CHAPTER FOCUS
SECTION 1 Religious Practices
SECTION 2 Science
CHAPTER SUMMARY & STUDY GUIDE
CHAPTER ASSESSMENT
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Overview
• Chapter 11 describes the many cultural
contributions made by the Greeks during
the Golden Age. 
– Section 1 discusses Greek creativity
and the people’s attempt to honor their
gods and goddesses especially in
athletics and theater. 
– Section 2 identifies Socrates, Plato,
and Aristotle and the development of
Greek science.
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Objectives
After studying this chapter, you will be able to:
• describe how the Greeks honored their
gods and goddesses. 
• summarize Greek contributions to athletics
and the arts. 
• discuss how Greek thinkers influenced the
development of world civilization.
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Read to Discover
• How the Greeks honored their gods and
goddesses 
• What contributions in athletics and the arts
were made during the “Golden Age” of
Greek culture 
• How Greek thinkers influenced the
development of world civilization
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the information. The Chapter Focus is on page 179 of your textbook.
Terms to Learn
• oracles 
People to Know
• Herodotus 
• prophecy 
• Socrates 
• pancratium 
• Plato 
• pentathlon 
• Aristotle 
• philosophia 
Places to Locate
• Mount Olympus 
• Socratic
method 
• hypothesis 
• Olympia
• syllogism 
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Why It’s Important
The Greeks made many contributions to
world civilization. Their accomplishments
resulted, in part, because of an important
religious belief. The Greeks felt their gods
were honored if people tried to imitate
them. The greater the skill the Greeks
showed in thinking, athletic games, or the
arts, the more the gods were honored.
Greek efforts to do their best produced a
“Golden Age” of learning. Many historians
call this period the “Classical Age of
Greece.”
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Religious Practices
• Although most Greeks held similar religious
beliefs, there was no single Greek religion. 
• Officials in each polis were in charge of
public feasts and sacrifices. 
• Greek priests and priestesses often
served as oracles, or persons who, it was
believed, could speak with the gods. 
• Oracles generally give advice in the form
of a prophecy, or a statement of what
might happen in the future.
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the information. Section 1 begins on page 179 of your textbook.
Gods and Goddesses of Mount
Olympus
• During the Golden Age, the Greeks
worshiped the gods of Mount Olympus. 
• There were 12 major gods and goddesses.
Each had specific duties to carry out. 
• The Greeks placed importance on the worth
of the individual, allowing them to approach
their gods with dignity. 
• The Greeks built temples and held festivals,
including the Olympic Games and the
theater, to honor their gods.
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The Olympic Games
• Every four years, in the middle of summer, a
festival was held in Olympia to honor the
god Zeus. 
• The festival was known as the Olympic
Games and was the most important
sporting event in Greece. 
• Athletes came from all over Greece and
from Greek colonies in Africa, Italy, and
Asia Minor to take part in the games. 
• Only men were allowed to take part;
women were not even allowed to watch.
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The Olympic Games (cont.)
• The Olympics were made up of many
events including: 
– chariot races 
– boxing 
– pancratium–a combination of boxing and
wrestling 
– pentathlon–made up of five events: running,
jumping, throwing the discus, wrestling, and
hurling the javelin 
• Olympic winners were heroes.
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The Olympic Games (cont.)
• Between the different events at the games,
poets read their works aloud. 
• Herodotus, the “Father of History,” first
read his account of the Persian Wars at
the Olympics.
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The Theater
• The theater grew out of festivals given in
honor of the god Dionysus. 
• About 600 B.C., the Ionians began telling
stories about Dionysus at festivals. 
• Stories were then told about other gods
and heroes. 
• About the time of the Persian Wars, a
Greek poet named Aeschylus added an
additional character to each story. 
• Aeschylus created what came to be
known as a play.
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The Theater (cont.)
• The first Greek plays were tragedies, or
stories about suffering. 
• All dealt with the past and with the
relationships between people and gods. 
• Three of the great writers of tragedy were
Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. 
• Soon after the development of tragedy, the
comedy, or a play with a happy ending, came
into being. 
• Unlike tragedies, Greek comedies were
about the present.
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The Theater (cont.)
• One of the greatest writers of Greek
comedy was Aristophanes. 
• Greek plays were performed only at
community festivals. 
• Each actor wore a huge canvas and plaster
mask that showed the sex, age, and mood
of the character. 
• The Greeks believed support of the theater
was a public responsibility. 
• A panel of citizens judged the plays at each
festival.
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Section Assessment
How did the Greeks honor their
gods and goddesses?
