1 00:00:00,300 --> 00:00:05,559 Ancient Greece is, along with Christianity, the birthplace of Western culture. 2 00:00:06,120 --> 00:00:14,240 Its history is divided into four periods, the Dark Ages, Archaic Period, Classical Period, and the Hellenistic Period. 3 00:00:15,820 --> 00:00:24,339 Greek civilization originates from the Cretan or Minoan civilization of the island of Crete and the Mycenaean, in the city of Mycenae. 4 00:00:24,339 --> 00:00:30,940 The Cretans had already built palaces such as the Palace of Knossos, with large rooms, 5 00:00:31,359 --> 00:00:37,039 monumental staircases, gardens and warehouses dedicated to the legendary king Minos. 6 00:00:38,460 --> 00:00:43,780 As for the Mycenaean culture, it was located in the centre and south of the Greek peninsula. 7 00:00:44,399 --> 00:00:46,679 They are also noted for being great builders. 8 00:00:47,380 --> 00:00:52,020 The most important archaeological site is Mycenae, with the Lion Gate. 9 00:00:52,820 --> 00:00:58,000 These early Greeks formed the first advanced culture, with the origins of written Greek 10 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:04,760 language. The script was recently named Linear B. The Mycenaean economy was very structured 11 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:11,379 and depended on the trade of products, such as oil, wool, wine, and slaves. They are considered 12 00:01:11,379 --> 00:01:17,540 the direct ancestors of the Greeks. When the Mycenaean civilization collapsed, 13 00:01:17,540 --> 00:01:22,519 we entered the Dark Ages. It is so called because of the few sources and documents 14 00:01:22,519 --> 00:01:29,939 that have been found from this period. This period ran from about 1200 to 776 BC. 15 00:01:30,700 --> 00:01:36,260 The Dark Ages in the Greek world meant the transition from bronze to iron age technology, 16 00:01:36,719 --> 00:01:42,519 the transition from the pre-Hellenic to the Hellenic. It encompasses what happened during 17 00:01:42,519 --> 00:01:47,420 the centuries that separate the decomposition of the Mycenaean world and the birth of the 18 00:01:47,420 --> 00:01:55,400 Hellenic world. At the end of the Dark Ages, the Archaic Age began from 776 to around 499 BC. 19 00:01:56,159 --> 00:02:00,920 This was a time when the Greeks needed more land and managed to expand their territories. 20 00:02:01,659 --> 00:02:07,260 The Greek tribes settled in mainland Greece and the Aegean Islands in the first instance, 21 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:13,759 eventually conquering Asia Minor, southern Italy and Sicily, known as Magna Graecia. 22 00:02:14,659 --> 00:02:18,979 These Indo-European tribes spoke different variants of the future Greek language, 23 00:02:19,319 --> 00:02:21,860 which was related to the Mycenaean language. 24 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:28,919 These peoples were the Ascians, Ionians, Dorians, Aeolians, Arcadians. 25 00:02:29,659 --> 00:02:33,560 In the Archaic era, the nobility took power from the kings 26 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:36,680 and the different state cities or polis were formed. 27 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:41,419 Athens, Thebes, Sparta, Corinth, Argos. 28 00:02:41,419 --> 00:02:48,500 The need to find new land, population growth and social conflicts led them to seek new 29 00:02:48,500 --> 00:02:53,060 independent colonies, both in the East and the West. 30 00:02:53,060 --> 00:02:56,060 This spurred a huge economic take-off. 31 00:02:56,060 --> 00:03:01,039 Aspects that favoured colonisation were the emergence of the Greek hoplite or infantry 32 00:03:01,039 --> 00:03:06,099 soldier, the progressive use of the trireme, a three-row vessel with more agile oars than 33 00:03:06,099 --> 00:03:11,680 the Phoenician vessels, and the introduction of currency for commercial transactions. 34 00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:16,599 In the decision to found new colonies, as well as in the choice of their location, the 35 00:03:16,599 --> 00:03:21,599 Oracle of Delphi, which we will talk about later, played a pivotal role. 36 00:03:21,599 --> 00:03:25,080 In this way, Greek culture expanded. 