statue of Kouros
Discobolos
Archaic Age
Hellenistc Age
Classical Age

ARCHAIC AGE
 ca. 700 – 450 B.C.E
 Artists created statues of people that seemed
unreal.
 showed a more naturalistic style reflecting
significant influence.
 Artists began to get ideas from their Eastern
counterparts.
 Started to use palmette and lotus compositions.
 Animal hunts and such composite beasts as griffins
(part bird, part lion), sphinxes (part woman, part
winged lion), and sirens (part woman, part bird).

CLASSICAL AGE
 480 - 323 B.C.E
 Created during a "golden age",
 From the time Athens rose to prominence and
Greek expansion, right up until the death of
Alexander the Great.
 Seen as a turning point in art
 Produced some of the most exquisite sculptures
known today.
 Sculptors had mastered marble
 Created statues that showed joyous freedom of
movement and expression, while celebrating
mankind as an independent entity.

HELLENISTIC AGE
 323- 31 B.C.E
 Began around the death of Alexander the Great and
ended with the battle of Actium.
 Saw dramatic changes compared to previous logic.
 The artists did not stick to classical conventions and
rules
 Turned to a more experimental movement and a
sense of freedom that allowed the artist to explore
his subjects from different unique points of view.

Red figure
pottery
POTTERY
 Protogeometric styles which were Protogeometric
circles, triangles, wavy lines, and arcs. pottery
 Geometric styles which included triangles and other
geometrical decoration such as animals or human
figures.
 Orientalizing styles included sphinx and lions that
were arranged in patterns across the middle of the
pottery.
 Black figure method, artists began carving figures
with detail.
 Red figure method where the details are painted
on.

DRAMA
 First came when a solo actor performed using
different masks to different characters.
 Started by Thespis
 Second was started by Aeschylus and a second
actor was added so that their could be a dialogue
between characters on stage.
 Third was when dramatic performances started
because a third actor was brought into theatre by
Sophocles
 Tragedy, comedy, and satyr plays were the
theatrical forms.

DRAMA
Panoramic view of the Greek theatre at Epidaurus.
•These masks symbols for
theater
• The smiling one stands for
comedy
•The sad one stands for tragedy

MUSIC
 Important part of ancient greek life.
 Famous throughout the ancient world.
 Musicians and dancers attended
weddings, festivals, religious events, and other
events.
 Spartans spent little time learning music.
 Some instruments were called:
 The Pandouris and the Phorminx


ARCHITECTURE
Three architectural systems, called orders.
 Own distinctive proportions and detailing.
 The orders are: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian.
Doric Ionic Corinthian
•Simple, and sturdy •Thinner and more •Seldom used
•Top is plain. elegant. •Often seen on Roman
•Was used in mainland •The top has a scroll- temples.
Greece and the colonies like design. •The top is very elaborate
in southern Italy and Sicily. •Was found in eastern and decorated with
Greece and the acanthus leaves.
islands.

GOVERNMENT
 Spartan government was an Oligarchy which
means it was controlled by a small group of people.
 One of the most stable governments in ancient
Greece.
 Very unique and included parts of a
monarchy, Oligarchy and some democracy.
 Main concern was to make sure Sparta had a
powerful army.
 The government did not allow its citizens to travel
out of the country and usually did not allow visitors.

KINGS
 King Leonidas was king of Sparta between 488-
480 B.C.E
 Known as the commander of the Spartan army at
the battle of Thermopylae.
 Lykurgos was the first significant king of Sparta. He
set up the constitution that defined the council and
two kings.
Lykurgos
King Leonidas

LAWS
 Spartans held the law to show the people proper
behavior in all matters.
 The law created the center for their societal
structure and institutions.
 Sparta law was brought by the laws of crete.