They built temples, held festivals, and
tried to imitate the gods by excelling
in everything they did.
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Section Assessment (cont.)
Who took part in the Olympics?
Athletes from all over Greece and
from Greek colonies in Africa, Italy,
and Asia Minor took part in the
Olympics.
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Section Assessment (cont.)
Demonstrating Reasoned Judgment
Do you think support of the theater
should be the responsibility of
government or private groups?
Explain.
Answers will vary.
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Section Assessment (cont.)
Draw a diagram like the one on
page 185 of your textbook, and
use it to list events at the Greek
Olympics.
Events at the Greek Olympics included:
chariot racing, boxing, pancratium
(boxing and wrestling), pentathlon
(running, jumping, dicus throwing,
wrestling, hurling the javelin).
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Science
• Among the things on which the Greeks
placed great importance was intellect, or the
ability to learn and reason. 
• To the Greeks, studying the laws of nature
and loving wisdom were the same thing;
they called it philosophia. 
• Today, people who search for such
knowledge and wisdom are known as
scientists and philosophers. 
• Much of what they know is based on the
thoughts of the Greeks.
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Socrates
• In 399 B.C., Socrates, a 70-year-old Athenian
philosopher, was tried in Athens. 
• He believed people could discover truth if
they knew how to think. 
• In his search for truth, Socrates walked
throughout Athens trying to teach people
how to think. 
• He did this by asking questions. 
• This form of questioning is known as the
Socratic method.
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Socrates (cont.)
• Some began to consider Socrates a threat
to Athens. 
• Socrates was tried before a jury of some
500 citizens and sentenced to death.
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Plato
• All that is known about Socrates comes from
one of his pupils, an Athenian aristocrat
named Plato. 
• Plato set up the Academy, a school to train
government leaders, outside Athens in the
sacred grove of the hero Academus. 
• He thought political liberty was disorder and
did not approve of it. 
• Plato set down his ideas about an ideal state
in a book called The Republic–the first book
ever written on political science.
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Plato (cont.)
• In a work called The Dialogues, Plato
showed how difficult it is to discover truth. 
• The Dialogues consists of a series of
discussions in which different people talk
about such things as truth and loyalty.
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Aristotle
• Aristotle was one of Plato’s brightest
pupils. 
• Before he died in 322 B.C., he founded his
own school in Athens and wrote more
than 200 books. 
• He believed in using one’s senses to
discover the laws that govern the physical
world. 
• Aristotle also added to the ideas of an
earlier Greek scientist named Thales of
Miletus.
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Aristotle (cont.)
• Thales developed the first two steps of what
is known today as the scientific method. 
– First, Thales collected information. 
– Then, based on what he observed, he formed
a hypothesis, or possible explanation. 
– Aristotle provided a third step in the scientific
method when he said that a hypothesis must
be tested to see if it is correct.
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Aristotle (cont.)
• Aristotle contributed the syllogism to logic,
or the science of reasoning. 
• The syllogism is a method of reasoning
that uses three related statements.
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Discoveries and Inventions
• The Greeks were trying to add to their store
of knowledge. 
• Greek scientists discovered that natural
events are not caused by the way gods
behave. 
• They also learned that the world is
governed by natural laws that people can
discover and understand. 
• Thales of Miletus not only developed the
first two steps of the scientific method, but
also correctly predicted an eclipse of the
sun in 585 B.C.
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Discoveries and Inventions (cont.)
• The “Father of Scientific Medicine” was
Hippocrates. 
• Hippocrates drew up a list of rules about
how doctors should use their skills to help
their patients, which is known today as the
Hippocratic Oath. 
• Doctors all over the world still promise to
honor the Hippocratic Oath.
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Section Assessment
What were Plato’s beliefs about
government?
Plato believed in order, no political
liberty, and wise and good rulers.
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Section Assessment (cont.)
Drawing Conclusions Review the
syllogism on page 188 of your
textbook. Then write a syllogism
to help you draw a conclusion
about one of the Greek thinkers in
this chapter.
Answers will vary.
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Section Assessment (cont.)
Draw a diagram like the one on page
190 of your textbook, and use it to
show the steps in the scientific
method.
Step 1: collect information
Step 2: form a hypothesis
Step 3: test the hypothesis
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the answer.
Chapter Summary & Study Guide
• During the “Golden Age,” the Greeks made
many contributions in thinking, athletics,
and the arts. 
• The Olympic Games, held every four years
in honor of the Greek god Zeus, was the
most important sporting event in Greece. 
• The theater, and eventually the play,
developed out of a festival given in honor of
the Greek god Dionysus. 