37 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:29,280 Even if they were independent state cities that sometimes fought each other, there was 38 00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:34,199 a sense of belonging to the same common culture and a sense of unity as they shared the same 39 00:03:34,199 --> 00:03:40,919 language, and had the same gods and beliefs, and met at the same celebrations. The Romans called 40 00:03:40,919 --> 00:03:45,520 the inhabitants of ancient Greece Greeks, although they called themselves Hellenes, 41 00:03:45,879 --> 00:03:50,439 with the name Hellas being used to describe the territory in which they settled. 42 00:03:51,900 --> 00:04:00,039 After the Archaic era came the Classical Age, 499 BC to 323 BC. During this period, 43 00:04:00,039 --> 00:04:04,900 the Greco-Persian Wars, which saw a league of Greek peoples fighting against the fearsome 44 00:04:04,900 --> 00:04:11,580 Persian Empire, occurred. It all started when the Ionian cities of Greece and Asia Minor 45 00:04:11,580 --> 00:04:17,199 rebelled against Persian rule. Soon, the other Hellenic cities formed a military confederation 46 00:04:17,199 --> 00:04:23,939 against a Persian army under the command of King Darius I, starting the first Greco-Persian War, 47 00:04:23,939 --> 00:04:31,100 which ended in a Greek victory. The war resumed in 480 BC under the orders of King Xerxes, 48 00:04:31,519 --> 00:04:37,459 son of Darius. The Greek allies with Sparta and Athens at the helm managed to defeat the 49 00:04:37,459 --> 00:04:44,360 Persian Empire again. Famous Greek victories were those in Salamis and Plataea. Also of note was 50 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:50,420 the Spartan heroic defence of the Thermopylae Gorge, led by King Leonidas. The fate, not only 51 00:04:50,420 --> 00:04:55,779 of Greece but of western civilization had been played out over a series of decisive days. 52 00:04:56,420 --> 00:05:01,620 Athens began a golden era under the rule of Pericles that changed the western world. 53 00:05:01,620 --> 00:05:05,939 However, Sparta soon sought to free itself from Athenian power. 54 00:05:07,060 --> 00:05:13,220 The Spartans and the Athenians, former allies, began a long war called the Peloponnesian War, 55 00:05:13,220 --> 00:05:18,420 which concluded with the defeat of the Athenians and the new supremacy of Sparta. 56 00:05:18,420 --> 00:05:24,300 However, there would soon be a new renaissance of Athens following the weakening of Sparta 57 00:05:24,300 --> 00:05:26,980 after its war against Thebes. 58 00:05:26,980 --> 00:05:35,980 In this last period, the Hellenistic, 323-30 BC, Alexander, son of King Philip II of Macedon, 59 00:05:35,980 --> 00:05:42,839 inherited and defeated Greece from his father, and ended up subduing the entire Persian Empire. 60 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:48,079 His conquests created a vast empire from Egypt to India, helping to spread Greek culture 61 00:05:48,079 --> 00:05:55,139 throughout the Mediterranean and much of the east. From around 200 BC, the Romans began to seize all 62 00:05:55,139 --> 00:06:00,339 the areas colonized by the Greeks, eventually taking the last of the kingdoms of the successors 63 00:06:00,339 --> 00:06:06,939 of Alexander's empire, the Kingdom of the Ptolemaic Dynasty in Egypt, with Cleopatra as their last 64 00:06:06,939 --> 00:06:13,680 iconic leader. After the defeat of Cleopatra and Mark Antony in 31 BC by Octavian troops, 65 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:17,720 the Romans would eventually absorb much of the heritage of Greek culture. 66 00:06:19,339 --> 00:06:22,079 The forms of government in the Greek cities were very different. 67 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:26,740 The best known and most influential models were those of Sparta and Athens. 68 00:06:27,319 --> 00:06:31,319 Sparta represented a warrior people with great military preparation. 