Transcript Writing History Thucydides = greatest historian of ancient world

SSWH3 The student will examine the political,
philosophical, and cultural interaction of Classical
Mediterranean societies from 700 BCE to 400 CE.
b. Identify the ideas and impact of important individuals; include
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle and describe the diffusion of Greek
culture by Aristotle’s pupil Alexander the Great and the impact of
Julius and Augustus Caesar.
c. Analyze the contributions of Hellenistic and Roman culture;
include law, gender, and science.
d. Describe polytheism in the Greek and Roman world and the
origins and diffusion of Christianity in the Roman world.
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Greek Culture
The Golden Age of Athens
461-429 b.c.e.
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Most of the Greek
achievements in the
arts and sciences
took place in
Athens during this
time.
The Athenian
general Pericles
rebuilt Athens
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Athenian Daily Life
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Men worked in the morning
Then attended the Assembly
in the afternoon
Or exercised in the
gymnasium
slaves did the heavy work
women worked at home or in
the market.
Upper class went to the
symposium
Women were not allowed.
They discussed literature,
philosophy, and public issues.
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Athenian Daily Life
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Athenian homes simple
A house had two main
rooms with several
smaller ones around a
central courtyard.
A dining room for
entertaining and
frequently had couches.
Athenian wives would not
join their husbands unless
there were no guests.
Aspasia
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Some freedom became
allowed for some classes of
women
Aspasia invited women
into her home and gave
advice
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on home
Education
and how to gain more
freedom.
This led to charges of
impiety (disloyalty to the
gods)
She was acquitted
Religion
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Temples = major
buildings in Greek polis.
12 main gods lived on
Mnt. Olympus
Zeus = chief god
Religion did not focus on
morality
Most spirits went to
Hades, regardless of
life’s actions.
A Family of Deities
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Explained why people
behaved like they did
Why their lives took a
certain direction.
More than other
civilizations, the Greeks
humanized their deities
The Greeks didn’t fear
their gods,
 Their gods took human
form
 Their gods possessed
super-human powers
 Tried to be like them—
strived for excellence
Hades and Persephone
Zeus
Hera and Athena
Gods and Goddesses
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Greeks took features of
both Minoan and
Mycenaean gods
Each community had a
patron god or goddess
Greeks believed 12 most
important deities lived on
Mount Olympus
(Pantheon)
Believed that each
controlled a specific part of
the natural world, e.g.
Zeus, the chief god ruled
the sky, weather and
thunderstorms
Hera suckling Herakles
Gods and Goddesses
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Apollo, god of light, drove
the sun across the sky every
day in his chariot
Apollo considered god of
prophecy
 Brought gifts to oracle at
Delphi honoring him
 Asked for hidden
knowledge to be revealed
 Priests and priestesses
would interpret Apollo’s
answers to questions
Rituals
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Rituals = religious
ceremonies/rites
Combined prayers
with gifts to the gods
Held festivals to honor
the gods/goddesses
Athletic games held at
these festivals
All Greeks were invited
to these games
The Olympics
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As Hellenic civilization
developed, certain
religious festivals became
part of Greek life
including the Olympic
Games
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Held in city of Olympia
“For the greater glory of
Zeus”
Wars were suspended so
that Greeks could
participate
Oracles
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Oracle = sacred shrine where
a god/goddess revealed the
future thru a priest/priestess
Most famous = the Oracle of
the god Apollo at Delphi
A priestess response was
intrepreted by priests and
thought to be inspired by
Apollo.
Modern historians think they
were inspired by volcanic
gases.
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Originated the play
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Drama
Audience around on hillside
Told stories and danced to
the flute
Permanent amphitheaters
appeared
Drama (a celebration of
Dionysus, the god of wine
and fertility).
Comedy: criticized
politicians and intellectuals.
Entertained and provoked a
reaction.
Drama
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The Tragedies = serious
plays or dramas.
Presented in a trilogy built
around a common theme
Oresteia, by Aeschylus,
the only complete trilogy
remaining today
Playwrights:
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Sophocles: Oedipus Rex
Euripides: questioned war,
and portrayed them as
brutal and barbaric
(controversial)
Hierapolis, Turkey
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Philosophy = an
Philosophy
organized system of
thought.
Greek for “love of
wisdom”
Greek philosophers tried
to explain universe on the
basis of unifying
principles
Athens in its golden age
was the embodiment of
Classical Greece.
Philosophy in Athens
 Greeks
argued
philosophy
 wrote and performed
the first great
comedies and
tragedies
 developed the
concepts of democracy
and humanism upon
which much of modern
society is based.
Socrates
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Left no writings, his pupils
discussed him.
Goal of education = improve
the individual.
Socratic method = question
and answer to lead pupils to
their own decisions thru own
reason.
Individual's ability to reason
= important concept to
Greeks.
Socrates
Socrates questioned
authority.
 Accused of corrupting the
youth of Athens.
 Chose death by drinking
hemlock instead of exile
from Athens.
 The state—in the form of
the city-state—meant
everything.
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Plato
Student of Socrates
 Considered to be the
greatest philosopher of
Western Civilization
 Asked, “How do we know
what is real?”
 Believed that a higher
world of eternal Formas
have always existed.
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Plato
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The objects we perceive
w/our senses are
reflections/shadows of ideal
Forms.
Reality is found in the
Forms themselves.
Wrote, “The Republic”
Did not trust the workings
of democracy
Divided people into 3
groups
Plato
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Top = philosophers-kings
Middle = warriors to protect
society
Bottom = everyone else
Men and women should
have the same education
and equal access to all
positions
Established the school, the
Academy
Aristotle
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Student of Plato
Did not accept the
concept of ideal Forms
Examine objects to
perceive their form
Did not believe Forms
existed in a higher
plane
Analyzed and classified
things.
At the Archaeological Museum in Palermo
Aristotle
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Wrote about: ethics,
logic, politics, poetry,
astronomy, geology,
biology, and physics.
Did not try to create an
ideal form of
government
Tried to find the best
form of government
At the Archaeological Museum in Palermo
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Wrote, “Politics”, for
this he examined 158
states and their
constitutions
His analysis = 3 good
forms of government:
 Monarchy
 Aristocracy
 constitutional
Thought constitutional
government the best
form for most people
Aristotle
At the Archaeological Museum in Palermo
Writing History
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History, as a systematic
analysis of past events,
was created by the
Greeks.
Herodotus wrote,
“History of the Persian
Wars”
Considered to be the 1st
real history in west civ.
Traveled widely to get his
411 and master storyteller
Bellerophon, Pegasus, and Chimera
Writing History
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Thucydides = greatest
historian of ancient
world
Athenian general who
fought in Great
Peloponnesian War.
Defeat in battle sent
him to exile where he
wrote, History of the
Peloponnesian War.
Battle of Centaur and Lapith
Writing History
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War and politics in
human terms
Examined the causes
and course of the war
clearly and fairly
Heavily emphasized
the accuracy of facts
Believed we need to
study history to
understand the
present.
Battle of Centaur and Lapith
Ideals of Greek Art
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Concerned w/expressing
eternal ideals
Architecture = temple was
most important form
Parthenon = most famous
temple
Shows the search for
calmness, clarity, and
freedom from unnecessary
detail.
Sculpture ≠ realism, but
ideal beauty
Heracules and Kyknos