1. Golden Age Notes – p. 74

2. Athens’ Golden Age
460 BCE-429 BCE
AKA: Age of Pericles

3. Overview of Athens!
Settled
2000BCE
Named after Athena, goddess of wisdom
Became democratic c. 510 BCE
Became the center of Greek culture and
economy

4. Acropolis
High
hill above city
Provided protection
Built religious temples to Athena
Rebuilt after the Persian Wars

5. Agora
Marketplace
Built
around the acropolis
Rebuilt after Persian War
Center of Athenian social life
Temples, government buildings,
marketplace, recreation, and socialization

6. Parthenon
White
marble temple built in honor of
Athena
Finest of the Greek architecture, balance
proportions, famous statue of Athena
inside
Columns:
3 types (“orders”)
◦ Doric, Ionian, Corinthian

7. Greek Columns
Doric
Ionic
Corinthian

8. Historians
Herodotus
◦ 1st Historian and of the Western world
◦ Traveled- wrote about people and their
countries
◦ Identified if he heard about it OR if he saw it
first hand
◦ “Father of History”
Thucydides
◦ “History of the Peloponnesian War”
◦ Worked to make history accurate and fair

9. Art
Glorified
human beings
Pride in city-state
Combines beauty and usefulness
Paintings
◦ Most are lost or damaged
◦ Best on pottery (Red and Black figure
painting)
◦ Show mythological or everyday events

10. Sculptures
Myron
◦ Created the Discus Thrower
Phidias
◦ Statues of Athena
◦ Zeus at the temple of Olympia
◦ Acropolis and the Parthenon

11. Theater
Drama=
plays containing actions or
dialogue, involving conflict or emotion
Tragedies= main character struggles
against fate or events, main character
suffers
Comedies= makes fun of ideas and
people

12. Theater- famous playwrights
Sophocles
◦ Defended traditional Greek values
◦ Perfect examples of tragedy
◦ Oedipus Rex- kills dad, marries mom, stabs
own eyes own
Euripides
◦ Realist, questions old beliefs and ideas
◦ Trojan Women- shows pain of war
◦ Medea- tragedy of revenge, Medea seeks
revenge on cheating husband

13. Theater- famous playwrights
Aeschylus
◦ Writes over 80 plays!
◦ “Father of Greek Tragedy”
◦ Plays have a strong moral and religious
emphasis
Aristophanes
◦ Finest writer of the Greek Comedy
◦ Makes fun of ideas and people
 Clouds: makes fun of Socrates

14. Philosophers
Philosophy-
existence
study of basic human questions and
Socrates
◦ Education was the key to personal growth
◦ Question Everything! Trained students to think for
themselves
◦ Accused of “corrupting young minds” and is
sentenced to death”
◦ Drinks Hemlock to die
◦ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EwaFkPMdlY

15. Philosophy
Plato
(Student of Socrates)
◦ Wealthy aristocrat
◦ “The Republic” which descrives his idea of
the perfect society and government- people
should be ruled by a small group of intelligent
people

16. Philosophy
Aristotle
◦ Student of Plato, teacher to Alexander the
Great
◦ Studied a variety of subjects
 Collected facts, organized and categorized plants
and animals
◦ Believed every type of government could be
good
 Value of the leader

17. Other Greek Superstars 
Pythagoras:
◦ Philosopher
◦ Explained everything with Math!
Euclid:
◦ “Father of Geometry”
◦ Write Elements: basis for many of today’s geometry
textbooks

18. Hippocrates
◦ “Father of Medical Science”
◦ Observation, experiment, experience
◦ Hippocratic Oath: code of ethic for doctors
Archimedes:
◦ Calculates Pi
◦ Used math a physics for practical uses

19. Golden Age Superstars!!
1.
Read your figure’s biography and answer the
“Stop Here” questions
A.
2.
3.
4.
Staple this on page 75
1.
When finished staple chart on page 76
Create poster on the template provided!
Make sure you include all the information
needed
Hang your poster on the corrected spot on
the wall.
Gallery Walk- Only one person may be at a
station at a time.

20. Homework – p. 77
Create a Greek Hall of Fame. Select the four
(4) figures who made the most important
contributions to Greek culture. List your
choices.
For each of your selections, write 2
sentences explaining why that person
deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.