September 18th- 22nd

Monday- Group test

Tuesday- group essay test

Wednesday- Ancient Greece

Notes

Democracy and Greece's Golden age

"Power to the people"

Key terms and people

  • Direct democracy-People have power directly
  • Classical art- the art of ancient Greece and Rome in which harmony, order, and proportion were emphasized 
  • tragedy- play dealing with tragic events; something bad happens to main character
  • Comedy-a humorous play
  • Peloponnesian war- ancient Greek war against Athens and Sparta
  • Socrates- classical Greek philosopher that founded western philosophy
  • Plato-a Greek philosopher: believed that society should be made of 3 groups, farmers, warriors, and ruling class 
  • Aristotle-student of Plato, philosopher; known for questioning the natural world: human belief, thought, and knowledge 

Golden age of Athens

  • 477- to 431 BC
  • Came about after Greece defeated the Persians
  • Drama, sculpture, poetry, philosophy, architecture and science flourished
  • also known as the the "age of percules
  • Pericles was the leader of Athens
  • Lead Athens in Peloponnesian war
  • Skillful politician
  • inspiring speaker
  • respected general

Pericles plan for Athens

Three goals for Athens

1. Strengthen Athenian democracy-

  • increased # of paid government jobs  which benefited people who were not wealthy. Instituted direct democracy- citizens rule directly and not through elected representatives

2 hold and strengthen the empire-

  • Helped establish and eventually lead the delian league after Persian wars-
  • prevent further attacks from Persians. Grew navy. started dominating city states-
  • lead to conflicts between Athens and Sparta

3. Glorify Athens-

  • used money from the delian league to buy gold, marble, and ivory to make Athens a beautiful city
  • used money from delian league  for to hire artists, architects and workers to build buildings and sculptures
  • Phidias was hired to build the Parthenon 
  • Greek sculptors focused on beauty, not realism
  • Classical art focused on simplicity and being well proportioned

Phidias's' Parthenon a master piece of architectural design and craftsmanship

  • Goddess Athena statue inside Parthenon- made of gold and ivory
  • Goddess of wisdom, and protector of Athens

Greek drama- tragedy and comedy

  • A tragedy was a serious drama about common themes, such as love, hate war, or betrayal
  • The hero usually was an important person and often gifted with extraordinary abilities
  • a tragic flaw usually caused the hero's downfall, usually excessive pride
  • Sophocles wrote Oedipus  the king, a famous tragedy 

Comedy

  • A comedy contained scenes filled with humor
  • Play wrights often made fun of politics and respected people and ideas of the the time
  • Aristophanes was a famous writer of comedies
  • The fact that Athenians could listen to criticism of themselves showed the freedom that existed in democratic Athens

The start of the greatest subject in recorded history 

History

  • Herodotus pioneered the accurate reporting of events
  • Thucydides believed that certain types of events and political situations occur over time
  • Studying those events and situations would aid in understanding the present
  • the approaches Thucydides used in his work still guide historians today

The Peloponnesian War

  • 431- 404 BC
  • Fought between Athens and Sparta
  • Came about as a result of Sparta not liking Athens growth of wealth and power in the ara
  • Sparta was acting like a bully
  • Sparta had a better army, but Athens had a better navy
  • With the help of a plague that hit Athens, Sparta eventually won

Thursday- Ancient Greece continued

Friday- Will not meet. Homecoming Queen and king coronation

E-mail me when people leave their comments –

You need to be a member of History 360 to add comments!

Join History 360

eXTReMe Tracker