Download The Culture of Ancient Greece

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Date
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GUIDED READING ACTIVITY 8-1
The Culture of Ancient Greece
Directions: Reading for Accuracy Reading the section and completing
the activity below will help you learn more about the culture of ancient
Greece. Use your textbook to decide if a statement is true or false. Write
T or F in the blank, and if a statement is false, rewrite it correctly on
the line.
1. The Greeks believed in many gods and goddesses.
2. Zeus, the chief god, lived by himself on Mount Olympus, the
highest mountain in Greece.
3. An oracle was a scared shrine where a priest or priestess
spoke for a god or goddess.
4. The earliest Greek stories were fables.
5. The poet Aesop wrote the epic poems the Iliad and the
Odyssey.
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6. Each fable ends with a message, or moral.
7. The Greeks developed two kinds of dramas—comedies and
love stories.
8. The best-known writer of Greek comedies was Euripides.
9. Artists in ancient Greece believed in ideas like reason, moderation, balance, and harmony.
10. Greek architecture has influenced buildings today in the use
of marble columns, which are common features of churches
and government buildings.
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Date
Class
GUIDED READING ACTIVITY 8-2
Greek Philosophy and History
Directions: Outlining Reading the section and completing the outline
below will help you learn more about Greek philosophy and history. Refer
to your textbook to fill in the blanks.
I. Greek
led to the study of history, political science,
, and mathematics.
A. Many philosophers were
like Pythagoras, who taught that all
relationships in the world could be expressed in
B. One school of philosophers was the
.
who traveled from city
to city making a living by teaching others.
C. Socrates was an Athenian
whose true love was philosophy.
1. Socrates invented the
of teaching, which asks pointed ques-
tions to force students to use reason and to see things for themselves.
2. Socrates was accused of teaching young Athenians to
against the
.
was a student of Socrates who taught that democracy was not
D.
a good system of
.
E. Aristotle, a student of Plato, influenced the way Europeans and
II. Greeks wrote the first real
in Western civilization.
A. Herodotus wrote the history of the Persian Wars and tried to separate
from
, but used
and
to explain some events.
B. Most historians consider
the greatest historian of the ancient
world because he saw war and politics as the activities of
stressed the importance of having accurate
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and
.
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thought about government.
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Date
Class
GUIDED READING ACTIVITY 8-3
Alexander the Great
Directions: Answering Questions Reading the section and completing
the questions below will help you learn about Alexander the Great. Refer
to your textbook to answer the questions.
1. Where is Macedonia located in relation to Greece?
2. What three things did Philip II especially admire about the Greeks?
3. Name the Athenian lawyer who warned the Greeks that Philip was
a threat to freedom.
4. What war had left the Greeks weak and divided?
5. How old was Alexander when he became king of Macedonia?
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6. How many soldiers did Alexander lead to victory over the
Persians at the Battle of Granicus?
7. Although Alexander is known primarily as a military leader, what
city did he build in Egypt that became one of the most important
cities of the ancient world?
8. Why did Alexander turn back to Greece after invading India in
326 B.C.?
9. Name four aspects of Greek culture that Alexander and his armies
spread throughout Asia and northern Africa.
10. Name the four kingdoms that arose out of the decline of Alexander’s empire.
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Name
Date
Class
GUIDED READING ACTIVITY 8-4
The Spread of Greek Culture
Directions: Reading for Accuracy Reading the section and completing
the activity below will help you learn more about the spread of Greek
culture. Use your textbook to decide if a statement is true or false. Write
T or F in the blank, and if a statement is false, rewrite it correctly on the
line.
1. The library in Alexandria contained more than 500,000 scrolls.
2. The epic poem Argonautica was written by the poet
Theocritus.
3. Epicureanism taught that the way to be happy was to seek
out pleasure.
4. Epicureans felt it was important to be active in politics.
5. A Phoenician named Zeno developed the philosophy of
Epicureanism.
