More notes on Ancient Greece

We took more notes on the PowerPointint slideshow.

• 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 the aristocratic rule, who seized power (often with military help)
• tyrant: a powerful individual who seized control by appealing to the common people for support 
• 7th and 6th centuries BCE, aristocrats ran the show in most of Greece
• 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 company of hetaeras (courtesans) while discussing politics
• no women (except the “entertainment”)
• no middle class
• certainly, no slaves
• sometimes, even certain aristocrats (who didn’t have the right connections or who fell out of favor) were excluded
• sometimes aristocrats would form alliances with hoplites (well-armed soldiers) and set up an alternative form of gov’t called a tyranny
• tyrant: someone who rules outside the framework of the polis
• the modern meaning of tyrant: an abusive or oppressive ruler
• the Greek meaning of tyrant: someone who simply seized power (usually with hoplite help)