A Comprehensive Look at the Civilizations of Greece, 1000-400 B.C.E.

This essay explores the civilizations of Greece from 1000-400 B.C.E., examining how Homer's epics transmitted Bronze Age values to the aristocracy of the new Greek poleis. It analyzes the transformation of the Mediterranean through the spread of Greek culture and the adoption of Hoplite military tactics. The essay compares and contrasts the historical circumstances leading to the development of Athens, Sparta, and Miletus, highlighting their main differences. It also discusses the motives for the invasions of Darius and Xerxes and the methods by which the Greek poleis emerged victorious from the Persian Wars. Furthermore, the triumphs and limitations of democracy in Periclean Athens are evaluated, and the impact of the Peloponnesian War on Athens is assessed, noting its transformation and eventual decline.

Running head: THE CIVILIZATIONS OF GREECE
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The Civilizations of Greece, 1000-400 B.C.E.
Student’s Name
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The Civilizations of Greece, 1000-400 B.C.E.
■ How did the epics of HOMER transmit the values of the Bronze Age to the
ARISTOCRACY of the new Greek POLEIS?
Homer tales developed as a pious tradition of devotion that became an individual concept
where he depicted that competition and status are paramount and important to the warrior class
just like the aristocrats at that time. Being a poet, he provided a common set of values that
enshrined the Greek culture through a fixed model of heroism. Since the poems were set in
Bronze Age culture, he talked more about glorious death where people were supposed to fight
and earn distinguished social status in Greece through battles (Cole & Carol Symes, 2014). Thus
these epics defined the warrior class during the Bronze Age and the honor that people got by
fighting and winning or dying battles.
■ How did the spread of Greek culture transform the
The Mediterranean, even as the adoption of HOPLITE military tactics transformed Greek
politics?
The Hoplite is a heavily armed foot-soldier in Athens who wore a body armor that protected him
during the war. This means that to survive the wars of that time especially from the Persians, the
Greeks had to protect their soldiers by creating body armor for them, thus one of the reasons why
Athens became powerful. In Athens, a compulsory system required all males in the military age
to participate in war but during the war, all males below the age of 60 could be called upon to
war to protect their city (Cole & Carol Symes, 2014). The principle weapon was a long wood
spear, a short sword, a leather-lined bronze helmet to protect the head, neck, and face, and a
breastplate of bronze greaves to protect the middle body. This success of Greece in the Hoplite
led other city-states to transform their people and men to be prepared and ready to protect their

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city. After the Greek-Persian wars, the concept of Hoplite transformed the Mediterranean world
where different kingdoms and city-states became structured with Hoplites that protected them
during the war.
■ Compare and contrast the historical circumstances that led to the development of
ATHENS, SPARTA, and MILETUS. What were the main differences between them?
One common similarity between the developments of the city-states is that they developed as a
result of the works of great thinkers of that time. One common element that cuts across the city-
states in philosophical thinking which shaped and spurred these cities. Each city was developed
on philosophical thinking that defined how the city-states would prosper. Athenians believed in
individual achievement which led to the education of the individual, Spartans focused on the
state while the Miletus focused on exploring the world to learn their philosophical thinking
(Halsall, 1998). This led to the independent development of the cities and made them different
from each other. The philosophical thinking that existed at that time shaped the history of these
city-states and how they relate to each other. We also see the need to protect Greek land as a
common factor in the development of the city states. All the city-states were focused on making
the Greeks more powerful as compared to any other people around them. This is the reason why
when Persians invaded, all the Greek city-states rallied together to fight them.
The city-states of Greece developed different thus they were different from each other. Athens
was more focused on the individual while Sparta was more interested in the state. Thus Athens
developed a strong education and training system that would empower individuals which is the
reason why the best political thinkers, scientists, artists and philosophers of that time came from
Athens. This also meant that direct democracy was used to allow all citizens to vote (Halsall,
1998). On the other hand, Spartans led to a simple life with a focus on obedience and war. This

