Development of the Polis in Archaic Greece

Development of the Polis Extended Response
The polis first originated in Greece, which was built by the people who had colonised in Greece. This was all during the archaic period which was c. 8th and 9th century in 800-500BC. The Hellenes (the Greeks) of Archaic Greece had extensive knowledge on how to make a working successful city-state. The Hellenes settled into many places or “city-states” which later on became known as, Athens, Sparta, Thebes, Corinth, etc. Many city-states were built on the same plan but all had their own unique way of making theirs different. The Development of The Polis played a big part of Greek history, it is where everything started.
A polis to be precise is a city-state where people colonised and built it up. In the city-state of Athens the acropolis was built. Athens was the largest city-state, controlling over 200,000 square hectares of land which some went into other city-states, so in turn Athens owned other city-states as did other ones. People thought of this as the highest point which was the closest to the Gods, so often many people went there to talk to the gods but, mainly inside the Parthenon which is located on top of the acropolis. Both, the acropolis and the Parthenon are considered spiritually important in the development of the city-state. Even though this was not a temple as such people prayed here to the Gods and Goddesses for everything, daily life things to pray for a good marriage.
The polis differed from each colonised area, but many were mountainous which made it almost impossible to build on and farm the land. Agriculture was one of the main sources of income for many families and individuals. Most of the products that came from the farms was taken to the Agora (market) and sold or traded off to other countries such as; Egypt (where Greece had also colonised one area) and the Arab lands. This was very successful in the expansion of the Greek trade but, piracy started to interfere where goods were stolen, ships were commandeered and many people were killed in the process. To solve this problem they had a few men on board which carried weapons such as, spears and swords to fight off anyone who might try to steal the goods that were traded for other goods, which the Greeks couldn’t obtain by themselves such as precious metals and jewels which were used as gifts to the gods and jewellery.
The Gods and Goddesses played a major part in the development of the polis because, everything the Greeks built had to be pleasing to the gods and they hoped rewards would be reaped such as a good crop, a good income and good health. That was pretty much all the Greeks could ask for. Many statues and monuments were built around the Polis as a dedication to the gods and to show how the people of Greece worshiped and respected the gods enough to erect marble constructs everywhere. Every corner that was turned BAM there was a statue of a god with a tiny penis. This may seem inappropriate to be mentioned in an extended response but, this is significant as the Greeks who had built the statues or painted the pictures respected all the gods and didn’t want one to think that he was superior size wise and be able to say, “Ha I’m bigger than you. Woo I am superior to all those with tiny manhood’s.” Art was considered very highly valued in being able to tell a story, as they say (most likely not back then) “a picture paints a thousand words.”
But, to be able to do all this where did the Greeks get an education? Where did they live before they moved to where they are now? School of course. Each city-state had at least one school but, only boys were allowed to attend. Girls were considered the inferior gender and got treated poorly even by their own fathers who married them off to older gentlemen just so they wouldn’t have to look after them. Did you know that fathers sent a slave to school with their sons so if they got out of line the slave would whack them with a stick? This was brutal punishment. If you compare Athenian and Spartan education you get the feeling that the Athenians are a bit more educated than the Spartans. Spartan school was very different to a normal school back then. High school consisted of training for the army and fighting to see who the best warrior of the class was, no girls allowed.
The education that people got depended on how rich they were, and majority of the rich people went on to become architects like the ones who built, the acropolis and the Parthenon all those years ago. This was a very classist society where only the rich got the good.
As in my second source which is a modern written source, Justin Villet’s thesis. He describes the polis as many different things but, which cannot be defined by a simple term, not eve by a scholar. This source was created in 2011 whilst he was completing his master’s degree in history. He reveals many things about the development of the Polis; this has helped me understand how people of modern era relate to how they think Archaic Greece had come about back then.
In source one is a modern essay by John Porter from the university from Saskatchewan. In this essay he goes onto define his interpretation of a polis which includes how Athens was the largest city-state and the one that owned most of the others around it. Athens being the capitol of Greece has to be the largest chunk of land to be able to accommodate such a large population back in the 800-500BC period.
Being such a large city-state would require quite a large army. Many young boys (or barely adults) would join the army because they thought they were doing the right thing by joining but, no one warned them of the very, very high chance of being killed or stabbed in the groin and bleeding to death in battle. Not all military personnel would have weapons because they couldn’t afford it, so only the rich soldiers had weapons, or the poor soldiers had to wait until someone died and pick up their weapons and fight until they die and someone else takes their weapons. It was an honourable way to die apparently.
In source 3 the acropolis is an ancient one and helps people to understand how the Hellenes back then created such beautiful pieces of work with a limited education and vocabulary and how only men built it and created it. The women had a very little role in the creation of anything in the polis besides babies to populate it; it was a male dominated society where the most powerful survived and the poor got left behind.
In source 4 the Parthenon is regarded as a place of significant importance to the people of Greece, even though it is in ruins today people visit there and still feel the way the Hellenes did back in the bronze age. People feel how happy being that close to the Gods made them; it is a spiritual connection between them and their ancestors. This has helped reveal many things about how the polis was developed and how the people thought the gods were right above them looking down on them giving them gifts of love and happiness, that is what life was like back then and there is nothing anyone can say otherwise.
In modern day Greece most buildings built around the Bronze Age have become ruins but, still have historical importance because it is Greek history and you know the Greeks. Everything is Greek, as the old man from my big fat Greek wedding would say, “give me a word, any word and I’ll tell you the root of that word is...Greek.” It’s all very Greek.
The Greeks nowadays are not as big worshippers as the Hellenes back then but they are pretty damn close, they attend church they hang crosses from almost every doorway in the house for good luck and for God to look down on them and gift them or punish them for their sins which they have committed to doing. There is no escaping the wrath of the Gods, they are almighty powerful beings tat dictate and control everyday life in Greek society.

Emily Huggett 11AH3