Chapter 8, Section 1

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Chapter 8, Section 1

• The Culture of Ancient Greece

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Greek Mythology

• Myths are traditional stories about gods and
  heroes.
• They expressed Greek religious beliefs.
• Greeks believed gods and goddesses affected
  peoples lives and shaped events.
• Most impressive building in Greek cities were
  religious temples.

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Greek Gods and Goddesses

• Greeks believed Gods and Goddesses controlled
  nature
• Gods lived on Mount Olympus, the highest mountain
  in Greece.
• Looked and acted like human beings got married,
  had children, quarreled and fought wars.

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• MOUNT OLYMPUS

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Mount Olympus
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Some of the Main Gods

• Zeus Chief God
• Athena goddess of wisdom and crafts
• Apollo the god of the sun and poetry
• Ares the god of war
• Aphrodite goddess of love
• Poseidon god of the sea and earthquakes

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• Greeks followed rituals (a set of action carried
  out in a fixed way) to honor their gods. They
  prayed and gave them gifts. Festivals were held
  to honor the gods.
• Greeks hoped that in return the gods would grant
  them good fortune.
• Greeks believed in an afterlife. When they died,
  they believed their spirits went to a gloomy
  world beneath the earth ruled by a god named
  Hades.

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Greek Oracle

• Greeks believed each person had a fate or
  destiny. (certain events would happen no matter
  what they did)
• They also believed in prophecy a prediction
  about the future. Gods gave prophecies to warn
  people about the future so they could change
  things before it was too late.
• Oracles were priests or priestess who spoke for a
  god or goddess.
• The most famous was the oracle at the Temple of
  Apollo at Delphi.

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• Temple of Apollo at Delphi

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• The oracle chamber was deep inside the temple.
  The room had an opening in the floor where
  volcanic smoke hissed from a crack in the earth.
  A priestess sat on a tripod and listened to
  questions. The priests translated her answers
  which usually came out in frenzied riddles.

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Greek Poetry and Fables

• Earliest Greek stories were epics, long poems
  that told about heroic deeds.
• Homer, a famous poet, wrote the Iliad and the
  Odyssey during the 700s B.C.
• The Iliad was about the Trojan War between Troy
  and Greece that lasted 10 years. In this story
  is the famous Trojan Horse trick.

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• The Odyssey tells the story of Odysseus and his
  journey home after the Trojan War. On his
  journey he faces storms, witches and giants. His
  journey home takes 10 years.
• Greeks believed these stories were actual
  history.
• The stories taught courage and honor and loyalty.
  They showed heroes striving to be the best they
  could be.
• Homers heroes became role models for Greek boys.

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• HOMER

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Aesop

• A Greek slave who wrote fables around 550 B.C.
• A fable is a short tale that teaches a lesson.
• In most of Aesops fables, animals talk and act
  like people.
• Funny stories that expose human flaws and
  strengths and always ends with a moral (lesson).

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• One of Aesops most famous fables is The
  Tortoise and the Hare. The moral of this fable
  is Slow and Steady Wins The Race.

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Other famous Aesop phrases

• Sour grapes
• A wolf in sheeps clothing
• Appearances often are deceiving
• Aesops fables were passed by word of mouth for
  nearly 200 years. Since then countless writers
  have retold the stories in many different
  languages.

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AESOP
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Greek Drama

• Drama is a story told by actors who pretend to be
  characters in a story.
• The Greeks performed plays in outdoor theaters as
  part of their religious festivals.
• They had two kinds of dramas comedies and
  tragedies.
• In comedies, the story ends happily and in a
  tragedy the story has an unhappy ending.

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• Ancient theater of Epidaurus, Peloponnesus,
  Greece

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• Greek dramas dealt with big questions such as
• What is the nature of good and evil?
• What rights should people have?
• What role do gods play in our lives?
• Best known Greek writers of tragedies were
  Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides.
• Best known Greek writer of comedies was
  Aristophanes.

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• Aeschylus came up with the idea of having more
  than one actor and using costumes, props and
  stage decorations.
• Sophocles used three actors, had painted
  backgrounds on the stage.

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Euripides

• Sophocles

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Greek Art and Architecture

• Greeks tried to show their beliefs in their work
  such as reason, moderation, balance and harmony.
  Wanted their art to inspire people to live with
  these beliefs.
• We see paintings on Greek pottery either red
  figure or black figure. Usually the scenes were
  of everyday Greek life or stories about Greek
  Gods.

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• The most important Greek architecture was the
  temple dedicated to a god or goddess. Best known
  example is the Parthenon, the temple of the Greek
  goddess Athena.

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• Remains of the Parthenon

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• Large columns that supported Greek buildings were
  another important aspect of Greek architecture.
• The first columns were carved from wood. Then in
  500 B.C. the Greeks began using marble.

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• Greek sculpture was also used to express Greek
  ideas.
• The favorite subjects of the artists was the
  human body.
• They tried to show their ideal version of
  perfection and beauty.

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