Greek Architecture

Greek Architecture The Parthenon The Parthenon Today

Classical Greek Art Proportion Balance Order

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

Socrates (469-399 BCE) • 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.

Plato (427-347 BCE) • 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

Aristotle (384-322 BCE) • 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

Phillip II of Macedonia 382-336 BC • 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.

Alexander the Great356 – 323 BC • 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).

Legacy of Alexander • 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.

Hellenistic Math and Science • 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.

Hellenistic Math and Science • 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“.

Greek Architecture