THE GREEK GOLDEN AGE

TIME PERIOD

• 400 B.C.- The Greece golden age occurs.
• 146 B.C.- The romans conquer Greece.
• Lasted for little more than a century
• Though short, it laid the foundations of western civilization.
• Time of peace and great advances.

ADVANCES

• Government
• Art
• Philosophy
• Drama
• Literature

GOVERNMENT

• First ever to have a democracy.
• One of the most powerful city-states.
• Built the foundation of the government we use today.

ART

• Made vases with paintings of everyday life.
• Paintings were the most important form of art.
• Unfortunatly most original artwork has been lost or badly damaged.
• Knowledge of their paintings was taken from descriptions or from the romans
• Sculptures are rare. Like paintings, they carry egyptian influences.

ART

• Greek art reflected the Greek's view of themselves & the world.
• Greek art glorified humans.
• Much of greek art portrayed gods and goddesses.
• The greeks placed great importance on human qualities & actions.
• The art of the golden age symbolized their pride for their city-states.

PHILOSOPHY

• One of the greeks greatest achievements was philosophy.
• The greeks used philosophy to better understand themselves & the world.
• The first greek philosopher was Thales of Miletus. He wanted to understand the universe.
• Plato was a philosopher, as well as mathematician, in Classical Greece.
• Sacrotes taught that education was the key to personal growth.

DRAMA

• Many of todays literary styles were 1st developed by the greeks.
• The greeks were the first people to write dramas.
• They always wrote plays in poetic form.
• Greeks carved outdoor theaters into hillsides.
• Greek dramas were often performed in connection to religious festivals.

LITERATURE

• Among the earliest Greek literature was Homer's epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey.
• Another poet, Hesiod, wrote the Theogony around 700 B.C.E.
• One of the most famous of the Lyric poets was Sappho. Sappho wrote about the world around her.
• All three of the most famous ancient Greek writers specialized in tragedies.
• Tragedy is a form of drama in which a hero ultimately fails and is punished by the gods.

FACTS ABOUT GREECE

• The golden age of athens occured after the formation of the Delian league.
• The golden age of Athens is also called the age of Pericles.
• Citizenship in Athens required you to be a free man, born in athens, & be 18 years old.
• The Peloponnesian War ended the golden age of Athens.