Ancient+Greece

The Mycaenian Society

=== Source – “Works and Days”: //Hesiod was one of the earliest known Greek poets. He lived some time in the 8th century BC in Boeotia. He said he became a poet when the Muses visited him one day while he was tending his sheep. They gave him the inspiration to write poetry and told him to 'sing of the race of the blessed gods immortal.' Works and Days is one of his most famous poems. In it, Hesiod advises farmers how to run a successful farm. He tells them the best times of the year to undertake certain tasks and warns them to work hard or else the gods may be angry with them. // === "...Hunger goes always with a workshy man... You should embrace work-tasks in their due order, so that your granaries be full of substance in its season." "Make sacrifice to the immortal gods..., burn gleaming thighbones; and at other times [try to please] them with libations and [offerings], both when you go to bed and when divine light returns..." "When the keen sun's strength stops scorching and sweltering, after mighty Zeus begins the autumn rain, and human skin feels the change with relief ... then timber is freest from the worm... Then do your woodcutting, do not neglect it..." "...Take heed when you hear the voice of the crane from high in the clouds, making its annual clamour; it brings the signal for ploughing, and indicates the season of winter rains, and it stings the heart of the man with no ox." "Pray to Zeus of the earth and pure Demeter for Demeter's holy grain to ripen heavy ... In this way the ears may nod towards the earth with thickness ... you will reach the bright spring in prosperity..." "the swallow comes forth into men's sight as the spring is just established. Do not wait for her before pruning the vines: it is better so" "For fifty days after the solstice, when the summer has entered its last stage, then is the time for mortals to sail... At that time the breezes are well defined and the sea harmless." "When Orion and Sirius come into mid-heaven ... then set about cutting off all the grape-clusters for home. Expose them to the sun for ten days and ten nights, cover them over for five, and on the sixth draw merry Dionysos's gift off into jars." "Well with god and fortune is he who works with knowledge of all this, giving the immortals no cause for offence, judging the bird-omens and avoiding transgressions."

**Source analysis activity: ** read Hesiod’s text and then answer the following questions. You must look up in the dictionary the words you don’t know.

a) What can you learn from the source about Greek religion in the time Hesiod lived?

b) What can you learn from the source about the Mycaenian economy?

**<span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';">Note: **<span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif';"> Remember that when the question is “what can you learn from the source about…” repeating the factual evidence provided by the source will not be enough. Your must INFER what the factual evidence is actually trying to say, what can be read between lines. This means you need to give complete answers where you explain the different quotes (factual evidence) of the text using your own knowledge on the subject.

<span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; text-align: justify;">GREEK CITY-STATES AND GOVERNMENT

<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Greek city-states were isolated from one another by mountains or water. The seas, however, provided a vital link to the outside world. The Greeks became skilled sailors and traders. As they traveled, they acquired new ideas from foreign lands, which they adapted to their own needs.

<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;"> As their world expanded, the Greeks evolved a unique version of the city-state, called the **<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">polis. **<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">The polis consisted of a major city or town and its surrounding countryside. The **<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">acropolis, **<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">or high city, with its many temples, stood on a hill. Because the population was small for each city-state, the **<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">citizens **<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">felt a shared sense of responsibility for the triumphs and failures of their polis.

<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;"> Different forms of government evolved in Greece. At first, there was a **<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">monarchy. **<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">In a monarchy, a hereditary ruler exercises central power. In time, the power shifted to an **<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">aristocracy **<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">—or rule by the landholding elite. As trade expanded and a wealthy middle class emerged, the result was a form of government called an **<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">oligarchy **<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">— where power is in the hands of a small, wealthy elite.

<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;"> A new method of fighting also emerged. The **<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">phalanx **<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">was a massive tactical formation of heavily armed foot soldiers. In the city-state of **<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Sparta ****<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">, **<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Spartans focused on developing strong military skills, paying less attention to trade, wealth, new ideas, or the arts.

<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;"> In **<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">Athens ****<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">, **<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">government evolved from a monarchy into an aristocracy. Under the aristocracy, discontent spread among ordinary citizens. Slowly Athens moved toward **<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">democracy, **<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">or government by the people. Despite government reforms under the leadership of Solon in around 594 B.C., there was still unrest. This led to the rise of **<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">tyrants, **<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">or those who gained power by force. __They often won support from the merchant class and the poor by imposing reforms to help these groups__. In 507 B.C., the reformer Cleisthenes broadened the role of ordinary citizens in government and made the assembly a genuine **<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">legislature, **<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;">or lawmaking body.

<span style="font-family: 'Century Gothic','sans-serif'; font-size: 13.3333px;"> Despite divisions among city-states, Greeks shared a common culture. They spoke the same language, honored the same ancient heroes, participated in common festivals, and prayed to the same gods.

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