Aim: Should the AP Board give more recognition to the Golden Age of Athens?

NY State Standards 2, 3Common Core RS 7, 9

Do Now: What do you think Socrates meant by the following quote? Do you agree? Why or why not?

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

I Pericles and the Athenian Golden AgeA) Recall that in 479 BCE Athens with the help of Sparta, won the Persian Wars. Athens emerged as the most powerful polis (Greek city-state) in Greece, and became head of the Delian League.B) Pericles, one of Athen’s leading generals, used the money from the Delian League treasury to fund beautiful structures on the city’s hilltop Acropolis; the Temple of Athena Nike, the Erechtheum , and the towering Parthenon. He subsidized theater admission for poorer citizens and enabled civic participation by paying citizens to perform jury duty. The playwright Sophocles was among his friends.

II The Greek Philosophers A) Philosophers are lovers of wisdom. They ask questions about humanity, reality, and existence. They then try to answer these questions with logic and reason.B) Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were the most influential Greek philosophers.

Socrates Plato Aristotle

Greek Philosophers Continued…1. Socrates 470 – 399 BCEa) Born in Athens, he lived during the time of Pericles and fought in the

Peloponnesian War. In his 40s, he began to ask questions such as “What is wisdom?”. He lead open discussions to try and answer these difficult questions. Through these open discussions, Socrates developed the Socratic Method; you teach by asking questions, and having the students find the answer themselves. He soon had a following of young men, including his most famous student Plato. Socrates never wrote down his own dialogues. Thankfully, Plato did.

b) Socrates was deeply interested in understanding the limits of human knowledge. When he was told that the Delphic oracle had declared that he was the wisest man in Athens, Socrates balked until he realized that, although he knew nothing, he was (unlike his fellow citizens) keenly aware of his own ignorance.

Socrates Continued…c) Socrates strongly disagreed with the Sophists. The Sophists charged money for their teaching, and believed that all beliefs are equally true; therefore, you can argue anything. Socrates never charged money for his teachings, and he believed that TRUTH does exist; therefore, not all arguments are correct.d) In 403 BCE the Athenian government ordered Socrates to participate in the execution of Leon of Salamis, but Socartes refused— an act of civil disobedience that Martin Luther King would cite in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” In 399 BCE Socrates was indicted for failing to honor the Athenian gods and for corrupting the youth. Plato recounts Socrates mounting a defense of his virtue before the jury but calmly accepting their verdict. His execution was delayed for 30 days due to a religious festival, during which the Socrates’ friends tried unsuccessfully to convince him to escape from Athens. Socrates drank the cup of hemlock his executioner handed him, and waited for the poison to reach his heart.

Greek Philosophers Continued…c) 399 BCE Socrates was arrested for corrupting the youth of Athens. He

had a trial in front of 501 jurors. He refused to defend himself, and was found guilty. Many historians believe he had the opportunity to

flee (and remain forever in exile). However, Socrates remained in Athens, and carried out his own sentence by drinking poison hemlock.

Why do you think that Socrates was willing to die, rather than to flee

Athens?

Greek Philosophers Continued…2. Plato 427 – 347 BCEa) Recall that Plato was the most famous student of Socrates, and

wrote down the dialogues of his teacher.b) Plato believed in a higher reality than the world in which we live in.

He believed that ideas are always more ideal than physical objects.- The ideal form of a man is his soul, not his body.

c) Plato wrote The Republic; in it he described his ideal society, ruled by philosopher-kings (the most intelligent of the population).

d) Plato founded The Academy, a school for the study of philosophy. It also was the first known university in human history!

Greek Philosophers Continued…e) One of Plato’s most important dialogues was the Allegory of the Cave. The Allegory of the Cave can be found in Book VII of Plato's best-known work, The Republic, a dialogue on the nature of justice. The Republic is dedicated toward a discussion of the education required of a Philosopher-King. An allegory is a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a deeper meaning.[Socrates] And now, I said, let me show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened: --Behold! human beings living in a underground cave, which has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the cave; here they have been from their childhood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them, being prevented by the chains from turning round their heads. Above and behind them a fire is blazing at a distance, and between the fire and the prisoners there is a raised way; and you will see, if you look, a low wall built along the way, like the screen which marionette players have in front of them, over which they show the puppets.

