Chapter 6, Section 2: Religion, Philosophy, and the Arts (Greece)
VocabularyTribute / a regular payment made to a powerful state of nation by a weaker one
Oracle / in ancient Greece, a sacred site where a god or goddess was consulted; an priest or priestess who spoke for the gods
Philosopher / someone who uses reason to understand the world; in ancient Greece, philosophers used reason to explain natural events
Tragedy / a type of serious drama that usually ends in disaster for the main character
Key Idea: The Ancient Greeks worshipped the Twelve Olympian gods.
· Each city-state honored a main god and had a temple to him or her.
· Expressed gratitude to gods and tried not to anger them
· Used art (architecture, sculpture, and drama) to show respect to gods
· Had festivals to celebrate gods
· Held Olympic Games to honor Zeus
Key Idea: During the Golden Age, Athens was thriving. Democracy, Philosophy, and the Arts were thriving.
Wealthy
· Grew rich from trade
· Had abundant silver that slaves mined
· Received tribute payments from allies and conquered states
Pericles was a powerful leader that supported democracy.
· Well-educated and intelligent
· Persuasive
· Required that a salary be paid to officials.
Philosophy
Philosophers questioned the belief that the gods controlled all natural events.
They sought to explain events with reason.
· Democritus believed living things were made up tiny particles called atoms. This is still accepted today.
· Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle are famous philosophers that taught in Athens.
· Socrates
o Challenged the belief that nature was controlled by the gods
o Arrested for dishonoring the gods
o Sentenced to death
· Plato
o Student of Socrates
o Lost faith in democracy after Socrates was executed
o Believed society should be made up of workers, soldiers, and philosopher-rulers
o Founded school and taught Aristotle
· Aristotle
o Believed reason should guide the pursuit of knowledge
o Founded a school called The Lyceum
Key Idea: The arts flourished during the Golden Age of Ancient Greece.
Architecture
· The Parthenon
o Temple to Athena
o Housed a 40ft. statue of Athena
o Sculpted ideal scenes- pictures of perfection
o Showed balance an order / Dramas/ Plays
· Performed in outdoor theatres
· Tragedies
o ended in disaster
· Comedies
o made fun or people or joked about customs