Download Ancient Greek Culture Study Guide

NAME: _____________________________
Ancient Greece Study Guide
The assessment will be on: _________________
Objective: Historical Lifestyles & Societies

Explain the influence that ancient civilizations had on modern society (government,
contributions, religion/philosophies, trade, tools/weapons, agriculture, migration/settlement)
Greek religion/mythology
Religious Beliefs
• Religion was important to Greeks as they believed it would make their life better while
living.
•
They believed the gods would look after them when they died
Religious Practices
• Ancient Greeks were polytheistic – they believed in many different gods and goddesses
•
Greek mythology is the body of stories about gods and goddesses
•
They believed the gods had control of everything such as the winner of a race or the
tides in the ocean
•
They believed each god or goddess had control of one or two aspects of life
•
Temples were built for the gods where the Greeks could pray and offer animal
sacrifices at times of festivals
•
Olympic games began as a festival to honor Zeus, the chief god
•
Believed all the gods and goddesses lived at the top of Mount Olympus
gods
• Be able to name one Greek god/goddess and describe what he/she was the god of and
a few details about the god (symbols, family, background, etc). Use your notes if you
need help with this.
Architecture: the Parthenon
• The Greeks built the Parthenon in less than 9 years
• Each of the 46 columns had a unique curve
• The building of the Parthenon was completed in 432 BCE
• Two years after the Parthenon was completed the Spartans took over Athens and used
the Parthenon as an army barracks.
• The Parthenon is a representative of democracy and many modern museums and
building are modeled after the Parthenon including the Lincoln memorial in Washington
DC.
Olympics
• The Olympics were started as a festival to honor Zeus.
• This was the most important sporting event in Greece.
• While the games were going on all wars would stop.
• Athletes would come from around the world.
• Events included the chariot race, boxing, and the pentathlon.
• Olympic winners were heros.
Also be able to compare the Olympic games in Greece to the modern Olympic games.
NAME: _____________________________
Objective: Historical Lifestyles & Societies

Explain the importance of specific people and places within society
Arts & Theatre: Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, Aesop’s Fables
Greeks were famous for two types of plays: comedy (happy ending) and tragedy (stories about
suffering)
Homer:
Wrote the Iliad- the story of the Trojan War
Wrote the Odyssey- the story of the hero Odysseus and the trials he faced trying to
return home from the Trojan War
Aesop’s Fables- Aesop was a slave and a storyteller in Ancient Greece
His fables are still popular today as a way to teach children values and morals.
Science/Mathematics: Archimedes, Pythagoras, Hippocrates, Euclid
Archimedes- a mathematician, physicist and inventor. He explained the principle of lever.
Pythagoras- A philosopher and mathematician. Discover the hypotenuse theorem.
Hippocrates- A physician who is recognized as the father of medicine. Separated medicine
from superstition and
philosophy.
Euclid- Mathematician who collected and organized all existing knowledge about geometry and
then wrote 13 books
on geometry.
Philosophy: Socrates, Plato, & Aristotle
Socrates- He would walk through Athens trying to teach people how to think. He loved asking
questions. His line of questioning is now known as the Socratic method. People found
his questioning of everything very dangerous (some people were pleased to examine
their own beliefs and feelings. It helped them to think things out). As a result, Socrates
was considered a threat to Athens. He was brought to trial for denying the gods,
corrupting the youth and trying to overthrow the government. He was found guilty and
sentenced to death. He left no writings.
Plato- Plato was a student of Socrates. He recorded the speeches that Socrates made at his
trial. Plato set up a school outside of Athens. The schools was created to train
government leaders and was called the Academy. Plato taught there for almost 40
years and the school lasted almost 900 years after Plato’s death. Plato’s beliefs went
against the ideas that made Athens great. He thought only the wise and good should
rule. Plato wrote the Republic. The was the first ever book written on political science.
Aristotle- Aristotle was one of Plato’s brightest pupils. He came to the Academy when he was
17 and he stayed there for 20 years. He also founded his own school and wrote more
than 200 books. He was the first to classify or to group together plants and animals
that resemble each other. Aristotle added a third step (1.collect info, 2. Form a
hypothesis) to the scientific method when he said that (3.) a hypothesis must be tested
to see if it’s correct. Aristotle also developed the syllogism. Ex: Athenians are Greeks.
Socrates is an Athenian. Therefore, Socrates is Greek.