The Golden Age of Athens

The Golden Age. - Pericles – the leader of Athens in peace and war The Golden Age - Pericles – the leader of Athens in peace and war - Athens grew rich from… -Trade -Silver mined by slaves -Tributes paid to Athens by other polises in return for protection - High point of achievements in arts, philosophy, literature - People gathered to Athens because Pericles was a good leader

Gods and Goddesses Zeus was the king of gods and humanity The gods lived on Mt. Olympus Gods were immortal; which means they could live forever Each city-state honored one of the gods Temples were built all over Greece in honor of gods Greek gods had human characteristics Olympic games and theater were festivals to honor gods Greeks also honored heroes Food and sacrifices were left in temples to honor gods Olympics honored Zeus People worshipped outside as a sign of respect

Oracles Greek priests and priestesses served as oracles They were believed to speak for the gods. Oracles were also sacred sites where it was believed the gods and goddesses spoke. Government leaders and common people went to oracles for advice. The most famous oracle was at Delphi Advice often came in the form of a riddle or a dream. Advice often connected to actual events, and was good.

Search for Knowledge Philosophers believed that people could use the power of the mind and reason to understand natural events. Most Greeks believed gods were responsible for natural events Some philosophers had correct scientific ideas. Socrates believed in the thinking process. Socrates was accused of dishonoring gods and sentenced to death.

Search for Knowledge (continued) Plato (student of Socrates) founded a school in Athens and wrote about Socrates. Aristotle believed REASON should guide pursuit of knowledge. Thales, one of the first philosophers, believed everything was made of water

Visual Arts and the Parthenon “Acropolis” means high city The Propylaea was a huge gate that was the entrance to the acropolis Pericles wanted beautiful buildings, temples and architecture dedicated to the gods

Parthenon: The Parthenon was a temple built by Pericles to honor the goddess Athens Pericles built the Parthenon Athena statue was 39 feet tall Sculptures were lifelike. Parthenon is on Acropolis

Visual Arts: Greeks wrote first plays Beautiful architecture and sculptures Red and black pottery Metalworkers worked gold Arts were important to the Greeks

Performing Arts & Ancient Greek Theater Men and women treated differently: women could not participate and could only sit in the back of the theater. First Greek plays were tragedies, or stories about suffering In tragedies, the main character was imperfect and faced with a difficult choice; often died. Comedies made fun of well known citizens and customs

Theater continued… Audiences hissed, shouted and clapped. Visual effects were used, such as mirrors and thunderbolts A chorus chanted, sang and danced Actors wore huge masks Plays showed lessons Plays were performed in open air theaters.