Greek Civilization
Chapter Objectives
• Describe important Greek
developments in the arts.
• Discuss Greek achievements in history,
politics, biology, and logic.
• Summarize how Alexander the Great
created an empire.
• Describe how Hellenistic kingdoms
became centers of learning and culture.
The Culture of Ancient
Greece
Get Ready to Read (cont.)
Focusing on the Main Ideas
• The Greeks believed that gods and
goddesses controlled nature and
shaped their lives.
• Greek poetry and fables taught Greek
values.
• Greek drama still shapes entertainment
today.
• Greek art and architecture expressed
Greek ideas of beauty and harmony.
The Culture of Ancient
Greece
Get Ready to Read (cont.)
Building Your Vocabulary
• myth (MIHTH)
• oracle (AWR·uh·kuhl)
• epic (EH·pihk)
• fable (FAY·buhl)
• drama (DRAH·muh)
• tragedy (TRA·juh·dee)
• comedy (KAH·muh·dee)
The Culture of Ancient
Greece
Greek Mythology
• The Greeks believed in many gods and
goddesses.
• They thought these deities affected
people’s lives and shaped events.
• The Greeks believed the 12 most
important gods lived on Mount Olympus,
the highest mountain in Greece.
• Greek myths were stories about gods
and heroes.
(pages 155–156)
The Culture of Ancient
Greece
Greek Mythology (cont.)
• In these stories, gods had special
powers but looked and acted like
humans.
• The Greeks followed rituals to win the
gods’ favor.
• They hoped that the gods would grant
good fortune to them in return.
• The Greeks believed in prophecy, or
predictions about the future.
(pages 155–156)
The Culture of Ancient
Greece
Greek Mythology (cont.)
• Many Greeks visited an
oracle to receive a
prophecy.
• An oracle was a sacred
shrine where a priest or
priestess spoke for a
god or goddess.
• The most famous oracle
was at the Temple of
Apollo at Delphi.
(pages 155–156)
The Culture of Ancient
Greece
Greek Poetry and Fables
• Greek poems and stories are the oldest
in the Western world and serve as
models for European and American
poems and stories.
• An epic is a long poem about heroic
deeds.
• The first great epics were the Iliad and
the Odyssey, written by a poet named
Homer.
(pages 157–158)
The Culture of Ancient
Greece
Greek Poetry and Fables (cont.)
• The Iliad is about a battle for the city of
Troy.
• The Odyssey is the story of Odysseus,
a Greek hero.
• Greeks believed these two epics were
real history.
(pages 157–158)
The Culture of Ancient
Greece
Greek Poetry and Fables (cont.)
• A slave named Aesop
wrote many fables.
• A fable is a short tale
that teaches a lesson.
• Fables were
passed from
person to person
by oral tradition.
(pages 157–158)
The Culture of Ancient
Greece
Greek Drama
• Drama is a story
told by actors who
pretend to be
characters in the
story.
• The Greeks used
drama as part of
their religious
festivals.
• The Greeks developed
two types of drama—
tragedies and comedies.
(pages 160–161)
The Culture of Ancient
Greece
Greek Drama (cont.)
• A tragedy is the story of a person who
tries to overcome difficulties but fails.
• A comedy is a story with a happy
ending.
• Aeschylus was a writer who wrote a
group of three plays called Oresteia.
• These plays teach that evil acts cause
more evil and suffering.
(pages 160–161)
The Culture of Ancient
Greece
Greek Drama (cont.)
• The Writer Sophocles wrote the plays
Oedipus and Antigone.
• Euripides wrote plays about real-life
people instead of gods.
• Aristophanes wrote comedies that
made fun of leading politicians and
scholars.
(pages 160–161)
The Culture of Ancient
Greece
Greek Art and Architecture
• Greek artists believed in the ideas of
reason, balance, harmony, and
moderation and tried to show these
ideas in their work.
• Although Greek murals have not
survived, examples of Greek paintings
still exist on decorated pottery.
• The most important architecture in
Greece was the temple dedicated to a
god or goddess.
