Daily Life in Classical Athens
• Slavery was common- most (except poor)
had slaves
• Economy based of farming & trade
• Family was important
• Women: participated in religion but
 Excluded from politics
 Could not own property
 Had male guardians
 Roles included: running household, good
wives, *bear and raise children, married at 14
or 15, no formal education
The Cultural of Classical
Greece
•
Religion affected every aspect of Greek
life.
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Greeks considered religion necessary to
the well being of the state.
Twelve chief gods and goddesses were
thought to live on Mount Olympus.
Zeus: chief god & father of gods, Athena:
wife of Zeus and goddess of wisdom,
Apollo: sun and poetry, Ares: war,
Aphrodite: love, Poseidon: brother of Zeus,
god of sea and earth quakes
• The Greeks created dramas we know it in
Western culture.
• The first Greek dramas were tragedies,
which were presented in a trilogy.
1. The only complete trilogy in
existence today is the Oresteia, by
Aeschylus.
2. Sophocles’s most famous play was
Oedipus Rex.
• Greek comedy was used to criticize both
politicians and intellectuals.
• Philosophy refers to an organized system
of thought.
 Pythagoras taught that the essence of the
universe could be found in music and
numbers.
 The Socratic (Socrates) method of teaching
uses question and answer format to lead
pupils to see things for themselves by using
their own reason. Socrates believed that the
goal of education was only to improve the
individual. All real knowledge is present within
a person. He said, “ The unexamined life is not
worth living.” Questioning authority lead him
into trouble. He was sentenced to die by
drinking poison.
•
Plato was fascinated with question
of reality; how do we know what is
real? One of Socrates students’.
He believed in an eternal and
perfect form. He came to distrust
the working of democracy.
Contrary to Greek custom, he also
believed that men and women
should have equal education and
equal access to all positions.
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Sophists: beyond capacity of human
mind to understand the universe. It was
more important for individuals to
improve themselves. There are no
absolute right or wrong. The Sophists
were viewed as harmful to society.
Aristotle: Plato’s student. Interests lay
in classifying and analyzing things
based on observation and investigation.
He wrote about subjects, including
ethics, logic, politics, poetry, astronomy,
geology, biology, and physics. He
favored constitutional government as
the best form for most people.
• Some of the finest examples of Greek
classical architecture were from the fifth
century.
A. The most famous building from this
period was the Parthenon (pg. 116)
1. The patron goddess of Athens was
Athena.
2. The Parthenon was an expression
of Athenian pride in their city-state.
B. Greek sculptors did not seek to achieve
realism, but rather standard of ideal
beauty.
Threat of Macedonia
• Macedonians were barbarians
• Philip II became king of Macedonia
• He built a powerful army and made
Macedonia the chief power of the Greek
world
• Athenians and Macedonians fought at the
Battle of Chaeronea
• Macedonians crushed the Greeks
• Phillip II was assassinated before he could
form a league to unify the Greek world
against Persia
Alexander the Great
• After his father’s death (Phillip II) Alexander
quickly moved to fulfill his father’s dream
• His dream was to dissolve the Persian Empire
• Alexander freed the Ionian Greek city state
• By 332 BC, Syria, Palestine and Egypt were
under his control
• He built Alexandria and made it the capital of
Egypt
• He took possession of the Persian Empire after
defeating the Persian’s at the Battle of
Gaugamela
• Alexander the Great died at the age of 32
• He possessed great military leadership,
strategy and tactics
Hellenistic Kingdoms
• Hellenistic Era – the age of Alexander the
Great; period when the Greek language
and culture was spread out throughout the
world.
• Alexander’s empire fell apart soon after his
death.
• Macedonian generals struggle for power
• Four Hellenistic Kingdoms emerged:
Macedonia, Syria, Kingdom of Pergamum
in western Asia Minor and Egypt
• The new cities of the Hellenistic Era
helped to spread Greek culture.
Hellenistic Culture
• Hellenistic Era was a period of cultural
accomplishments in many areas
• Alexandria (Egypt) became a center for
poets, writers, philosophers and
scientists
• Greek building, like baths, theaters and
temples lined the streets of the new cities
• Hellenistic Age produced an enormous
quantity of literature.
Contributions to Hellenistic Culture
• Aristarchus- developed the theory the sun was at
the center of the universe
• Eratosthenes- determined that the Earth was
round
• Archimedes- established the value of the
mathematical constant Pi.
• Euclid- wrote the “Element”
• Epicureanism- the belief to follow self-interest as
a basic motivating force. Happiness was the
goal of life. Happiness was accomplished by
pursuing pleasures
• Stoicism- happiness could only be found when
people gained inner peace by living in harmony
with the will of God