69 00:06:31,899 --> 00:06:33,439 It was rigid and austere. 70 00:06:34,379 --> 00:06:36,420 For a long time, there was a diarchy, 71 00:06:36,779 --> 00:06:41,839 a form of government in which two kings belonging to the great Spartan families ruled over the people. 72 00:06:42,639 --> 00:06:46,579 Sparta's contribution to culture is poorer than that of the Athenian culture. 73 00:06:47,220 --> 00:06:48,980 Athens was the most important city. 74 00:06:49,540 --> 00:06:52,459 It was a city with a port that thrived on commerce. 75 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:57,439 The name of the city comes from the goddess Athena. 76 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:00,279 Athens means sons of Athena. 77 00:07:00,939 --> 00:07:04,120 According to Greek mythology, Athena was Zeus's daughter. 78 00:07:04,379 --> 00:07:09,240 Athena is the goddess of wisdom, but she is also a protective and combatant goddess. 79 00:07:09,779 --> 00:07:11,860 She is usually depicted with an owl. 80 00:07:12,660 --> 00:07:17,060 In Athens was born the political system that we now know as democracy, 81 00:07:17,620 --> 00:07:21,040 the government of the people, the most perfect form of government, 82 00:07:21,699 --> 00:07:26,459 although the Athenian system differs in many respects from which that we know today. 83 00:07:27,199 --> 00:07:30,899 It was Pericles who laid the foundations for this democratic government, 84 00:07:30,899 --> 00:07:35,240 but in previous centuries the work of legislators such as Solon 85 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:38,279 and tyrants such as Pisistratus and Clisthenes 86 00:07:38,279 --> 00:07:43,040 made it possible for Athenian citizens to participate in political tasks. 87 00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:52,519 The Acropolis of Athens housed the city's treasure and various temples for religious rites and altars for offerings. 88 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:55,180 She was honoured in the Parthenon. 89 00:07:55,639 --> 00:07:59,040 The Parthenon in Athens was ordered to be rebuilt by Pericles, 90 00:07:59,519 --> 00:08:04,220 as the Persians swept through the ancient Acropolis in the Second Greco-Persian War. 91 00:08:04,879 --> 00:08:09,079 It was constructed as a thank you from the city to the gods for their ultimate victory. 92 00:08:09,079 --> 00:08:17,180 The architects were Ictinus and Callicrates, who were under the command of the Athenian architect and sculptor Phidias, 93 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:24,519 creator of the sculptural decoration and the great Chryso-Elephantine statue of the goddess Athena Parthenos, 94 00:08:24,860 --> 00:08:27,399 which, every year, was showered with offerings. 95 00:08:28,339 --> 00:08:30,279 An example is the Panathenaia. 96 00:08:30,819 --> 00:08:35,940 This procession crossed the city. It began in the Agora and ascended to the Acropolis. 97 00:08:35,940 --> 00:08:41,000 During this festival, a dress known as peplos was offered to Athena. 98 00:08:41,659 --> 00:08:47,740 The Agora in Athens was the center of political, administrative, commercial, and social activity. 99 00:08:48,740 --> 00:08:52,860 Apart from the Acropolis, there were other kinds of sacred enclosures. 100 00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:54,600 These were the shrines. 101 00:08:55,220 --> 00:08:57,480 A shrine was a Panhellenic enclosure. 102 00:08:58,059 --> 00:09:03,620 Therefore, its financing, unlike the Acropolis, depended on the entire Greek world. 103 00:09:04,580 --> 00:09:11,220 The Sanctuary of Delphi was the most important in the world. It was dedicated to the god Apollo. 