Transcript Greek Achievements

Greek Achievements
5.3 pp 142-149
Greek Achievements
• Greek Philosophy
– “Philosophy” means “love of wisdom”
– 3 most famous Greek philosophers were
• Socrates
• Plato
• Aristotle
Socrates
• First great Greek
•
•
•
philosopher
Socratic method – use of
questions to guide people
to truths
Interested in ideas about
truth, justice, virtue
We know about Socrates
because his student,
Plato, wrote about him
Socrates
• Socrates made many enemies
• In 399 B.C. he was found guilty of disrespect for
•
the gods and corrupting children
He was sentenced to die by drinking poison
Plato
• Student of Socrates
• Founded The Academy, an early school
• Most famous work: The Republic
– Says philosophers make the best leaders
– Question: would Plato have supported
Athenian democracy? Why or why not?
Aristotle
• Student of Plato
• Founded a school called The Lyceum
• Used reason and logic to study the natural
world
– Reason: clear and ordered thinking
– Logic: process of drawing conclusions- using
what you know to learn new facts
• Was a tutor of Alexander the Great
Greek Literature
• Poetry
– Lyric poetry – poems
that deal with
emotions and desires;
often accompanied by
a lyre
– Epic poetry – tell
stories of great events
and heroes
Homer
• Blind Greek bard, or poet
• Two famous works
– The Iliad- tells of the
Trojan war between Troy
and Greece
– The Odyssey- the tale of
Odysseus’ journey home
• Poems not written- they
were memorized and
sung
The Iliad
• 10 year war between Troy (also called
Ilium) and the Greeks
• Helen, wife of Menelaus, is kidnapped by
Paris, a Prince of Troy
• Menelaus and his brother Agamemnon
lead the Greeks to Troy to get Helen back
The Iliad
• Iliad tells stories of
•
heroes like Achilles
and Odysseus, Ajax,
Hector, and Aeneas
The gods play
important parts in the
events of the story
“Sing, goddess, the
rage of Achilles the
son of Peleus,
the destructive rage
that sent countless ills
on the Achaeans... “
- opening lines of
the Iliad
The Odyssey
• After the war,
•
Odysseus spends 10
years trying to return
home
Odyssey has come to
mean any long and
difficult journey
Greek Literature
• History
– First historians were Greeks
• Herodotus – wrote about the Persian Wars
• Thucydides – wrote about the
Peloponnesian War
Greek Drama
• 2 types of drama, or
playwriting
– Tragedy
– Comedy
• Dramas were
performed as part of
religious festivals
honoring Dionysus
Greek Tragedies
• Tragedies focused on hardships faced by
Greek heroes
• Great tragedy writers
– Aeschylus (Ess-ka-luss) wrote the Oresteia
– Sophocles wrote Oedipus the King
– Euripides wrote Medea
Greek Comedies
• Comedies were satires – they used humor
to point out flaws in society
– Aristophanes criticized the religion, the
treatment of women in Athens, and warfare
Greek Architecture
• Most famous Greek
building: the
Parthenon – a temple
to Athena, on the
Athenian acropolis
Greek Sculpture
• Greeks sculpted
•
•
realistic statues of
humans
Showed the ideal
human form
Famous sculptors
– Phidias
– Myron
– Praxiteles
Greek Painting
• Greeks painted mostly
•
•
•
in red and black
Paintings found on
vases, plates, bowls,
cups
Show scenes from
everyday life or myths
Painted frescoes and
murals on walls