Scotch College

HISTORY Classical Greek Civilisation [Semester Unit] Year 10 — 2010

Rationale

Ancient Greece is often described as the birthplace of western Civilisation. Many of our political concepts, including democracy and politics, derived from the Greeks, as do ideas about the arts, philosophy, sport and mathematics. That contribution and the context in which these concepts were made are the subjects of this course, which covers the period between the legendary siege of Troy and the death of Alexander the Great. Students are encouraged to follow their own interests in this broad area: they can research topics as diverse as Greek philosophy, Greek seafaring or hoplite warfare.

Student Outcomes

• develop an understanding of the rise, climax and decline of one of the great civilisations
• learn about the foundations of modern political and cultural ideas
• build on analytical and writing skills gained in Years 7-9
• develop research skills in the use of primary sources, such as Homer and Herodotus
• extend skills in the use of the apparatus of humanities research, such as footnotes and bibliographies.
• use the Internet for research with the many reputable Greek sites
• develop an excellent background in skills required for VCE History

Course Content

• The geography of ancient Greece
• Greece before 800 BCE, including Mycenaean and Minoan Civilisation
• Troy: readings from the Iliad and a study of the archaeological search for Troy
• The growth of city-states examined via simulation of a typical Greek city
• Sparta, with emphasis on the military, social and political features that made it admired and feared
• Athens, with emphasis on its political outlook in the sixth and fifth centuries BC
• The Persian Wars, including Marathon, Thermopylae and Salamis
• The Golden Age of Greece: the 50 years of Greece’s greatest cultural and political achievement
• The Peloponnesian Wars: Athens and Sparta vie for dominance, thereby destroying the city-states’ system
• Alexander the Great and the Rise of Macedon: Macedonian pre-eminence in Greece - Alexander conquers most of the known world.

ICT Skills

In this course, students are required in several assignments to use the Internet as a tool for interpretation and analysis.

Assessment

• Essays
• Unit tests
• Research assignments
• Examination