Transcript Greece`s Cultural Contributions

Mythology, Olympics, Culture, and Philosophy

 Essential Questions:
Student will be able to
 How did mythology help the
demonstrate knowledge
early Greek civilization
of ancient Greece in
explain the natural world
terms of its impact on
and the human condition?
Western civilization by:
 Describing Greek
Mythology and religion
 Citing contributions in
drama, poetry, history,
sculpture, architecture,
science and mathematics
 What impact did Greek
mythology have on later
civilizations and the
contemporary world?
 What were some important
contributions of Greek
culture to Western
civilization?

A term that shows
emphasis on exciting
stories rather than
precise moral laws
 Morals come from
philosophies

Greek Mythology is
polytheistic

Zeus: Chief ruler of the gods

 God of the sky, lightening and
thunder

Hera
 wife of Zeus and protector of
marriage

Athena
 goddess of wisdom and crafts

Apollo
 God of the sun and poetry

Aphrodite
 Goddess of love

Poseidon
 God of the Seas
Hades
 God of the Underworld

Artemis
 Goddess of the Hunt, Apollo’s
twin sister

Each city-state had a
special guardian
 Guardian was celebrated
with special prayers ,
gifts, rituals, and
festivals.

Helpful to keep Gods in
good moods

No moral guidance or
hope of happy afterlife

Oracles:
 Locations where you
could ask the Gods
questions
 Answers were
interpreted by Priests

Greek mythology differed from
other religions in that it was
more an attempt to
understand human qualities
than divine ones

The gods and goddesses
represented human strengths
and weaknesses

Moral issues were left for the
humans to solve themselves.

No single source of written
scripture such as the
Qur’an or the Bible

Myths gave the Greeks explanations to
questions they couldn’t answer

Greek mythology still continues to influence
the Western world in literature, art,
architecture, and politics


Athletic contests
Several games:
 Isthmos games held every two
years at the Gulf of Corinth
 Pythian games held every four
years at Delphi
 Most Famous: held at
Olympia, took place every four
years

The Ancient Olympics
started roughly around 700
B.C.E to honor Zeus

No women allowed

Originally a one-day festival of
athletics and wrestling

By 472 B.C.E it had expanded
to five day and many more
events

One the “middle day” or third
day of the festival 100 oxen
were sacrificed to Zeus
 Not even to watch

Only Greek nationals could
perform

Performed nude

Inside temple at Olympia
was Phidias's statue of Zeus,
an Ancient wonder of the
World

Traditional style
 Parthenon
 Used for 200 years
 Set standards for future artists

Sculpture
 Phidias
▪ Sculpture of Athena
▪ Figures that were graceful,
strong, and perfectly formed
▪ Faces only showed serenity
 Classical Art
▪ Valued order, balance, and
proportion

Balance, Harmony

Parthenon: simple
rectangle, tall columns,
gently sloping roof

Columns:
 Doric
 Ionic
 Corinthian

By 450 B.C. Greek
Sculptors feature natural
poses

Carved gods, goddesses,
men, women to most
perfect and graceful
form.

Epic poems
 The oldest known Greek literary
sources, the epic poems Iliad and
Odyssey, focus on events
surrounding the Trojan War.
 Both written by Homer
▪ In these stories the Greeks interacted
with the Gods
▪ Humans were differentiated by their
lack of miraculous powers
▪ The stories of the Gods explained the
sorrows and surprises of human life
as the whims and actions of the Gods

Greeks invented it

Productions in Athens
were both an expression
of civic pride and tribute
to the gods

Actors used colorful
costumes, masks, and
sets to dramatize stories
about leadership,
justice, and the duties
owed to the gods.

Two kinds of plays:
 Tragedy
 Comedy

1st plays out of religious
festivals

Performed in large
outdoor theaters

Chorus sang or chanted
comments on the action

Explored the
relationships between
people and the gods


Tragedies: told stories of human suffering
that usually ended in disaster
Purpose to stir emotions of pity and fear


Serious drama about
common themes such as
love, hate, war, or
betrayal
Featured:
 Main character, or tragic
hero
 Often had extraordinary
talents and a tragic flaw
 Flaw led to hero’s downfall

Three famous
dramatists:
 Aeschylus
▪ The Oresteia
▪ Wrote more than 80 plays
 Sophocles
▪ Oedipus, Antigone
▪ Wrote more than 100 plays
 Euripides
▪ Medea
▪ Sympathetic to women

Contained scenes filled
with slap-stick and crude
humor

Often satires
 Works that poked fun at the
subject
 Customs, politics, respected
people

Aristophanes
 The Birds
 Lysistrata

Allowed for free
discussion and criticism

Herodotus
 “father of history”
 Visited lands, chronicled
information

Thucydides
 wrote about
Peloponnesian war
▪ Lived through the war
 Vividly described
savagery

Set standards for
future historians

 Essential Questions:
Student will be able to
 How did mythology help the
demonstrate knowledge
early Greek civilization
of ancient Greece in
explain the natural world
terms of its impact on
and the human condition?
Western civilization by:
 Describing Greek
Mythology and religion
 Citing contributions in
drama, poetry, history,
sculpture, architecture,
science and mathematics
 What impact did Greek
mythology have on later
civilizations and the
contemporary world?
 What were some important
contributions of Greek
culture to Western
civilization?