7. Today, the word stoic is used to describe someone who is very
expressive of his or her emotions.
8. Aristarchus held that Earth was the center of the universe.
9. Eratosthenes wrote Elements about plane geometry.
10. Archimedes of Syracuse figured out the value of pi that is
used to measure the area of circles.
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6. Stoics taught that happiness came from following reason, not
emotions, and doing your duty.
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CONTENT VOCABULARY ACTIVITY 8
Greek Civilization
Directions: Read the paragraphs below. Select one of the terms from the
box to complete each sentence.
astronomers
comedies
dramas
epics
Epicureanism
fables
Hellenistic Era
legacy
myths
oracles
philosophers
philosophy
plane geometry
Socratic method
solid geometry
Sophists
Stoicism
tragedies
During its Golden Age, Greece became a center of writing, art, and
new ideas.
The earliest Greek stories were (1)
that told of
heroic deeds. Other early stories involved animals acting or talking like
humans. These (2)
usually ended with a message
or moral.
The Greeks had traditional stories to explain their religious beliefs
in gods and goddesses. According to these (3)
, Zeus
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ruled the sky and threw lightning bolts, and Demeter made the crops
grow. The Greeks believed they could learn about the future by visiting
(4)
, where a priest or priestess spoke for a god or
goddess.
Greeks also told stories on stage. In these (5)
,
actors played the parts of the characters. Some of these stories were
(6)
, with unhappy endings. (7)
were
staged plays with happy endings.
The ancient Greeks explored many areas of knowledge.
(8)
were thinkers who believed the human mind
could understand everything. Their “love of wisdom,” or study of
(9)
, led to new ideas in history, science, and mathematics.
One thinker invented the (10)
, asking pointed questions
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CONTENT VOCABULARY ACTIVITY 8
(continued)
Greek Civilization
to get his pupils to use their reason to see things for themselves. Another
group of teachers, called (11)
, taught students the art of
public speaking and debate.
Alexander the Great was a great leader and warrior. His skill and
daring were a (12)
that lived after him. His conquests
marked the beginning of the (13)
, when Greek art and
ideas spread throughout the conquered lands. During that time, two important teachers founded two very different ways of thinking about the world.
One taught (14)
, or the belief that the way to be happy is
to seek out pleasure. The other taught (15)
, the idea that
happiness comes from reason and duty.
Science made great leaps forward. (16)
studied the
stars and the planets and came up with new ideas about the universe. In
mathematics, (17)
explored how points, lines, angles, and
surfaces relate to one another. Archimedes, the most famous scientist of the
time, worked on (18)
, the study of spheres and cylinders.
Many of the contributions of the Greek scientists, writers, artists, and
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thinkers remain important to us today.
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ACADEMIC VOCABULARY ACTIVITY 8
Greek Civilization
Academic Words in this Chapter
grant
reject
goal
generation
accurate
lecture
tradition
achieve
major
conflict
military
A. Word Meaning Activity: Synonyms
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Directions: Read the underlined words below, as well as the four words
or phrases next to them. Circle the word or phrase that is most similar
in meaning to the underlined word as it is used in the chapter.
1. grant:
unite, give, shallow, seed
2. generation:
people born at about the same time, great change, situation, trial
3. tradition:
polish, pursuit, custom, factor
4. conflict:
member, fight, mixture, pattern
5. reject:
release, relate, reborn, refuse
6. accurate:
many, precise, lengthy, abrupt
7. achieve:
accomplish, excuse, undertake, equip
8. military:
armed force, system, control, govern
9. goal:
target, confusion, signal, mistake
10. lecture:
experience, educational speech, legend, inspection
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ACADEMIC VOCABULARY ACTIVITY 8
(continued)
Greek Civilization
B. Word Usage Activity: Understanding Words with Multiple Meanings
Word Usage Note:
Some words like major have several meanings:
a. (adj.) of great importance
b. (adj.) larger in quantity
c. (adj.) serious
d. (adj.) noticeable
e. (n.) military rank above a captain and below a lieutenant colonel
f. (n.) academic subject
g. (n.) type of musical scale
Directions: Match the definitions of the word major to the sentences
below.
