Greek Civilization
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150-151 CH5 CO-824133 3/10/04 5:29 AM Page 150 Roger Wood/CORBIS Greek Civilization The temple of Delphi was very important to ancient Greeks. Many people believed the priestess here could foretell the future. 400 B.C. 300 B.C. 200 B.C. 399 B.C. 330 B.C. c. 287 B.C. Socrates Alexander the Mathematician and sentenced Great conquers inventor Archimedes to death Persian Empire is born 150 Unit Title 150-151 CH5 CO-824133 3/10/04 5:30 AM Page 151 Chapter Overview Visit Chapter Preview jat.glencoe.com for a preview Many Greeks studied science, philosophy, mathematics, of Chapter 5. and the arts. When Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire, he spread Greek culture and ideas throughout southwest Asia and the Mediterranean world. View the Chapter 5 video in the World History: Journey Across Time Video Program. The Culture of Ancient Greece The Greeks made great strides in the arts. Greek poetry, art, and drama are still part of our world today. Greek Philosophy and History The Greeks’ love of wisdom led to the study of history, politics, biology, and logic. Alexander the Great Alexander the Great was only 25 years old when he conquered the Persian Empire. As a result of his conquests, Greek art, ideas, language, and architecture spread throughout southwest Asia and North Africa. The Spread of Greek Culture Greek cities became centers of learning and culture. Greek scientists developed advanced ideas about astronomy and mathematics. Organizing Information Make the following foldable to help you organize information about Greek culture and philosophy. Step 1 Fold two sheets of paper Step 2 Place glue Reading and Writing 1 in half from top to bottom. or tape along both —— As you read the chapter, 2 inch tabs. list the developments Fold both that occurred in ancient sheets to leave 1 Greece.Write the 2 inch tab on top. developments under the correct foldable category. Alexander the Great The Spread of Greek Culture Step 3 Fit both The Culture of Greek sheets of paper Step 4 Turn the Ancient Philo- together to make cube and label the Greece sophy a cube as shown. foldable as shown. 151 150-153 CH5 CO-824133 2/27/04 11:52 PM Page 152 Context Using Context Clues When you have trouble understanding the words in a pas- sage, it is very difficult to get the author’s message. You may know part of a word’s definition or even how to pronounce it, but you still may not understand its full meaning. Look at the word inspiration in the following paragraph. Use the highlighted words to help you understand its meaning. The key to Alexander’s courage may have been his childhood edu- Look at phrases around the word cation. Alexander kept a copy of to find clues to the Iliad under his pillow. Most its meaning. likely his inspiration was Homer’s warrior-hero Achilles. In the end, Alexander’s reputation outstripped even Achilles’, and today he is called Alexander the Great. —from page 177 When you don’t under- In this paragraph, the word stand a word or a inspiration means some- concept, reread the thing that influences or has sentence or paragraph. an effect on someone. Find other words that will give you clues to its meaning. 152 150-153 CH5 CO-824133 3/21/04 9:49 AM Page 153 What Does It Mean? Read to Write Turn to any page in this Read the following paragraph about Aesop. Write down chapter. Close your eyes all the words or phrases that help you fully understand the and point to a word. It meaning of the word fable. can be any word, even “a” or “the.” Now write a paragraph explaining how the rest of the About 550 B.C., a Greek slave words in the sentence or paragraph where that SAHP named Aesop (EE • ) made word appears helped up his now famous fables. A you to determine its fable (FAY• buhl) is a short tale meaning. that teaches a lesson. In most of Aesop’s fables, animals talk and act like people. These often funny stories point out human flaws as well as strengths. Each fable ends with a message, or moral. —from page 158 Aesop As you read the chapter, create five word webs. Put an important word or idea in a center circle. Surround it with circles containing words from the text that help explain it. 153 Alinari/Art Resource, NY 154-163 CH5 S1-824133 2/28/04 12:21 AM Page 154 The Culture of Ancient Greece What’s the Connection? Meeting People You have read that under Pericles, Homer (HOH•muhr) Athens became a center of beauty Aesop (EE• SAHP) and culture. During this Golden Age, Sophocles (SAH•fuh• KLEEZ) Greek thinkers, writers, and artists Euripides (yu•RIH•puh• DEEZ) contributed many new ideas to the world. Building Your