Western Civilization

Today in class only did 2 slides of the powerpoint. Cleisthenes - definitely a member of the elite very rich insulated from the “hoi polloi” but… a crafty politician saw the value of tapping into the talents, intelligence, and energies of the non-aristocrats (the middle class citizens) too bad he didn’t realize the value of women - but, hey, one step at a time... What Cleisthenes did was a huge step forward - getting “regular folks” involved in governing.  But this first democracy had its limits. citizens could participate - but only one-fifth of Athenians were citizens (free adult male property owners born in Athens) after several years, Athens practiced a direct democracy

Today in class we learned about the leaders and their ways of ruling. Draco (621 BCE) all Athenians (rich or poor) are equal under the law but death is the punishment for many crimes debt slavery is OK (work as a slave to repay debts) Solon ’s reforms (594 BCE) outlaws debt slavery all Athenian citizens can speak at the assembly any citizen can press charges against wrongdoers more reforms (around 500 BCE): allowed all citizens to submit laws for debate at the assembly created the Council of Five Hundred (members chosen at random, to counsel the assembly) can you see this leading to democracy? but… only free adult male property owners born in Athens were considered citizens sorry, women, slaves, “foreigners” Hippias was a tyrant who ruled from 527 to 510 BCE his brother was murdered, and his rule became harsh eventually he was expelled from Athens (this is called being ostracized ) in revenge, he began working with the Per...

Today class we continued study about Ancient Greece and its politics and government. polis : fundamental political unit, made up of a city and the surrounding countryside politics (affairs of the cities), policy, political, etc. monarchy : rule by a single person (a king, in Greece) aristocracy : rule by a small group of noble, very rich, landowning families oligarchy : wealthy groups, dissatisfied with aristocratic rule, who seized power (often with military help) tyrant : powerful individual who seized control by appealing to the common people for support During the seventh and sixth centuries BCE, aristocrats ran the show in most of Greece Really?!? Back then, rich people wielded much more influence in society, and held much more governmental power, than the middle class or the poor?   Aristocrats : members of the ruling class they attended symposiums , meetings where the elite men would enjoy wine and poetry, performances by dancers and acrobats, and the compan...

 Today in class we continued leaning about Ancient Greece. Mostly about Homer the bard. -Did Homer actually exist?   -the "Homeric Question"- Homer may have been a mythical creation himself   - a blind wandering mistrel;a historical figure.   -Liad and Odyssey may be the culmination of many generations of storytelling. Or Homer actually existed and he was just awesome. After we finish taking note we started to listen to a story from the book Odyssey about Odysseus and his  men fighting against a huge one-eyed giant on one of the islands near Greece. After the Trojan War, Odysseus wanted to return home with his men. But on his way home, The God of the Ocean, Poseidon was jealous of his glory and power so he sent Odyssey to an island and made him stayed there for 10 years. After Odysseus finally remembered that he was on his way home, he took a sip and return. But on there way, they met the giant on an island, and the giant ate almost all his men. We did not ...

 Today in class we continued learning about the Ancient Greece. We started the class with where we left of yesterday. - More about Geography   -  20% of the land is arable.   -They eat healthy (olive, cheese, grape, fish)   - The lack of natural resources led to colonial life style.   - Nice weather throughout the year. - The Mycenaeans     - Their influence begin around 2000BCE   -protected by a wall   - Was dominated by Mycenaean king   -shared culture -Trojan War   -12th or 13th BCE   -It was part of Greek mythology   -Historians thought the story was fictional till 19th cent. when a German archeologist discovered evidences that proof it was partially true. - The Sea People and Dorians   -1200BCE   - They invaded Mycenae, burnt down palaces.   - So the Dorian moved in to the war-torn region, 1150-750 BCE - Homer the Bard - He told story and epics - Iliad, Odyssey

Today in class we continued learning about Ancient Greece and it's geographical significance. In the first 20 mins of the class we continued taking notes from the book. -Climate is an important influence on Greek civilization. Greece has varied climate( average from48-80). It supports outdoor life for Greek people. - Mycenaean Civilization Develops   -A large wave of Indo-Europeans migrated from the Eurasian steps to Europe and India and Asia. -Mycenae was located on a steep, rocky ridge and was surrounded by a thick wall in Greece. - Contact with Minoans    -From the Minoans, the Mycenaean learned the significance in seaborne trade. They also greatly influenced their culture, religion, art, literature -The Trojan War   -During 2000B.C., ten-year war, against Troy   -Some historians thought the story of the war was just fictional. But later on a German archeologist proved that the story was based on real cities and events. And then we continued on the ...

  Today in Western Civilization we did things about Ancient Greece. First we read he book for about 20mins and took notes while we were doing the. From the book I learned that Classical Greece is from 2000B.C.- 300B.C.. The root of Greek culture are based on interaction of Mycenaean, Minoan, and Dorian cultures.Greece was not a united country at first. By 3000B.C.,the Minoahs who lived there created a civilization there which had great power in Mediterranean world.   And from the Power Point, I learned that Greece is located on bodies water. The key rivers of the world are Mesopotamia/Tigris and Euphrates Rivers  Egypt/ Nile River  India/Indus River China/ Huang He River. Greece is in the middle of the seas so it's easy to trade. Mediterranean Sea=" Middle- Land Sea". Topography: mountains, rocky, hard for transportation.And we need to be able to identify Agean Sea, Ionian Sea, Adriatic Sea, Peloponnesus, Athens, Spara, Crete, Asia Minor, Macedonia.

 We did not have class today.

Today is the first class of Western Civilization. I'm glad that I got in class on time and picked the seat in the back. This is the first time I've ever been in Mr. Schick's class and he is pretty much what I heard and thought he would be. We took attendance at the beginning of the class and by that I got to know a little about my new classmates. After that Mr. Schick did an introduction on the course and told us what we're supposed to bring to class. And then we created our own blogs, which is a daily short diary of what we do in class. So by doing the blogs we could know and maybe review what we did in class and maybe help us to pay attention in class. I thought this is a good way to help me to organize class materials and my thoughts. And in the last 5 minutes we started on our first blog, it is easier than I thought.