The Golden Age of Greece

The Golden Age of Athens

​Athens After the Greco-Persian Wars

During the Greco-Persian wars, the Persians burned Athens to the ground. Although the Greeks eventually defeated the Persians, the wars left Athens in ruins.

Despite this setback, Athens entered its Golden Age, a period of peace and wealth. Between 479 and 431 B.C.E.

Pericles was the leader of Athens's government. One of his chief contributions was to direct the rebuilding of the city. Pericles promoted constructing many public and religious buildings, including the Parthenon, the most famous temple in Athens.

Pericles's Contributions

​Pericles believed that Athens was a model for all the Greek city-states.

He encouraged creativity in all of the arts, including music and drama.

He was an avid supporter of democracy and created reforms to encourage its growth.

He believed that all citizens had an equal right to participate in government.

Athens paid the salaries of men who held public office. This enabled poor men, who would otherwise have been unable to afford to leave their jobs and farms, the opportunity to serve in government positions.

​A City of Contrasts

Ancient Athens was a city of great contrasts. Although the city's public spaces and buildings were large and stately, many people lived in small, uncomfortable houses that lined narrow streets.

​On the acropolis, the hill above the city, the Athenians built magnificent temples as earthly homes for their gods and goddesses

acropolis [acropolis: the hill above a Greek city, on which temples were built]

​Greek Religion

The ancient Greeks thought that the gods and goddesses they worshipped resembled and often acted like humans, but did not age and die.

Every city-state honored a god or goddess, who was thought to provide its people with special protection.

For example, Athens was named for the goddess Athena.

The Greeks believed that each god or goddess had power over a particular area of life.

Athena was the goddess of war and wisdom. The Greeks placed a colossal (huge) statue of her inside the Parthenon, the temple they created in her honor.

​Another famous temple was in the city of Delphi. This temple was dedicated to the god Apollo.

People would visit the temple to ask Apollo for advice.

A priestess, called the oracle of Delphi, would answer their questions by going into a trance. The priestess's words were believed to be Apollo's.

​Temples

Temples are good examples of the Greeks' talent for architecture. The Greeks built their temples, not as places in which to worship, but as beautiful dwellings for the gods and goddesses.

Religious ceremonies were conducted outside.

There were many different sizes of Greek temples, but their basic shape was similar. The majority had a main room with a statue of the temple's god or goddess.

Sculpture

Creating lifelike statues was one of the great achievements of Greek sculptors. The earliest Greek statues had been influenced by Egyptian styles.

Later Greek sculptors made more realistic statues in natural poses, showing muscles, hair, and clothing in much greater detail.

​Greek Drama

In addition to architecture and sculpture, the ancient Greeks excelled in drama, the art of the theater.

Attending the theater was a regular part of Athenian life.

The Theater of Dionysus (dy-uh- NIE-suhs), in Athens, could accommodate thousands of people.

​There were no women actors in ancient Greece.

Because men played all the characters, both male and female, actors wore masks.

The masks were decorated so that the audience could easily see a character's emotions.

Plays were staged in open-air theaters built into the sides of hills.

A Greek theater was shaped like a bowl so that everyone could hear what was said. The seats rose in a semicircle around a stage at the bottom of the bowl.

Scenery was painted on canvas and hung behind the actors.

​Plays were often a form of competition that could last for days.

Judges selected winners in four categories:
tragic playwright, comic playwright, leading tragic actor, and leading comic actor.

The winning writers and actors were crowned with olive leaves and awarded prizes such as figs.

​Greek Philosophy

Athenians, like other Greeks, loved to talk and argue. In the sheltered spaces to one side of the agora, men often gathered to discuss the world around them.

They talked about nature, often exchanging ideas about the natural world, such as what it consisted of and how it functioned. They also discussed things they couldn't see, such as the meaning of life, justice, truth, and beauty. This kind of thinking is called philosophy, which means “the love of wisdom.”

Socrates

​One of the greatest philosophers in Athens was a man named Socrates (SAH-kruh-teez), who encouraged people to question the very things they thought they knew.

He taught others by asking them such questions as, What makes a good life? What is truth? How do you know? In this way, he led his students to consider their beliefs.

​Even in Athens, where people welcomed new ideas, this constant questioning brought Socrates into trouble.

His enemies accused him of dishonoring the gods and of leading young people into error and disloyalty.

He was brought to trial for these crimes. In defending himself, Socrates declared that he was the wisest man in Greece because he recognized how little he knew.

​The jury found Socrates guilty and sentenced him to death.

Although friends encouraged him to escape from Athens, Socrates insisted on honoring the law.

He died by drinking hemlock, the juice of a poisonous plant.

The example of Socrates inspired many other influential Greek thinkers, especially his student Plato (PLAYtoh). In turn, Plato taught another great philosopher, Aristotle (ar-uh-STOT-uhl).

Greek Sports​

The Greeks often held athletic events to honor their gods and goddesses.

In Athens, games were held as part of a festival called the Panathenaea (pan-ath-uh-NEE-uh), which honored the goddess Athena.

The Panathenaic Games included many events. There were horse races and chariot races, including one event in which men jumped on and off a moving chariot. Men also competed in footraces. In one race, men ran in their armor.

The games included combat sports, such as boxing and wrestling.

In an event called the pancratium, men were allowed to punch, kick, and even choke each other. The event ended when one fighter surrendered, lost consciousness, or died.

​Another set of games, to honor the god Zeus, was played every four years at Olympia.

Called the Olympics, these games were so meaningful to the Greeks that they would call a truce from all wars so athletes could travel safely to the games.