Persia vs. Greece

East:

• China

• Asia

• Middle east

• India

• Persian (Iran)

West:

• Europe

• USA

• Greece

Persian vs. Greece

Look through the PowerPoint and answer the following questions on your blog.  Then make sure you can identify the list of terms and explain why they are significant.  Finally answer the last two questions in your blog.

1. Was Persepolis a typically Persian city?

 - No, Persepolis was a magnificent city which was a confluence of styles.

2. Could you regard the Satrap system as tolerant?

 - No, The central government tended to hoard so much gold and silver that these metals became scarce and more expensive so people were negatively affected.

3. What is Zoroastrianism and what is its basic principle?

 - The major religion of the Persian empire, showing the existence of a dualistic universe.

4. Were women subjugated in Persia?

 - More or less no, held political and even military offices, free to work in many professions. Although the polygamy can be seen as a way of subjugates women.

 

5. Were Persians anti-slavery?

 - Persia were not anti-slavery, they had slaves, but these slaves may have had some sort of legal protection.

6. How did the Greeks deal with overpopulation?

 - They sent excess population to colonize other areas in the Mediterranean and Black sea. Colonization brought Greece into closer contact with other people which introduced the Greeks to new ideas but also sharpened their sense of Greek identity.

7. What systems of government did the Greeks Practice?

 - Oligarchy (power rests with small elite part of society) or Democracy (ruled by the majority).

8. How was Sparta affected by the enslavement of the Messenia's?

 - It inspired them to create a severely ascetic and highly militarized society.

9. When is the Classical Greek period?

 - 480 to 323 B.C.E

10. What is the strategic and social significance of the trireme?

 - The social significance of the trireme was the lower class population were rowers on huge boats, which led to higher classes and strengthened democracy. The Athens used its power to carry out profitable trade and to extract annual tribute from subject states. A weapon for invading Persia.

11. Were Socrates’ ideas main stream thought in Greece?

 - Yes. For example, from philosophy to ethics.

12. What were the limitations of Athenian democracy?

 - The limitation of the Greek democracy was that only free adult males could participate in the Athenian democracy. This was about 10-15 % of the total population. Women, children, slaves and foreigners did not have these rights.

13. What gender roles did Greek women have?

 - In Sparta were they relatively free and outspoken. In Athens women were more confined and oppressed. Athenian marriages were unequal arranged unions between younger women and older men.

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1. Cyrus

 - (One of the kings creating the Persian empire) King Cyrus has been seen as early set of human rights. He captured the kingdom of Lydia (546 BCE) thus bringing all of Anatolia under his control and later took Mesopotamia (539 BCE).

2. Darius I

 - (One of the kings creating the Persian empire) King Darius I began the elaborate citadel, the beginning of a magnificent city which as a confluence of styles.  When Darius came to power, the empire was divided into 20 provinces.

3. Satrap

 - A satrap was related or connected to the royal court and administered each province.

4. Persepolis

 - Elaborate citadel, a magnificent city constructed by Darius and was a confluence of styles (Median, Mesopotamian, Egyptian and Greek)

5. Zoroastrianism

 - Major religion of the Persian empire. It shows the existence of a dualistic universe in which the God of good, Ahuramazda, was locked in an epic struggle against the God of evil, Angra Mainyu.

6. Polis

 - Urban Center and rural territory. Characteristics of the polis included an acropolis, an agora (market place), fortified walls and public buildings. 

7. Hoplite

 - A style of warfare, a close formation of heavily armed infantrymen who would try to break the enemies lines of defence. (Soldiers were mostly farmers)

8. Tyrant

 - A man who comes and wants to steal the power, wants to reduce the power of traditional elites.

9. Democracy

 - A system device and the first step towards liberal democracy.

 

10. Sacrifice

 - Sacrifice was a central part of religious practice in Greek and helped to create a sense of community. (Sacrifice was also used in Persian culture)

11. Herodotus

 - Greek historian who was called "The father of history".

12. Artemisia

 - Something weeeirrddd.

13. Persian Wars

 - The Greek cities of Anatolia, aided by Eretria and Athens, staged a five revolt against Persian rule - leading to the Persian war (Two Persian attacks on Greece)

 

14. Trireme

 - A big rowing boat constructed for trading and as a weapon for invading Persia.

15. Socrates

 - One of the two most influential philosophers of the classical Greek period. From philosophy to ethics, probed the precise meaning of words, created Socratic method of question and answer. Tried on charges of corrupting the youth and not believing in Gods of the city and sentenced to death.

16. Peloponnesian War

 - 431 to 404 BC, was an ancient Greek war fought by Athens and its empire against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. Divided into three phases.

17. Alexander

 - King of Macedon (also called Alexander the Great)

18. Hellenistic Age

 - Describes the time which followed the conquests of Alexander the Great. During this time, Greek cultural influence and power was at its zenith in Europe and Asia. It is often considered a period of transition, sometimes even of decline or decadence, between the brilliance of the Greek Classical Era and the emergence of the Roman Empire

19. Babylonian captivity

 - A period in Jewish history which the Jews of the ancient kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylon.

20. Alexandria

 - The link between Greece and the rich Nile valley.

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1. What similarities and differences are there between the Persians and ancient Greeks?

Similarities: slaves existed in both societies.

Differences: in Persia people where recognized to serve their king while in Greece you were your own person. Persia was a monarchy and Greece became after late sixth or mid-fifth a democracy. Polygamy existed in Persia, although not in Greece.