Greece

Ancient and Classical Greece, c. 1200-300 BCE

Supporting Question: How does the democracy of Athens compare to the democracies of today?

⦁ On a historical map of the Mediterranean area, locate Greece and trace the extent of its influence from c. 1200 to 300 BCE.

⦁ Explain how the geographical location of ancient Athens and other city-states such as Corinth and Sparta contributed to their role in maritime trade, colonies in the Mediterranean, and the expansion of their cultural influence.

⦁ Explain the democratic political concepts developed in ancient Greece.

⦁ the “polis” or city-state

⦁ civic participation and voting rights

⦁ legislative bodies

⦁ constitution writing

⦁ rule of law

⦁ Compare and contrast life in Athens and Sparta, including the status and role of women and enslaved people in the two city-states.

⦁ Analyze the causes, and consequences of the Persian Wars between Greek city-states and the Persian Empire (490-480 BCE), the Peloponnesian Wars between Athens and Sparta (431-404 BCE), and the conquests of Alexander the Great in Asia (c.336-331BCE).

⦁ Give examples of Greek gods and goddesses, heroes, and events; explain the persistence of terms from Greek and Roman mythology in modern English and other European languages (e.g., Pandora’s box, a Herculean task, the wrath of Achilles, Amazon, Olympics, marathon, narcissism).

⦁ Identify the major accomplishments of the ancient Greeks by researching and reporting on one of the following:

⦁ a scientist or mathematician (e.g., Thales, Pythagoras, Euclid, or Hippocrates)

⦁ a philosopher(e.g., Socrates, Plato, or Aristotle), historian (e.g., Herodotus or Thucydides), poet or dramatist (e.g., Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Aristophanes, or Euripides)

⦁ architecture (e.g., the Parthenon, the Acropolis, and the Temple of Apollo)

⦁ writing (e.g., development of the first complete alphabet with symbols for consonants and vowels)

⦁ art (e.g., the development of ideals of beauty and proportions in the human body in sculpture or the depiction of myths and heroes in vase painting)