Greek Civ CH 8 Remediation

Greek Beliefs

Greek Gods and Goddesses: Although separated politically, Greek

city-states had a common culture. They believed in many of the same

myths and about Gods and heroes.

Greek Gods

•In Greece, gods had superpowers but looked and acted like
humans, therefore, Greeks did not fear the gods.

•The 12 most important gods lived on Mount Olympus (the
tallest mountain in Greece).

•The gate of clouds protected Mt Olympus and only the gods
could come and go through these gates.

•Zeus was the chief god of the Greeks. Other important gods
were the following: Athena (goddess of wisdom and crafts);
Apollo (sun and poetry); Aphrodite (love); Ares(war);
Poseidon(seas and earthquakes).

•Each city-state chose 1 god/goddess to act as its protector.
People would perform rituals to win the favor of their god.

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Epics and Fables: Adopted as some
of the oldest literature in western
culture

• The first Greek stories were epics.

• The Iliad and the Odyssey are two of the greatest

epics of ancient Greece.

• They were composed by Homer during the 700s BC.

• Greek literature was used in Europe as a model for

writing. Shakespeare was one of these influenced
authors.

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Greek Oracles: A
sacred shrine
where a
priest/priestess
spoke for a god.

• The most famous Oracle was at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi.

• Leaders /Messengers traveled to Delphi to ask advice from the Oracle of

Apollo.

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The story of the Trojan Horse

•The story of the Trojan Horse in the Iliad in one of these epic stories.
•It tells a story about the prince of Troy and his love affair with Helen,
the wife of a Greek king. He kidnaps her from Greece to take to Troy.
•This causes the Greeks to attack Troy.
•In return the Greeks construct a horse and hide all the soldiers inside,
to trick the Trojans into thinking that they have given up and this is a
peace offering.
•The Trojans roll the horse into their city at night. While everyone is
asleep the Greeks creep out and open the city gates, allowing the
Greek army to enter and capture the city and rescue Helen.

ALEXANDER THE

GREAT

And the Hellenistic Period

PHILIP OF MACEDONIA

• The Macedonians were located just north of Greece. Macedonia was a very small

country that was not considered to be very strong.

• They were most known or farming, raising sheep and horses.

• Philip the II of Macedonia brought this small country to an ancient superpower by

conquering Greece.

• He created a very strong army by using some of the same tactics that the Greeks

used such as the phalanx. Philip lived in Greece as a young boy and learned the
Greek way of life.

• He was able to conquer Greece after the Greek city-states were divided after the

Peloponnesian war. In 338 BC the Greeks and Macedonians fought one last battle
and the Macedonians won. Philip became the ruler of most of Greece.

ALEXANDER THE GREAT RULES

• Philip II had a son, Alexander, that took over the kingdom after Philip’s untimely

death.

• Alexander became the king at 2o years of age. Philip had been training him for this

role for most of his life.

• One of the ways he prepared him was by hiring the great philosopher, Aristotle of

Greece to be his teacher.

• His first mission as king was to conquer the Persians, who had been a long time

enemy of the Greeks.

WAR WITH PERSIA

• In the spring of 334 BC, Alexander set out with approximately 40,000 soldiers to

face the Persians in Asia Minor.

• At the time, Persia was the most powerful kingdom in the world.

• They fought bravely in the famous battle of Granicus (NW Turkey) where he

defeated the Persians.

• They continued to conquer the battlefield in the coming years as they fought the

Persians again at Issus, in Syria causing Darius to flee Syria.

• He then headed with his army along the Mediterranean coast until they reached

Egypt in 331 BC.

. . .THE BATTLES

CONTINUE

• Alexander conquered Egypt and named

it Alexandria after himself. Alexandria
becomes one of the most important
cities in the Mediterranean.

• The Macedonians then continued back

into Persian territory where they took
over the rest of the Persian Empire
after winning the battle of Gaugamela.

• Alexander attempted to unite this new

empire that he had conquered by taking
Darius’s daughter as his second wife.

• He also ordered his troops to marry

Persian women.

• In 327 BC his army continued their

conquest into the northwestern part of
India.

THE END OF
ALEXANDER

• After his quest in India his soldiers

refused to go any further and Alexander
started on his journey back home.

