Chapter Introduction Section 1 The Culture of Ancient Greece

Greek Civilization Chapter Introduction Section 1 The Culture of Ancient Greece Section 2 Greek Philosophy and History Section 3 Alexander the Great Section 4 The Spread of Greek Culture Reading Review Chapter Assessment Click on a hyperlink to view the corresponding slides.

Greek Civilization Chapter Objectives • Describe important Greek developments in the arts. • Discuss Greek achievements in history, politics, biology, and logic. • Summarize how Alexander the Great created an empire. • Describe how Hellenistic kingdoms became centers of learning and culture.

Greek Civilization

The Culture of Ancient Greece Get Ready to Read Section Overview This section discusses the culture of the ancient Greeks as expressed in their religion, literature, and art.

The Culture of Ancient Greece Get Ready to Read (cont.) Focusing on the Main Ideas • The Greeks believed that gods and goddesses controlled nature and shaped their lives. • Greek poetry and fables taught Greek values. • Greek drama still shapes entertainment today. • Greek art and architecture expressed Greek ideas of beauty and harmony.

The Culture of Ancient Greece Get Ready to Read (cont.) Locating Places • Mount Olympus (uh·LIHM·puhs) • Delphi (DEHL·FY) Meeting People • Homer (HOH·muhr) • Aesop (EE·SAHP) • Sophocles (SAH·fuh·KLEEZ) • Euripides (yu·RIH·puh·DEEZ)

The Culture of Ancient Greece Get Ready to Read (cont.) Building Your Vocabulary • myth (MIHTH) • oracle (AWR·uh·kuhl) • epic (EH·pihk) • fable (FAY·buhl) • drama (DRAH·muh) • tragedy (TRA·juh·dee) • comedy (KAH·muh·dee)

The Culture of Ancient Greece Get Ready to Read (cont.) Reading Strategy Compare and Contrast Create a Venn diagram like the one on page 154 of your textbook, showing similarities and differences between an epic and a fable.

The Culture of Ancient Greece Greek Mythology • The Greeks believed in many gods and goddesses. • They thought these deities affected people’s lives and shaped events. • The Greeks believed the 12 most important gods lived on Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece. • Greek myths were stories about gods and heroes. (pages 155–156)

The Culture of Ancient Greece Greek Mythology (cont.) • In these stories, gods had special powers but looked and acted like humans. • The Greeks followed rituals to win the gods’ favor. • They hoped that the gods would grant good fortune to them in return. • The Greeks believed in prophecy, or predictions about the future. (pages 155–156)

The Culture of Ancient Greece Greek Mythology (cont.) • Many Greeks visited an oracle to receive a prophecy. • An oracle was a sacred shrine where a priest or priestess spoke for a god or goddess. • The most famous oracle was at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. (pages 155–156)

The Culture of Ancient Greece How did the Greeks believe their gods and goddesses were like humans? Greek gods and goddesses married, had children, played tricks on each other, quarreled, and fought wars.

The Culture of Ancient Greece Greek Poetry and Fables • Greek poems and stories are the oldest in the Western world and serve as models for European and American poems and stories. • An epic is a long poem about heroic deeds. • The first great epics were the Iliad and the Odyssey, written by a poet named Homer. (pages 157–158)

The Culture of Ancient Greece Greek Poetry and Fables (cont.) • The Iliad is about a battle for the city of Troy. • The Odyssey is the story of Odysseus, a Greek hero. • Greeks believed these two epics were real history. (pages 157–158)

The Culture of Ancient Greece Greek Poetry and Fables (cont.) • A slave named Aesop wrote many fables. • A fable is a short tale that teaches a lesson. • Fables were passed from person to person by oral tradition. (pages 157–158)

The Culture of Ancient Greece Why were the heroes of Homer’s epics considered role models? The heroes in Homer’s stories had courage and honor. They worked to be the best they could be, and they fought to protect their honor.

The Culture of Ancient Greece Greek Drama • Drama is a story told by actors who pretend to be characters in the story. • The Greeks used drama as part of their religious festivals. • The Greeks developed two types of drama— tragedies and comedies. (pages 160–161)

The Culture of Ancient Greece Greek Drama (cont.) • A tragedy is the story of a person who tries to overcome difficulties but fails. • A comedy is a story with a happy ending. • Aeschylus was a writer who wrote a group of three plays called Oresteia. • These plays teach that evil acts cause more evil and suffering. (pages 160–161)

The Culture of Ancient Greece Greek Drama (cont.) • The Writer Sophocles wrote the plays Oedipus and Antigone. • Euripides wrote plays about real-life people instead of gods. • Aristophanes wrote comedies that made fun of leading politicians and scholars. (pages 160–161)

The Culture of Ancient Greece How are plays of today similar to those of ancient Greece? Actors in plays of today like those of ancient Greece wear costumes. Music and dance also occur in many of today’s plays, as they did in Greek plays.

