RAP

1. Ch 5 Sec 1 Culture of Ancient Greece Date RAP Define the following vocabulary words found on page 154 in your text. Use the 3 column format! Myth Oracle Epic Fable Drama Tragedy comedy HW: Read pages 155-163 and answer Section Review questions 1-4 on page 163.

2. CHAPTER 5: GREEK CIVILIZATION

3. SECTION 1: The Culture of Ancient Greece GREEK MYTHOLOGY • Myths: traditional stories about gods and heroes • Used to express people’s religious beliefs • Polytheistic • Gods and goddesses affected everyday life, shaped events, and controlled nature • Lived on Mount Olympus • 12 important gods (pg 155, Demeter is missing!) • Looked and acted like human beings • Followed many rituals (actions carried out in a specific way) • Believed in afterlife

4. What was a Greek Oracle? • Greeks believed in destiny and prophecy • Many visited the Oracle who would make predictions and prophecies • Most famous: Oracle at Delphi • Story of King Croesus (hahaha!)

5. Greek Poetry and Fables • Oldest in the Western world • Epics: earliest Greek stories, which were long poems about heroic deeds • Homer wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey • The Iliad: tells the story of the Trojan War • The Odyssey: tells the story of Odysseus after he journeys home from the Trojan War • Greeks believed these stories were real history! • Stories taught courage, honor, loyalty, and love

6. Aesop • Greek slave who created fables (stories that teach a lesson) • Most of his fables were funny and had animals that talk (ex: The Tortoise and the Hare) • Had morals (ex: Slow and steady wins the race) • Part of Greek oral tradition for 200 years and were written down later

7. Greek Drama • Drama: stories told by actors who pretend to be characters in the story • Tragedies and comedies • Greek tragedy writers: Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides • Greek comedy writer: Aristophanes • Early tragedies had only one actor • Aeschylus: introduced 2 actors into plays and wrote Oresteia • Sophocles: used 3 actors and scenery, wrote Oedipus Rex and Antigone • Euripides: more down to earth and real • Aristophanes: made fun of leading politicians and scholars and had jokes

8. Greek Art and Architecture • Greek artists want people to see reason, moderation, balance, and harmony in their work • Greek paintings on pottery • Architecture (Parthenon) • Used Doric, Ionian, and Corinthian columns • Temples decorated with sculpture

9. SECTION 2: Greek Philosophy and History • Philosophy: “love of wisdom”, led to the study of history, political science, science, and mathematics • Pythagoras: believed all relationships with the world could be expressed in numbers (Pythagorean theorem) • Sophists: professional traveling teachers who did not believe that the gods influenced people, rejected idea of absolute right and wrong • Socrates: Athenian sculptor who believed in absolute truth and that all real knowledge was in each person, invented the Socratic method (asking pointed questions that had students use their reasoning and see things for themselves) • Socrates was found guilty of trying to get people to rebel and was sentenced to death

10. Plato • Student of Socrates • Wrote the Republic • Thought democracy was not a good system • His ideal gov’t: philosopher-kings, warriors, and rest of the people (lack wisdom) • Believed both men and women should have the same education and equal chance for jobs • Established a school called the Academy

11. Aristotle • Student of Plato • Wrote more than 200 books • 335 BC: Opened the Lyceum • Advanced science and observation • Believed people should not live in excess • Compared different forms of government • Believed government needed to be a combo of oligarchy and democracy (like the US!)