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave Continued…[Glaucon] I see.[Socrates] And do you see, I said, men passing along the wall carrying all sorts of vessels, and statues and figures of animals made of wood and stone and various materials, which appear over the wall? Some of them are talking, others silent.[Glaucon] You have shown me a strange image, and they are strange prisoners.[Socrates] Like ourselves, I replied; and they see only their own shadows, or the shadows of one another, which the fire throws on the opposite wall of the cave?[Glaucon] True, he said; how could they see anything but the shadows if they were never allowed to move their heads?[Socrates] And of the objects which are being carried in like manner they would only see the shadows?[Glaucon] Yes, he said.

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave Continued…[Socrates] And if they were able to converse with one another, would they not suppose that they were naming what was actually before them?[Glaucon] Very true.[Socrates] And suppose further that the prison had an echo which came from the other side, would they not be sure to fancy when one of the passers-by spoke that the voice which they heard came from the passing shadow?[Glaucon] No question, he replied.[Socrates] To them, I said, the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images.[Glaucon] That is certain. [Socrates] And now look again, and see what will naturally follow if the prisoners are released and disabused of their error. At first, when any of them is liberated and compelled suddenly to stand up and turn his neck round and walk and look towards the light, he will suffer sharp pains; the glare will distress him, and he will be unable to see the realities of which in his former state he had seen the shadows; and then conceive some one saying to him, that what he saw before was an illusion, but that now, when he is approaching nearer to being and his eye is turned towards more real existence, he has a clearer vision, -what will be his reply? And you may further imagine that his instructor is pointing to the objects as they pass and requiring him to name…

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave Continued……them, -will he not be perplexed? Will he not fancy that the shadows which he formerly saw are truer than the objects which are now shown to him?[Glaucon] Far truer.[Socrates] And if he is compelled to look straight at the light, will he not have a pain in his eyes which will make him turn away to take and take in the objects of vision which he can see, and which he will conceive to be in reality clearer than the things which are now being shown to him?[Glaucon] True, he now.[Socrates] And suppose once more, that he is reluctantly dragged up a steep and rugged ascent, and held fast until he 's forced into the presence of the sun himself, is he not likely to be pained and irritated? When he approaches the light his eyes will be dazzled, and he will not be able to see anything at all of what are now called realities.[Glaucon] Not all in a moment, he said.[Socrates] He will require to grow accustomed to the sight of the upper world. And first he will see the shadows best, next the reflections of men and other objects in the water, and then the objects themselves; then he will gaze upon the light of the moon and the stars and the spangled heaven; and he will see the sky and the stars by night better than the sun or the light of the sun by day?

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave Continued…[Glaucon] Certainly. [Socrates] Last of he will be able to see the sun, and not mere reflections of him in the water, but he will see him in his own proper place, and not in another; and he will contemplate him as he is.[Glaucon] Certainly.[Socrates] He will then proceed to argue that this is he who gives the season and the years, and is the guardian of all that is in the visible world, and in a certain way the cause of all things which he and his fellows have been accustomed to behold?[Glaucon] Clearly, he said, he would first see the sun and then reason about him.[Socrates] And when he remembered his old habitation, and the wisdom of the cave and his fellow-prisoners, do you not suppose that he would felicitate himself on the change, and pity them?[Glaucon] Certainly, he would.[Socrates] And if they were in the habit of conferring honors among themselves on those who were quickest to observe the passing shadows and to remark which of them went before, and which followed after, and which were together; and who were therefore best able to draw conclusions as to the future, do you think that he would care for such honors and glories, or envy the possessors of them?

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave Continued……Would he not say with Homer, Better to be the poor servant of a poor master, and to endure anything, rather than think as they do and live after their manner? [Glaucon] Yes, he said, I think that he would rather suffer anything than entertain these false notions and live in this miserable manner.[Socrates] Imagine once more, I said, such an one coming suddenly out of the sun to be replaced in his old situation; would he not be certain to have his eyes full of darkness?[Glaucon] To be sure, he said.[Socrates] And if there were a contest, and he had to compete in measuring the shadows with the prisoners who had never moved out of the cave, while his sight was still weak, and before his eyes had become steady (and the time which would be needed to acquire this new habit of sight might be very considerable) would he not be ridiculous? Men would say of him that up he went and down he came without his eyes; and that it was better not even to think of ascending; and if any one tried to loose another and lead him up to the light, let them only catch the offender, and they would put him to death.