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led to the freeing of slaves who existed at that time and allowing them to focus on military
duties. This means that young boys were trained and prepared to be warriors from a young age
and they were supposed to fight for ten years in war before they could return home and marry.
Another difference between Sparta and Athens is that being a boy in Sparta meant that you have
to train as a warrior and fight in your life before you can be allowed to do other activities.
However, in Athens, life was creative and thus a good education was paramount and serving in
the army was optional (Cole & Carol Symes, 2014). Despite not focusing much on war, Athens
was interested in the control of more land around them while Sparta was interested in peace and
providing war assistance to other parts of Greece if needed. Thus the quest for conquest led
Athens to war with other city-states where Sparta won the war.
On the other hand, Miletus was known for speculative thinking or the love of wisdom which is
regarded as philosophy. This is the reason why it had philosophers like Socrates. The thinking of
the Mellitus thus led to explanations on the direct influence of the gods which other Greeks
regarded as blasphemy. Miletus was built on the older traditions of Near Eastern learning like
Babylonian astronomy and mathematics to explain natural events (Cole & Carol Symes, 2014).
Another difference that made Mellitus different from the rest of the cities in their quest for
knowledge which led to the need to expand horizons of the world by traveling extensively to
study the customs and beliefs of other people. This traveling led to the struggle between religions
and philosophy since Miletus philosophers discovered that people had different views of God
and described them in relation to how they looked.
■ What were the different motives for the invasions of DARIUS and XERXES? By what
methods did the Greek poleis manage to emerge victorious from the PERSIAN WARS?

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The invasion of Greece by Darius was driven by the Ionian revolt which who rose up against
Persia King Darrius. Athens send troops to support the Ionian Greeks in the revolt which made
Darius vow to destroy Athens because of the involvement in a war which was not theirs. When
the revolt was put down the war shifted from Ionian revolt to Athens who Darius vowed to
destroy. When Persian forces on land and see advanced to Greece in 490BC under the command
of Datis and Artapherned and captured Euboea to use it as a staging area, they advanced from
here by dividing their forces since they knew that Athens had few soldiers. The Athenians used
the close quarters to the enemy strategy to nullify the effectiveness of Persian Archers to threaten
the Persian force. Thus the fact that the number of Persians at Marathon was limited meant that
the Calvary strategy could not be effective in breaking the enemy ranks of Athens (Cole & Carol
Symes, 2014). This meant that the advantage of the war was to be won at close ranks which were
an advantage to Athens since its Hoplites war armor and had good speed compared to Persians.
Thus the Athenians and Spartans won the war by crowning its battlefield triumph at Marathon by
arriving early to stand off against the Persians (Halsall, 1998). When Darius realized that he had
lost the war, he ordered for preparation of more men to invade Athens but died before the
preparations were over. When his son Xerxes took over, he was driven by revenge due to the
need to punish Greece for the defeat of his father since Persia was seen as a world superpower at
that time. However, the Greece under Themistocles had prepared to fight a decisive battle at sea
due to the new ships that they had developed. Thus when Xerxes invaded, the Greeks hid behind
St George Island allowing them to draw Persian ships into shallow waters and then attack them
forcing them to withdraw and then the Greeks will attack in an ordered line that surrounded them
thus conquering all of them. Therefore, Themistocles won the Person war through deception by
knowing that the Athenian force was not strong enough to take Persians head on.

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■ What were the triumphs and limitations of DEMOCRACY in PERICLEAN ATHENS?
One advantage that democracy offered in Athens was giving the people a voice in political
power through voting. The Athenians believed in the civic voice that was seen as giving the
leaders the decision and choices. In Athens, men will be allowed to vote on decisions that
affected them thus making it easy to govern the people. This system of government was good
since it had term limits that ensured people did not become too powerful and at the same time
ensured that they were accountable to the people (Halsall, 1998). However, democracy voiced
only men views and did not allow women to take part in democracy. This means that women did
not have a voice in the matters of the state and did not participate in voting. Further, this
democracy permitted enslavement of other people which means that the belief in individual rule
did not apply to all people since slaves and women were segregated.
■ How did the PELOPONNESIAN WAR transform Athens
The Peloponnesian war arose out of the fear of Sparta for the rising power of Athens. After
winning the war with Persia, Athens started becoming powerful and its quest to control the
whole of Greece led to the Peloponnesian war. Athens policy of preemptive war become
destructive since it led to their defeat. This is led to the citizens voting democracy out and
replacing it with oligarchy led by 400 men which changed the power of balance (Cole & Carol
Symes, 2014). The three decades of war left Athens bankrupt, exhausted and demoralized which
led to the loss of the old ideal of a city-state. This means that Athenian rule of democracy was
over and the new oligarchy allowed Sparta to rule over the whole of Greece thus leading to
falling of the dominance of Athens in Greece.

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References
Cole, J., & Carol Symes. (2014). Western Civilisations (15th ed.). NEW YORK: W. W. Norton
& Company, Inc.
Halsall, P. (1998). Ancient History Sourcebook: Xenophon (c.428-c.354 BCE): The Polity of the
Spartans, c. 375 BCE. Retrieved from Fordham University.
Halsall, P. (1998). Ancient History Sourcebook: Reports of the Origins of Athens, c. 430 BCE -
110 CE . Retrieved from Fordham University.
Halsall, P. (1998). Ancient History Sourcebook: Xenophon (c.428-c.354 BCE): The Spartan War
Machine, c. 375 BCE.