Greek Architecture

The Parthenon Today The Parthenon

Classical Greek Art

Order

Proportion

Balance

Greek Drama Form of Entertainment and Education.

Dealt with important issues of the time such as politics, justice, war, etc.

Types of Plays Tragedies – Portrayed men and women of strong

character whose pride led to their downfall

Aeschylus

Sophocles

Comedies – Poked fun at the politics, people, and ideas of the time through satire.

Developed after Peloponnesian Wars

Aristophanes

History Replaced oral tradition by which Greece’s early history had

been passed along.

Early historians believed that certain events and political situations recur over time and would aid in understanding the present.

Herodotus - Considered to be the first historian (father of history). He traveled throughout the ancient world and wrote of its history in a systematic narrative. His most famous works are Histories and The Persian Wars.

Thucydides - Wrote History of the Peloponnesian War which showed how the war ruined Athens and weakened all of Greece

Greek Philosophy

Greek Philosophers

Socrates Plato Aristotle

Stonemason, spent time arguing with assembly and Athenian leaders.

Taught: Question everything, use step-by-step questioning to final conclusion (Socratic method)

Executed for denying gods, corrupting youth, and trying to overthrow the government.

Pupil of Socrates

Recorded speeches of Socrates

Father of Political Science

Founded The Academy to train government leaders. Lasted 900 years.

Wrote The Republic , which outlined the perfect government headed by a philosopher-king

Pupil of Plato

Trained in Medicine

First to classify plants & animals

Developed final steps in scientific method (Hypothesis and Test)

Tutored Alexander the Great Plato Aristotle

Defeated and united Greek city-states by 339 BC with superior military techniques -16x16 Phalanx.

Planned to invade Persia and take revenge for the Persian Wars a century earlier

Assassinated in 336 BC.

Succeeded by his son Alexander.

Replaced his father Phillip II when he was 23 Vowed to carry out his fathers dream of conquering Persia. Began his conquest in 334 BC with a victory at Granicus After a major victory as Issus, he invaded Egypt. He was

welcomed and created the city of Alexandria. In 332 he defeated Persian Emperor Darius II at Guagamela in

Mesopotamia. Went on to conquer all of central Asia to the Indus River. His men

refused to go further. In 323 BC he returned to Babylonia. He caught a fever and died at

age 32. Afterwards his empire was split among his three main generals

Antigonus(Macedon); Ptolemy (Egypt); Seleucus (Asia Minor and Fertile Crescent).

Ended the era of Greek city-states

Spread Greek culture throughout Persian Empire and Middle East

A new culture known as Hellenism resulted from the blend of Greek and Eastern culture.

Hellenistic cities were built throughout the middle east.

Alexandria, Egypt became a leading center of Hellenistic culture and a thriving center of trade and learning.

Aristarchus (Ar-uh-stahr-huhs) - Estimated that the sun was much larger than thought. believed that the earth and other planets revolved around the sun. His theory was not accepted.

Eratosthenes (Er-uh-tahs-thuh-neez) - He was an astronomer who correctly calculated the earth's true size at about 25,000 miles circumference.

Euclid - (Yoo-Klihd) - A mathematician who opened a school of geometry in Alexandria. In his book Elements he presented 465 proofs.

Archimedes - (Ahr-kih-mee-deez) Mathematician that calculated the value of pi. He also discovered that levers could be used to lift heavy objects. He said "Give me a place to stand and I can move the earth“.