Chapter 4

Section 5

Greek Culture Left Lasting Legacies

• Objectives• What form of literature did the Greeks

invent?

• Who were the Sophists?

• What contributions did the Hellenistic scientists give to the world?

II. Ancient Greece Set High Standards in Art and Literature

• The Greeks produced many magnificent works of art.

• Athens became the most beautiful city of the ancient world.

• Building dedicated to religion and art were centered on the Acropolis – hill in the center of Athens

• Parthenon was most beautiful of the building with great paintings and sculptures

• Marble columns to support the roof, which is still used in architecture today.

• Greek sculptures created many lasting works with some statues being preserved in museums around the world

• These sculptures are fine examples of the simplicity and beauty of Greek art.

• Among the great contributions to literature by the Greeks was drama.

• Revenge, death, politics and religion were some of the subjects of Greek plays

• Theaters were open air theaters where the audience sat on stone seats.

• All the actors in the plays were always men• The power that language had to unite the

Greek people is best shown by two great works of literature.

• Ever since the Achaeans destroyed the city of Troy in 1300 BC the stories of the battles had been past down by word of mouth

• They were collected and woven together into 2 mighty Epics – long poems which describe the deeds of heroes.

• A blind poet by the name of Homer is the author of these epics that are called the Iliad and the Odyssey

• The Iliad describes the episodes from the 10th year of the war during which the great Achaean hero, Achilles, defeated the great Trojan hero, Hector

• The Odyssey deals with the events after the war. It tells of the great hero Odysseus and his adventures on his 10 year journey home.

• The epics themselves helped to shape all Greek literature and thought

• Some people called it the Homeric Age.

II. Greeks Explored New Ways of Thinking About the World

• The Greek thinkers that carefully studied the world around them were called philosophers – which comes form the Greek word meaning lovers of wisdom

• They believed that through their reasoning, people could understand how the world worked and how they should act in it.

• Not all Greek philosophers had goals.

• The Sophists were a group who worked to develop carefully reasoned cases so they could win political or legal arguments

• They were more concerned with worldly success than with respect for tradition or moral issues

• They stressed the art of public speaking and for a fee they would teach their methods to others.

Socrates

• 469 – 399 BC• Cared more about the search for truth than

winning arguments• He wandered into Athens asking people

embarrassing question to tell about the evils and faults in society

• He never wrote anything down, so everything we know about him comes

from his pupil Plato

• Socrates believed there was nothing as useful as knowledge

• He believed that if people had knowledge they could solve all problems they faced.

• Wanted people to focus on their thinking clearly this method is called the Socratic Method – often used in schools today

Plato

• 427 – 347 BC• Best know for his book The Republic –

this is a record of Socrates conversations with the Athenians

• The book outlines the perfect society with philosophers being the leaders because they are the wisest

• Plato did not favor democracy

• He felt that in a democracy that unqualified people held important positions ( what does this sound like?)

• He felt the masses could not make the right decisions.

• In Plato’s ideal society, each person would do the work suited for his or her own ability

• Society would have 3 classes: the workers, the soldiers, and the ruling philosophers

• He believed both men and women should be treated equally

• He also believed there should be no individual wealth or privately owned property.

Aristotle

• Student of Plato• He studied governments of the past and

wrote a book Politics• In this book he pointed out the advantages

and disadvantages of various forms of governments

• He felt the most stable government was one in which the actions and authority of

one part of government was checked and balanced by another (what does this sound like?)

• This system of checks and balances is written into the US Constitution

• Aristotle was a scientist as well as a philosopher

• He wrote about biology, physics, and botany, and was one of the early scientist who believed the earth was round.

Science/Medicine

• Pythagoras - helped develop the ideas behind geometry

• Democritus - said that all things are made up of atoms

• Hippocrates – made strong advance in the study of medicine

• He used the scientific method to diagnose and treat diseases

• He stated that all diseases were made up of natural causes and were not caused by god

• Raised the meical standard that set forth rules of conduct

• This is the basis of the Hippocratic Oath that doctors take when they become certified and graduating form Med. School