Video Notes

The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization

Directions: Answer the following questions based on the movie. The questions are listed in the order they appear in the film. IMPORTANT: The Crucible of Civilization is a two-part film. This is part 1 and you will also watch part 2 of the film to get a more complete story of the rise and fall of the ancient Greeks.

1. What was the situation in Athens in 508 BC? 

  Athens became one of the first societies in ancient times to establish democracy.

2. What class did Cleisthenes come from and what kind of power did this group exercise over Athenians? 

            Cleisthenes successfully allied himself with the popular Assembly against the nobles (508)                   and imposed democratic reform.

3. How did Aristotle describe life for most Athenians in the 6th century BC? 

Described there lives as being apart of an oligarchy.

4. Where were the great civilizations in Cleisthenes day and how was Greece geographically different than these? Athens

5. What Greek city seemed the most likely to dominate all others politically during Cleisthenes' lifetime? Athens emerged as the dominant economic power in Greece around the late sixth century BCE, its power and wealth was further bolstered by the discovery of silver in the neighboring mountains

6. What specific stories inspired Cleisthenes and his fellow Greeks? 
   the story to kill himself

7. Describe Arete, the Greek ideal or vision of a hero. 

           Arete, in its basic sense, means "excellence" of any kind. The term may also mean "moral                    virtue". ...  Homer applies the term of both the Greek and Trojan heroes as well as major                        female figures, such as Penelope, the wife of the Greek hero Odysseus.

8. What surprising political move did the ruler Pisistratus make to consolidate power in Athens? 

           Pisistratus' stable reign made growing such crops viable, and before long Athens was                           producing enough olives to become an export economy. In turn, this produced a massive boost to crafts, especially pottery, which was used to transport the harvest. Pisistratus had literally sown the seeds of future greatness.

9. What was Athens' most valuable trading commodity? 

Athenians traded honey, olive oil, silver, and beautifully painted pottery. Athenians bought and sold goods at a huge marketplace called the agora. There, merchants sold their goods from small stands.

10. What Athenian product that was almost worthless at the time now commonly fetches millions of dollars on the Antiquities market? What were the artisans who made these products' main motivation in doing such good work? 
    Anything that was produced by greeks or anything from somewhere other than Athens.

11. How was Hippias a different ruler than his father Pisistratus? What did he do to his father's reforms? 
    Athens was ruled in a different way than the way her father ran Athens. She created an empire and not a democracy

12. What did Cleisthenes do in 510 BC? How was Greek society in Athens changing at this time? 
    It was becoming larger and larger. The Olympics helped to bring people into Athens.

13. How had the Olympics changed from their founding to the days of Cleisthenes and how did this festival influence ordinary Greeks? 
    It helped to almost keep the peace through competition and through the people that would come into Athens.

14. Who did Isagoras turn to in 508 BC to help him overthrow Cleisthenes? 
    With help from the Spartans and the Alcmaeonidae, he was responsible for overthrowing Hippias, the tyrant son of Pisistratus. ... He did so on the pretext of the Alcmaeonid curse. Consequently, Cleisthenes left Athens as an exile, and Isagoras was unrivaled in power within the city.

15. What happened in Athens while Cleisthenes was in exile? What did this do for Cleisthenes? 
    He did so on the pretext of the Alcmaeonid curse. Consequently, Cleisthenes left Athens as an exile, and Isagoras was unrivaled in power within the city. ... Isagoras and his supporters were forced to flee to the Acropolis, remaining besieged there for two days. On the third day, they fled the city and were banished.

16. What did Cleisthenes carve-out from the hillside that was near the Acropolis and why did he do this? What was this the beginning of?
    The Pnyx was the official meeting place of the Athenian democratic assembly. In the earliest days of Athenian democracy, the ekklesia met in the Agora. Sometime in the early 5th century, the meeting place was moved to a hill south and west of the Acropolis.