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THE GLORY THAT WAS GREECE
SETTING THE SCENE
 Philosopher
 translates “lovers of wisdom”
 Greek thinkers were called philosophers
 Greeks had confidence in the power of the
human mind
 They were driven by curiosity and a belief in
reason.
 Greek thinkers, artist, and writers explored the
nature of the universe and the place people held
in it.
GREEK PHILOSOPHERS
 Greek thinkers challenged the belief that events
were caused by the whims of gods.
 They used observation and reason to find causes
instead.
 Modern science traces its roots to the Greek
search for such principles.
 Some Greek philosophers were interested in
ethics and morality.
 They wanted to know things such as:
 The best type of government
 The standards that should rule human behavior
SOCRATES
 Athenian stonemason & philosopher
 He wrote no books
 Socratic method
 He posed a series of questions to students
 Challenged them to examine the implications of their answers
 Such questioning was a threat to accepted Athenian
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traditions
At the age of 70, he was put on trial for corrupting the city’s
youth & failing to respect the gods.
He was found guilty & sentenced to death.
Athenian law’s death penalty was death by poison.
He drank a cup of hemlock for the death penalty
 Poisonous herb found in the Mediterranean region
PLATO
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After Socrates was sentenced to death, Plato no longer trusted
democracy.
He left Athens for 10 years, but returned to set up a school called the
Academy.
He emphasized the importance of reason.
Author of The Republic, which described his idea of an ideal state.
He argued for a state that regulated every aspect of its citizens’ lives in
order to provide for their best interests.
His ideal society was divided into three classes:
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Workers- who were used to produce necessities to life
Soldiers- used to defend the state
Philosophers- to think and rule and would be highly trained to ensure order and
justice.
Wisest ruler- Philosopher-king– would have ultimate authority
Talented women could be educated & serve the state
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is included in this book
ARISTOTLE
 Was Plato’s most famous student
 Developed his own ideas about government
 He did so by analyzing every form of government
 Found good and bad examples of each form
 Though democracy could lead to mob rule (like Plato)
 He favored rule by a single strong, virtuous leader
 He thought people ought to live in good conduct to
pursue the “golden mean” which was a moderate
course between extremely good and extremely bad.
 He also set up a school, but his was named, the
Lyceum
The Lyceum
 Set up by Aristotle
 For the study of all branches of knowledge
 Left writings on
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Politics
Ethics
Logic
Biology
Literature
 1,500 years later
 European universities evolved and courses were based
on the works of Aristotle
ARCHITECTURE
 Greek architects
 Goal was to convey a sense of perfect balance
 Balance was between the harmony & order of the
universe
 The Parthenon
 Most famous example of Greek architecture
 Temple dedicated to goddess Athena
ART
 Sculpture & Painting
 Early sculptures were of people in rigid poses from
the Egyptian style
 450 BC Greeks sculpted in natural poses was
lifelike & idealistic by carving gods, goddesses,
athletes, & famous men in a way the showed
people in a perfect & grateful form
 Only surviving Greek paintings are on pottery
POETRY & DRAMA
 Greek literature began with the epics of Homer
 Drama was the most important Greek
contribution to literature
 1st plays evolved out of religious festivals
 Plays were performed in large outdoor theaters
with little or no scenery
 They had elaborate costumes and masks
 Playwrights discussed moral & social issues or
explored the relationship between people and
the gods
TRAGEDY
 Aeschylus, Sophocles, & Euripides
 All 3 are playwrights that wrote tragedies or plays that
told stories of human suffering that usually end in
disaster
 The purpose was to stir emotions of pity & fear
 Euripides survived the Peloponnesian War and is
believed to have led him to question his
accepted ideas
 His plays suggest people not the gods are the
cause of human misfortune.
THE WRITING OF HISTORY
 Greeks applied observation, reason, & logic to
the study of history
 Herodotus
 Author of The Persian Wars
 Called the “Father of History” in the western world
 He visited many lands and collected information from
people who remembered the events he chronicled
 He noted bias and conflicting accounts
 He invented conversations & speeches for historical
figures
 This set standards for future historians by stressing
the importance of research and the need to avoid bias