ALL ABOUT GREECE

GREECE

Greece  historically in Katharevousa and Ancient Greek, Hellas, officially the Hellenic Republic is a country in Southern Europe,

 politically considered part of Western Europe. Athens is the capital and the largest city in the country (its urban

area also including Piraeus). The population of the country is about 11 million.

Greece has land borders with Albania, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the east. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of mainland Greece, the Ionian Sea to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km (8,498 mi) in length, featuring a vast number of islands (approximately 1,400, of which 227 are inhabited), including Crete, the Dodecanese, the Cyclades, and the Ionian Islands among others. Eighty percent of Greece consists of mountains, of which Mount Olympus is the highest at 2,917 m (9,570 ft).

Map

Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece was an ancient civilization that flourished about 2,500 years ago in the area that is now modern Greece, nearby Mediterranean islands, and the western coast of Turkey.We owe Ancient Greece a great debt for its discoveries in many areas, including philosophy, science, politics, the arts, and architecture. Greek culture forms the basis of much of Western (and, in fact, world) civilization that we enjoy and benefit from to this day.

Every time that we speak of democracy, philosophy, geography, geology, biology, drama, rhetoric, or crisis, we are using Ancient Greek words and concepts -- 2,500 years old and still going strong!

The Parthenon Temple

The Parthenon is a temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, dedicated to the goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their patron.

Modern Greece

The history of modern Greece covers the history of Greece from the recognition of its autonomy from the Ottoman Empire by the Great Powers (the United Kingdom, France, and Russia) in 1828, after the Greek War of Independence, to the present day.

Most of Greece gradually became part of the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century. The Byzantine Empire, the successor to the ancient Roman Empire who ruled most of the Greek-speaking world for over 1100 years, had been fatally weakened since the sacking of Constantinople by the Latin Crusaders in 1204.

The Ottoman advance into Greece was preceded by victory over the Serbs to its north. First the Ottomans won at 1371 on the Maritsa River — where the Serb forces were led by the KingVukasin Mrnjavcevic, the father of Prince Marko and the co-ruler of the last emperor from the Serbian Nemanjic dynasty. This was followed by another Ottoman victory in the 1389 Battle of Kosovo.

Sample of Modern Greek Buildings. “Nafpilo” the first capital

modern Greece.

Who are the GREEKS?

The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and other regions. They also form a significant Diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world.

Greek colonies and communities have been historically established in most corners of the Mediterranean, but Greeks have always been centered around the Aegean Sea, where the Greek language has been spoken since antiquity. Until the early 20th century, Greeks were uniformly distributed between the Greek peninsula, the western coast of Asia Minor, Pontus, Egypt, Cyprus and Constantinople; many of these regions coincided to a large extent with the borders of the Byzantine Empire of the late 11th century and the Eastern Mediterranean areas of the ancient Greek colonization.

The Mycaenean A Kouros, from the Archaic period. Archaeological Museum of

Thebes, Greece. The Mycenaean's were ultimately the first Greek-speaking people attested

through historical sources, written records in the Linear B script, and through their literary echoes in the works of Homer, a few centuries later.

The Mycenaean's quickly penetrated the Aegean Sea and by the 15th century BC had reached Rhodes, Crete, Cyprus, where Teucer is said to have founded the first colony, and the shores of Asia Minor. Around 1200 BC the Dorians, another Greek-speaking people, followed from Epirus. Traditionally, historians have believed that the Dorian invasion caused the collapse of the Mycenaean civilization, but it is likely the main attack was made by seafaring raiders (sea peoples) who sailed into the eastern Mediterranean around 1180 BC.The Dorian invasion was followed by a poorly attested period of migrations, appropriately called the Greek Dark Ages, but by 800 BC the landscape of Archaic and Classical Greece was discernible.

In the Homeric epics, the Greeks of prehistory are viewed as the ancestors of the early classical civilization of Homer's own time, while the Mycenaean pantheon included many of the divinities (e.g. Zeus, Poseidon and Hades) attested in later Greek religion.

The Classical The classical period of Greek civilization covers a time spanning

from the early 5th century BC to the death of Alexander the Great, in323 BC (some authors prefer to split this period into 'Classical', from the end of the Persian wars to the end of the Peloponnesian War, and 'Fourth Century', up to the death of Alexander). It is so named because it set the standards by which Greek civilization would be judged in later eras. The ethnogenesis of the Greek nation is marked, according to some scholars, by the first Olympic Games in 776 BC, when the idea of a common Hellenism among the Greek-speaking tribes was first translated into a shared cultural experience and Hellenism was primarily a matter of common culture.

While the Greeks of the classical era understood themselves to belong to a common Greek genos their first loyalty was to their city and they saw nothing incongruous about warring, often brutally, with other Greek city-states. The Peloponnesian War, the large scale Greek civil war between Athens and Sparta and their allies, is a case in point.

Most of the feuding Greek city-states were, in some scholars' opinions, united under the banner of Philip's and Alexander the Great's pan-Hellenic ideals, though others might generally opt, rather, for an explanation of "Macedonian conquest for the sake of conquest" or at least conquest for the sake of riches, glory and power and view the "ideal" as useful propaganda directed towards the city-states.

