Introduction for Chapter 5

5 The Greek Experience 3500–30 B.C.E.

> What unique contributions did the Greeks make to global culture? Chapter 5 examines the development of ancient Greek civilization. The history of the Greeks can be divided into three broad periods: the Helladic period, which covered the Bronze Age, roughly 3000 B.C.E. to 1200 B.C.E.; the Hellenic period, from the Bronze Age Collapse to the conquest of Greece by Macedonia in 338 B.C.E.; and the Hellenistic period, stretching from the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C.E. to the Roman conquest of Egypt in 30 B.C.E. During the Hellenic period, Greeks developed a distinctive form of city-state known as the polis and made lasting cultural and intellectual achievements. During the Hellenistic period, Macedonian and Greek armies defeated the Persian Empire and built new cities and kingdoms, spreading Greek ideas as far as India (see Chapter 3).

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Greek Boy with Goose In the Hellenistic culture that developed across a huge area after Alexander the Great’s conquests, wealthy urban residents wanted art that showed real people rather than gods. This statue of a little boy wrestling a goose, originally carved about 200 B.C.E., no doubt found an eager buyer. (© Vanni Archive/Art Resource, NY)

LearningCurve

After reading the chapter, use LearningCurve to retain what you’ve read.

ca. 3000–1200 B.C.E. 499–404 B.C.E.
Helladic period Persian and Peloponnesian wars
ca. 2000–1100 B.C.E. 323–30 B.C.E.
Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations Hellenistic period
ca. 1200–323 B.C.E. 336–324 B.C.E.
Hellenic period Alexander the Great’s military campaigns
ca. 1100–800 B.C.E. 323–ca. 300 B.C.E.
Greece’s Dark Age; population declines, trade decreases, writing disappears Civil wars lead to the establishment of the Ptolemaic, Antigonid, and Seleucid dynasties
ca. 800–500 B.C.E. 168 B.C.E.
Archaic age; rise of the polis; Greek colonization of the Mediterranean Roman overthrow of the Antigonid dynasty
ca. 700–500 B.C.E. 30 B.C.E.
Sparta and Athens develop distinctive political institutions Roman conquest of Egypt; Ptolemaic dynasty ends
ca. 500–338 B.C.E.
Classical period; development of drama, philosophy, and major building projects in Athens