Essay about Ancient Greece

Submitted By willbelanger
Words: 2402
Pages: 10

Ancient Greece: People and Events
Will Belanger

Minoans:
The Minoans were the inhabitants of ancient Crete. The Minoans were an early part of the Bronze era which was 3000 BC to 1100 BC. They used and essentially began with the linear writing system which eventually led in Greek as their writing style, a language which has yet to be deciphered but may believe that it represents a form of early Greek writing. It was used for religious and accounting purposes from about 1800-1450 BC. Soon after it disappeared to be replaced by the writing style called, “linear B” which was a tool of the Mycenaean’s.
Mycenaean’s:
The Mycenaean’s became the power of the Greek mainland after the dispersion of the Minoan civilizations. They were believed to be great warriors and typically fought whoever crossed their way. The Mycenaean age is sometimes referred to as the “heroic age” because of their bravery in fighting and war. They worshiped many gods which we know is true because the majority of their writing depict them. The Mycenaean’s were typically very smart people, they built their palaces on hilltops to collect as much rain as they could. The Mycenaean age is known today as a heroic and smart revolution.
Herodotus:
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria. He lived from 484 BC- 425 BC. Today, he’s known as the “Father of History” because he was the first historian to collect materials systematically, making his information much more accurate. Herodotus took a new approach and wrote on known events of the past and attempts to explain the causes of those events. He was a very famous historian whoa arguably changed the ideas on what actually happened previous to his time.
Thucydides:
Thucydides was a Greek historian who was born in Alimos between the years 460 and 455 B.C. He is known for his book The History of the Peloponnesian War which details the war between Sparta and Athens in the 5th Century. Thucydides famously describes to us the plague of Athens in 430 B.C. He was one of the more famous historians of his time simply because he gave a greatly detailed description of the events he witnessed.
Alexander the Great:
Alexander the Great was the conqueror and the king of Macedonia. He was born September 20th, 356 B.C. During his time, he re-united the Ancient Greek mainland cities into one. As well as he became the king of Persia, Babylon and Asia which are all major accomplishments during his time. He used force and fighting to conquer what he wanted, he brought fear upon those around him which was basically the reason for his immense conquering of almost everyone in Greece. Arguably his greatest takeover was Thebes. He brought his 3cavalry and 30,000 troop army to Thebes before they could even pull together a defense/alliance army to fight. It was by far his biggest massacre during his reign of power. He was and is still known as an extremely powerful leader, one to be feared.

Cleisthenes:
Cleisthenes was born in 570 B.C. He was a noble and politician of Athens who helped establish its democratic procedures. He was the son of Megacles and his brother was the grandfather of Pericles of Athens. The most dramatic reform introduced by Cleisthenes was to divide the city into ten regions and have government elected locally instead of along strict tribal lines. This gave the people more opportunity to have their own choices heard instead of being always over taken. This was a risky decision by Cleisthenes because he arguably made more enemies than friends with this idea.
Pericles:
Pericles was a military and political leader of Athens. He contributed to the development of Athenian democracy by opening the archonship to the lower classes and contributed to Athens becoming the dominant Greek city-state in the Delian League. He had many substantial accomplishments during his time and he was sometimes referred to as the age of Pericles in tribute to his statesmanship. He was devoted to