Greek Post 1: Greek Facts

1. The Minoans were the earliest Greek civilization
2. Frescoes were paintings made of plaster on palace walls.
3. The Mycenaeans controlled mainland Greece from about 1600 B.C. to about 1200 B.C.
4. The inhabitants of Greece were intensely loyal to the concept of the polis.
5. Greeks built forts on a acropolis, or hill.
6. Athens developed a form of democracy when the idea of popular government, or the idea that people can and should rule themselves, began to take root.
7. Greeks would often travel to oracles to ask questions about the future.
8. Homer was blind.
9. The Olympics were held to honor the Greek gods.
10. Someone who illegally took power but had the people's support was a tyrant.
11. Athens was known for its laws and governement; Sparta was known for its physical strength and discliplined people.
12. Helots made up the third and lowest group in Spartan society.
13. Sparta's goal was to make every adult male citizen part of the military machine.
14. Draco's laws were so harsh and severe that today we call a harsh law a Draconian law.
15. The form of democracy Athens had under Cleisthenes was called direct democracy.
16. Trade was the mainstay of Athen's economy. 
17. Parents arranged marriages and often girls were married at 13 or 14 to men twice their age or older.
18. Sappho often described everyday scenes from Greek life, such as weddings.
19. Hoplites formed the center of the Athenian infantry. Helots were people that the Spartans conquered.
20. Athenians placed great value on literacy and learning and sent their sons to schools at a young age.
21. The Persian navy was larger than the Athenian navy, but the Athenian ships were smaller and more maneuverable and sank most of the Persian fleet.
22. Pericles was a great general, orator, and statesman in Athens, and was responsible for building the Parthenon and the Acropolis.
23. The Delian League was an alliance of Greek city-states. 
24. Sparta won the Pelopennosian war after 27 years.
25. Delos housed the war chest of money that the members of the Delian League contributed to for the defense of Greece.