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CLASSICAL GREECE
CLASSICAL GREECE IS THE NAME GIVEN TO THE PERIOD OF GREEK HISTORY FROM AROUND 500 B.C. TO THE
CONQUEST OF GREECE.
THE CHALLENGE OF PERSIA
 Greeks spread throughout the Mediterranean.
 The Greeks and Persian Empire came in contact with each other.
 Because the Athenian navy had helped the Ionian Greek cities in Western Asia Minor with a revolt against the Persians,
the Persian ruler Darius seeked revenge against the Athenians.
 490 B.C. Persians landed on the plain of Marathon
 The Persians were outnumbered by the Athenians.
 The Athenians attacked and defeated the Persians. The battle was called the “Battle of Marathon”.
 Darius died and Xerxes became the new Persian monarch.
 Xerxes led a massive invasion force into Greece.
 Athenians and Spartans joined forces in order to defeat Persian invaders, the Greeks won.
THE ATHENIAN EMPIRE
 Athens took over the leadership of the entire Greek world.
 Formed a defensive alliance against the Persians known as Delian League.
 Pericles a dominant figure in Athenian politics.
 Expanded empire abroad, democracy flourished at home.
 Classical Athenian and Greek history, AKA :the Age of Pericles”
THE GREAT PELOPONNESIAN WAR
 Greeks were divided into two camps: the Athenian Empire and Sparta and its supporters.
 Athens and Sparta built two very different societies.
 Sparta feared the growing Athenian Empire: a series of disputes led to the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War in
431 B.C.
 2nd year of the war a plague broke out in Athens killing over 1/3 of the people.
 The Athenian Empire was destroyed in 405 B.C.
 The Great Peloponnesian war weakened the major Greek states.
THE CULTURE OF CLASSICAL GREECE
 Classical Greece, especially Athens under Pericles rule, witnessed a period of remarkable intellectual and cultural
growth that became the main source of western culture.
 Aristotle, Socrates, and Plato established the foundations of western philosophy.
CLASSICAL GREEK ARTS AND LITERATURE
 Greece produced groundbreaking art and literature that is still considered relevant.
 ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE
 Most important form the temple
 Columns that were once made of wood and then marble
 Famous building in Athens the Parthenon example of a classical Greek temple, dedicated to Athena.
 Greek sculptures: lifelike statues of the male nude having a related attitudes, their bodies smothered and muscled.
DRAMA
 Drama we know today was create by the Greeks
 Outdoor theaters
 1st dramas were tragedies
 Sophocles a great Athenian playwright and Euripides.
THE WRITING OF HISTORY
 Herodotus wrote “History of the Persian Wars” often seen as the first real history in Western Civilizations.
 Thucydides – the greatest historian of the ancient world.
 Pythagoras – the Pythagorean theorem, he taught the essence of the universe could be found in music and
numbers.
SOCRATES
 Philosopher, sculptor
 Believed the goal of education was only to improve
the individual.
 Socratic method of teaching, uses a question-and-
answer format to lead pupils to see things for
themselves by using their own reason.
 Socrates questioned authority, this got him in
trouble.
 He was accused and convicted of corrupting the
youth.
 Sentenced to death by drinking hemlock, a poison
PLATO
 Student of Socrates
 Considered by many as the greatest philosopher of
western civilization
 Fascinated with reality, How do we know what is
real?
 Looked for truth beyond the appearance of everyday
objects.
ARISTOTLE
 Student of Plato
 Didn’t accept Plato’s theory of ideal forms
 Thought that by examining individual objects (trees),
we could perceive their form (treeness).
 Believed people happiness was tied to their behavior
 Studied natural science by making and recording
observations.