The Classical Age of Greece

Golden Age of Athens, Persian Wars, and the Peloponnesian War

ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY• Solon – Revised laws. Outlawed debt slavery

and tried to reduce poverty by encouraging trade.

• Cleisthenes – Divided Athens into 10 tribes that became the basis for elections. (Credited for creating Democracy)

• Democracy?…Really?– Women, children, immigrants, slaves could NOT

particpate.– 10% of population participated.

• Athens used a Direct Democracy where people voted directly on issues.– Why not used in United States?

Persian Wars• First Persian Invasion– Marathon (Phalanx)

• Athens beats Persia (Darius).

• Second Persian Invasion– Thermopylae

• Small Greek force held back large Persian force for 3 days. (Xerxes)

– Salamis (Naval Battle)• Persia lost and were stuck

in Greece.

• Greece Wins Persian Wars!

Golden Age of Athens

• Athens & Delian League– Alliance of Greek city-states

that was controlled by Athens.– Parthenon was built from $

from Delian League.

• Pericles– Skilled politician who

encouraged the spreading of democracy.

– Commissioned the building of the Parthenon.

ACROPOLIS

PARTHENON

TEMPLE OF

ATHENA NIKE

ERECTHEION

Pericles’ 3 Goals for Athens• 1. Stronger Democracy: Increased the

number of paid public officials to strengthen democracy.– Athens had more citizen engaged in self-

government than any other city-state.

• 2. Athenian Empire: Enlarged the wealth and power of Athens .– Used $ to build 200 navy ships.

• 3. Glorifying Athens: Used $ from the Empire to beautify Athens by buying gold, ivory, marble.

• Greeks invented 2 types of drama (tragedy & comedy) and built first theaters in the west.

• Parthenon was a 23,000 sq. ft. building which contained the statue of Athena inside.

• Athena stood 38 feet tall and was made of gold and ivory.

• The Greeks values of order, balance, and proportions became the standard of classical art.

• Tried to capture grace of the human body in their art.

Greek Styles in Art & Greek Drama

• Declared war in 431 B.C.– Athens: Naval Ships– Sparta: Stronger Soldiers

• Plague killed almost two-third of Athenian population.

• Athenians had a wall that kept out the Spartans.

• After 18 years, Spartans took down the wall.

• 404 B.C. Athens surrendered & changed their political program.

Spartans & Athenians Go to War

• Philosophers are people who determined to seek truth.

• They based assumptions on:– 1. Universe is put together in orderly way with subject

absolute and unchanging laws.– 2. People understand laws through logic and reason.

• Socrates who believed that absolute standards exist through truth & justice (Socratic Method)– Went to trial for corrupting youth of Athens.

• Plato was a student of Socrates and famous work is called “The Republic”

• Aristotle questioned nature of world and human belief and created scientific method.

Philosophers Search for Truth