In any case, Alexander's toppling of the Achaemenid Empire, after his victories at the battles of the Granicus, Issus and Gaugamela, and advance as far as modern-day Pakistan and Tajikistan,[64] provided an important outlet for Greek culture, via the creation of colonies and trade routes along the way.[While the Alexandrian empire did not survive its creator's death intact, the cultural implications of the spread of Hellenism across much of theMiddle East and Asia were to prove long lived as Greek became the lingua franca, a position it retained even in Roman times. Many Greeks migrated to Alexandria, Antioch, Seleucia and many other new Hellenistic cities founded in Alexander's wake. Two thousand years later, there are still communities in Pakistan and Afghanistan, like the Kalash, who claim to be descended from Greek settlers.

The Hellenic

The major Hellenistic realms; thePtolemaic Kingdom (dark blue) and the Seleucid Empire (yellow).

Bust of Cleopatra VII. Altes Museum, Berlin. The Hellenistic civilization was the next period of Greek civilization, the

beginnings of which are usually placed at Alexander's death.[This Hellenistic age, so called because it saw the partial Hellenization of many non-Greek cultures,[70] lasted until the conquest of Egypt by Rome in 30 BC.

This age saw the Greeks move towards larger cities and a reduction in the importance of the city-state. These larger cities were parts of the still larger Kingdoms of the Diadochi.[71][72] Greeks, however, remained aware of their past, chiefly through the study of the works of Homer and the classical authors. An important factor in maintaining Greek identity was contact with barbarian (non-Greek) peoples which was deepened in the new cosmopolitan environment of the multi-ethnic Hellenistic kingdoms. This led to a strong desire among Greeks to organize the transmission of the Hellenic paideia to the next generation.

In the Indo-Greek and Greco-Bactrian kingdoms, Greco-Buddhism was spreading and Greek missionaries would play an important role in propagating it toChina. Further east, the Greeks of Alexandria Eschate became known to the Chinese people as the Dayuan.

The Roman Empire

Roman Empire Following the time of the conquest of the last of the

independent Greek city-states and Hellenistic (post-Alexandrine) kingdoms, almost all of the world's Greek speakers lived as citizens or subjects of the Roman Empire.

In the religious sphere, this was a period of profound change. The spiritual revolution that took place saw a waning of the old Greek religion, whose decline beginning in the 3rd century BC continued with the introduction of new religious movements from the East. The cults of deities like Isis and Mithra were introduced into the Greek world.

The Byzantine

Of the new eastern religions introduced into the Greek world the most successful was Christianity. While ethnic distinctions still existed in the Roman Empire, they became secondary to religious considerations and the renewed empire used Christianity as a tool to support its cohesion and promoted a robust Roman national identity.Concurrently the secular, urban civilization of late antiquity survived in the Eastern Mediterranean along with Greco-Roman educational system, although it was from Christianity that the culture's essential values were drawn.

The Ottoman

Following the Fall of Constantinople on May 29, 1453, many Greeks sought better employment and education opportunities by leaving for the West, particularly Italy,Central Europe, Germany and Russia.

For those that remained under the Ottoman Empire's millet system, religion was the defining characteristic of national groups (milletler), so the exonym "Greeks" (Rumlar from the name Rhomaioi) was applied by the Ottomans to all members of the Orthodox Church, regardless of their language or ethnic origin. The Greek speakers were the only ethnic group to actually call themselves Romioi (as opposed to being so named by others) and, at least those educated, considered their ethnicity (genos) to be Hellenic.

The roots of Greek success in the Ottoman Empire can be traced to the Greek tradition of education and commerce. It was the wealth of the extensive merchant class that provided the material basis for the intellectual revival that was the prominent feature of Greek life in the half century and more leading to the outbreak of theGreek War of Independence in 1821.  Not coincidentally, on the eve of 1821, the three most important centres of Greek learning were situated in Chios, Smyrna and Aivali, all three major centres of Greek commerce.

The Modern

While most Greeks today are descended from Greek-speaking Romioi (Roman) there are sizeable groups of ethnic Greeks who trace their descent to Aromanian-speaking Vlachs and Albanian-speaking Arvanites as well as Slavophones and Turkish-speaking Karamanlides. Today, Greeks are to be found all around the world.

GREEK LITERATURE

ALL ABOUT!

The fertile imagination of the Greeks produced masterpieces which can never be surpassed by anyone at anytime. They provided explanations to varied ideas out of their unequalled intellect. The ancient Greeks established and brought all literary forms to a high degree of perfection.

Greek literature started in Ionia with Homer’s brilliant epics, the Iliad and Odyssey. Athens became the literary colossus of the Greek world. Many literary compositions were performed during Athenian festivals but the highlight was tragic drama.

The archetypal figures of heroic myth were used by poets to illuminate the life of man and his position in the universe. Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles were the three greatest poets while the greatest Greek comedian was Aristophanes.