(pages 162–163)
The Culture of Ancient
Greece
Greek Art and Architecture (cont.)
• The most
famous
temple is
the
Parthenon.
• Greek
architecture
included
columns,
which were
first made
from wood.
(pages 162–163)
The Culture of Ancient
Greece
Greek Art and Architecture (cont.)
• Later, the Greeks began using marble.
• Many of today’s churches and
government buildings have columns.
• Greek sculpture expressed Greek ideas.
(pages 162–163)
Greek Philosophy and History
Get Ready to Read (cont.)
Focusing on the Main Ideas
• Greek philosophers developed ideas that
are still used today.
• Greeks wrote the first real histories in
Western civilization.
Greek Philosophy and History
Greek Philosophers
• The word philosophy comes from the
Greek word for “love of wisdom.”
• Greek thinkers, called
philosophers,
believed the human
mind could
understand
everything.
(pages 169–171)
Greek Philosophy and History
Greek Philosophers (cont.)
• Pythagoras was a Greek philosopher
who taught that the universe followed
the same laws that governed music and
numbers.
• He developed many ideas about
mathematics.
• Sophists were professional teachers who
traveled from city to city, teaching others.
• They did not believe that gods and
goddesses influenced people. (pages 169–171)
Greek Philosophy and History
Greek Philosophers (cont.)
• They also did not believe in absolute
right or wrong.
• Socrates was a philosopher who
believed that an absolute truth existed
and that all real knowledge was within
each person.
• Leaders did not trust Socrates, and
accused him of teaching young
Athenians to rebel.
(pages 169–171)
Greek Philosophy and History
Greek Philosophers (cont.)
• Socrates was tried and sentenced to
death.
• The Socratic method is a form of
teaching that uses questions to lead
students to discover things for
themselves.
• Plato was one of Socrates’ best students.
• In his book the Republic, Plato
described the ideal government.
(pages 169–171)
Greek Philosophy and History
Greek Philosophers (cont.)
• At the top were rulers and philosophers,
in the middle were warriors, and at the
bottom were all others.
• Aristotle was one of Plato’s students.
• He opened his own school called the
Lyceum.
• Aristotle helped advance science and
government.
(pages 169–171)
Greek Philosophy and History
Greek Philosophers (cont.)
• Many of his ideas shaped the way
European and American founders
thought about government.
• The “golden mean,” one of Aristotle’s
ideas, states that a person should do
nothing to excess.
(pages 169–171)
Greek Philosophy and History
Greek Historians
• Many historians consider Herodotus the
“father of history” because he wrote the
history of the Persian Wars.
• The Greek Thucydides is considered
the greatest historian of the ancient
world.
• He wrote History of the Peloponnesian
War.
(page 173)
Alexander the Great
Get Ready to Read (cont.)
Focusing on the Main Ideas
• Phillip II of Macedonia united the Greek
states.
• Alexander the Great conquered the
Persian Empire and spread Greek
culture throughout southwest Asia.
Alexander the Great
Macedonia Attacks Greece
• Macedonia was a powerful kingdom that
lay north of Greece.
• Philip II needed to unite Greece with
Macedonia to defeat the Persian
Empire.
• After training a vast army, Philip began
taking over the Greek city-states.
(pages 175–176)
Alexander the Great
Macedonia Attacks Greece (cont.)
• A lawyer named Demosthenes tried to
warn the Athenians about Philip, but it
was too late.
• The Macedonians defeated the Greeks
at the Battle of Chaeronea.
• After this battle, Philip controlled all of
Greece.
(pages 175–176)
Alexander the Great
Alexander Builds an Empire
• Alexander the Great became king of
Macedonia after his father, Philip, died.
• Alexander began his conquest of the
Persian Empire in 334 B.C. with the
Battle of Granicus.
• Alexander’s forces destroyed the
Persian forces.
• A year later, Alexander defeated the
Persian army at Issus and freed the
Greek cities in Asia Minor.
(pages 176–179)
Alexander the Great
Alexander Builds an Empire (cont.)
• He then captured Syria and Egypt.
