Classical Greece By William Cheung

Athens was an important city in Classical Greece. Do you notice the similar architecture? You can see a building in the picture that looks similar to the

Jefferson Memorial in Washington D.C.

A Painting of Athens,

Greece

Background Information �  During the classical time period,

Greece was not a large empire but still spanned over a significant area. Most of Greece was made up of city-states who ruled themselves and from time to time try to take on other city-states. During this era the cities of Athens and Sparta came to prominence. I will be focusing mainly on Athens in my powerpoint because this was the major city of Greece. Of course much of the culture and ideas were the same throughout Greece. The Acropolis in Athens

Timeline of Major Events 510-323 BCE – The Classical Period of Greece

506 BCE Democracy is first introduced to Athens, by Cleisthenes.

490 BCE The first Persian invasion is over after The Battle of Marathon. A soldier was sent 26 miles on foot back to Athens to let the citizens know of the victory. The present day marathon is based off of this.

480 BCE Greece leads another victory in The Battle of Thermopylae where a new Persian king attempts an invasion.

449-432 BCE The famous Parthenon and Acropolis are built in Athens.

431-404 BCE Peloponnesian War-This war started with Sparta attacking Athens, but lose. They sign a peace treaty in 421 BCE. However, in 415 BCE, Greece tries to conquer Sicily, but lose. They surrender in 404 BCE.

430 BCE In Athens, an outbreak of Bubonic Plague occurs

399 BCE Socrates is executed for opposing the thirty tyrants. The thirty tyrants were a group of pro-Spartans who were placed in Athens after their defeat. They greatly reduced the rights of the citizens

384 BCE Aristotle is born. He was a famous Greek scientists, who founded the Lyceum School in Athens.

323 BCE Alexander the Great dies. His death is known as to be the ending of Classical Greece.

Art and Culture �  The Greek taste of monumental structures came from Egyptian influence.

Since religion was a major part of Greek culture, religious temples like the Parthenon were some of the most beautiful buildings in the world. Three systems, known as orders of architecture Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian were developed by the Greeks. The Doric style is the most simple one and was used on the Parthenon. Corinthian is the most elaborate, but is very seldom used.

Art and Culture (Continued) �  Culture (Everyday Life)

�  Children often spent most of their day playing with toys and games

�  Men were usually either in training for the military or in political debates. During their free time they went to theatres to watch dramas. Comedy or tragedies were the most common types.

�  Women did the housework of cleaning, weaving, spinning, etc. Most women spent their time at home and were not involved in an outside social life and politics.

�  Sculptures �  Classical Greece is famous for its intricate sculptures

and statues. One of the most famous sculptors in Classical Greece was Phidias. He created the statue of Athena for the Parthenon. Stone, marble, limestone, and many different types of clay were used by Greeks to make sculptures. Sculptures were created usually to depict: heroes, major events, mythical creatures, and Gods. In general, they were used as a display of Greek culture.

Sculpture of a Discuss

Thrower

Social Hierarchy �  Like most other classical civilizations, Classical Greece had a

social system.

�  Upper Class: The upper class in the Greek social hierarchy was very elite. Only men who: did not have any jobs that dealt with economics like trading, had slaves, and have property and material value; could be considered to be in the upper class. Greeks, believed that only if you were this wealthy could you spend time for politics, philosophy, leisure, etc.

�  Middle Class: The middle class was primarily composed of professional workers like merchants, contractors, craftsmen, and managers. Many people in the middle class were non citizens, which means they were not slaves, but of foreign birth from Athens.

�  Lower Class: In classical Greece, the lower class mainly consisted of freed slaves.

�  Slaves: This group of people were composed of prisoners of war, infants of criminals, and of course slaves. Few people of this class were actually of Greek race.

A Member of the Upper Class in Greek Social

Hierarchy

Political Philosophy �  The Greeks were the first to introduce the idea of Direct

Democracy, where citizens had a say in the government. The word democracy is derived from the Greek work demos, meaning the people of the country and krateo, meaning rule. The adoption to democracy was a relatively long process. The Athenian political system took on several forms before finally settling on Republic. The rulers were called archons and elected by the citizens.

�  The idea of Democracy was developed by Cleisthenes, a Greek aristocrat. Like other aristocrats, he wanted more power for himself, but people were people were beginning to dislike the tyrants. In Direct Democracy, Athenian men would gather in an assembly to vote on subjects. Since not all men could meet everyday, approximately 500 men were chosen from a lottery to participate. . This council would change every year. You probably are wondering how this would help him get more power. To help gain power, Cleisthenes found ways to manipulate the votes to make sure his family always had the most votes.

Cleisthenes

Intellectual Evolvements �  Greek culture highly encouraged intellectual

thinking. This led to many great discoveries, art creations, and positive changes in society to be

made in Classical Greece. People in Greece believed that an elite, upper class group must be present in society, for a civilization to prosper in

social institutions, art, and philosophy.

�  Basics of Classical Greek Philosophical Intellectuality: These are the basis of philosophy created by the Greeks.

1.  Metaphysics- asks the questions: “What is the world composed of?” and “In all reality, what is the ultimate substance?”

2.  Epistemology- asks the questions: “How do we know if something is real or not?” and “Do we or can we actually know anything for certain?”

