Section 1 Overview

1. The Culture of Ancient Greece Section 1 Overview This section discusses the culture of the ancient Greeks as expressed in their religion, literature, and art.

2. The Culture of Ancient Greece Focusing on the Main Ideas • The Greeks believed that gods and goddesses controlled nature and shaped their lives.  • Greek poetry and fables taught Greek values.  • Greek drama still shapes entertainment today.  • Greek art and architecture expressed Greek ideas of beauty and harmony.

3. The Culture of Ancient Greece Locating Places • Mount Olympus (uh·LIHM·puhs)  • Delphi (DEHL·FY)  Meeting People • Homer (HOH·muhr)  • Aesop (EE·SAHP)  • Sophocles (SAH·fuh·KLEEZ)  • Euripides (yu·RIH·puh·DEEZ)

4. The Culture of Ancient Greece Building Your Vocabulary • myth (MIHTH)  • oracle (AWR·uh·kuhl)  • epic (EH·pihk)  • fable (FAY·buhl)  • drama (DRAH·muh)  • tragedy (TRA·juh·dee)  • comedy (KAH·muh·dee)

5. The Culture of Ancient Greece Greek Mythology • The Greeks believed in many gods and goddesses.  • They thought these deities affected people’s lives and shaped events.  • The Greeks believed the 12 most important gods lived on Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece.  • Greek myths were stories about gods and heroes.

6. The Culture of Ancient Greece Greek Mythology • In these stories, gods had special powers but looked and acted like humans.  • The Greeks followed rituals to win the gods’ favor.  • They hoped that the gods would grant good fortune to them in return.  • The Greeks believed in prophecy, or predictions about the future.

7. The Culture of Ancient Greece Greek Mythology • Many Greeks visited an oracle to receive a prophecy.  • An oracle was a sacred shrine where a priest or priestess spoke for a god or goddess.  • The most famous oracle was at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi.

8. The Culture of Ancient Greece Greek Poetry and Fables • Greek poems and stories are the oldest in the Western world and serve as models for European and American poems and stories.  • An epic is a long poem about heroic deeds. • The first great epics were the Iliad and the Odyssey, written by a poet named Homer.

9. The Culture of Ancient Greece Greek Poetry and Fables • The Iliad is about a battle for the city of Troy.  • The Odyssey is the story of Odysseus, a Greek hero. • Greeks believed these two epics were real history.

10. The Culture of Ancient Greece Greek Poetry and Fables • A slave named Aesop wrote many fables. • A fable is a short tale that teaches a lesson.  • Fables were passed from person to person by oral tradition.

11. The Culture of Ancient Greece Greek Drama • Drama is a story told by actors who pretend to be characters in the story. • The Greeks used drama as part of their religious festivals.  • The Greeks developed two types of drama— tragedies and comedies.

12. The Culture of Ancient Greece Greek Drama • A tragedy is the story of a person who tries to overcome difficulties but fails. • A comedy is a story with a happy ending.  • Aeschylus was a writer who wrote a group of three plays called Oresteia.  • These plays teach that evil acts cause more evil and suffering.

13. The Culture of Ancient Greece Greek Drama • The Writer Sophocles wrote the plays Oedipus and Antigone. • Euripides wrote plays about real-life people instead of gods.  • Aristophanes wrote comedies that made fun of leading politicians and scholars.

14. The Culture of Ancient Greece Greek Art and Architecture • Greek artists believed in the ideas of reason, balance, harmony, and moderation and tried to show these ideas in their work. • Although Greek murals have not survived, examples of Greek paintings still exist on decorated pottery.  • The most important architecture in Greece was the temple dedicated to a god or goddess.

15. The Culture of Ancient Greece Greek Art and Architecture • The most famous temple is the Parthenon. • Greek architecture included columns, which were first made from wood.

16. The Culture of Ancient Greece Greek Art and Architecture • Later, the Greeks began using marble. • Many of today’s churches and government buildings have columns.  • Greek sculpture expressed Greek ideas.