Essay Sample on Greek Civilization

Introduction

Similarly, it was during the Archaic period that some of the essential Panhellenic games in Greek history were founded. During 776 BC the Olympic games began by Pelops and Hercules while at Delphi the athletic contests occurred from around c. 586 BC. In the archaic culture and tradition, each of the games was surrounded not only as an Olympic but by a founding myth. For example, the Pythian Games involving a game of dance and music was founded by Apollo, the Isthmian games were established by the legendary king of Corinth (Sisyphus) and the Nemean games founded after Hercules had killed the Nemean lion. In the creation of the Olympic games, the Greeks now felt like they had something in common since they acquired the opportunity to achieve great things. Also, since they did not believe in the existence of life after death, public adulation was essential which they attained through the Olympic games, and the victors were considered hero's back in the city-states. Therefore, this is one of the major events marking the ancient Greek civilization within the archaic period.

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Additionally, the were developments concerning the Greek literature and alphabet during the archaic period from Homer and Hesiod, through Aeschylus and Pindar with the Greek alphabet developed. The earliest Greek alphabet dated 750 BC developed out of the Phoenician alphabet. It was a significant development toward the civilization of the ancient Greek since it increased exploration in the period and trade that made cultural exchanged possibly. On the other hand, despite the development of Greek development, Hesiod and Homer still used oral tradition composition and tradition until 670 BC when the rule of Peisistratus was developed. The conclusion of the Archaic Period delivered major developed since it set the pace for classical literary development.

Through the involvements of the later archaic periods, it marked the development and the rise of tyrants which can be linked to Sparta and Athens. Through various development in the archaic period, there had been an emergence of numerous cities (such as Athens, Sparta, Corinth, and Thebes) by the 6th century BC dominant to the Greek affairs who had brought the surrounding regions under their rule and command due to the power they had gathered. However, if there was a polis during the history of the ancient Greek that valued the state over other personal gains was Sparta. Sparta was once a Mycenean location of settlement that was taken over by the Dorian Greek who in one way or the other delivered major raids to neighboring states. Sparta was controlled or ruled by two kings with the help of 28 councils of eldered who held the position permanently while the kings could be removed by ephors, who were ordinary Spartans elected to hold the position. In the earlier settings of the Archaic period, the Spartans colonized Taras, an area in southern Italy as well as attacking neighboring Messenia during the 730s and 710 BC. In ancient Greece, most of the wars did not last long; however, this continued long as the Spartans made the defeated Messenians to live and form a lower class termed as the Helots. During the occurrence, the Spartans assigned the Helots the farmlands they took from Messenians, but they had a worry that the Messenians would rebel. Majorly, since the Helots involved in farming, all the Spartan men became warriors who were critical for them as they needed an army in case helots tried to rebel with help from other city-states such as Agros.

The Classical Greek Civilization

Classical Greece refers to a 200-year period that lasted from the 5th to the 4th centuries BC marking the Persian wars and the death of Alexander the Great. The classical period was an era of conflict and wars encompassing wars between the Greeks and the Persians; however, it was also an era of various cultural and unprecedented political achievements that play a significant role in the ancient Greek civilization. Notably, the period saw the development of modern-day Greece since it has a dominant influence on the Roman empire which influences the foundation of the Greek civilizations. Also, it brought about the development of modern western civilization into a system defined as the rule by the people.

The Greco-Persian Wars

Early in during the Classical period, Sparta and Athens coexisted peacefully through their underlying suspicions of each other until the middle of the 5th century when the cultural and political dispositions of the two cities occupied the opposite sides of the spectrum. However, this occurrence was one of the events behind the events of the Greco-Persian Wars. The Greco-Persian wars began when Cyrus the Great conquered the Greek inhibited region of Ionia. Through the different struggles to control the cities of Ionia, the Persians appointed tyrants to rule the towns where the tyrants of Miletus embarked on a mission to conquer the island of Naxos with the support of Persia but failed. As a result, this occurrence led to a rebellion (the Ionian Revolt) that drew other regions in the conflict. However, in 493 BC, the Ionians were defeated as the resistance collapsed which led Darius the Great into seeking to secure his empire by formulating a scheme to conquer all of Greece. The first invasion of Greece by Persian in 492 BC proved successful after Persia conquered Macedon. A second force subjugated Cyclades during 490 BC; however, the Persians were defeated in Athens at the battle of Marathon which halted Darius's plan.

In 480 BC after the death of Darius in 486 BC, Xerxes, Darius's son led one of the...