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Pericles’ 3 Goals for Athens

  • Strengthen Athenian democracy
  • Hold and strengthen the empire
  • Glorify Athens

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Goal 3: Glorify Athens

  • Bought gold, ivory, and marble to beautify Athens
  • Parthenon- artisans worked for 15 years to build one of architecture’s noblest works

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Greek Sculpture

  • Parthenon was built for Athena, goddess of wisdom and the protector of Athens
  • Athena statue stood 38-40 feet tall and contained gold and ivory
  • Figures sculpted during this time were graceful, strong and perfectly formed
  • Faces neither had a smile or laughter or anger, but were serene
  • Classical art- values of order, balance and proportion in art

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Greek Drama

  • Greeks invented drama and built the first theaters in the west
  • Tragedy= serious drama about themes like love, hate, war and betrayal
  • Comedy=Scenes filled with slapstick and crude humor. Make fun of politicians.
    • Famous dramatists: Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides

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Philosophers

  • =“lovers of wisdom”
    • Based their thinking on 2 assumptions:
      • 1. The Universe (land, sky and sea) is put together in an orderly way and subject to unchanging laws
      • 2. People can understand these ideas through logic and reason

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Socrates

  • Absolute truth and justice exist
  • “The unexamined life is not worth living”
  • Encouraged Greeks to question themselves and their moral character
  • Brought to trial for “corrupting the youth of Athens” and “neglecting the city’s gods.”
  • Jury disagreed and brought him to death. He died after drinking a slow-acting poison

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Plato

  • Student of Socrates
  • Approx. 28 years old when Socrates died
  • Wrote down Socrates’ words
  • His most famous work, “The Republic”
    • Set forth his vision for a perfect government, which was not a democracy
    • His ideal society all citizens fall into 3 groups: farmers and artisans, warriors and the ruling class
    • Greatest from the ruling class would be chosen philosopher-king

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Aristotle

  • Pupil of Plato
  • Invented a method for arguing according to rules of logic
  • Most famous pupil→ Alexander
    • Son of King Philip of Macedonia
    • 13 years old prince
    • Alexander stopped being his student when he became the ruler of Macedonia and later is known as Alexander the Great

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The School of Athens

Raphael