Download Greece #4

Ancient Greece
The Golden Age
Pericles’ 3 Goals for Athens
A.
B.
C.
Stronger Democracy
1. Increased the number of paid public
officials allowing anyone to hold office.
2. Direct democracy- form of government
where citizens rule directly.
Commercial Empire
1. Enlarged wealth & power- strengthened
Athens’ navy to have the strongest in the
Mediterranean Sea.
Glorifying Athens
1. Beautify Athens- used gold, ivory, and
marble- built Parthenon to honor Athena.
The Peloponnesian War
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Sparta declared war on Athens in 431 BC.
Athens had the better navy, while Sparta had
the better army.
2nd year of war- plague killed 1/3 Athens’
population, including Pericles.
415 BC= Athenian military defeated in Sicily
at Syracuse.
404 BC= Athens and its allies surrender.
27 years of war= Athens loses empire, power,
and wealth (confidence in democratic
government began to falter)
Philosophers Search for Truth
Philosophers- “lovers of wisdom”; based
philosophies on 1) universe is in an orderly way and
subject to absolute and unchanging laws & 2) people
can understand these laws through logic and reason.
A. Socrates
1. Believed absolute standards
did exist for truth and justice;
encouraged Greeks to question
themselves and their moral character.
2. Poisoned himself after being
imprisoned for corrupting the youth
of Athens.
Philosophers Search for Truth
B.
C.
Plato
1. Student of Socrates who wrote The
Republic (vision of a perfectly governed
society).
Aristotle
1. Student of Plato; came up with the idea
of logic, or the science of reasoning.