• Socrates, in his search for truth, developed
a form of questioning known as the Socratic
method.
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Chapter Summary & Study Guide (cont.)
• Plato, who was one of Socrates’s pupils,
founded a school and wrote the first book
on political science. 
• Aristotle developed a system of
classification and provided a third step in
the scientific method.
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Understanding the Main Idea
What was the role of oracles in
Greek religion?
They spoke to the gods and gave
advice and prophecies to the Greek
people.
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Understanding the Main Idea
What role did women play in the
Olympic Games?
They were not allowed to take part in
or watch the games.
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Understanding the Main Idea
What was the relationship between
Greek historians and the Olympic
Games?
Historians read their works aloud at
the games and dated historical
events by the Olympiads.
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Understanding the Main Idea
How did tragedies differ from
comedies?
Tragedies told about suffering and
relationships between people and the
gods. Comedies were humorous and
poked fun at people.
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Understanding the Main Idea
How did Athenians react to the
teachings of Socrates?
Some were pleased but others saw
Socrates’ ideas as very dangerous.
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Understanding the Main Idea
Why did Plato set up the Academy?
because he hoped to train government
leaders
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Understanding the Main Idea
How does the scientific method
work?
collecting information and forming
and testing a hypothesis
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Understanding the Main Idea
In what were Greek scientists most
interested?
adding to their knowledge
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Understanding the Main Idea
What was Euclid’s most famous
achievement?
advances in mathematics
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Critical Thinking
What would you have done if it had
been your decision whether or not
to put Socrates on trial?
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Critical Thinking
Why is the scientific method
important to modern science?
It provides a consistent way for
scientists to do research.
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Critical Thinking
How important was religion in
ancient Greek civilization? Explain
your answer.
Religion and the gods were very
important.
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Critical Thinking
Would you like being taught through
the Socratic method? Why or why
not?
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Geography in History
Movement The Olympic Games drew
contestants from all the areas under
Greek control. What different
methods of travel would athletes
have used to reach Olympia where
the games were held? Create a
poster advertising transportation to
the games.
major forms of transportation would include
by foot, cart, and horse, and the proximity of
the sea
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The Greek oracles often spoke in
riddles. Solve the following riddle:
Your mother has received some sad
news. Your mother’s father’s
daughter has called to say your
brother’s grandmother’s son’s wife’s
son has died. Who called? Who
died?
your aunt; your cousin
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the answer.
Explore online information about the
topics introduced in this chapter.
Click on the Connect button to launch your browser and go to the Human
Heritage: A World History Web site. At this site, you will find interactive
activities, current events information, and Web sites correlated with the
chapters and units in the textbook. When you finish exploring, exit the
browser program to return to this presentation. If you experience difficulty
connecting to the Web site, manually launch your Web browser and go to
http://www.humanheritage.glencoe.com
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776 B.C.
399 B.C.
First Olympic
Games
Trial of
Socrates
322 B.C.
Aristotle dies
585 B.C.
387 B.C.
Thales
predicts
eclipse of sun
Plato sets up
Academy
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Aristotle
384 B.C.–322 B.C.
Greek Scientist
After studying in Greece, Aristotle
returned to Macedonia to teach the son
of King Philip II. This boy, later known
as Alexander the Great, would one day
conquer many lands, including Greece.
Thus, Aristotle’s ideas came to
influence an entire empire.
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The Oracle at Delphi
The Olympics
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The Oracle at Delphi
Pilgrims to the oracle at Delphi
descended a staircase into an
underground vault in the Temple of
Apollo, where a priestess sat. Sulfurous
gases bubbled up from the crack in the
earth beneath her chair, swirling around
her as the pilgrim asked a question.
Priests then translated the answer into a
verse for the pilgrim to recite and try to
understand.
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The Olympics
According to legend, King Pelops
founded the Olympics to repay Zeus
for helping him win a chariot race and
gain Hippodameia, a rival king’s
daughter. Hippodameia then began the
Heraia, a festival honoring Zeus’s wife,
Hera. The Heraia, held at the same
time as the Olympics, gave women a
chance to compete in foot races.
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Rules for Life
Many quotes about ethical, or morally
correct, living have been attributed to
Socrates. These are two of the best
known:
• “The unexamined life is not worth
living.”
• “I am a citizen, not of Athens or
Greece, but of the world.”
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Orchestra
Orchestra is a Greek word from the
verb “to dance.” At first, it meant the
space between the stage and the
audience where the chorus performed.
In modern times, the term designates
both the area in front of the stage and
the group of musicians who plays
there.
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