3.  Ethics-the basic understanding between what is good and bad or correct and incorrect. Painting of Plato and

Socrates

Religion Practices �  In Classical Greek culture, the

religion was polytheistic, with many gods. However, over time the Greeks grouped the ones they considered the most important into a Parthenon (council). The gods were pictured in human form with superpowers and immortality. There were also many local gods who presides over household matters. Worship was a public affair where the community would gather together at open altars. Prayers, hymns, and sacrifices of meat and wine were all part of religious rituals at ceremonies.

Religion Practices (Continued)

�  Zeus- King of all Gods

�  Hera- Wife of Zeus and a representation of excellent wife and motherly qualities

�  Athena- Goddess of Wisdom and patron Goddess of Athens. It is said that she emerged fully-grown at of Zeus’s head.

�  Apollo- God of light, music, sun, healing, and male beauty

�  Aphrodite- Goddess of love and beauty. She was said to have born out of sea foam.

�  Demeter- The mother of nature and Earth; watches over planting and harvest time.

�  Poseidon- Brother to Zeus and God of the seas

�  Ares- God of war and battles

�  Dionysus- God of spring

�  Artemis- Sister of Apollo and Goddess of the forest and the moon. She is a huntress

�  Hephaestus- Blacksmiths for the gods

�  Hades- Ruler of the underworld (the dead)

The Olympiads-The Olympiads were the 12 main Gods in Greek religion

Background-Zeus Background-Poseidon

Economy �  Like many other classical civilizations,

Greece was centered around an agricultural based economy. However, the population increased dramatically during the classical era so Greece was unable to produce enough food to provide for everyone. Greece is situated in an infertile mountainous environment. Pottery, olive oil, and wine were some of the items traded for wheat from Italy and southern France. Merchants and traders were a very big part of the economy and therefore were held at higher statuses then in China.

Major Achievements �  One of the main achievements in Classical

Greece is democracy. They were the first to introduce this form of government into the world.

�  Science and Math-Classical Greece made many major discoveries in these two subjects. �  Scientists calculated an accurate size of the earth,

formulated the size of the sun, and proposed the idea that everything in the universe is composed of atoms.

�  What we use today as the scientific method to solve problems is derived from the Socratic Method, by Socrates.

�  Mathematicians were able to discover the value of pi and create the Pythagorean Theorem.

�  Physicist invented the lever and pulley. This later on evolved into a steam engine.

Pythagoras

Connections �  Social Hierarchy- Classical Greek society contained a social

structure like most other civilizations of that time period.

�  Government- Greece used direct democracy as a government system. Later on, the Roman Empire used this governing method; except the Roman’s was representative (what America uses today) instead of direct democracy.

�  Religion- Like other classical civilizations, religion was one of the center parts in culture and society.

�  Philosophy- Greece and China were the birth place to several great philosophers including Confucius, Laozi, Plato, and Socrates

Background-Raphael School of Athens, a school for philosophers

Contributions to Modern Societies

�  Government-Greece was the first civilization to develop the concept of Democracy. Representative Democracy, what many countries use today; is derived from the idea of Direct Democracy used in Greece.

�  Writing- The Greeks were the first to use a written alphabet system. Some of the letters in our alphabet such as, A B E; were the same ones from the Greek alphabet.

�  Libraries- The Greeks were the first to build a library. Technically it was built in Egypt, but this area was already under Greek control. Now there are libraries all over the world.

�  Olympics- The first Olympic Games started in Greece to honor their God Zeus. We still hold the Olympics every four years just like the Greeks did. The tradition of olive leaf crowns and opening and closing ceremonies that originated from the first Olympics still continue today.

�  Mathematics- Greek mathematicians created the Pythagorean Theorem and accurately calculated “pi.”

�  Science- Greek scientists were able to calculate the circumference of the earth, proposed the theory that the Earth revolved around the Sun, and found explanations to things no one had understood before.

�  Architecture- Classical Greek architecture is used all over the world today. The style of using pillars were first created by the Greeks. Pillars are now used in monuments, churches, and even nice mansions.

Classical Greece Picture Collage

Sources �  "Ancient Greece Timeline." Ancient Greece Timeline for Children &. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Sep 2011.

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Sources (Continued)

�  Carr, Dr. Karen. "Classical Greece." History for Kids. N.p., 03-03-2011. Web. 25 Sep 2011. <http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/history/classical.htm>.

�  Boree, George. "Ancient Greek Philosophy." N.p., 2000. Web. 26 Sep 2011. <http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/greeks.html>.

�  "Classical Greece: Religion." N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Sep 2011. <http://www.historyteacher.net/GlobalHistory-1/Readings/ClassicalGreece-Religion.htm>.

�  Carr, Dr. Karen. "Classical Greek Economy." History for Kids. N.p., June 4,2011. Web. 26 Sep 2011. <http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/economy/classical.htm>.

�  "Greek Achievements." University Press Inc., 2008. Web. 26 Sep 2011. <http://www.ancientgreece.com/essay/v/greek_achievements/>.

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�  Peter, Stearns. Ed. World Civilizations: The Global Experience "AP Edition". 5th. New York: Pearson Education, Inc., 2007. Print.

The End