GREEK CIVILIZATION
Objectives for Chapter 5
Describe important Greek developments in the arts. Know Greek achievements in history, politics, biology, and logic.
Be able to summarize how Alexander the Great created an empire. Describe how Hellenistic kingdoms became centers of learning and culture.
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Instead of a end-of-chapter test you will be doing a project to show what you have learned from this chapter. This project will be the writing of your own myth or fable.
You will be getting a handout about the project.
Project Preview
Myths are stories that explain a natural event. Before humans found scientific explanations for such things as the moon and the sun and rainbows, they tried to understand them by telling stories. These tales — which often include gods and goddesses and other supernatural characters who have the power to make extraordinary things happen — remain popular today.
Project Preview
As you start to think about writing your own myth, do these warm-up steps. They should help you begin to plan your story.
Pick out the natural phenomenon you want to write about.
Make it something that really interests you. If you live in the desert, you might want to think about the way a single rainstorm can cause a flood. If you live in the North, think about the way a snowstorm can cover the ground like an icy blanket.
If you live near the ocean, consider the way the tide comes in and out each day. In other words, find something that is familiar that you can observe.
Observe Carefully
It helps to know a thing well before trying to make up a story about it. The old myths were created by poets and storytellers who were well-acquainted with nature. Find out as much as you can about the natural phenomenon that you've chosen. Go to the library or internet and find out what it is scientifically — and read what other storytellers have said about it.
Write down what is actual about the event.
Keep a record of what you have observed or read. What are the smells, sights, and sounds connected to this natural phenomenon?
If you are artistic, you might want to try drawing sketches or painting pictures. Think of yourself as a reporter, not a storyteller.
Write down key words from your research.
If you're researching the desert, the words you find could be: sand, rain, gully, wash. Then look in a thesaurus or dictionary to find as many synonyms, phrases, and meanings for your words as you can. For example, under "sand" you might find grain, granule, gravel, shingle, powder, pulverize.
As you are writing those words down, think about the images behind them. It's those images that will help you build your myth. For example, I thought of a pepper grinder when I reached the word pulverize. Once you've got a picture in your mind, it's time for the big WHAT IF?
Ask yourself, WHAT IF?
Hop onto your image and head off into myth land. This is the point from which you need to start brainstorming! Take a picture in your mind of what an aspect of the world would be like if certain events happened. Then use this "what if" to create a story that explains why the natural phenomenon exists. The story can be as fantastic as you want.
Ask yourself, WHAT IF?
What if there was a chef to the gods who lived in a beautiful green countryside but became upset one day because no one ever complimented his cooking? While wandering around, he sat under one of those beautiful green trees and wished (always be careful what you wish for in a myth) that he could somehow make the gods take notice. And suddenly in front of him was a special pepper grinder that said, "Use me, and you will be noticed." And so the chef took the pepper grinder and used it that evening as he was seasoning the gods' stew. But instead of churning out pepper, it ground out sand — more sand than the chef had ever seen! The sand kept pouring out, completely covering the beautiful green countryside. And thus the desert came into existence.
Section 1 – The Culture of Ancient Greeks
This section discusses the culture of the ancient Greeks as expressed in their religion, literature, and art.
The Culture of Ancient Greeks
Myths are traditional stories about gods, goddesses, and heroes. Greek mythology expressed the Greek people’s religious beliefs. They believed gods and goddesses affected people’s lives and shaped events. The Greeks also believed that gods and goddesses controlled nature.
The Culture of Ancient Greeks
The 12 most important gods and goddesses lived on Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece. Among the 12 were the following: Zeus
– who was the chief god Athena – the goddess of wisdom and crafts Apollo – the god of the sun and poetry Ares – the god of war Aphrodite – the goddess of love Poseidon – the god of the seas and earthquakes
The Culture of Ancient Greeks
Greek gods and goddesses were not thought to be all-powerful. Although each god had special powers, they looked human and acted like them. They married, had children, quarreled, played tricks on each other, and fought wars. Greeks sought the favor of the gods. Part of their religious rituals were to pray to their gods and offer them gifts. They also had many festivals honoring various gods. By honoring and paying respect the gods, the Greeks hoped the gods would grant them good fortune. The Greeks also believed in the afterlife which they called Hades.
The Culture of Ancient Greeks
The Greeks also believed in fate or destiny. They believed that certain events would happen no matter what they did. They also believed in prophecy. A prophecy is a prediction about the future. To find out about the future many Greeks would visit a priest or priestess who could talk to the gods. This person was called a what? Oracle The most famous of these oracles was at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. The oracle chamber was deep inside the temple in a room that had an opening in the floor that allowed volcanic gases to escape from the earth. A priestess would sit on a stool in the chamber and allowed visitors to ask her questions. Often the answers would be given in the form of riddles.