12. Greek Historians • People did not always write history, relied on oral tradition, myths, and legend to explain the past • 435 BC: Herodotus wrote the history of the Persian Wars and separated fact from legend, called the “father of history” • Thucydides: wrote the History of the Peloponnesian War, saw war and politics as acts of humans, not gods

13. BELLWORK • Page 179, question #4

14. SECTION 3: ALEXANDER THE GREAT • Macedonia: country north of Greece gaining power in 400 BC • 359 BC: Philip II came to power, admired everything Greek, wanted to unite Greece with own kingdom • Took city-states over one by one • Demosthenes: a lawyer in Athens who warned city-states about Philip and encouraged them to unite • Peloponnesian War left city-states too weak and divided • 338 BC: Macedonians defeated Athens and others at the Battle of Chaeronea and Philip controlled most of Greece

15. Alexander Builds an Empire • Next on Philip’s chopping block: Persian Empire • Was murdered before he could attempt it • His son, Alexander, took the throne at 20 years old • Alexander: carefully trained for leadership and battle • 334 BC: Alex invades Asia Minor with Macedonian and Greek soldiers and defeats the Persian satrapies at the Battle of Granicus • 333 BC: Greek cities in Asia Minor freed from Persian rule • 332 BC: captured Syria and built the city of Alexandria as center of business and trade

16. Alexander’s Conquests • 331 BC: Alex defeats Persians at Gaugamela near Babylon and then overruns rest of empire • Marched as far east as present-day Pakistan over next 3 years • 326 BC: entered India, but soldiers refused to go further and Alex led them home • Crossed desert in southern Iran and many died • 323 BC: Alex returned to Babylon • Wanted to plan an invasion of southern Arabia, but he died from wounds and is dead at age 32

17. Map of Alexander’s Empire

18. Alexander’s Legacy • Great military leader • Brave and reckless • Strong childhood education • Inspired by Homer’s Iliad and Achilles • Helped extend Greek and Macedonian rule over large area, spread Greek art, culture, ideas, language, and architecture • Asian and African ideas spread as well • Marked the beginning of the Hellenistic Era: a time when Greek language and ideas spread to non-Greeks

19. The Empire Breaks Apart • Alex encouraged union between Macedonians, Greeks, and Persians • After death, generals fought for power and empire fell apart • 4 kingdoms formed: Macedonia, Pergamum, Egypt, and the Seleucid Empire • All government business in these kingdoms was conducted in the Greek language, so Greek still controlled government • 100 BC: largest city in Mediterranean was Alexandria • New Greek cities needed architects, engineers, philosophers, artisans, and artists

20. The Empire Break Aparts (cont) • Hellenistic rulers encouraged Greeks to settle in west Asia • New colonists provided new recruits for army and pool of gov’t officials and workers • Helped Greek culture spread into Egypt and present-day Afghanistan and India

21. SECTION 4: THE SPREAD OF GREEK CULTURE • Philosophers, scientists, poets, and writers flocked to new Greek cities in southwest Asia and Egypt, especially Alexandria • Architecture and Sculpture: Greek architects and sculptors hired to build baths, theaters, temples and statues • Literature and Theater: writers strongly supported by rulers but very little writing survived from this time • Epic poem by Appolonius of Rhodes: Argonautica, tells of Jason and his band of heroes who search for the golden fleece • Theocritus wrote short poems about nature • Athens remained center for Greek theater • Comedies still popular but lost focus on political leaders and told about love and relationships • Menander: best known Hellenistic playwright

22. Philosophy • Athens attracted philosophers • Epicurus: founded Epicureanism, which says happiness is the goal of life • To be happy, you hang out with friends and avoid worry by not taking part in politics and public service • Zeno: developed Stoicism and taught from a porch near the market • Stoicism: happiness comes from reason and doing your duty, not emotions

23. Greek Science and Math • Astronomers study stars and planets • Aristarchus: astronomer from Samos who claimed sun was center of the universe and that Earth circled around it (rejected by others who thought Earth was center) • Eratosthenes: in charge of library at Alexandria, thought Earth is round and tried to measure Earth’s circumference • His measure: 24, 675 miles, only off by 185 miles • Also measured distance to sun and moon, very accurate

24. Greek Science and Math • Euclid: Greek mathematician, developed plane geometry and wrote Elements • Archimedes of Syracuse: worked on solid geometry, figured out value of pi (π) • Also invented weapons: catapult (drove back the Romans with these in 212 BC • Killed by Romans 3 years later in a massacre