Transcript Greek Culture

Greek Culture
Greek Culture
And its Impact on the World
Alphabet and Language
Alphabet and Language
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Greek alphabet was
adapted from the
Phoenicians
It uses 24 letters that
stood for sounds
Greek letters are still
used in science and
mathematics and are
also the names of
fraternity and sorority
houses on college
campuses
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Hundreds of Greek
root words are still
used as the basis of
the English language
today
Bio, astro, geo, hydro
Philosophy
Philosophy
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Love of wisdom
Socrates wandered around asking questions with a
group of young men following him around
Socratic method is named after him
Put on Trial and sentenced to death for corrupting the
youth of Athens and disrespecting the Gods
Socrates writes nothing but his student Plato will write
down Socrates’ ideas
Plato begins a school of thought—The Academy—and
his student Aristotle will continue the tradition
Aristotle was the tutor of Alexander the Great
Stoicism, Skepticism and Epicureanism are philosophical
schools of thought that will dominate the Hellenistic Age.
Architecture
Architecture
The Parthenon in Athens is the ultimate
example of Ancient Greek Architecture.
 The steps and the entablature both form
convex curves—there are no straight lines!
 Names of styles are Corinthian, Dorian,
Ionic
 Marble, frieze and sculptures used
throughout
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Olympic Games
Olympic Games
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Began in 776 BC in the city-state of Olympia
Held to honor Zeus
Competitions first included footraces then
wrestling, boxing, javelin, discus throwing were
added
The pankration event combined wrestling and
boxing and had no rules except scratching the
facial area
Winner would receive a wreath of Olive leaves
Drama
Drama
Comedies
 Aristophanes
 Plays satirized politics
and politicians, poking fun
at society and ridiculing
the rich
Tragedies
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Created to honor the God of
Wine and fertility– Dionysus
Performed in Amphitheatres
Aeschylus, Sophocles, and
Euripides
Sophocles focuses on the
individual
Oedipus Rex despite doing
everything to change his fate
still ends up killing his father
and marrying his mother for
which he punishes himself by
stabbing himself in the eye
Study of History
History
Herodotus—History of the
Persian wars—often called
The father of history
 Thucydides—History of the
Peloponnesian Wars
 Began the scientific analysis of events based on
actual eyewitness accounts and factual evidence
and then added their own poetic interpretations
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Mythology
Mythology
In the beginning is Chaos
 Ouranos—the Heavens and
Gaea—the Earth create the
Titans
 Kronos kills his father and
marries his sister Rhea thus
the Olympian Gods
are created
 Kronos eats his
Children
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Literature
Literature
Homer
 Rhetoric
 Drama
 Mythology
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Science
Science
Eratosthenes—Correctly measures the earth’s
circumference, Ptolemy—Geocentric theory—
cartography, creation of latitude/longitude
 Archimedes—Develops a system of levers and
pulleys
 Medicine—Hippocrates
 Astronomy—Aristarchus—proposed
Heliocentric theory
Anaxagoras—eclipses
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Mathematics
Mathematics
Thales—the Father of Mathematics
 Geometry—Euclid wrote the Elements of
Geometry used up until the late 1900s
 Pythagoras—Theorems, Pi
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Sculpture
Sculpture
Ideals of classical art—Order,
Balance and Proportion
 Sculptures show
grace, serenity,
strength and perfection
 Most Greek
Sculptures exist
today because the
Romans copied them
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Discobolos
Discus Thrower
Democracy
Democracy
Tyrants established the first steps to
democracy
 Cleisthenes created the council of 500
 Pericles ruled over the golden age—all
male citizens 18 and older
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