Transcript Greek Civilization

6th Grade World History
The Culture of Ancient Greece

Essential Question:
 What characterized the religious beliefs of
the Ancient Greeks?
Greek Mythology
 Expressed
the Greek people’s
religious beliefs
 Polytheistic
 Believed gods and goddesses shaped
people’s lives and events
○ Controlled nature
Greek Gods and Goddesses
 Special
powers but looked and acted
like human beings
 Greeks performed rituals to gain favor
from the Gods
 In return, they hoped the Gods would
grant them good fortune
 Greeks believed in an afterlife
 Gloomy world beneath the Earth ruled by
Hades
Greek Oracle
 Greeks
believed each person had a
fate or destiny
 Many Greeks visited oracles to find
out about the future
 Oracle at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi
Greek Poetry and Fables
Taught Greek values
 Earliest Greek stories were epics
 Homer
 Stories taught honor and courage
 Taught of the importance of loyalty to
friends and family

 The Odyssey
○ Greek Hero Odysseus journeys home from the
Trojan War
○ Faces witches, storms and giants before making it
home to his wife 10 years later

The Iliad
The Iliad
Prince of Troy
kidnaps Helen,
the wife of the
King of Sparta
Sparta and
their Greek
allies attack
Troy
War between
Troy and Sparta
continues for 10
years
Greek soldiers
hidden inside the
horse wait for
nightfall to attack
city from the inside
The Trojans
bring the horse
into the city
considering it a
peace offering
Greeks build a
giant wooden
horse and leave it
outside the gates
of Troy
Greek Drama
 Outdoor
theaters
 Tragedy
 A person struggles to overcome
difficulties, but fails
 Comedy
 The story ends happily
 Sophocles,
Euripides, Aristophanes
Greek Art and Architecture
 Expressed
Greek ideas of beauty,
harmony, moderation and balance
 Pottery
 Architecture
○ Use of marble columns
○ Parthenon (Temple)
 Sculpture
Making Connections

How and why did the Greeks honor their Gods?

What values did the epic poems of Homer teach the
Greeks?

Greek literature tells us what the Greeks thought was
important. Choose a modern book, movie or
television show. Write a paragraph to explain what it
would tell others about our society.

Answer the Essential Question: What characterized
the religious beliefs of the Ancient Greeks?
Greek Philosophy and History

Essential Question:
 How do the ideas of Greek philosophers and
historians still affect modern thinking?
Greek Philosophers

Believed the human mind could
understand everything

Fill out chart in your packet using the
next few slides
Greek Philosophers

Thinker or Group
 Sophists

Main Idea
 Thought people should use knowledge to
improve themselves
 Thought there was no absolute right or wrong

Important Contribution
 Developed the art of public speaking and debate

Influence on Today
 Importance of public speaking can be seen in
political debates between candidates
Greek Philosophers

Thinker or Group
 Socrates

Main Idea
 Critic of Sophists
 Believed in absolute right and wrong

Important Contribution
 Created the Socratic method of teaching

Influence on Today
 His methods influenced the way teachers
interact with their students
Greek Philosophers

Thinker or Group
 Plato

Main Idea
 Rejected the idea of democracy as a form of
government
 Believed philosopher-kings should rule society

Important Contribution
 Described his ideal government in his work
Republic

Influence on Today
 Introduced the idea that government should be
fair and just
Greek Philosophers

Thinker or Group
 Aristotle

Main Idea
 Believed observation and comparison were
necessary to gain knowledge

Important Contribution
 Wrote over 200 books on philosophy and
science
 Divided all government into 3 basic types:
Government by one person (tyrant or monarch),
oligarchy or aristocracy and democracy

Influence on Today
 His political ideas still shape political ideas today
Greek Historians
 Wrote
the first real histories in
western civilization
 Herodotus
 History of the Persian Wars
 Attempted to separate fact from legend
 Thucydides
 History of the Peloponnesian War
 Saw war and politics as actions of men,
not the Gods
Making Connections

1. Plato’s Ideal Government

2. Answer the Essential Question: How
do the ideas of Greek philosophers and
historians still affect modern thinking?
Be specific.
Alexander the Great

Essential Question:
 What were the most significant
accomplishments of Alexander the Great?
Macedonia Attacks Greece
Warrior people who fought on horseback
 Philip II rose to power in 359 B.C.E.

 Wants to conquer and unite Greece in order
to defeat the Persians
 Some city states united with Macedonia
voluntarily
 Some were bribed to surrender
 Some were taken over by force

By 338 B.C.E., Philip controlled most of
Greece
Alexander Builds an Empire
 Philip’s
son continued his father’s
plan to conquer the Persian Empire
 Age 16 – commander in the Macedonian
army
 Age 20 – King of Macedonia
Alexander’s Conquests
 By
331 B.C.E., he had freed Greek
city states under Persian control in
Asia Minor and conquered Syria,
Egypt and Mesopotamia
 Built Alexandria as a center of business
and trade
 In
326 B.C.E. Alexander entered India
but his soldiers refused to go any
farther
 Led his soldiers home in 323 B.C.E.
Alexander’s Legacy






Reckless
Courageous
Well educated
Led by example
An inspiration to his men
Legacy
 Extended Greek and Macedonian control
 Spread Greek language, art, ideas and
architecture
 His conquests marked the beginning of the
Hellenistic Era
The Empire Breaks Apart
 Alexander’s
generals fought each
other for control
 Empire broke into 4 kingdoms
 Controlled
large empires by insisting
all business be conducted in the
Greek language
Making Connections

1. Identify what ended Alexander’s conquest of
India.

2. Analyze. Why was Alexander a good
leader?

3. Predict. How might history have been
different if Alexander had lived longer?

4. Answer the Essential Question: What were
the greatest accomplishments of Alexander
the Great?
The Spread of Greek Culture

Essential Question:
 What elements of Greek culture were
spread during the Hellenistic Era?
Greek Culture Spreads
 During
the Hellenistic Era,
philosophers, scientists, poets and
writers flocked to new Greek cities in
southwest Asia and Egypt
 Alexandria
 500,000 scrolls in library
 Museum where researchers went to do
work
The Arts
 Architecture
 Baths, theaters, temples
 Sculpture
 Kings paid to have towns and cities filled
with thousands of statues
 Theater
 Athens remains center of Greek theater
Architecture
Philosophy
 Epicureans
 Believed happiness was the goal of life
 Stayed out of politics and public service
 Stoics
 Happiness came from following reason
rather than emotion
 Thought people had a duty to serve their
city
Greek Science and Math

Fill in your chart using the next few
slides
Archimedes
Established the science of physics
 Explained the lever and compound
pulley

Aristarchus

Established that the Earth revolves
around the sun
Eratosthenes

Figured out that the Earth is round
Euclid

Wrote a book that organized information
about geometry
Hipparchus

Created a system to explain how planets
and stars move
Hippocrates
Known as the “Father of Medicine”
 First to write a medical code of good
behavior

Pythagoras

First to establish the principles of
geometry
Answer the Essential Question

What elements of Greek culture were
spread during the Hellenistic Era?