Vocabulary myth (MIHTH) Focusing on the oracle (AWR•uh•kuhl) • The Greeks believed that gods and epic (EH pihk) goddesses controlled nature and • shaped their lives. (page 155) fable (FAY•buhl) drama (DRAH•muh) • Greek poetry and fables taught Greek tragedy (TRA•juh•dee) values. (page 157) comedy (KAH•muh •dee) • Greek drama still shapes entertain- ment today. (page 160) Reading Strategy • Greek art and architecture expressed Compare and Contrast Create a Greek ideas of beauty and harmony. Venn diagram showing similarities and (page 162) differences between an epic and a fable. Locating Places Mount Olympus (uh•LIHM•puhs) Epic Both Fable Delphi (DEHL• FY) 700 B..C.. 600 600 B..C.. 500 500 B..C.. c. 700s B.C. c. 550 B.C. c. 500s B.C. GREECE Homer writes the Aesop writes Greek architects Athens Iliad and Odyssey a series of begin using marble Olympia fables columns 154 CHAPTER 5 Greek Civilization 154-163 CH5 S1-824133 2/28/04 12:24 AM Page 155 Greek Mythology Greek Gods and Goddesses The Greeks Art Library, believed that the gods and goddesses The Greeks believed that gods and controlled nature. According to Greek goddesses controlled nature and shaped their lives. myth, the god Zeus ruled the sky and Reading Focus Have you ever wondered why crops threw lightning bolts, the goddess Art Library, Wolfgang Kaehler/CORBIS Wolfgang Art Library, grow or why the sun rises and sets? To get the answer, Demeter made the crops grow, and the you would read a science book. Read to learn how the god Poseidon caused earthquakes. Art Library, Lauros/Giraudon/Bridgeman Art Library, Greeks used religion to explain nature. The 12 most important gods and goddesses lived on Mount Olympus Myths (MIHTHS) are traditional stories (uh • LIHM • puhs), the highest mountain about gods and heroes. Greek mythology in Greece. Among the 12 were Zeus, expressed the Greek people’s religious beliefs. who was the chief god; Athena, the The Greeks believed in many gods and god- goddess of wisdom and crafts; Apollo, Giraudon/Bridgeman Art Library, Peter Willi/Bridgeman Art Library, Giraudon/Bridgeman desses. They believed gods and goddesses the god of the sun and poetry; Ares, the affected people’s lives and shaped events. god of war; Aphrodite, the goddess of Art Library, seum Tarquina/Dagli Orti, Lauros/Giraudon/Bridgeman Tarquina/Dagli seum That is why the most impressive buildings in love; and Poseidon, the god of the seas Mu Greek cities were religious temples. and earthquakes. Museum Athens/Dagli Orti, The Art Archive/Achaeological enice/Dagli Orti, Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, UK/Bridgeman The Art Archive/Archaeological Museum V Art The (cw from top)Bettman/CORBIS, The Art Archive/National Archaeological The Greeks believed their gods and goddesses were a large family—all related in some way. 1. Who was the twin sister of Apollo? 2. Explain How were Ares and Zeus related? 154-163 CH5 S1-824133 7/16/04 7:07 PM Page 156 The Greeks also believed in an afterlife. When people died, the Greeks believed their spirits went to a gloomy world beneath the earth ruled by a god named Hades. What Was a Greek Oracle? The Greeks believed that each person had a fate or des- tiny. They believed that certain events were going to happen no matter what they did. They also believed in prophecy. A prophecy is a prediction about the future. The Greeks believed that the gods gave prophecies to people to warn them about the future in time to change it. To find out about the future, many Greeks visited an oracle (AWR • uh • kuhl). This was a sacred shrine where a priest or priestess spoke for a god or goddess. The most famous was the oracle at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi (DEHL • FY). The oracle chamber was deep inside the temple. The room had an opening in the floor where vol- canic smoke hissed from a crack in the earth. A priestess sat on a tripod—a three- This painting shows a Greek man at the oracle legged stool—in the oracle chamber and lis- at Delphi receiving a prophecy. Why were these tened to questions. The priests translated prophecies often confusing? her answers. State leaders or their messen- But Greek gods and goddesses were not gers traveled to Delphi to ask advice from thought to be all-powerful. According to the oracle of Apollo. Greek myths, even though gods had special The priestess in the oracle often gave powers, they looked like human beings and answers in riddles. When one king, named (KREE•suhs) acted like them. They married, had children, Croesus , sent messengers to the quarreled, played tricks on each other, and oracle at Delphi, they asked if the king fought wars.