Ancient Greece

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Ancient Greece
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Socrates

• ?It is difficult for the modern mind to
  understand why the Greek philosopher, Socrates,
  chose death by drinking hemlock instead of exile
  from Athens, but in his choice lies the essence
  of Ancient Greece. Individuality meant little to
  the Greeks, but the state, in the form of the
  city-state, meant everything. Although there were
  many Greek city-states, Athens in its golden age
  was the embodiment of what we refer to as
  Classical Greece.

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• It was here that the Greeks argued philosophy
  with Socrates and Plato, wrote and performed the
  first great comedies and tragedies such as
  Oedipus Rex, and developed many concepts, the two
  major concepts being democracy and humanism -upon
  which much of modern society is based.

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Essential Facts

• There were over 1,500 Ancient Greek city-states,
  but only a few had major populations. Athens, the
  largest, had 200,000 people.
• Athens is known as the first democratic state,
  but of its 200,000 residents only 35,000
  qualified as citizens who could vote in the
  democratic process. The rest were slaves, women,
  children, and foreigners.

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Religion

• Greek religion centered on the twelve Olympian
  gods led by Zeus, as described by Homer in the
  Iliad and the Odyssey. Worship of these gods was
  entwined in everyday life and was part of a
  citizens civic duty to the state. It was because
  he encouraged his students to question their
  beliefs in the gods that Socrates was sentenced
  to either death or exile by the magistrates of
  Athens.

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The Marathon

• The modern Olympic marathon comes from the legend
  of Pheidippides, the messenger who ran 26 miles
  from the coastal city of Marathon to Athens. He
  was sent to bring tidings of the Greeks surprise
  victory over the Persians. The story says he ran
  the distance, gave his message, and immediately
  collapsed, dead from exhaustion.

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Socrates Teachings Live On

• Although Socrates was sentenced to death by the
  Athenian government, his ideas were influential
  in inspiring an emperor. Socrates most famous
  pupil was Plato, whose most famous pupil was
  Aristotle. Aristotle went on to teach and inspire
  Alexander of Macedon, who became Alexander the
  Great and created a Hellenistic empire, spreading
  Greek culture and thought throughout the known
  world.

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S.P.A.

• Socrates taught
• Plato, who taught
• Aristotle, who wrote Poetics, which describes the
  art of playwriting (hence, screenwriting) (This
  is waaaaaaaay before Shakespeare)