PART 3: GREEK CULTURE
Ancient Greece—Class Notes
•The Greeks had a ______________________________________ of gods and goddesses
•They believed that these gods/goddesses controlled nature and their lives
•Greek mythology is the ____________________________________________
•______________________: traditional stories about gods & heroes
•Greek gods had families, looked like humans & acted like humans
THE IMPORTANT GODS/OLYMPIANS
See Greek God/Goddesses Handout for information.
OTHER GODS
•____________________: goddess of victory
•Pan: god of sheep & herders, half man/half goat
•The Muses: 9 muses were the daughters of the gods; said to inspire those with
_________________________________
•The Titans: descendents of the earth, Gaia, and the sky, Uranus; leader was Cronus, was overthrown
by his son Zeus
•Centaurs:half man, _____________________________
•Gorgons: 3 sisters, ________________________________. Athena cursed Medusa with snakes for
hair. She also could turn anyone into stone with her stare; also she was mortal.
•______________________________________: one eyed creatures, from the earth & sky, bad
disposition
•Pandora’s Box
THE ORACLE
•The Greeks believed in _____________________________________________ therefore they
believed in an oracle
•Oracle: predicted the future, gave prophecies, ___________________________. They spoke for a
god/goddess.
•Most famous oracle was at the ______________________________________________
•Was called _______________________, was chosen from the priestesses at the temple
•Everyone consulted the oracle; generals would before wars, leaders asked advice, etc.
•Often the answers were in _______________________________
EPICS AND FABLES
•Epic: _____________________ about heroic deeds, these were the earliest Greek stories
•________________________: short story that teaches a moral
•Greek epics, poetry & fables are the oldest in the ______________________________
•_______________________________ writers were greatly influenced by Greek writing
•Shakespeare often borrowed settings & plots, ex: A Midsummer Night Dream
•Homer: Greek man who wrote the first great epics, 700’s b.c.
•______________________________________: famous epics written by Homer, considered to be
the oldest Greek writings
•Iliad: is about the __________________________________ & the defeat of Troy, however it is
more about the wrath of Achilles
THE ILIAD
•The prince of Troy, Paris, kidnaps Helen the wife of ___________________________
•The Greeks (mainly Spartans & Mycenaeans) declared war on Troy
•The battle between the Greeks & the Trojans lasted for __________________
•Tired of fighting, the Greeks built a huge wooden horse, the _____________________, to defeat
Troy.
•The ________________________________________________, the rest ran away.
•The Trojans thought it would bring luck & they thought they had won & brought the horse inside.
•After the Trojans were asleep, the warriors jumped out of the horse &
_________________________________________________
•Then they burned the city
•_____________________________________: central character, the angry warrior fighting the
Trojans. His friend was killed by the Trojans (Trojan man named Hector) & he became consumed
with anger and rage
•Homer only wrote about the last year of the war & one part of Achilles life
ODYSSEY
•Odyssey: the travel home after the fall of Troy by a warrior named Odysseus
•Took him _________________________________________________
•On the way he encountered every _____________________________________ (with help &
hindrance from the gods)
•He finally reaches home to his son & wife, Penelope
AESOP’S FABLES
•Aesop was a __________________________________ who wrote humorous stories with animal
characters, around 550 B.C.
•These stories are still famous today; were told orally for generations, eventually written down
•Every story had a ________________________________________, ex: The Grasshopper & the
Ants, Tortoise & the Hare, Lion & the Mouse
GREEK ART
•Statues of gods and important figures still exist
•They _________________________________________ but none have survive
•However, pottery shows their paintings & scenes from ___________________________
•The ancient Greeks style of art was __________________________________________
_________________________, however they were anatomically incorrect.
•Greek artists showed ____________________________; not human flaws & blemishes.
GREEK ARCHITECTURE
•Greek architecture has been mimicked t/o history, even in the U.S.
•Many famous buildings were _________________________________________
___________________________ & buildings.
•Greeks had a very distinct look; balanced, lots of straight lines, harmonic
•The most famous Greek building is the ___________________________________
PARTHENON
•Temple of __________________________
•Built in the _____________________________________; on the Acropolis of Athens.
•It is the most famous surviving building of ancient Greece, and has been praised as the finest
achievement of Greek architecture.
•Its decorative sculptures are considered one of the high points of Greek art.
•It is an enduring symbol ______________________________________________
___________________. It is regarded as one of the world's greatest cultural monuments.
GREEK PHILOSOPHY
•Philosophy: a ___________________________________; search for general understanding of
values & reality. Philosophy means “love of wisdom” in Greek
•Philosopher: person who seeks wisdom or enlightenment, a thinker or scholar
SOCRATES
•Believed all knowledge was in a person; just had to find it
•___________________________________: the way of teaching by questioning to make others
think & reason. Still used today.
•__________________________________ saw Socrates as a threat
•In 399 b.c., Athens accused Socrates of teaching rebellion, jury found him guilty & was sentenced to
death.
•Drank _____________________________; left no writings behind
PLATO
Student of _________________________________
•Wrote the Republic; very famous book
•Significant b/c he didn’t agree __________________________________________
•Thought the people should be ruled by a wise upper class & protected by warriors
•Started the Academy; a school where bright students attended from all over Greece
ARISTOTLE
•Attended ________________________________________; student of Plato
•Most prized student
•Wrote about politics, gov’t, universe, etc.
•His writings about nature & the universe were believed well into the _____________
___________________________________
•Categorized gov’t in 3 groups
•1) Rule by ___________(dictator or monarch), 2) rule by __________ (oligarchy) & 3) rule by
_________________ (democracy)
GREEK HISTORIANS
•____________________: 435 b.c.wrote the history of the Persian Wars, tried to separate fact from
fiction & find the truth. He did used gods to explain certain events however.
•The first to decipher myth/legend from actual events. Considered the “father of history”
•____________________________: considered the greatest historian of the ancient world. Wrote the
History of the Peloponnesian War. Only wrote what he saw; used no
____________________________________________________, only men.
GREEK DRAMA
•Athenian plays were some of the ___________________________________________ to emerge in
the world.
•Greek theatre and plays have had a lasting impact on Western drama and culture.
•There were 2 main types: _____________________________________
•Tragedy: a serious drama typically involving conflict between characters or situations, ends
unhappily or disastrous, evokes sadness, pity or fear.
•Comedy: a story that has a happy ending, today’s comedies are filled with humor.
•Only 4 playwrights work has survived from Ancient Greece, all 4 were from Athens
•________________________________________________________________ were the three
famous tragedians
•Aristophanes is the fourth playwright and the comic writer