Download Ancient Greece - Ms. Pedretti's English 10 Class

Ancient Greece
Background and History for The
Iliad
Ancient Greece

Ancient Greeks introduced some of
Western civilization’s most cherished
ideas:
– individual freedom
– democracy
– power of rational thought
Political Life
Many city-states expected all citizens to
become involved in politics.
 An assembly passed laws and elected
generals

– Any citizen could be part of the assembly and
submit laws for debate

Many political positions were paid so even
the poor could hold office
Education and Philosophy

Valued education
– believed human beings could be perfected
Greek teachers taught students to think
for themselves
 Three famous Greek philosophers
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– Socrates:
 dedicated himself to reason, truth, and virtue
 believed that true happiness depended on the
goodness of one’s soul
Education and Philosophy
– Plato:
 Socrates’ student
 founder of the first school of higher education (The
Academy)
 expanded Socrates’ ideas into a philosophical system that
examined the nature of reality
– Aristotle:
 Plato’s student
 tutor to Alexander the Great
 emphasized scientific observation
– studied plants, animals, the human body, language, literature,
ethics, politics, and logic.
Athletics

Olympic Games
– every 4 years athletes would gather to
compete in athletic events
– Olympics were so important to the Greeks
that even war would stop for the games
– events included: boxing, wrestling, the javelin
and discus throws, and races
Ancient Greek Literature
Begins with the epics The Iliad and The
Odyssey, both written by Homer
 400 BC – drama became the most
important literary form

– created the dramatic forms:
 tragedy
– a serious drama about the downfall of a tragic hero
– example: Oedipus the King
 comedy
– story or play that ends in love, marriage, or a celebration
Epithet
 Descriptive
words and phrases that
characterize persons and things.
– Ex: “The Big Bad Wolf”
“Godlike Achilles”
“Brilliant Achilles”
“Man-Killing Hector”
Fate
 Every
person, hero or not, was given
a distinct fate at birth.
 It was wise to accept one’s fate; to
avoid it was foolish
 HUBRIS- overabundance of pride
Origins of the Trojan War

Began with Eris, goddess of strife
– Anger: she had not been invited to the
wedding of Peleus and Thetis
– Vengeance: she threw an apple with the
inscription “for the fairest”
– Strife: Hera, Athena and Aphrodite argue
– Strife: Prince Paris of Troy had to choose
– Strife: Chose Aphrodite who had promised
him Helen of Sparta… who was married… to
Menelaus, King of Sparta
Trojan War
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Ten year war
The Iliad covers the 10th year
Achilles main character
Prince Paris steals Helen from Greece; war begins
Achilles: infamous Greek soldier; he is the hero
Hector: Trojan hero; only soldier who is a match
for Achilles
Greek Gods: play prominent roles in the story;
they take sides and help their chosen heroes
The 12 Olympians
Ancient Greek Gods and
Goddesses
Religion

There were no sacred writings or bible
– Developed a rich set of myths (traditional stories)
about their gods

Worship centered on an elite group of gods, the
12 Olympians
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–
–
–
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12 Olympians, headed by Zeus and Hera
gods had human qualities: love, hate, and jealousy
gods lived forever
gods fought and competed with one another
live at the top of the highest mountain in Greece:
Mount Olympus
12 Olympians

Zeus (Roman god: Jupiter)
– supreme god of the Olympians
– youngest son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea
– vanquished his father and the other Titans,
imprisoning most of them in the underworld
of Tartarus
– he and his brothers, Poseidon and Hades,
divided up the world
– Zeus ruled the sky and was given supreme
authority over the earth and Mount Olympus
12 Olympians

