Download GREECE`S GOLDEN AGE (480 to 430 BC)

GREECE’S GOLDEN AGE
(480 to 430 BC)
During the 5 century BC, Athens
experienced the first and perhaps the
most famous Golden Age in world history.
For 50 years, from 480 to 430 BC, Athens
set off sparks of genius in all directions.
The arts of drama, sculpture, poetry,
philosophy, architecture and science all
reached new height.
Objectives:
1. To identify the three goals of Pericles
2. To describe the Greek styles in sculpture and
drama.
3. To explain the major conflicts in the
Peloponnesian War.
4. To identify the contributions of Socrates,
Plato, and Aristotle.
Question:
• How did the end of the Persian Wars
affect the people of Greece,
especially the Athenians?
• It led to a Golden age and formation
of the Delian League with Athens as
its leader.
(After the wars , Athens became the
leader of an alliance of 140 city-states
called the Delian League.)
I. Pericles’ three goals for Athens:
• To strengthen and expand
Athenian democracy.
• To strengthen the navy.
• To beautify Athens.
Questions:
Who was Pericles?
• The best known statesman Greece ever had.
• During the time of Pericles Athens was the
scene of political, economic, social, and cultural
activity.
• He did not try to excite his audiences but only to
reason with them. He was enough good for
aristocrats, farmers and artisans.
• As a character, he won recognition by the
Athenians by being dignified, eloquent, upright
and patriotic and his friends were important
people such as Sophocles, Herodotus, Phidias,
Socrates and Protagoras.
Question:
• Why is the Age of Pericles
considered a golden age in the
history of Greece?
• Pericles introduced reforms that strengthened and
expanded Athenian democracy. He increased the
number of his public officials and paid them salaries.
• Pericles strengthened and expanded the navy. This
secured the Athenians’ overseas trade routes,
ensuring that Athens would continue to receive
necessary supplies.
• Pericles beautify Athens. As a leader of the Delian
League, he has the access to funds that allowed it to
embark on a building program. This made Athens
the most beautiful city in the ancient world and
produced some of the world’s greatest masterpieces
of sculpture and architecture.
Question:
How accurate do you consider
Pericles’ statement that Athenian
democracy was in the hands of
“the whole people”?
• Although Athenian citizens were
widely represented at all levels of
government, citizens were only a
small part of Athens’ total
population.
• Noncitizens such as women, slaves
and foreigners could not participate.
II. Greek Styles in Art:
Greek artists and sculptures create an idealized
human form.
Questions:
Who was Phidias?
Phidias was the main and the most famous
sculptor in ancient Greece. He was also an
architect and painter.
Phidias
• Directed the construction of the Acropolis
and the Parthenon.
• Executed the gold and ivory statue of Athena.
• His colossal statue of Zeus, father of gods, at
Olympia was considered his masterpiece.
The Parthenon represented a new style of architecture known for its proportion and
symmetry. It was constructed for about 15 years. Some 22 000 tones of white, pure marble
were cut with such precision that no mortar was needed to hold the stones together. For the
Parthenon the architects used only Doric style columns.
Order, balance, and
proportion became
the standards of
what is called
classical art.
*
DORIC
IONIC
CORINTHIAN
Classical
Greek
influences
in art
Greek Drama:
1. The Greeks create dramatic tragedies and
comedies.
2. The tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and
Euripides focus on serious themes and a
tragically flawed hero.
3. Comedies, such as those by Aristophanes,
often use slapstick humor and satire to
criticize Athenian life.
Question:
What themes were common in Greek
tragedy?
• LOVE
• HATE
• WAR
• BETRAYAL
• HUBIS
Question:
What do the themes of Greek
comedies suggest about the men
and women of Athens?
That they discussed and accepted
criticism of their ideas, behavior,
customs and politics.
III. Peloponnesian War- 431 B.C.-404 B.C.
Spartans and Athenians go to
war.
The war was an outbreak of
ongoing tensions between
Athens ans Sparta and ended
in the defeat of Athens, the
loss of its empire, and the
decline of democratic
government.
Consequences:
• Athens loses its empire,
power, and wealth;
• the confidence in democratic
rule declines.
• The Peloponnesian War reshaped the ancient Greek
world. On the level of international relations, Athens,
the strongest city-state in Greece, was reduced to a
state of near-complete subjection, while Sparta
became established as the leading power of Greece.
• The economic costs of the war were felt all across
Greece; poverty became widespread in the
Peloponnese, while Athens found itself completely
devastated, and never regained its pre-war prosperity.
• The war also brought changes to Greek society; the
conflict between democratic Athens and oligarchic
Sparta, made civil war a common occurrence in the
Greek world.
Questions:
What might been Pericles goals in the
Peloponnesian war?
1. To protect access to the liquid highway and
the city’s trade in grain and other raw
materials.
2. To free Athens of its Spartans enemy.
3. To continue to use Delian League funds.
4. To spread the empire by acquiring overseas
colonies.
IV. Philosophers Search for Truth:
Sophocles
Plato
Aristotle
Questions:
Why would philosophers start
questioning traditional beliefs at
this particular time in Athens’s
history?
• Athens defeat by its rival Sparta would
have caused its citizens to have spiritual
doubts.
• This might lead them to consider radical
ideas and make them more willing to
question traditional attitude.
Group work
Greece’s
Golden Age
(480 BC-430 BC)
Pericles’ 3 Goals :
 Direct Democracy
 Strengthens the navy
 Beautifies Athens
Contributions :

Greek styles in art :
-classical art
(order, balance and proportion)
 Greek Drama :
-tragedy
-comedy
-tragedy : love,hate,war
-comedy :satires
Interpreting chart :p.120
What is the main difference
between Athenian democracy
and democracy in the USA?
Summarizing :p.122
What are the main things you
associate with classical Greek
art? Give ex. from buildings and
sculptures shown on this page.
Philosophers :




Sophists
Socrates
Plato
Aristotle
Forming and supporting
opinions :p.125
Socrates believed in absolute
standards for truth and justice.
Sophists believed that standards
of truth and justice are in the eye
of their beholder. What is your
opinion? Support your opinion
with reasons and examples.
Peloponnesian War :
p.125
War between Sparta and Athens-for 27 years
•
•
Analyzing themes :
Empire building: How does the concept of “ hubris” from Greek tragedy
apply to the Peloponnesian War ?
Think about:
 Spartans’ and Athenians’ opinion of themselves
 Why hurbis is a tragic flaw?
 Why the war started?