Download Classical Greece, Part 2

Greece’s Golden & Hellenistic Ages
The Nature of Greek Art
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Greeks believed that art reflected their view of the
world & themselves
Four main ideals:
1. Glorified the Human Beings
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Illustrated gods & goddess in human form
Placed importance on the “perfect human body”
Sculpted athletes, state leaders, warriors, etc
Illustrated the human “ideal” of beauty
2. Symbolized City-State Pride
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Meant for public enjoyment
Represented the city-states power
Reflected the beliefs of the city-state
3. Expressed beliefs in Harmony, Balance, Order, &
Moderation
4. Combination of Beauty & Usefulness
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Art served a purpose
Often, everyday objects were decorated with art
The Arts of the Golden Age
• Architecture
– Believed that to show pride in their city-state, the city should be
beautiful
• Built temple, gymnasiums, theaters
• Building were decorated by the best artists of the day
– Acropolis:
• City center located on top of hill
• Could be seen from entire city
• Topped with the Parthenon built to honor Athena
• Painting
– Most Greek painting has been lost
• Today, most examples are on vases
– Illustrated scenes from everyday life and from mythology
• Sculpture:
– Attempted to make figures life-like
• Used mathematical ideas to make sculptures proportional
• Tried to capture movement
– Myron: famous sculptor of The Discus Thrower
– Phidias: famous for sculpting the statues that decorate the Parthenon &
Zeus at the temple in Olympia
Philosophy
• Philosophy: The questioning of human existence
• Important Greek Philosophers:
– Thales of Miletues: first Greek philosopher
– Socrates:
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Believed education was the key to personal growth
Established school in Athens
Trained students to think for themselves by critical questioning
Was executed for “corruption of the youth”
– Plato:
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A student of Socrates
Founded The Academy, a special school based on Socratic teachings
Wrote in “dialogues” or imaginary discussions among several people
Theory of Forms: all things are imperfect expressions of perfect forms
Humans consisted of two forms: soul & body
Soul was a creation of God
Wrote “The Republic,” a dialogue about a perfect government
– Aristotle:
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Believed every field of knowledge should be studied using logic
Attempted to define & classify plants & animals
In Ethics, he tried to define what brings happiness
In Poetics, an analysis of Greek drama
A student of government, explored all main types of government
Mathematics, Medicine, & Science
• Mathematics:
– Pythagoras:
• Believed all things could be explained using mathematics
• Developed the Pythagorean theorem
• Medicine:
– Hippocrates
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Founder of medical science
Taught that diseases came from natural causes
Believed rest, fresh air, and proper diet was best cure for illness
Hippocratic Oath: pledge made by doctors to do no harm and be ethical in their
profession
• Science:
– Aristotle
• Believed plants & animals could be classified
– Early development of scientific method
• Observation, experiment, & experience
– Believed that things happened due to natural reasons, not magic or angry gods
History
• Greeks were first to undertake serious study &
documentation of history
• Herodotus:
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Father of modern history
Traveled to Babylonia, Phoenicia, & Egypt
Recorded what he learned
tended to exaggerate
• Would add to the history to make it more interesting
• Documented what he actually saw & what was hearsay
– Thucydides:
• wrote the History of the Peloponnesian War
• Believed that by studying history, on could understand humanity
• Tried to be both fair and accurate
Drama
• Greeks were first people to write drama
• Characteristics of Greek Drama:
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Written in poetic form
Two to three actors sang or spoke the lines
Chorus described the scene & commented on the action
Usually conducted during festivals
• Tragedies:
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Main character struggled against fate
Outside forces conspire to defeat main character
Main character usually being punished for hubris (pride)
Main tragedy dramatists:
• Aeschylus
• Sophocles: Oedipus Rex
• Euripides: The Trojan Women
• Comedies:
– Main characters solved their problems
– Made fun of ideas & people
– Aristophanes: The Clouds
Phillip II of Macedon
• Rise of Macedonia:
– Athens & Sparta loose power following long war
– Warlike people gaining power in north, Macedonians
• Phillip II comes to power
– Learned about Greek culture & centralized military while a POW in Thebes
– Created a well-disciplined army
• Recruited best soldiers in Macedon
• Organized infantry in phalanxex
– Unified different city-states in Macedon into one state
– Conquered northern Greek city-states & Athenian colonies
• Phillip II Expands into Central Greece
– Athens attempted to hold off Phillip II
– Neighboring city-states offer no resistance
– Battle of Chaeronea:
• Thebes & Athens Falls to Phillip II
• Greece unified under Macedonian Rule
• Phillip II assassinated
Alexander the Great
• Alexander gains rule after assassination of father, Phillip II
– 20 years old when he becomes king
– Well educated
• A student of Aristotle’s
• Extensive military training
– Known for leading men into battle & courage
• Alexander expands Macedonian Empire
– Conquers Persia
– Takes control of Syria, Egypt, & Mesopotamia
• Attempts to Conquer India
– Led four year expedition East to Indus River
– Soldiers refuse to go further
• ½ of army to go home by sea
• ½ of army to cross desert & return via Persia, many die
– Alexander contracts illness & dies at age 32
• Alexander’s Legacy
– In 13 years, never lost a battle
– Spread Greek culture where he conquered
Hellenistic Learning & Commerce
• Alexander’s reign brought new wealthy & ideas
to Greece
– Class system becomes more flexible
• Rise of a large middle class
• Women granted more rights
– Trade expanded & cities developed
• Alexandria, in Egypt, became the largest Hellenistic city
– Known as a center for learning
– Large library created to house knowledge
• Trade routes stretched from Greece to China, India, &
Arabia
Hellenistic Religion & Philosophy
• Greek empire unified, no longer separate city-states
• New religious beliefs develop to adapt to changing society
– Ruler-worship
• Belief that the king/ruler was divine
• Role of the polis replaced with the monarch
– Cults develop
• Introduced “secret” or “mystery” texts
• Highly ritualized
• Usually focused on the afterlife
• Four New Philosophical movements:
– Cynicism: people should live simply w/o regard to wealth
– Skepticism: belief that the universe is ever changing & all knowledge is
uncertain
– Stoicism: divine reasoning directs the world, so people should just
accept their fate, every living thing has a spark of the divine
– Epicureanism: the aim of life is to seek pleasure & avoid pain (life’s
tough/enjoy what you can)
Important Hellenistic Scientists
• Mathematics & Physics:
– Euclid:
• developed geometry
• Showed that all geopetric statements flow logically from one to another
– Archimedes:
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Calculated the value of Pi
Created the compound pulley
Explained how levers work
Developed the Archimedes screw to draw water upward
• Medicine:
– Hellenistic doctors dissected the bodies of criminals
• Cataloged the parts of the human body & tried to determine their functions
• Determined that the brain is the center of the nervous system
• Astronomy & Geography:
– Aristarchus
• Earth & other planets revolve around the Sun
– Hipparchus
• Calculated when eclipses were to occur
– Eratosthenes
• Calculated the distance around the Earth using the angle of the Sun’s rays