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave Continued…[Glaucon] No question, he said.[Socrates] This entire allegory, I said, you may now append, dear Glaucon, to the previous argument; the prison-house is the world of sight, the light of the fire is the sun, and you will not misapprehend me if you interpret the journey upwards to be the ascent of the soul into the intellectual world according to my poor belief, which, at your desire, I have expressed whether rightly or wrongly God knows. But, whether true or false, my opinion is that in the world of knowledge the idea of good appears last of all, and is seen only with an effort; and, when seen, is also inferred to be the universal author of all things beautiful and right, parent of light and of the lord of light in this visible world, and the immediate source of reason and truth in the intellectual; and that this is the power upon which he who would act rationally, either in public or private life must have his eye fixed…

Greek Philosophers Continued…3. Aristotle 384 – 322 BCEa) Aristotle was not born in Athens, but he attended Plato’s Academy

in 350 BCE.b) Aristotle was very interested in science. He wanted to use Socrates’

methods of questioning to understand how the world works. *This is why Aristotle is often called the father of the scientific method.

c) Aristotle believed that to be moral is to follow the Golden Mean; at one end is excess, and on the other end is deficiency. One should strive for somewhere in-between.

d) Aristotle was the tutor of a future ruler of the world, Alexander the Great.

III Greek ArchitectureA) The Egyptians were the first to invent columns, but the idea soon spread to Greece. The Greeks created 3 new types of columns, which are still used today!

Early Egyptian columns were not free standing; the Egyptian engineers

were afraid that they would fall. The Greeks did not have that fear…

Greek Architecture Continued…Greek Doric Columns

As seen in the Parthenon, Athens

Greek Architecture Continued…Greek Ionian Columns

As seen in the Apollo Temple, Didyma, Turkey

Greek Architecture Continued…Greek Corinthian Columns

As seen in the Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens

Greek Architecture Continued…B) The Parthenon was built between 447 and 432 BCE, on top of the

Acropolis (the highest hill in Athens). It was a temple dedicated to Athena, the patron Goddess of Athens. It was made from limestone and marble. Inside was a statue of Athena. On the outside, it is decorated with Doric columns, as well as a frieze of statues, depicting a procession in honor of Athena. The columns are not all the same size; it is an optical illusion! The architects wanted to show order and symmetry, as they believed the universe to be ordered.

An earlier temple was destroyed by the

Persians during the Persian Wars.

A frieze is a broad band of sculpted decoration.

Greek Architecture Continued…The Parthenon Interior View

Greek Architecture Continued…Lord Elgin of Britain stole the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon’s frieze

in the early 19th century. Today they are housed in the British Museum, and Greece is fighting to get them back!

IV Greek ArtA) Greek Sculpture

1. Early Greek sculpture (800 –

500 BCE) is known as

archaic. It was similar to Egyptian

sculpture; stiff, not very detailed or

realistic.

Greek Art Continued…2. By 460 BCE Greek sculpture became more detailed and realistic. (This is known as the Classical Period.) This was due to the belief that the human body is beautiful. Many sculptures were created to honor the gods.

Greek Art Continued…B) Greeks decorated vases and amophorae (a vase with two handles). First the potter shaped the the vessel on a wheel. They were then decorated by1.Painting black figures onto the red vessel.2.Painting a black background, leaving red figures. *This was a more difficult skill.

Vases and amphorae had a

practical purpose! They were used

as storage vessels for liquids such as yummy

Greek wine.

V The OlympicsA) The Olympics began in Athens in 776 BCE. The games were dedicated to the Gods, and held every 4 years until 393 CE.B) The male athletes trained in gymnasiums.

Unlike our modern games, the male athletes had to participate in EVERY event. Women were not allowed to participate or to even observe, often with the punishment of death.

VI Greek Literature and TheatreA) Classical Greek literature developed out of an older tradition of oral storytelling. For centuries, literacy was rare, and oral storytelling was the only way to transmit information to large groups of people. Wandering poets would set histories, legends, and religious stories into verse. Such poems were generally set to music and sung, sometimes with the accompaniment of instruments or simple dances. These performances provided entertainment and education at the same time. Around the eighth century BC, Homer, a poet who lived in Asia Minor, began preserving these ballads and epic tales in writing. His most famous works were The Iliad and The Odyssey (about the Trojan War between the Mycenaeans and Troy).