104 00:09:11,779 --> 00:09:18,019 In it was the Oracle. The Oracle of Apollo in Delphi became a really important institution 105 00:09:18,019 --> 00:09:24,659 in Greece. When asked, a priestess, called a Pythoness, went into a trance and uttered 106 00:09:24,659 --> 00:09:30,659 mumbled words that a priest then gave coherence to in the form of proverbs. The one who sought 107 00:09:30,659 --> 00:09:37,460 advice drew from him a prediction which could be interpreted in many ways the oracle never failed 108 00:09:38,100 --> 00:09:44,100 what could fail was the prediction pilgrims from all over greece and even foreigners approached 109 00:09:44,100 --> 00:09:49,700 delphi to consult the oracle which played a very important role in the founding of new colonies 110 00:09:49,700 --> 00:09:56,580 or in matters of war another famous shrine is the shrine located in olympia it was dedicated 111 00:09:56,580 --> 00:10:02,620 to the gods' use. The Olympic Games was held every four years at this shrine. The Olympic 112 00:10:02,620 --> 00:10:07,639 Games served not only to honor the gods, but to bring the different Hellenic peoples closer 113 00:10:07,639 --> 00:10:13,179 together. During the competition, a truce was enacted, allowing athletes to travel safely 114 00:10:13,179 --> 00:10:18,320 from their homes to Olympia. The Olympic Games in ancient Greece were quite different from modern 115 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:22,799 ones. There were fewer events, and only free men who spoke Greek could compete. 116 00:10:22,799 --> 00:10:32,299 The Greeks competed in the discipline of running races, wrestling, discus throwing, javelin, jumping, horse racing, and other tests. 117 00:10:33,220 --> 00:10:37,960 The prize was a crown of olive branches and recognition in their home city. 118 00:10:38,659 --> 00:10:45,100 Poets often made them celebrities, and this enabled them to live the rest of their lives at the expense of the treasury. 119 00:10:45,100 --> 00:10:53,879 The first Olympic Games are believed to have been held in 776 BC, a date that marks the beginning of the Archaic Era. 120 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:57,460 Some of the Greek gods had already appeared at this point. 121 00:10:57,460 --> 00:11:03,159 The Greeks believed in a pantheon of 12 gods who, according to mythology, lived on Mount Olympus. 122 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:08,620 It all started when Uranus committed incest with his mother Gaia, Mother Earth. 123 00:11:09,259 --> 00:11:12,340 From this incest came the first Cyclops and then the Titans. 124 00:11:12,340 --> 00:11:21,230 from the titans the gods arose these legends and myths are the foundation and basis of greek 125 00:11:21,230 --> 00:11:27,509 culture the adventures of the gods are narrated among other sources in the theogony of hesiod 126 00:11:27,509 --> 00:11:35,710 and in the epic writings of the poet homer in the iliad and the odyssey the iliad recounts 127 00:11:35,710 --> 00:11:42,789 the destruction of troy a confederation of ascians including ulysses and achilles set out for troy 128 00:11:42,789 --> 00:11:47,169 as the Trojan prince Paris had kidnapped the beautiful Helen of Sparta. 129 00:11:48,169 --> 00:11:50,490 For ten years, the Greeks besieged the city. 130 00:11:51,009 --> 00:11:54,690 Hector of Troy, brother of Paris, unleashed the anger of Achilles 131 00:11:54,690 --> 00:11:57,210 after killing his dear friend Patroclus. 132 00:11:58,110 --> 00:12:00,269 Achilles ends up killing Hector. 133 00:12:00,830 --> 00:12:05,110 The fate of the battle changed when Ulysses hatched a very effective plan 134 00:12:05,110 --> 00:12:09,509 to build a great wooden horse and to ride his best warriors inside. 135 00:12:09,669 --> 00:12:12,529 The Trojans, believing that it was an offering, 136 00:12:12,789 --> 00:12:21,110 allowed the horse to pass its walls. A huge mistake! Finally, Troy falls. In the Odyssey, 137 00:12:21,110 --> 00:12:27,669 Ulysses, known as Odysseus, after his battle in the Trojan War, returns to Ithaca, his home. 138 00:12:29,190 --> 00:12:34,950 The Odyssey recounts a hard journey back, full of dangerous adventures. The date of the composition 139 00:12:34,950 --> 00:12:40,710 of the Iliad and the Odyssey is controversial. The majority opinion places it in the second half 140 00:12:40,710 --> 00:12:47,029 of the 8th century BC. There are even those who dispute the authorship of these classics. 