The Culture of Ancient Greeks
Greek poems and stories are the oldest in the Western world. The earliest Greek stories were epics. These long poems told about heroic deeds. The first two great epics were written in the 700s B.C. by the poet Homer. These were the Iliad and the Odyssey. They were based upon stories of a war between Greece and the city of Troy. The Iliad tells how a prince of Troy kidnaps the wife of the king of Sparta. The Spartans attack Troy in a battle that drags on for 10 years. In the end, the Trojans are able to defeat Troy by hiding in a giant wooden horse that and been presented as a gift.
The Culture of Ancient Greeks
The Odyssey tells the story of a soldier named Odysseus that faces storms, witches, and giants before returning home to his wife. Both of these epics are more than just stories. They are based on actually events and give us a recorded history of those events. In about 550 B.C. a Greek slave named Aesop made up his now famous fables. A fable is a short tale that teaches a lesson.
In most of Aesop’s fables, animals talk and act like people. Each of these fables ends with a message, or moral. One of the best-known fables is ―The Tortoise and the Hare.‖
The Culture of Ancient Greeks
Another form of story telling was a drama. A drama is a story told by actors who pretend to be characters in a story. Today’s movies, plays, and television shows are all examples of drama.
The Greeks performed plays in outdoor theaters as part of their religious festivals. They developed two types of dramas – comedies and tragedies. In a tragedy, a person struggles to overcome difficulties but fails. The story has an unhappy ending.
In a comedy the story ends happily. Today we used the word comedy to mean a funny story. The word actually means any drama that has a happy ending.
The Culture of Ancient Greeks
Artists in ancient Greece believed in certain ideas and tried to show those ideas in their work. These, such as the golden triangle, are still in use today.
The Greeks painted murals, but none of them have survived. We can still see examples of Greek painting on pottery that has been found. The Greek were also skilled architects who build great temples to honor their gods. The best known of these temples is the Parthenon. Large marble columns were used to support large open areas.
Greek temples were also decorated with sculptures that expressed Greek ideas. The favorite subject of these sculptures was the human body.
Section 2 – Greek Philosophy and History
This section describes Greek contributions to the study of philosophy and the writing of history.
Greek Philosophy and History
The word philosophy comes from the Greek word for ―love of wisdom‖. Greek philosophy lead to the study of history, political science, science, and mathematics. Greek thinkers who believed the human mind could understand everything where called what?
Philosophers
Many philosophers were teachers. One Greek philosopher, Pythagoras, taught his pupils that the universe followed the same laws that governed music and numbers. He believed that all relationships in the world could be expressed in numbers. As a result he developed many new ideas about mathematics.
Greek Philosophy and History
The Sophists were professional teachers in ancient Greece. They traveled from city to city and made a living teaching others. They did not believe that gods and goddesses influenced people. The Sophists also rejected the idea of absolute right and wrong. They believed that what was right for one person might be wrong for another. One critic of the Sophists was a man named Socrates. Socrates believed that an absolute truth existed and that all real knowledge was within each person. He invented the Socratic method of teaching still used today. He asked pointed questions to force his pupils to use their reason and to see things for themselves.
Greek Philosophy and History
Some Athenian leaders felt threatened by Socrates. After their defeat in the Peloponnesian War, the people in Athens no longer trusted open debate. In 399 B.C. the leaders of Athens accused Socrates of teaching young people to rebel against the state. He was tried, found guilty and sentenced to death. One of Socrates’ students was Plato. Plato left behind many of his writings. Plato believed in a non-democratic system of government. In Plato’s system the people would be divided into three basic groups.
At the top were philosopher-kings, who ruled using logic and wisdom. Warriors made up the second group. They defended the state from attack. The third group included the rest of the people. These people produced the state’s food, clothing, and shelter.
Greek Philosophy and History
Plato established a school in Athens known as the Academy. His best student was Aristotle. Aristotle opened a school called the Lyceum. At the Lyceum students were taught the ―golden mean.‖ This idea holds that a person should do nothing in excess. For example, a person should not eat too little or too much but just enough to stay well. Aristotle also helped to advance science. He urged people to use their senses to make observations, just as scientists today make observations. Like Plato, Aristotle wrote about government. He studied and compared 158 different places to find the best form of government.
Greek Philosophy and History
Aristotle divided the governments into three types:
Government by one person, such as a king or a tyrant.
Government by a few people, which might be an aristocracy or an oligarchy.
Government by many people, as in a democracy.
Aristotle noticed that governments run by a few people were usually run by the rich. He noticed that most democracies were run by the poor. He thought the best government was a mixture of the two. Aristotle’s ideas shaped the way the founders of the United States thought about government.
Greek Philosophy and History
In most places in the ancient world, people did not write history. Legends and myths were used to explain their past. In 435 B.C. a Greek named Herodotus wrote the history of the Persian Wars. In his book he tried to separate fact from legend. He asked questions, recorded answers, and checked the truthfulness of his sources. He is considered the ―father of history.‖ Many historians consider Thucydides the greatest historian of the ancient world. He fought in the Peloponnesian War and wrote the history of it.
Section 3 – Alexander the Great
The section discusses Alexander the Great, his wide-reaching empire, and how his conquest spread Hellenism throughout southwest Asia.