Not that Homer

Greek Literature and Theatre Continued…B) The poems of the sixth century BCE had developed into something more like plays. An actor would take turns reciting the lines of a poem with a chorus, or group of dancers. Often the actor and the members of the chorus would wear masks, and the chorus would complement the poetry with interpretive dances. These new plays were generally performed at festivals honoring gods and goddesses, or celebrations of seasonal events, such as the first grain harvest or the summer rains. Formal competitions, where poets and playwrights would submit their work and vie for prizes, became popular. One of the most famous of these was held during a springtime festival in Athens to honor the god Dionysus (of wine).

Greek Literature and Theatre Continued…C) In the early years of the fifth century, several distinct varieties of dramatic poetry began to appear; tragedies and comedies. Tragic plays, despite the name, were not necessarily sad. They were dramatic, and dealt with a range of complex and serious topics such as psychology, philosophy, and morality. Comic plays, on the other hand, were filled with bawdy and raucous jokes, and were intended to provoke laughter and to entertain. Despite their light and humorous presentation, some of the better comic playwrights used these plays to express genuine and serious political and social commentary. D) The comic playwright Aristophanes is today regarded as the best of the classic comic playwrights. Aristophanes’ plays certainly contain many wild and vulgar jokes, yet they also discuss serious concerns of his time, such as politics, art, and education. His work provides modern readers with some of the clearest images of the life and daily affairs of fifth-century Greeks.

Greek Literature and Theatre Continued…E) Sophocles' tragedies are generally very optimistic, full of the spirit of Athens in the classical period. He sees men (and to some extent women) as powerful, rational, creative beings, the masters of the world around them, and the proud creations of the gods. Sophocles also remembers the terrors of war and barbarism, which can sometimes overcome men and women. He pleads, in his plays, for the triumph of reason over wild emotion and anger. Here is an excerpt from Antigone: “There are many wonders, and none is more wonderful than man; he crosses the stormy, raging sea, sailing a path through swallowing waves; and he digs up the Earth, the oldest, undying, untiring god. He turns the dirt with mules, as the plows go back and forth through the fields and the years. And the easy-going birds, and the gangs of savage beasts, and the salty sea creatures, he catches them all in nets he weaves, he catches them, man is so smart. And he knows how to catch wild animals, who wander in the hills; man breaks shaggy wild horses, he tames tireless bulls and yokes their necks. And man taught himself to talk, and to think quicker than the wind blows, and all the moods that make a town a city. And he figured out how to flee the frost-arrows, when it's too cold to stay outside under the clear sky, and how to get out of the rushing rain; yes, he can do anything. Nothing finds him hopeless, only against Death he is helpless; but even for mysterious diseases he finds cures. His fertile skill is cunning beyond dreams of cunning; it brings him sometimes to bad, sometimes to good.”

VII Origin of Written History

In the 5th century BCE Herodotus “the father of history” wrote about the history of Greece, Egypt, and other civilizations.

“In peace, sons bury their fathers. In war, fathers bury their sons.”

VIII GovernmentDo not forget… Athens was the birthplace of democracy!

IX Ancient Athenian TradeFrom the 5th century BCE, Athens’ port of Piraeus became the most important trading center in the Mediterranean. Goods which were traded within Greece between different city-states included cereals, wine, olives, figs, pulses, eels, cheese, honey, meat (especially from sheep and goats), perfumes, and fine pottery, especially Attic and Corinthian wares. Fine Greek pottery found as far afield as the Atlantic coast of Africa! Other Greek exports included wine, bronze work, olives and olive oil (transported, like wine, in amphorae), and marble from Athens and Naxos. The goods available at the market places (agorai) of major urban centers which were imported from outside Greece included wheat and slaves from Egypt, salt and grain from the Black Sea (especially via Byzantium), and wood (especially for shipbuilding) from Macedonia and Thrace.

Focus Questions1. In your own words, describe the main beliefs and/or achievements

of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.2. What is the true meaning of the Allegory of the Cave? 3. If you were Socrates, would you have drunk the hemlock or would

you have escaped? Explain your answer.4. Which Greek philosopher do you most agree with and why?5. Describe at least 2 additional achievements of the Athenian Golden

Age that you think are the most memorable and why.

Key Vocabulary