141 00:12:47,029 --> 00:12:51,830 It was even thought that Troy never existed until its discovery in the 19th century 142 00:12:51,830 --> 00:12:58,230 by Heinrich Schliemann. The events in Troy, however, date back long before Homer. They go 143 00:12:58,230 --> 00:13:03,590 back to the early Dark Ages. It seems, therefore, that the Homeric poems are the product of an oral 144 00:13:03,590 --> 00:13:09,190 tradition transmitted through generations. The history of Greece begins with the legend of Troy. 145 00:13:10,149 --> 00:13:16,070 The Greeks also produced great plays, where an entire artificial world was built to represent 146 00:13:16,070 --> 00:13:24,070 human life. Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides created great tragedies. These authors are from 147 00:13:24,070 --> 00:13:29,269 the Classical Era, the time of a more splendid Ancient Greece. They were performed in the 148 00:13:29,269 --> 00:13:36,549 theatre. Greek theatre originated in an open-air circular space called an orchestra, in which a 149 00:13:36,549 --> 00:13:42,950 A wide variety of activities were performed, from artistic performances, dances, recitations 150 00:13:42,950 --> 00:13:47,750 and musical pieces, to civic and religious events. 151 00:13:47,750 --> 00:13:54,769 Greek theatres were supported by a natural slope to build the stalls. 152 00:13:54,769 --> 00:13:59,710 The ancient Greeks are also considered the forerunners of today's Western thought, 153 00:13:59,710 --> 00:14:05,190 a way of thinking that uses reason and arguments and one that values logic and reason as the 154 00:14:05,190 --> 00:14:07,169 most valuable tools. 155 00:14:07,169 --> 00:14:11,350 To understand Greek philosophy, you have to know the philosophy of three figures that 156 00:14:11,350 --> 00:14:18,870 have determined Western thought to this day – Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Socrates 157 00:14:18,870 --> 00:14:24,309 lived in the time of Pericles. The earlier thinkers are called pre-Socratic, like the 158 00:14:24,309 --> 00:14:31,710 mathematician Pythagoras. Socrates' disciple was Plato, and Plato's disciple was Aristotle. 159 00:14:31,710 --> 00:14:37,509 Aristotle witnessed the rise of Macedonia and was the instructor of Alexander the Great. 160 00:14:40,809 --> 00:14:47,669 The harmony of proportions and the representation of the human figure were the central elements in Hellenic art. 161 00:14:47,669 --> 00:14:54,629 To study Greek art, it is important to distinguish between archaic, classical, and Hellenistic periods. 162 00:14:55,490 --> 00:15:02,389 The most noteworthy buildings are religious temples, such as the Parthenon, which were adjusted to certain proportions. 163 00:15:03,309 --> 00:15:09,190 They could be one of the three main styles or orders, Doric, Ionic, or Corinthian. 164 00:15:09,789 --> 00:15:12,690 Sculpture is another example of beauty and proportions. 165 00:15:13,669 --> 00:15:19,269 The most important Greek sculptors were Thidius, creator of the sculptural work of the parting, 166 00:15:19,929 --> 00:15:25,230 Praxiteles, creator of Hermes of Olympia, with his famous Praxitelian curve, 167 00:15:25,889 --> 00:15:28,509 Myron, who created the famous Discobolus, 168 00:15:28,950 --> 00:15:32,529 and Polyclitos, who wrote a treatise called Canon, 169 00:15:32,870 --> 00:15:36,970 and is the creator of the Doriforus, his most outstanding sculpture. 170 00:15:37,990 --> 00:15:41,169 Although there are not many samples of painting in Greek art, 171 00:15:41,169 --> 00:15:47,490 there are samples of ceramics, on which are depicted scenes from literary epics and daily life. 172 00:15:59,049 --> 00:16:01,929 We have therefore seen the importance of ancient Greece, 173 00:16:02,210 --> 00:16:04,649 which was hugely influential in our culture, 174 00:16:04,649 --> 00:16:10,990 in terms of language, politics, education systems, philosophy, science and the arts. 175 00:16:11,649 --> 00:16:15,509 Also, Greek culture, and by extension, Roman culture, 176 00:16:15,789 --> 00:16:21,409 had an important boom in later periods, such as the Renaissance and the Neoclassical period.