• Many died on the long journey back

home.

• In 323 BC he returned to Babylon

where they stopped to celebrate.
Alexander fell ill and died 10 days later.

• He was 32 years old.

WHAT HE ACCOMPLISHED

Alexander only lived until he was 32
years of age.

He was considered one of the fiercest
bravest leaders of his time.

He conquered many kingdoms
including those in Greece, Egypt and
Asia.

These kingdoms did not stay united
upon his death but were split into 4
separate kingdoms divided up by his
generals.

Alexander’s success started the
beginning of the Hellenistic era.

HELLENISM

The Hellenistic Era or

Hellenism refers to
when “Greek culrure

spread to the non-Greek
peoples that Alexander

had conquered”

Since he had conquered

much of the ancient

world Greek ideas were

very dominant

throughout this time

period.

Multiple Choice

What is the idea of spreading Greek culture throughout the ancient world known as?

• democracy

• phalanx

• philosophy

• hellenism

Multiple Choice

Who is responsible for spreading Greek culture throughout the ancient world?

• Aristotle

• Alexander the Great

• Philip II

• Trojans

HELLENISTIC CULTURE

• All four kingdoms under

Alexander’s empire shared
Hellenistic culture.

• Some of the influences during this

time were:

• Greek art and architecture
• Influential Writers such as

Appolonius and Thocritus would
write epic poems such as the story
of Jason and his band of heroes
(Jason and the Golden Fleece).

• Athens remained the center of

theater producing comedies and
love stories by great playwrights
such as Menander.

HELLENISTIC
THINKERS AND
SCIENTIST

• Epicurus: a philosopher that

determined the was to happiness was
to avoid pain

• The Stoics: philosophy based on the

concept that happiness comes from
using reason. Stoics believed in
serving your community

• Aristarchus claimed the sun was at

the center of the universe

• Eratosthenes was chief Liberian in

Alexandria said the earth was round.

• Euclid described plane geometry

• Archimedes worked on solid

geometry. He discovered the value of
pi and was a great inventor.

• Hypatia was a great thinker that used

reason over superstition.

Greek philosophy was still essential during
the Hellenistic period. Some of the major
contributors were:

Cont. . .

• In the Odyssey, the story talks of Odysseus and his

journey home to Greece after the fall of Troy.

• He was a war hero in the Trojan War.

• It takes him 10 years to travel home facing storms,

monsters, and witches.

• The word Odyssey is often used to describe a long,

exciting journey.

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Aesop’s Fables

• Lived and told stories around 550 BC.

• They believe that “Aesop” probably never existed,

although, the stories did exist and are used to
teach a lesson.

• It is common in fables that animals speak and act

like people, with humor, they can show human
weaknesses and strengths.

• Examples are: The Hare and Tortoise, the Fox and

the Grapes, The Boy Who Cried Wolf.

• Aesop’s fables were popular during Greece’s

Golden Age and were part of Greece’s oral
tradition(passing down stories by word of mouth
through generations).

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Multiple Choice

Who is credited with the famous fables in Ancient Greece?

• Aesop

• Pericles

• Plato

• Aristotle

Multiple Choice

Short stories with animals that talk and teach a moral lesson are called____

• Epics

• Dramas

• Comedies

• Fables

Greek Drama: Ancient

Greeks created and

performed the first dramas

• Greek drama can be divided into a

tragedy or a comedy.

• In ancient Greece these dramas were

performed on a stage.

• Only men could be actors.

• Many of the plays were used to stress

courage and understanding; human
suffering; poke fun at leaders and issues
of the times.

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The Greek Mind: During

the Golden Age
(500-350 BC) art,

literature, and

architecture flourished

Stoics

Believed in reason and thinking to solve problems

Multiple Choice

Who believes in thinking before you act?

• Darius

• Persians

• hellenes

• stoics

Greek Philosophers

• Philosophy “love of wisdom” flourished

during the Golden Age of Greece.

• This influenced the study of many

subjects including history, political
science, biology, and logic(the study of
reasoning).

• Some of the most famous of the Greek

philosophers were Socrates, Plato, and
Aristotle.

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Socrates

• Sculptor by training, had a passion for philosophy.

• Lived in Athens and dedicated most of his time to teaching.

