Persian Wars

and Athens

-2 of them

-Greeks victorious over Persians even though they had a larger army

-Athens now became a strong political player in Greek affairs because of their military contribution

How did the Greeks explain their victories over the Persians

ethics and religion:

-Greeks were free men vs. Persians were slaves to the Persian king

-Persian king was impious because he was encroaching upon the realm of the gods

Greeks understood their victory over the Persians as a victory....

for their way of life

lead to increase of patriotic feelings which found expression in various forms:

-military endeavours

-building projects

-Athenian tragedy

After the Persian war Athens led the fight against....

Delian League

How did Athens come to be the sole (oppressive) ruler of the Delian League

-originally most city-states were contributing money or ships

-eventually most were giving tribute to Athens which it used to fund its own navy

-members wanted to leave the League, Athens forced them to stay

How did the oppressive rule of other Greek city-states effect Athens

-kept getting yearly tribute

-treasury was transferred from Delos to Athens

-with the growing  navy, Athens dev. a large trading empire

-trade + tribute = extremely wealthy Athens

-artistic achievements of the Classical era of Athens were made during its despotic regime

-irony: Athens lead by democratic principles internally but was anything but with other Greek city states

Athens dominant position in Greece lead to conflict with....

-Sparta and her allies (called the Peloponnesian League)

-Peloponnesian War

Athens was defeated in 404 after disastrous

aristocratic politician divided Athens into 137 demes which were organized into 10 tribes

Cleisthenes