Chapter 5 Greek Civilization

1. Chapter 5 Greek Civilization Section 1 The Culture of Ancient Greece

2. Greek Mythology (Pgs. 155 – 156) The Greeks believed that gods and goddesses controlled nature and shaped their lives. Myths are traditional stories about gods and heroes. Greek mythology expressed the Greek people’s religious beliefs.

3. Greek Gods and Goddesses * The 12 most important gods and goddesses lived on Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece.

4. What Was a Greek Oracle? The Greeks believed each person had a fate or destiny and certain events were going to happen no matter what They also believed in prophecy, or prediction about the future. Many Greeks visited an oracle, sacred shrine where priests and priestesses spoke for the gods. The most famous was the oracle at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi (DEHL*fy).

5. Greek Poetry and Fables Greek poetry and fables taught Greek values and are the oldest stories in the Western world. The earliest Greek stories were epics, long poems about heroic deeds. The earliest Greek epics were the Iliad and the Odyssey, written by the poet Homer during the 700s B.C. He based them on stories of a War Greece had with the city of Troy (northwestern Turkey).

6. The Iliad A prince of Troy kidnaps the wife of the king of Sparta and the Greeks attack Troy. The battle for Troy drags on for 10 years. To finally take the city, the Greeks come up with a plan to build a huge, hollow wooden horse. They pretend to retreat, but actually hide inside the belly of the horse. Thinking it was a gift/trophy of victory, the Tojans roll the giant horse into the city. The Greek warriors climb from the horse and capture Troy.

7. The Odyssey Tells the story of Greek hero Odysseus and his journey home after the Trojan War. Odysseusfaces storms, witches, and giants before returning home to his wife. Because it took Odysseus 10 years to get home, we use the word odyssey today to mean a long journey with many adventures.

8. Who Was Aesop? A fable is a short tale that teaches a lesson Aesop (EE*sahp)was a Greek slave made up many famous fables In most of Aesop’s fables, animals talk and act like people, and the story ends with a message, or moral One of Aesop’s best-known fables is “The Tortoise and the Hare”

9. Greek Drama/Tragedies and Comedies Drama is a story told by actors who pretend to be characters in a story The Greeks performed plays in outdoor theatres and developed two types of dramas: comedies and tragedies In a tragedy, a person struggles to overcome difficulties, but fails, and has an unhappy ending. In a comedy, the drama has a happy ending

10. The three best known writers of Greek tragedies were: * The best known writer of Greek comedies was Aristophanes (ar*uh*STAH*fun*eez) * Encouraged thinking, but also humorous because his plays often made fun of leading politicians and scholars

11. Greek Art and Architecture Greek art and architecture expressed Greek ideas of beauty, reason, moderation, balance, and harmony Greeks painted murals and pottery and also sculpted Architecture is the art of designing building structures The most important architecture were temples dedicated to a god or goddess: best-known is the Parthenon, dedicated to Athena The Greeks used three different styles of columns in their buildings: Ionic, Doric, and Corinthian