Chapter 6 Greece Golden and Hellenistic Ages Golden

Chapter 6 -Greece, Golden and Hellenistic Ages

“Golden Age of Greece” • Lasted from about 480 BC-430 BC, 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 Parthenonon 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!

• This is the idea: A “perfect” building will not look perfect, due to natural optical illusions. So the Greeks deliberately compensated for the natural optical illusions with “counter” optical illusions.

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. • Examples The 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 “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.

Allegory of the cave: Ted-Talks

Allegory of the cave: clay-mation

Allegory of the cave-funny version

Video-Plato

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

Video-Aristotle

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 • 2 nd 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 semicircular 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 hubristhe 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