Socrates was one of the most influential thinkers of Greece while Plato created the Academy(school) and his pupil Aristotle founded his own school, the Lyceum. Together, they influenced later European religion, science, philosophy and literature.

GREEK MYTHOLOGY

Myths are stories whose main characters are generally gods and goddesses. Every country has its own body of myths or mythology. Classical myths, a name given to the myths in western culture.

All the Greek mythological gods and goddesses were made out of their own image, and although they were believed to control the lives of human beings, they weren’t supreme almighty beings. Instead, they had human flaws. These gods and goddesses were immortal, didn’t get old or sick and had eternal youth.

They had human desires and needs, such as hunger and thirst, which they quenched with ambrosia or nectar. They were the executive powers of fate, or moira, with which they were constantly interacting. This gods lived on Olympus, a 6,000-foot, steep mountain always covered in clouds. Moira can be called destiny.

All lives, even those of the gods were subordinate to it. They were represented by three moiras, the three goddesses or Parcae in latin. They are:

CLOTHO- the spinnerLACHESIS- the divider

ANTHROPOS- the inevitable

THE GREEK GODS & GODDESSES

ZEUS- lord of heaven and earthHERA- patron goddess of the family

and married womenATHENA-goddess of wisdomPOSEIDON- god of the seaCERES- goddess of agricultureAPOLLO- god of light, music and

prophecyARTEMIS- goddess of the moon and

the hunt

HERMES- god of commerce and messenger of the gods and bearer of dead souls

APHRODITE- goddess of love and beauty

ARES- god of warHEPHAESTUS- god of fire and artHESTIA- goddess of family peace

GREEK TRADEGY

In Greece, the word “tragedy” means GOAT SONG. It was believed to be from the k rituals on the feast of Bacchus, In whose favor the chorus, dresses as goats or satyrs, danced and chanted verses. Critics suggested that tragedy is related to goat song because it begins prosperously, as a goat is bare in the rear. Some say that it is so because tragedies have plots which are smelly and unpleasant as goats.

According to Aristotle, it is a type of drama in which the chief character, an essentially superior person, undergoes a morally significant struggle, which ends disastrously. The story has the power to affect audiences by appealing to pity and fear that result in catharsis or purgation. Before the hero reaches his tragic end, it is then intensified through several events including anagnorisi and peripateaia triggered by his tragic flaws particularly hubris or hamartia.

GREEK COMEDY

This type of drama aims to amuse. For the Greeks, the main function of comedy high lightened by beautiful lyrics with obscenity, slang and broad verbal humor, penetrating social satire, is as a form of entertainment. Usually, it deals with incongruous aspects of human speech, actions and characters not primarily concerned with the basic issues of good and evil.

GREEK EPIC

Epics as a literary genre, are long narrative poems written in a dignified style celebrating heroic exploits of a character who is the embodiment of cultural, national and religious ideals; possessing supernatural powers, larger than life, illustrating heroic deeds and nation founding.

These were believed to be songs preserve through oral tradition- a process of transferring literature from one mouth to another, coming from one generation to another; by scoops, minstrels,bards, rhapsodies or storytellers travelling from one place to another.

GREEK DRAMA

It was the crowning glory of the Athenian Age. This period has been called by different terms. It has been called the Age of Pericles because Pericles was the ruling power in Athens at the time. It has also been called the Athenian Age because Athens became the white-hot literary of Greece, and it has been called the Golden Age because the drama flourished during this period.

There were three great tragic writers: Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, and there was Aristophanes, the greatest writer of comedy the world has ever produced.

Dramatic poetry was the organ of the prevailing thoughts and feelings of the time. This is why the drama marks the high tide of literature, and the golden age in the literary history of a nation coincides with the period when that nation produced its great dramatists.

MAJOR DRAMATISTS OF THE ATHENIAN

AGE

1) AESCHYLUS (525-456 B.C) – was a poet by profession and he was regarded by the Athenians as the father of tragedy.

2) SOPHOCLES (496-406 B.C) – he was the darling of the Athenian populace; he disproved the saying that a genius must be unrecognized in his own age.

LIST of the GREATEST

CONTRIBUTIONS of ANCIENT GREEK

CULTURE to HUMAN CIVILIZATION

Ancient Greeks invented DEMOCRACY.

Ancient Greeks invented LOGIC.Ancient Greeks invented SCIENCE.Ancient Greeks invented LYRICS.Ancient Greeks invented FIELD OF

STUDY and we call it HISTORY.APPROACH to MEDICINE.

REVOLUTIONIZED ARCHITECTURE, SCULPTURE and PAINTING.

DEVELOPED LITERATURE, ORATORY, and RHETORIC.

Ancient Greeks invented PHILOSOPHY.

Thank you for

listening!

GROUP 1Quenncy M. Valenzuela – facilitator, researcher, did the PowerPoint and reporter.Joisa Glizelle Cato – researcher, did the PowerPoint and reporter.Apple Joy Santos – researcher and reporter.Claudine Joyce Chavez – reporter.Joanna Alavazo – reporter.