Introduction for Chapter 3

3. The Development of Greek Society and Culture, CA. 3000–338 B.C.E.

>What forces shaped the development of Greek society and culture in the Archaic and classical periods? Chapter 3 examines the development of Greek civilization from the Bronze Age through Greece’s classical period. Although geographic conditions made farming difficult and limited the growth of early kingdoms, the people of ancient Greece built on the traditions and ideas of earlier societies to develop a culture that fundamentally shaped the intellectual and cultural traditions of Western civilization. The ancient Greeks were the first to explore many of the questions about the world around them and the place of humans in it, questions that continue to concern thinkers today. They developed ways of understanding and explaining the world around them, which grew into modern philosophy and science. They also created new political forms and new types of literature and art.

LearningCurve

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

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Religious Life in Hellenic Greece. This painted wooden slab from about 540 B.C.E., found in a cave near Corinth, shows adults and children about to sacrifice a sheep to the deities worshipped in this area. (De Agostini Picture Library/G. Dagli Orti/The Bridgeman Art Library)

>How did the geography of Greece shape its earliest kingdoms?

>What was the role of the polis in Greek society?

>What were the causes and consequences of the major wars of the classical period?

>What were the lasting cultural and intellectual achievements of the classical period?

3000 B.C.E. ca. 600–450 B.C.E.
– Bronze tools and weapons become common in Greece – Pre-Socratics develop ideas about the nature of the universe
ca. 1900 B.C.E. 500–338 B.C.E.
– Minoan culture begins to thrive on Crete – Classical period; development of drama, philosophy, and major building projects in Athens
ca. 1650 B.C.E. 499–479 B.C.E.
– Mycenaean culture develops in Greece – Persian wars
ca. 1300–1100 B.C.E. 431–404 B.C.E.
– Bronze Age Collapse; migration, destruction – Peloponnesian War
ca. 1100–800 B.C.E. 427–347 B.C.E.
– Dark Age; population declines; trade decreases; writing disappears – Life of Plato
ca. 800–500 B.C.E. 384–322 B.C.E.
– Archaic age; rise of the polis; Greek colonization of the Mediterranean; Homer and Hesiod compose epics and poetry – Life of Aristotle
ca. 750–500 B.C.E. 371–362 B.C.E.
– Sparta expands and develops a military state – Thebes, with an alliance of city-states, rules Greece
ca. 600–500 B.C.E. 338 B.C.E.
– Political reforms in Archaic Athens – Philip II of Macedonia gains control of Greece
Table 3.1: > CHAPTER CHRONOLOGY