The Culture of Ancient Greece Greek Art and Architecture • Greek artists believed in the ideas of reason, balance, harmony, and moderation and tried to show these ideas in their work. • Although Greek murals have not survived, examples of Greek paintings still exist on decorated pottery. • The most important architecture in Greece was the temple dedicated to a god or goddess. (pages 162–163)

The Culture of Ancient Greece Greek Art and Architecture (cont.) • The most famous temple is the Parthenon. • Greek architecture included columns, which were first made from wood. (pages 162–163)

The Culture of Ancient Greece Greek Art and Architecture (cont.) • Later, the Greeks began using marble. • Many of today’s churches and government buildings have columns. • Greek sculpture expressed Greek ideas. (pages 162–163)

The Culture of Ancient Greece What elements of Greek architecture are present in your school or in buildings in your community? Answers will vary, but should include symmetry and proportion between building parts, the use of columns, pediments, pedestals, or materials such as marble or tiles.

The Culture of Ancient Greece How and why did the Greeks honor their gods? They honored their gods with rituals, festivals, and temples, so the gods would grant good fortune.

The Culture of Ancient Greece What values did the epic poems of Homer teach Greeks? courage, honor, loyalty, and the value of the husband-wife relationship

The Culture of Ancient Greece Contrast How do Greek tragedies and comedies differ? Tragedy: person fails to overcome difficulties because of fate or personal flaws; Comedy: happy endings

The Culture of Ancient Greece Evaluate Do you think the themes of Euripides’ plays would be popular today? Answers will vary.

The Culture of Ancient Greece Make Generalizations Why did Greek artists include the ideas of reason, moderation, balance, and harmony in their work? Artists hoped viewers would be inspired by the art.

The Culture of Ancient Greece Expository Writing Greek literature tells us what the Greeks thought was important. Choose a modern book, movie, or television show. Write a paragraph to explain what it would tell others about our society. Answers will vary.

The Culture of Ancient Greece List the three most important ways the ancient Greeks have influenced our culture. Give reasons for your choices.

Greek Philosophy and History Get Ready to Read Section Overview This section describes Greek contributions to the study of philosophy and the writing of history.

Greek Philosophy and History Get Ready to Read (cont.) Focusing on the Main Ideas • Greek philosophers developed ideas that are still used today. • Greeks wrote the first real histories in Western civilization.

Greek Philosophy and History Get Ready to Read (cont.) Meeting People • Pythagoras (puh·THA·guh·ruhs) • Socrates (SAH·kruh·TEEZ) • Plato (PLAY·TOH) • Aristotle (AR·uh·STAH·tuhl) • Herodotus (hir·RAH·duh·tuhs) • Thucydides (thoo·SIH·duh·DEEZ)

Greek Philosophy and History Get Ready to Read (cont.) Building Your Vocabulary • philosophy (fuh·LAH·suh·fee) • philosopher (fuh·LAH·suh·fuhr) • Sophist (SAH·fihst) • Socratic method (suh·KRA·tihk)

Greek Philosophy and History Get Ready to Read (cont.) Reading Strategy Categorizing Information Use diagrams like the one on page 168 of your textbook to show the basic philosophies of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.

Greek Philosophy and History Greek Philosophers • The word philosophy comes from the Greek word for “love of wisdom.” • Greek thinkers, called philosophers, believed the human mind could understand everything. (pages 169–171)

Greek Philosophy and History Greek Philosophers (cont.) • Pythagoras was a Greek philosopher who taught that the universe followed the same laws that governed music and numbers. • He developed many ideas about mathematics. • Sophists were professional teachers who traveled from city to city, teaching others. • They did not believe that gods and goddesses influenced people. (pages 169–171)

Greek Philosophy and History Greek Philosophers (cont.) • They also did not believe in absolute right or wrong. • Socrates was a philosopher who believed that an absolute truth existed and that all real knowledge was within each person. • Leaders did not trust Socrates, and accused him of teaching young Athenians to rebel. (pages 169–171)

Greek Philosophy and History Greek Philosophers (cont.) • Socrates was tried and sentenced to death. • The Socratic method is a form of teaching that uses questions to lead students to discover things for themselves. • Plato was one of Socrates’ best students. • In his book the Republic, Plato described the ideal government. (pages 169–171)

Greek Philosophy and History Greek Philosophers (cont.) • At the top were rulers and philosophers, in the middle were warriors, and at the bottom were all others. • Aristotle was one of Plato’s students. • He opened his own school called the Lyceum. • Aristotle helped advance science and government. (pages 169–171)

Greek Philosophy and History Greek Philosophers (cont.) • Many of his ideas shaped the way European and American founders thought about government. • The “golden mean,” one of Aristotle’s ideas, states that a person should do nothing to excess. (pages 169–171)

Greek Philosophy and History What did Aristotle think about democracy? Aristotle noticed that most democracies were run by the poor, and those run by a few people were run by the rich. Aristotle thought the best government would be run by the rich and the poor.

Greek Philosophy and History Greek Historians • Many historians consider Herodotus the “father of history” because he wrote the history of the Persian Wars. • The Greek Thucydides is considered the greatest historian of the ancient world. • He wrote History of the PeloponnesianWar. (page 173)

Greek Philosophy and History Why is Herodotus important? He was the first person to try to explain the past by studying events.

Greek Philosophy and History Who were the Sophists and what were their beliefs? The Sophists were traveling teachers. They rejected the idea of absolute right and wrong.

Greek Philosophy and History Before Herodotus, how did Greeks explain the past? The Greeks explained the past through legends and myths.

Chapter Introduction Section 1 The Culture of Ancient Greece