MILITARY
 The military force for Sparta was the Spartan army.
 The army was the center of the Spartan state.
 The first priority of Spartan citizens was to be good
soldiers.
 Spartans were the most disciplined, well-trained,
and feared military forces in world history.
 A common belief was that one Spartan was worth
several men of any other state.
Spartan Spartan
helmet weapons

SOCIETY
 Spartans lived by the belief of discipline, self-
denial, and simplicity.
 Did not have a lot of luxuries, expensive foods, or
breaks for leisure.
 Spartans lived and died for Sparta.
 Were required to have a perfect body.
 Education was not academic, it was physical.
 Babies were left to die or become a slave if they
didn’t seem healthy and strong.
 Spartan society had three main classes.

SOCIAL CLASSES
 Highest social class, the aristocratic Spartiates.
 Were a class of military professionals who lived
most of their lives in communal barracks.
 Rarely seeing their wives and children,
 Lands were farmed by slaves, leaving them free to
pursue to the arts of war.
Aristocratic
Spartiate

SOCIAL CLASSES
 Middle class, called the Perioeci.
 Made up of a farmers and artisans who were the
descendants of those peoples whom the Spartans
had first conquered,
 The Perioeci paid taxes and could serve in the
army, but had no real political rights.

SOCIAL CLASSES
 At the bottom were the helots
 A slave class descended from those peoples who
had resisted suppression by Sparta.
 Because the helots were constantly rebelling, the
Spartans attempted to control them by forming a
secret society that annually murdered any helot
suspected of encouraging subversion.

ROLE OF MEN
 Role of a Spartan male was to be in the military.
 To go to military school at age 7 until age 18 to learn
toughness, discipline, continued pain, and survival.
 At age 18 became military cadet.
 They had to pass fitness, military, and leadership tests
or they become a Perioeci.
 Adult men married or not
 Did not live at home, they lived in military barracks at
least until they were 30
 Still had to eat at barracks until military service was
over.
 Served in military until age 60.

ROLE OF WOMEN
 Role of women was to be healthy and strong to
ensure they could give birth to healthy future
warriors.
 Girls were taught at an early age that they must be
dedicated to Sparta.
 Went to school at age 7 to learn gymnastics and
other physical things.
 At age 18, if a girl passed her physical test she was
assigned to a husband.
 Adult women were free to move around and had a
lot of freedom because their husbands did not live
at home.

CLOTHING
 Spartans wore the simplest and scantiest clothing.
 Men wore a tunic (toga) which was squares of cloth Male Tunic
pinned at the shoulders and had a belt around the (toga)
waist.
 Women’s tunics always went to the ankles.
 Clothing was made of linen in the summer, and
wool in the winter.
 Most Greeks went barefoot or wore leather sandals
or boots.
Women’s
Tunic
Greek Sandals

Barley Olives
FOOD
 Spartan food was simple and often plain and
unflavorable like broth or porridge.
 Men had to give a certain amount of
barley, wine, cheese, and figs each month to the
barracks.
 Food also consisted of
grains, wheat, barley, fruit, vegetables, and bread.
 They grew grapes, figs, olives, and wheat.
 They owned goats to get their milk and cheese.
 They made wine from the grapes they grew.
Goat Cheese Figs

LEISURE ACTIVITIES
 Spartans did not spend a lot of time on leisure.
 They enjoyed religious festivals that included
feasting, dancing, and practice battles for
endurance.
 They also attended the Olympic games which were
athletic competitions between city-states.
 Three famous athletes of Sparta were
Acanthus, Chionis, and Cynisca.
Ruins of training
ground of the
Olympic games

GREEK WRITING
 There are several theories about its origin
 One suggests that it originated with migration of proto-
Greek speakers.
 Migration into Greece occurred at a pre proto-Greek
stage.
 The characteristic Greek sound changes came later.
 Spartans did not create any literary works that are
known.
 Spartans didn’t spend much time trying to become
writers.
 Most examples of Spartan writing are from
inscriptions, not literature.
 Linear B was the first known script for writing Greek.
 They got the writing originally from the Phoenicians.

GREEK ALPHABET
Modern Greek Writing Ancient Greek Writing
(Linear B Style)