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Version: 1.0
Time needed: Three to four hours in two sessions assuming the course is taught in a Demos by an experienced teacher and
the students have not studied any of the material previously. Solitary study could take longer or significantly
shorter. The goal of this section is to provide learners with an overview of ancient Greek history.
Texts and Sources
Note: Any one of the following sources will contain the necessary information for this section of the course; it is not
necessary to view or read them all.
Videos
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Life, Times and Wonders of Athens and Ancient Greece, part of Great Cities of the Ancient World series by Questar
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The Western Tradition: Part 1, numbers 5 and 6, & 7 and 8; part of The Annenberg / CPB Collection
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"The Crucible of Civilization"
Online Sources
Books
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Handbook to Life in Ancient Greece by Lesley Adkins and Roy A Adkins (ISBN 0-19-512491-X) Recommendation is good to
excellent
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Athens: A Portrait of a City in Its Golden Age by Christian Meier. Recommendation is only fair.
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The World of Athens by the Joint Association of Classics Teachers
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Ancient Greece by Thomas Martin. Recommendation is very good to excellent.
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Ancient History by Michael Cheilik, 2nd ed. (ISBN 0064671194)
Misc
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Other books or videos may also be used, see below for documentation
Documentation of Completion
Completion of this requirement can be documented by:
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Submission of a college transcript, CLEP, etc. showing passing, or successful credit for Western Civilization 1
(first semester), World History 1, Greek History or similar course. This far exceeds the actual requirement.
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Submission of a high school transcript showing passing, or successful credit for Greek history from a Greek high
school or equivilent. This far exceeds the actual requirement.
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Write a 1/2 to 1 page review of other books, videos or online sources to show that they cover the desired material in
an introductory manner. (Since this section is meant to be covered in three class hours, reading a 1,000 page book is
excessive amount of work given the goals!) Demonstrate not your knowledge of the material, but that the book being
reviewed covers the material.
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Complete an interview by phone, e-mail list participation or face-to-face with a Hellenion teacher and demonstrate
grasp of basic Greek history.
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Attend a showing of videos and the discussion afterwards at a local Demos, festival or similar.
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Watch two of the pre-approved videos, or read one of the books or websites, or combination and write half a page to
one page review of what you got from the videos; you do not have to cover the entire time period.
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Or write a half page to one page /summary that focuses on one piece of the material and relate it to Hellenion's
activities and goals. Or provide other evidence of reading or watching the material.
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Or write a half page or so and add to the existing material of "Topics to Look For".
Topics to Look For
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Geography of ancient Greece
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Brief overview of the Neolithic/Copper Age
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7000-4000 BCE Copper Age: First evidence of farming communities. No evidence of a unified religion (only local
gods and goddesses). Originally thought to be predominately goddess worship but that is no longer believed due to
finding god images as well as totem animal images.
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Overview of the Bronze Age
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Minoan and Mycenaean Civilizations
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The Palace Period
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The destruction of Troy
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3300-1200 BCE Minoan or Palace Period: First use of bronze tools. Most evidence of civilization is on the isle of
Crete. Many palaces are built, destroyed by earthquakes, rebuilt and finally abandoned or destroyed by volcano.
Still no evidence of unified religion and most religion is pantheistic (divinity within everything). Age of
heroic poets (Homer, Hesod, etc.).
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2200-1050 BCE Helladic or Mycenaean Period: First evidence of civilization on mainland. First writing (Linear A
and Linear B). First evidence of unified religion. First evidence of Polytheist beliefs.
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Brief overview of the Dark Age
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1050-750 BCE Dark Age of Iron Age: First evidence of open-air altars with cult images.
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The Archaic Age
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750-479 BCE Archaic Age: Persian invasions and the creation of the first city-states. Religion started becoming
more centered around the polis and less rural.
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The first Olympiad
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The major City-States of the Age:
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The founding of Rome
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The Persian invasions
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Aristocracies and Tyrannies
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The Hellenic League
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The Classical Age 5th and 4th century BCE Classical Age: When we think of Greek religion, with its myths and temples,
this period is usually meant. During this period, community worship was very important because it was common belief
that the whole community was responsible for the misdeeds of any of the individual members.
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The Delian League
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The Peloponnesian League
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The Great Peloponnesian War
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The Corinthian War
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The major City-States of the Age:
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Athens
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Sparta
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Corinth
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Thebes (Cadmea)
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Macedonia
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Overview of the Hellenistic Period
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336-30 BCE Hellenistic Period: Alexander conquers the know world and demands divine authority (there is evidence
that he was given offerings and worshiped but none that he was prayed to). Alexander's successors are granted
divine authority voluntarily. With the concept of one divine ruler comes the first thought of one god, which
leads to monotheism. The importance of the individual over the community starts to develop. Also during this
period, religion became less important as philosophy (love of knowledge) begins to develop.
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30 BCE End of the Hellenistic period when Rome conquers all of Greece.
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Alexander the Great Conquests
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The destruction of Thebes
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The expansion of Rome
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The impact of war on ancient culture
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The role of philosophers, scribes, poets and playwrights in history
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Ancient Society:
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The role of the monarchy
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The role of clergy
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The role of men
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The role of women
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The role of children
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The role of slaves
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Daily life of the people
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