Chapter 5 Greek Civilization

The Culture of Ancient Greece Chapter 5 Section 1

Greek Religion Visited oracle to receive prediction about the future Believed deities affected people’s daily lives and shaped events Myths were stories about the gods Practiced rituals to earn favor with the gods Greeks believed in prophecy or predictions about the future Visited oracle to receive prediction about the future Most famous was the oracle at Delphi Priest/priestess often spoke in riddles

Greek Poetry and Fables Epics Homer Fables Short tales that teach a lesson (moral) Passed down orally The Tortoise and the Hare “slow and steady wins the race” Aesop

Greek Drama Comedy: any drama that has a happy ending Drama performed at amphitheatres Actors were all men Actors wore mask to show their emotions Plays performed during festivals Comedy: any drama that has a happy ending Tragedy: a person struggles to over come difficulties but fails “Struggle against fate”

Chorus: sang & described events happening Tragedy Aeschylus: wrote Orestia which teaches that evil acts cause more evil and suffering Sophocles: wrote Oedipus and Antigone Euripides: wrote plays that about real life people and not the gods Comedy Aristophanes: made fun of politicians and scholars, told jokes and encouraged the audience to laugh

Greek Art and Architecture Greek artists believed in the ideas of reason, balance, harmony and moderation in their works of art

Architecture Parthenon Doric Column Corinthian Column Ionic Column

Greek Philosophy and History Chapter 5 Section 2

Greek Philosophers Philosophy: “love of wisdom” Led to the studies of history, political science, science and math Sophists: professional traveling teachers Did not believe the gods influenced people Did not believe in an absolute right

Greek Philosophers Socrates Plato Believed an absolute truth existed and all real knowledge was within each person Accused of teaching the young to rebel against the government Taught the Socratic Method: a form of teaching that uses questions to lead students to discover things for themselves Influenced how teachers interact with their students Plato Students of Socrates Rejected the idea of democracy In his book Republic, he describes the ideal government run by philosopher-kings. Next was came a warrior group and finally everyone else Introduced the idea that governments should be fair and just

Philosophers Continued Aristotle Student of Plato Opened a school called the Lyceum Made advances in science Wrote about government in Politics Best governments were a run by a mixture of the rich and poor This belief helped shaped the way the founding fathers of America wanted their government to look

Greek Historians Herodotus Thucydides “father of history” Tried to separate fact from fiction in history Wrote a detailed history of the Persian Wars Thucydides Greatest historian of the ancient world Wrote the History of the Peloponnesian War Did not believe that the gods played a role

Alexander the Great Chapter 5 Section 3

Philip of Macedonia Greek city states fell quickly to the Macedonian army At the Battle of Chaeronea, Philip was able to realize his dream: the control of Greece Philip of Macedonia spent time in Greece as a young man Decided to take it over Philip is murdered and 20 year old Alexander becomes king

Alexander’s Empire Empire began in Macedonia and continued to India

Alexander’s Legacy Legacy: what a person leaves behind when he or she dies Hellenistic is the blending of Greek and eastern cultures The spreading of Greek culture as a result of his conquest. Beginning of the Hellenistic Age

The Spread of Greek Culture Chapter 5 Section 4

Greek Culture Spreads Philosophers, poets, scientists, and writers moved to the new Greek cities in southwest Asia, particularly Alexandria Hellenistic cities wanted to emulate the cities of Greece Hellenistic literature spoke of love and relationships Meander and Theocritus Appolonius of Rhodes wrote Argonautica which tells of the hero Jason and his search for a golden fleece.

Philosophy Epicureanism: Epicurus taught that people must find happiness in all that they do. To do this they must seek out pleasure Stoicism: Zeno happiness comes from following reason, not emotions, and doing your duty, which came in the form of serving your city. Stoics do not complain.

Greek Science and Math Archimedes: worked on solid geometry, established science of physics,figured out value of pi, catapults Aristarchus: established the earth revolves around the sun Euclid: wrote the book Elements and developed the concept of plane geometry Hipparchus: created a system to explain how the planet and stars move Hippocrates: the “father of medicine” who developed a code of behavior for doctors

Greek Science and Math Eratosthenes: developed the idea that the earth was round and estimated the circumference of the earth within 185 miles Pythagoras: first to establish the principles of geometry, believed that relationships in the world related to numbers, Pythagorean Theorom