Chapter 6-Greece, Golden and Hellenistic Ages

“Golden Age of Greece”

• Lasted from about 480BC-430BC, only 50 years

• Period between the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars

• Athens was the center of Greek culture at this time

Greek Architecture• Temples had the finest

architecture• Surrounded by a

colonnade• 3 types of columns:

Doric, Ionic, Corinthian

Temples

• Triangle shaped pediment with sculpture on top, which were painted with bright colors

• Had a shrine inside with a statue to honor one of the Gods

Acropolis of Athens-Parthenon• After the Persian Wars, Athens

rebuilt the Temple of Athena Parthenos (virgin) –the Parthenon-on its acropolis

• One of the most beautiful buildings in the world

• Built of white marble• Perfectly balanced proportions

4:9• Used counter-optical illusions,

called optical refinements, to make it look perfect to the human eye

• Had a 38 ft. ivory & gold statue of Athena inside

• Heavily damaged in 1687 when it was used as for ammunition storage during a war, and blew up!

Vase Painting• Best preserved

examples of Greek painting are on vases.

• Scenes from mythology or everyday life, which tell us a lot about life in Greece

• Either black on red, or red on black; red being the natural color of the clay

SCULPTURE• Original Greek statues are rare today; we mostly know them from

Roman copies• Early Greek sculpture was stiff and straight, like Egyptian painting• By 400’s BC, figures were graceful, rounded, lifelike, but more

beautiful and “buff” than a real person could possibly be. Often portrayed the nude male body.

• ExamplesThe Discus Thrower Poseidon Funeral Stele of Hegeso

Greek Art-General Characteristics

• Glorified the human individual and showed the individual at his best, physically and mentally.

• Was displayed in public for public enjoyment and the honor of the polis

• Showed harmony balance, order, moderation

• Much of Greek art was also useful; for example, the vases.

Greek Philosophy

• Literally-”love of wisdom”• Study of the basic questions of reality and

human existence• Earliest Greek philosophers were interested in

what the universe was made of, like theoretical physicists; often called cosmologists

• For example: Democritus theorized that everything is made of tiny indivisible particles he called “atoms”.

Greek Philosophers-Socrates• Roamed around the Athenian

agora, talking to people• Asked questions to force

people to test their own ideas.

• Socratic method-teaching through asking questions

• Falsely accused of denying the existence of the Gods and corrupting the youth

• Put on trial and found guilty. • Refused to escape; was

executed by being forced to drink poison.

Greek Philosophers-Plato• Student of Socrates, who wrote his own philosophy in the form of

dialogues between Socrates & other people in Athens• Founded the Academy-a school of philosophy in Athens• Theory of “Forms”-all material things are imperfect expressions of

perfect, universal ideas, which he called “Forms”• Allegory of the Cave-We are like prisoners in a cave; the material

things we see are like shadows on the wall of the cave the cave; the “real” things, the “Forms”, are outside the cave

• Identified God with the “Form of Goodness”, the highest “Form”• Believed our Souls are immortal, and are reincarnated.

Greek Philosophers-Aristotle• Student of Plato• Unlike Plato, believed that material

things are real• Believed every field of knowledge should be

studied logically; studied & wrote about almost everything

• Wrote scientific works, & classified many things, including plants and animals, into systems

• Also studied & wrote: Ethics-what is good; Poetics-analyzed drama; Politics-analyzed different forms of government, and what makes a good government

• Teacher of Alexander the Great

Greek Approach to Science

• Scientists of earlier civilizations explained natural events as the work of the Gods

• Greek scientists explained the natural world in terms of natural laws, that could be discovered through reason

Greek Mathematics

• Pythagoras-philosopher who believed everything could be explained in terms of mathematics, and that mathematics was the ultimate reality

• Developed the Pythagorean Theorem (though others may have discovered it separately)

• Established a special community of mathematicians, who lived by strict rules and ate no meat (or beans!), which combined math with mystical religious teachings

Greek Science- Hippocrates

• Regarded as the founder of medical science• Wrote 60-70 medical studies, based on

observation, experiment and experience• Believed that disease comes from natural

causes, not punishment from the Gods• Believed in rest, fresh air, proper diet.• Doctors still take the “Hippocratic Oath”, in which

they pledge to follow a code of ethics based on the teachings of Hippocrates.

• From the Hippocratic Oath: “Use treatment to help the sick. . . never with a view to injury . . . “

HISTORIANS-Herodotus• Called the father of history-First historian of

the western world

• Traveled to Babylonia, Phoenicia & Egypt and included descriptions of these countries in his writings

• Wrote the History of the Persian Wars

• Probably exaggerated at times, and “fictionalized” conversations

• However, he usually noted whether he had seen something himself or heard about it from others.

HISTORIANS-Thucydides• 2nd great Greek historian• Wrote History of the Peloponnesian War• Tried to be accurate and fair to both sides;

far less biased than the writings of Herodotus

• Tried to analyze the deeper causes of the war, and the causes of events during the war

• Believed that studying the past helps us understand human nature.

• Greeks were the first to write “drama”-plays with dialogue and conflict

• 1, 2 or 3 actors; also a chorus, a groups of 12-15 performers, who spoke together and spoke or sang the lines

• They performed wearing oversized masks of wood, cloth or leather.

• Plays were often performed in honor of the god Dionysus.

• The theaters were usually semi-circular and built into a hillside.

• In Athens, there was an annual dramatic competition

• The main types of plays were: – Tragedies

• Often the main character was punished for hubris-the sin of pride.

– Comedies• Hilarious. Made fun of real people and institutions.

Tragedy

• Most famous writers of tragedy– Aeschylus-wrote about religion and the nature

of justice– Sophocles-wrote about the deeper Greek

values• “What do you do when God’s law says do x, but

man’s law says to do y?

– Euripides-questioned accepted beliefs.• “The Trojan Women”-Tragedy written to protest the

cruelty of the Peloponnesian War

• Most famous writer of comedy– Aristophanes– Absolutely hilarious. – “Clouds”-made fun of

Socrates for his theories about education.

– “Lysistrata”-comedy written to protest the Peloponnesian War