Zeus (Roman god: Jupiter)
– God of the sky and thunder
– Symbols: thunderbolt, eagle, bull and oak
12 Olympians
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Artemis (Roman name: Diana)
– goddess of the hunt
– usually depicted as a young woman wearing
buckskins, carrying a bow and quiver of
arrows; also associated with the moon
12 Olympians
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Hephaestus (Roman name: Vulcan)
–
–
–
–
–
god of fire and crafts; blacksmiths; artisans;
sculptors; craftsmen; technology
son of Zeus and Hera
builds marvelous palaces on Mount Olympus
made armor for Achilles during the siege of Troy
created the first woman, Pandora
12 Olympians
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Aphrodite (Roman name: Venus)
– goddess of love, beauty and fertility
– protector of sailors
daughter of Zeus and Dione; although the
poet Hesiod said she was born from seafoam
 Associated with dolphins, doves, swans,
pomegranates, lime trees
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12 Olympians
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Hera (Roman name: Juno)
– wife of Zeus and queen of the Olympians
– goddess of marriage
•The cow and peacock are sacred to her
12 Olympians
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Athena (Roman name: Minerva)
– goddess of crafts, domestic arts, and war
– patron goddess of Athens
– said to have been born from
Zeus’s forehead, fully armed
– Attended by an owl
– Usually depicted with a helmet
and shield with Gorgon Medusa’s
head on it
12 Olympians
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Apollo (Roman name: Apollo)
– god of prophesy, music and healing
– he brought about the demise of Achilles,
guiding Paris’s arrow
– often depicted playing the lyre and
carrying a bow
12 Olympians
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Demeter (Roman name: Ceres)
– goddess of agriculture, grain, and fertility;
nourisher of youth
and the earth
– sister of Zeus
12 Olympians
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Hermes (Roman name: Mercury)
– messenger of the gods and guide of
dead souls to the underworld
– son of Zeus and a mountain nymph
– known for his helpfulness to mankind
– inventor of fire
– depicted with a staff or caduceus
(staff entwined with snakes)
12 Olympians
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Ares (Roman name: Mars)
– god of savage war, bloodlust
– handsome and cruel
– depicted carrying a bloodstained spear
– throne on Mount Olympus is said to be
covered in human skin
– Sacred animals: barn owl, woodpecker, eagle
owl, and vulture
12 Olympians
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Poseidon (Roman name: Neptune)
– god of sea, earthquakes, and horses
– spent most of his time in the sea
– brother to Zeus and Hades
– known to drive his chariot through
the waves in unquestioned
dominance
– Usually pictured with a triton
12 Olympians
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Dionysus (Roman name: Bacchus)
– god of wine, entertainment
12 Olympians
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Hades (Roman name: Pluto)
– not one of the 12 Olympians because he
resides in the underworld and not on Mt.
Olympus
– god of the dead and the underworld
12 Olympians
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Hestia (Roman name: Vesta)
– Not always considered one of the
12 Olympians
 She gave up her seat to Dionysus so that she
could tend to the sacred fire on Mt. Olympus
– Goddess of hearth, domesticity, and family
– Known for warmth, generosity, and kindness
– Sister of Zeus, Poseidon and Hades
12 Olympians
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Persephone (Roman name:Proserpina)
– Not one of the 12 Olympians because
for 6 months out of the year she
resides with Hades in the underworld
– Usually depicted carrying a sheaf of
grain
– Daughter of Demeter
1.
Vocabulary
List
#3
hubris – (n.) extreme pride or self-confidence
Achilles’ hubris keeps him from bowing to
Agamemnon’s power.
Vocabulary List #3
2.
fate – (n.) an inevitable, and often
adverse, outcome
The ancient Greeks believed that you were
born to a specific fate and nothing you did
would ever change it.
Vocabulary List #3
plunder – (v.) to take goods by force,
usually in war
The Greek warriors plundered every city
that fell to them. No one or thing was safe.
3.
Vocabulary List #3
loiter – (v.) to delay an activity for no
obvious reason
Store owners do not want people loitering
in the store. Instead they would prefer
them to be inside spending money.
4.
Vocabulary List #3
5.
wrath – (n.) a strong, vengeful anger
Vocabulary #3
scepter – (n.) a staff or baton carried by
a leader as a symbol of authority
The king’s scepter had been passed down
for three generations. The mere sight of it
would cause his subjects to kneel.
6.
Vocabulary List #3
gallant – (adj.) nobly chivalrous and
often self-sacrificing
Jonathan gallantly stopped in the hallway to
help Elisha pick up all the papers she had
dropped.
7.
Vocabulary List #3
rampart – (n.) a protective barrier
Once the stone ramparts started to crumble
the citizens knew the war was lost.
8.
Vocabulary #3
grovel – (v.) throwing oneself to the
ground
Cynthia groveling did not lessen the
punishment her parents had assigned.
9.
Vocabulary #3
10. scourge
– (n.) an instrument of
punishment or criticism
Achilles was considered the scourge of
Troy.