The Golden Age of Greece Politics, Art and Sculpture, and
Drama
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Essential Questions Be able to name and describe the three
types of Greek columns. What is the Acropolis? What was the
Parthenon? Be able to describe Greek drama.
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Who was Pericles Pericles
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Pericles Three Goals for Athens Pericles was the wise statesman
who led Athens during its golden age He was so dominant that this
time is sometimes called the Age of Pericles
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Strong Democracy Pericles increased the number of paid public
officials, which allowed even the poor to serve if elected or
chosen by lot. This made Athens one of the most democratic
governments in history, but political rights were still limited to
those with citizenship status.
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Strong Democracy Direct Democracy : a form of government in
which citizens rule directly and not through representatives.
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Athenian Empire Pericles enlarged the power and wealth of
Athens by using money from the Delian Leagues treasury to build the
Athens navy into the largest in the Mediterranean.
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Glorifying Athens Pericles persuaded the Athenian Assembly to
vote huge sums of money to buy gold, ivory, and marble. More money
went to a army of artisans who spent 15 years building the
Parthenon.
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The Parthenon 23,000 square foot building built to honor the
goddess Athena set standards for future generations of artists
around the world
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The Statue of Athena Inside the Parthenon stood 38 feet tall
and contained gold and ivory
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3 Columns The Greeks used various types of columns in their
architecture. Their most famous building, the Parthenon, has Doric
style columns
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Doric The simplest columns of Ancient Greece They have a
capital (top, or crown) made of a circle topped by a square The
pillar (tall part of column) is plain and has 20 sides No base
Plain but powerful!
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Ionic Ionic Taller pillars than Doric ones Capitals (top/crown)
consist of scrolls above the pillar A little bulge in the columns
make the columns look straight, even at a distance. Bases were
large and looked like a set of stacked rings More decorative than
the Doric
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Corinthian Most decorative Capitals (tops/crowns) have flowers
and leaves below a small scroll Unlike the Doric and Ionian, the
Corinthian roofs are flat
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Phidias Worked on the Parthenon and the statue of Athena Given
this assignment by Pericles
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Classical Art Greek values of order, balance, and proportion
were the standard created figures that were graceful, strong, and
perfectly formed Faces showed neither laughter nor anger, only
peacefulness Sculptors tried to capture the grace of the idealize
human body in motion
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The Golden Age of Greece Drama
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Background Greeks invents drama and built the first theaters in
the west Expressed civic pride and paid tribute to the gods
Colorful costumes, masks, and sets were paid for by the wealthy
citizens
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Tragedy a serious drama about common themes such as love, hate,
war, or betrayal the main character, or tragic hero, was brought
down by a tragic flaw, usually this was excessive pride Aeschylus
wrote 80 plays, most famous was The Oresteia Sophocles wrote 100
plays, most famous were Oedipus the King and Antigone Euripides
wrote Medea and often showed sympathy towards women
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Comedy contained scenes filled with slap-stick situations and
crude humor typically made fun of customs, politics, respected
people, or ideas of the time (satire) showed the freedom and
openness of public discussion in democratic Athens Aristophanes
wrote the first great comedies, including The Birds and
Lysistrata
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Sophocles One of Athens greatest playwrights who was born in
Athens around 496 B.C.E. Most famous play is Oedipus Rex, which is
about the tragic fall of a powerful king
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Sophocles Used three actors instead of two and increased the
size of the chorus in his plays First playwright to use painted
backdrops for scenery Told a complete story in a single play,
unlike earlier playwrights who often took three plays to complete
their plots
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Plato A philosopher and a teacher who was born in Athens around
427 B.C.E. Student and close friend of Sophocles
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Plato Wrote The Republic, in which he said that the best
society was one where every citizen performed the task that they
were best suited for Founded The Academy, which is considered the
first important institution of high learning in the Western world
and taught philosophy, law, math, and astronomy
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Aristotle A philosopher and a scientist who was born in
northern Greece around 384 B.C.E. Studied under Plato for 20 years
Wrote about all branches of learning, including philosophy,
biology, math, and drama
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Aristotle Founded the Lyceum, a center for studying science and
history Wrote History of Animals in which he gave detailed
descriptions of animal and fish life With his students help, he
classified more than 500 types of animals
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Philosophers Search for Truth PhilosopherWhat they believed
Socrates absolute standards did exist for truth and justice; He
encouraged Greeks to go further and question themselves and their
moral character; Plato student of Socrates who was 28 when his
teacher died; wrote The Republic. In it he laid out his vision of a
perfectly governed society; believed there should be three groups
in society: 1. farmers and artisans; 2. Warriors; 3. ruling class
Aristotle questioned the nature of the world and of human belief,
thought, and knowledge; invented a method for arguing according to
rules of logic;
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Hippocrates Referred to as the father of medicine He was the
first physician to reject superstitions and beliefs that credited
supernatural or divine forces with causing illness Believed to have
written the Hippocratic Oath, which is an oath traditionally taken
by physicians pertaining to the ethical practice of medicine