• Alexander built the city of Alexandria as
the center of business.
• It became one of the most important
cities in the ancient world.
• Alexander continued his conquest of the
Persian Empire by fighting in modern
Pakistan, India, and Iran.
(pages 176–179)
Alexander the Great
Alexander Builds an Empire (cont.)
• In 323 B.C., Alexander planned to invade
southern Arabia, but he became ill and
died.
• A legacy is what a person leaves
behind when he or she dies.
• Alexander’s legacy is his skill and
daring.
• Alexander’s conquests marked the
beginning of the Hellenistic Era.
(pages 176–179)
Alexander the Great
Alexander Builds an Empire (cont.)
The lighthouse of
Alexandria was
one of the
Seven Wonders
of the Ancient
World. A fire in
its tall tower
guided ships into
harbor.
(pages 176–179)
Alexander the Great
Alexander Builds an Empire (cont.)
• This was a time when Greek language
and ideas spread to non Greek areas of
southwest Asia.
• After Alexander’s death, his generals
fought for power, and Alexander’s
empire ended.
• Four kingdoms emerged in its place.
• Government business in the four
kingdoms was conducted in the Greek
language.
(pages 176–179)
Alexander the Great
Alexander Builds an Empire (cont.)
• People who did not speak Greek could
not hold government jobs.
• This helped the Greeks maintain control.
• New cities were created in the Hellenistic
Era, and these cities needed architects,
engineers, and philosophers.
• The rulers of the four kingdoms sent
Greek colonists to southwest Asia to help
build the cities. In this way, Greek culture
spread.
(pages 176–179)
The Spread of Greek Culture
Get Ready to Read (cont.)
Focusing on the Main Ideas
• Hellenistic cities became centers of
learning and culture.
• Epicurus and Zeno showed the world
different ways to look at happiness.
• Hellenistic scientists made major
discoveries in math and astronomy.
The Spread of Greek Culture
Greek Culture Spreads
• Philosophers, poets, scientists, and
writers moved to the new Greek cities in
southwest Asia, particularly Alexandria,
during the Hellenistic Era .
• Hellenistic kings wanted to make their
cities like those in Greece, so they hired
Greek architects and sculptors.
• The writers of the Hellenistic Era
produced a large body of literature.
(page 183)
The Spread of Greek Culture
Greek Culture Spreads (cont.)
• Appolonius wrote the epic poem
Argonautica, recounting the legend of
Jason and his band of heroes.
• Theocritus wrote short poems about
beauty and nature.
• Athenians still created plays, but the
plays of the Hellenistic Era were about
love and relationships.
(page 183)
The Spread of Greek Culture
Philosophy
• Epicurus, the founder of Epicureanism,
taught that happiness was the goal of
life.
• Stoicism was developed by a
Phoenician named Zeno.
• This philosophy believes that happiness
comes from reason, not emotions.
(page 184)
The Spread of Greek Culture
Greek Science and Math
• Astronomers study the stars, planets,
and other heavenly bodies.
• Aristarchus was an astronomer who
claimed that the sun was at the center of
the universe and that Earth revolved
around the sun.
• Eratosthenes was an astronomer who
believed that the earth was round and
measured Earth’s circumference.
(pages 185–186)
The Spread of Greek Culture
Greek Science and Math (cont.)
• Euclid, one of the most famous Greek
mathematicians, described plane
geometry.
• Plane geometry is the
study of points, lines,
angles, and surfaces.
• Archimedes was the
most famous scientist of
the Hellenistic Era.
(pages 185–186)
The Spread of Greek Culture
Greek Science and Math (cont.)
• He worked on solid geometry—the study
of spheres and cylinders.
• He also determined the value of pi, a
number used to measure the area of
circles.
• Archimedes invented the catapult,
among other weapons.
(pages 185–186)
Greek Civilization
Review Vocabulary
Define Match the vocabulary word that completes each
sentence.
B 1. a short tale that
__
teaches a lesson
C 2. traditional story
__
about gods and
heroes
__
A 3. long poems told
about heroic deeds
A. epic
B. fable
C. myth
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