1. He played the song in E major.
2. The major part of her essay was about Alexander the Great.
3. If Socrates attended a university today, he would be a
philosophy major.
4. Mathematicians and astronomers made major contributions
to science during the Hellenistic Era.
6. It was obvious that Alexander made major improvements
to his military forces.
7. The military promoted her to the rank of major.
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5. Socrates was charged with a major crime and sentenced to
death.
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BIOGRAPHY ACTIVITY 8A
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Euclid
It is generally believed that Euclid
was born about 325 B.C. and died about
265 B.C. However, historians do not know
for sure. Some even think Euclid was not
a real person.
There are three theories about Euclid.
The first is that he was a real person who
wrote a book about mathematics called
The Elements, as well as various other
books. If true, that would make Euclid one
of the most influential math teachers ever.
This is because The Elements set the standard for the logical development of geometry and other branches of mathematics.
The second theory is that Euclid wrote
The Elements with a team of mathematicians in Alexandria, Egypt. Some historians believe the group even kept writing
books under Euclid’s name after he died.
The third theory is that Euclid never
really lived at all. His name was borrowed
from Euclid of Megara, a man who
lived about 100 years before Euclid of
Alexandria. The team of mathematicians
simply used Euclid’s name to publish
their books.
The Truth
The first theory is the most widely
accepted—that Euclid did indeed live,
Euclid
and that he did indeed write The Elements.
But it is also widely accepted that he
worked with a team of mathematicians,
and that he studied with Plato in Athens,
Greece.
Whatever the truth of its origins, The
Elements has been the most influential
math textbook in history. One scholar
even said, “. . . next to the Bible, the
Elements may be the most translated,
published, and studied of all the books
produced in the Western world.”
Directions: On another sheet of paper, answer the questions below.
1. Why would The Elements make Euclid one of the most
influential math teachers of all time?
2. Who did Euclid study with in Athens?
3. According to one scholar, what is the only book to be studied
more than The Elements?
4. Writing Which of the three theories do you believe about
Euclid and why? Explain your answer in a paragraph.
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Name
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Class
BIOGRAPHY ACTIVITY 8B
Socrates
Socrates was known as one of the
greatest critical thinkers of all time. His
life, however, was not as simple as most
people believe. Born in 470 B.C., Socrates
lived in Athens, Greece, which was the
heart of democracy. The Greeks believed
in freedom of speech, and Socrates took
full advantage of that. Although he was
a stone cutter, he spent most of his time
in the marketplace—called the agora—
arguing with other Greek citizens.
Socrates believed in truth but specialized
in destroying other people’s arguments.
He would question their statements until
they said something contradictory, and
then he would use the contradiction as
proof that their belief was wrong.
Freedom of Speech
youth.” Basically, the Greeks did not like
what Socrates had to say.
He was convicted by a jury of 510
men and forced to drink hemlock, which
was a poison. Before he died in 399 B.C.,
Socrates supposedly said to his accusers,
“I go to die and you to live, but which of
us goes to the better lot is known to none
but God.”
Directions: On another sheet of paper, answer the questions below.
1. Where did Socrates spend most of his time? What did he
do there?
2. What was Socrates’ great skill in debates?
3. How did Socrates die?
4. Writing The Greeks executed Socrates because they did not
like what he had to say, but they also believed in freedom of
speech. What limitations exist on your freedom of speech?
Do you agree or disagree with these limitations? Explain
your answers.
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Socrates’ use of freedom of speech
ended up causing his downfall. He
argued against democracy and the idea
that everyone should have an equal say
in how the country was run. The Greeks
finally put Socrates on trial for “refusing
to do reverence to the gods recognized
by the city . . .” and for “corrupting the
Socrates