• Created a Socratic method as a new way of questioning. Instead

of lecturing about a subject he asked questions and would wait
for a response.

• This encouraged students to search for their own truths and form

their own opinions.

• After the Peloponnesian wars, trust in Athens was lost, and the

ideas of “speaking freely” went with it.

• Socrates was arrested in 399BC for encourage this freedom of

speaking and opinion forming.

• When sentenced in court he was asked to leave Athens or loose

his life, instead he stayed to deliver his last speech to his students,
then drank poison and died to obey the city’s laws.

Famous Quotes by
Socrates

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Multiple Choice

Who came up with a line of questioning as a method of teaching students to think for themselves and form their own opinions?

• Alexander the Great

• Plato

• Socrates

• Aristotle

Plato

• A student of Socrates’, became a teacher and

founded a school in Athens called the
Academy.

• Plato recorded his idea in writing (where

Socrates did not).

• The Republic was one of the more famous

writings of Plato which talked of his plan for
the society and the government.

• This writing categorized people into 3

different groups: 1. Philosopher Kings(at the
top) 2. Warriors 3. Everyone Else.

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Plato cont. . .

• The Everyone Else category were to hold the

common day to day jobs since they lacked
the knowledge of the kings and the courage
of a warrior.

• He did NOT like Athenian democracy and

thought common people could be easily
influenced to make “foolish” or uneducated
decisions.

• He felt that philosopher kings were educated

and would place the “needs of the
community ahead of their own needs.”

• He believed that women should be treated

more like equals to men and have the same
“opportunities for education and jobs” as the
men.

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Aristotle

•Wrote over 200 works that concentrated on Political Science,
astronomy, and government.

•335BC started a school called Lyceum, where he taught the
“golden mean”.

•The Golden Mean says that people should live moderately. Stay in
the “middle”.

**Taught Alexander the Great

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Aristotle cont. . .

• He was very interested in science and

had a classification system based on
similarities and differences. This was a
BIG influence to modern science.

• In his book Politics, he divided the

governments into three types:
Monarchy, Oligarchy, and Democracy.

• He believed that no one person should

hold all the power and that each
government should have had features
of all 3 types: This is the main influence
for Europeans and Americans when it
comes to government. Having a
BALANCE of POWERS is crucial.

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Multiple Choice

Who taught Alexander the Great?

• Pericles

• Plato

• Socrates

• Aristotle

Multiple Choice

What can Greek philosophers agree on?

• Helping others to be happy and comfortable

• Using the mind to think, question, and understand

• Understanding how the human body works

Greeks and History

•In 435 BC Herodotus wrote the
history of the Persian Wars. This
revolutionized the way people
perceived history.
•Although he did support the
role that the gods play in history,
he believed that one should
make an effort to separate fact
from fiction.
•For many he is considered the
“father of history”.
•Thucydides was also a Greek
general that wrote down the
history from the Peloponnesian
War. He believed that the gods
did NOT affect human history
and only people made history. He
spent time making sure that his
accounts were based on actual
facts and primary sources.

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Greek Science
and Medicine

• Greek scientists

believed that
occurrences in nature
could be explained
through logical ideas
and people could find
the answers to the
causes by using reason.

• Pythagoras was a great

Greek mathematician
and scientist. He
developed ideas about
numbers and believed
that all relationships in
the universe could be
expressed in numbers.
He came up with the
Pythagorean theorem,
which determines the
length of the sides of a
triangle.

• Hippocrates was the known

as the “father of medicine”.

• He thought diseases came

from natural causes instead
of the traditional way of
thinking of the times that
evil spirits caused diseases.

• He traveled all over Greece

to help the sick and used
his ideas to diagnose
sicknesses. He discovered
treatments to help the sick.

• He came up with a list of

rules to help the sick
“Hippocratic Oath” which
states that doctors have a
moral obligation to protect
the privacy of the patient
and help the patient.

Multiple Choice

Which figure in history is an oath named for that protected the privacy of their patients, and believed that ailments had natural causes?

• Hippocrates

• Alexander the Great

• Pythagoras

• Archimedes

Multiple Choice

Who was the first doctor to organize and explain a system of medicine?

• Archimedes

• Hippocrates

• Thucydidies

• Pythagoras