Download Ancient Greece

Greece: The Beginnings of
Western Civilization
Impact of Geography
• How did geography affect the development of
Greece?
• In central & southern Greece, no one lives
more than 40 miles from the sea. Plato wrote:
Like frogs around a pond, we have settled
around the shores of the sea.
Pindus Mts.
Pindus Mountains at Delphi
Olive Groves
Delphi
Mt. Olympus:
Home for the
Gods?
Gulf of Corinth
Acropolis
(Parthenon)
Athens’ Acropolis
Athens: Past Meets Present
Agora at Base of Acropolis
Agora
Acropolis and Agora
Minoans
Santorini
(Atlantis?)
Cliffs at Thira
The Kaldeira
Fisherman & Boxers
at Akrotiri
Palace of Knossos
Labyrinth
Bull Leaping
Bull Vase
Linear B
Mycenae
Lion’s Gate
Grave
Coverings
for Infant
by
Schliema
nn
Mask of
Agamemnon
A Wall of
Troy (Ilium)
SW Gate of Troy
Excavation of Troy
The Tyrants
Draco
Solon
Clesthenes
Vase tells story
of Pisistratus
fighting for
Athenian
Democracy
Persian Wars
Marathon Means Fennel?
Thermopylae & Leonidas’ 300
*Herodotus recounted an incident that preceded the Battle
of Thermopylae. The Spartan Dienekes was told the
Persian archers were so numerous that when they fired
their volleys, their arrows would blot out the sun. He
responded with “So much the better, we'll fight in the
shade”. [Herodotus The Histories, Book Seven, section
226.]
Spartans Prepare for the Battle of Thermopylae
Decisive Battles: Thermopylae
Delian League & Athenian Empire
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League of Nations/UN
Protection
Dues
Pericles 3 Goals…
Golden Age of Greece
(480-430 BCE)
• Hellenic: pure Greek style
– ideal beauty, not realism;
– harmony, order, balance, & proportion
• Sophists:
– no absolute truth;
– what people see through their senses is the
source of knowledge;
– Man is the measure of all things
Greek Drama
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Honors Dionysus
Amphitheatre
Sophocles & Tragedies
Aristophanes & Comedies
Athens: City of Slaves &
Artisans
• Impact on technological innovation?
• Focused on philosophy, beauty, nature…
Discobolos by
Myron
Phidias
Parthenon
Peloponnesian War
Pericles
How does Pericles’
Funeral Oration compare
to Lincoln’s Gettysburg
Address?
Gettysburg Address (original)
Gettysburg Address (typed)
Philosophers:
Search for Truth & Wisdom!
• Socrates: The unexamined life
is not worth living.
• Plato: We can easily forgive a
child who is afraid of the dark;
the real tragedy of life is when
men are afraid of the light.
Ignorance, the root and the stem
of every evil.
• Aristotle: Republics decline into
democracies and democracies
degenerate into despotisms.
Philip of Macedon &
Alexander the Great
Hellenism (323-31 BCE)
• Cultural diffusion
• Blend of Greek, Egyptian, Persian and
Indian cultures
• Realism and movement
• Balance, harmony, symmetry
• Alexandria: cosmopolitan city
Philosophers
• Stoicism: show no emotion; divine power
controls universe; virtuous life in harmony
with natural law; avoid human desires,
power & wealth
• Epicureanism: happiness comes from
good conduct and absence of pain;
harmony of body & mind
– Romans: Eat, drink and be merry for
tomorrow we shall die!
Math & Science
• Aristarchus: estimated the sun was at
least 300x larger than the earth disproving
earth being larger than sun; geocentric
• Eratosthenes: estimated earth’s
circumference (24,662miles),
latitude/longitude
• Archimedes: estimated Pi; Archimedes
screw, catapults, laws of levers/pulleys
• Ptolemy: heliocentric
• Euclid: compiled geometry textbook The
Elements
Library & Lighthouse of
Alexandria
Venus di Milo
by Alexandros of
Antioch?
Winged Goddess
of Victory
aka- Nike of
Samothrace