Alexander the Great
Macedonia lay north of Greece. They were a warrior people who fought on horseback. The Greeks looked down on them, but by 400 B.C., Macedonia had become a powerful kingdom.
In 359 B.C. Philip II rose to power in Macedonia. As a young man, Philip had lived in Greece and admired many things about the Greeks. Philip wanted to build an empire strong enough to defeat the Persian Empire. To reach that goal he know he would have to unite the Greek city-states with his own kingdom.
Philip trained a vast army of foot soldiers to fight like the Greeks. He took over the city-states by conquering them, bribing leaders to surrender, and by getting some to unite with him.
Alexander the Great
Philip II was also able to take advantage of the weakened state of the Greek city-state after the Peloponnesian War. Athens tried to fight off the Macedonia army but was crushed in the Battle of Chaeronea near the city of Thebes. Philip now controlled most of Greece. Before Phillip could complete his plan to conquer the Persian Empire with the Greeks’ help, he was murdered. The job fell to his son, Alexander. Alexander was only 20 years old when he became king of Macedonia. He had been carefully trained for leadership. At the age of 16 he had became commander of the Macedonia army.
Alexander the Great
In the spring of 334 B.C., Alexander invaded Asia Minor with about 37,000 Macedonian and Greek foot soldiers. He also had 5,000 mounted warriors. He destroyed the local Persian army in the Battle of Granicus. The next year Alexander defeated a large Persian army at Issus. He then turned south. By the winter of 332 B.C. he had captured Syria and Egypt. In Egypt he built the city of Alexandria, which became on of the most important cities in the ancient world. In 331 B.C. Alexander headed east and defeated the Persians at Gaugamela, near Babylon. After this battle he easily defeated the rest of the Persian Empire and continued toward the east conquering kingdoms as far as modern Pakistan.
Alexander the Great
Finally, in 326 B.C. he crossed the Indus River and entered India. There he fought a series of bloody battles. Wear of the continuous war, his soldiers refused to go any further and Alexander agreed to lead them home. In 323 B.C., while planning another invasion of southern Arabia, he came down with a bad fever. Ten days later he was dead at the age of 32. Alexander was a great military leader. He often rode into battle ahead of his men and risked is own life. He inspired his armies to march into unknown lands and risk their lives in difficult situations. The key to Alexander’s courage may have been his childhood education. He kept a copy of the Iliad under his pillow as a child.
Alexander the Great
Alexander’s greatest legacy, however, was that he helped extend Greek rule and influence over a vast area. This led to the spread of Greek art, ideas, language, and architecture in the lands that they captured. The spreading of Greek culture during this time is known as the Hellenistic Era. The word Hellenistic comes from a Greek word meaning ―like the Greeks.‖ Soon after Alexander died the officials and general he had left in power began to fight with each other for power. The empire broke apart and became the four kingdoms of Macedonia, Pergamum, Egypt, and Seleucid.
Section 4 – The Spread of Greek Culture
Under the leadership of Pericles, Athens became a powerful city-state and culture blossomed.
The Spread of Greek Culture
During the Hellenistic Era, philosophers, scientists, poets, and writers flocked to the new Greek cities in southwest Asia and Egypt, especially Alexandria.
Alexandria’s library had more than 500,000 scrolls that were usefull to students of literature and language. The Hellenistic Era also led to the use of Greek architecture being used in the rebuilding of many cities that had been destroyed during years of war. Because Hellenistic leaders also admired talented writers, Kings and leading citizens spent large sums of money in support of the arts.
The Spread of Greek Culture
Philosophy also grew during this time period. The philosopher Epicurus founded the philosophy now known as Epicureanism. It teaches that happiness was the goal of life. He believed that the way to happiness was to seek out pleasure. In his world this meant spending time with family and friends and learning not to worry about things. The opposite view was taken by the philosopher Zeno who developed Stoicism. For Stoics, happiness came from following reason, not emotion, and doing your duty.
The Spread of Greek Culture
Scientists, especially mathematicians and astronomers, made major contributions during the Hellenistic Era. Aristarchus was an astronomer who claimed that the sun was at the center of the universe and that the Earth orbited around it. Others rejected his ideas because they believed the Earth was the center of the universe. Another astronomer, Eratosthenes concluded that the Earth was round. He then used his knowledge of geometry and astronomy to measure the Earth’s circumference. Use his measurements he determined that the Earth was 24,675 miles around. He was only 185 miles off.
The Spread of Greek Culture
Euclid was the best known of the Greek mathematicians. His bestknown book Elements describes plane geometry. What is plane geometry?
A branch of mathematics that shows how points, lines, angles, and surfaces relate to one another.
The most famous scientist of this time was Archimedes. He worked with solid geometry. He figured out the value of pi. This number is used to figure the area of circles.
Archimedes was also an inventor who was designed machines that used levers to hurdle arrows, spears, and rocks at attackers.
The Ancient Greeks
Chapter Review
