Chapter 5 Greece Part 2

1. Athens & The
Peloponnesian War

2. What is a “Golden Age?”
A time period of prosperity and great achievements in
arts, sciences, and education.
After the Persian Wars ended, Athens became more
powerful, and therefore, more prosperous. The
Athenian golden age lasted from 477 to 431 B .C.

3. • School was
only for sons
of wealthy
families.
Athenian Education
• Boys received training in logic, public speaking,
science, philosophy and military training.
• Athenians believed in having a well-rounded
education.
(Girls learned from
mothers and other female
members of household).

4. Athens: 3 Branches of Government
The Assembly
All citizens of Athens (native-
born male property owners
over the age of 18). They met
about once per month to
discuss issues and vote on
legislation. There were about
40,000 Athenian citizens.
The Council of 500
Leaders of the Assembly. They
were selected by lot - this
means that each year, 500
citizens were drawn at random
to be part of the council. They
led the assembly meetings and
made decisions about foreign
relations.
The Court
30 citizen jurors that held trials
and represented the voice of
the people. They were also
chosen randomly.

5. Formation of Athenian Democracy
One of Athens’ early rulers was
a man named Draco who
introduced the idea that all
Athenian citizens were equal.
This idea is the basis for a
democratic government.
(Draco also created a harsh
legal system, so the adjective
“draconian” means strict or
harsh).
Another early ruler, Solon,
increased democracy by
saying that all citizens
could participate in the
Assembly, regardless of
their social class.
He also made it illegal for
one Athenian to enslave
another Athenian. (Only
foreigners could be slaves).
Another leader named
Cleisthenes made the
Assembly more democratic
by giving all Assembly
members the power to
propose new laws.
He also created the Council
of 500 (The randomly-
selected Assembly leaders).

6. A leader of Athens during its
golden age. He had great
support from the public and
pursued 3 goals:
1. Strengthen Athenian
democracy
2. Keep the empire strong
3. Leave a legacy of a
glorious city
Pericles

7. Pericles: 3 Goals
Strengthen Athenian
Democracy
Pericles increased the
number of Assembly leaders
who were paid salaries.
Before, a poor person who
was randomly selected to
be a leader would be forced
to turn the job down
because the job would not
pay him a salary. This meant
that only wealthy people
were leaders of Athens.
With more salaried jobs,
poor people were able to
participate more in
Athenian leadership
positions.
Keep the Empire
Strong
Pericles used money from
the Delian League to make
the Athenian Navy the most
powerful in Greece. This
allowed Athens to maintain
control over the other city-
states.
Leave a Legacy of a
Glorious City
Pericles used the wealth of
Athens to sponsor artists
and architects to beatify
the city with sculptures,
monuments, and new
buildings.
The Parthenon:
Temple to Athena
Located on the Acropolis of Athens

8. • Classical art—values simple
clean lines, harmony, order,
balance, & proportion
Glorious Art and Architecture
Both mind & body
were valued

9. Drama
• Greeks were the first to
call drama an art form; Greek
plays included music, a
chorus, dance, and poetry.
Most plays were about famous
people and events, like
Oedipus the King by
Sophocles.
• Two forms of drama:
tragedy and comedy
• Tragedy—tells story of
heroes’ downfall; themes of
love, hate, war
• Comedy—makes fun of
politics and respected people;
uses slapstick humor

10. PHILOSOPHERS
Philosopher means “lovers of wisdom.” They were
people who taught and wrote about human
nature and life on earth.

11. Socrates
• Socrates never left any of his own
writing, but other philosophers
like Plato often wrote about
Socrates. He believed in
questioning everything as the way
to learn truth.
• He was convicted of corrupting
young people by teaching them to
question the government and the
gods, so he was sentenced to
death in 399 B.C.
• He lives on today in thousands of
classrooms around the world
where teachers use the “Socratic
method” of questioning.
“I know that I am
intelligent, because
I know that I know
nothing.”

12. Plato
• Plato was a student of Socrates.
• In 387 B.C., he established a
school in Athens called the
Academy; it lasted 900 years.
• He wrote a book called The
Republic in which he stated that
the best form of government was
NOT direct democracy. He
believed that people are too
ignorant to govern themselves and
should elect the wisest members
of society to rule.
• His story “The Allegory of the
Cave” is famously used to teach us
many lessons.
“Knowledge is the
food of the soul.”

13. In plato’s allegory, prisoners are chained inside a cave facing the cave
wall. They can’t turn around to see what’s behind them. They have
lived here their ENTIRE lives, so this is the only world they know.

14. Sometimes, people, animals and objects walk past the cave entrance,
casting shadows on the cave walls.

15. The prisoners can see shapes of shadows moving across the walls. They
can also hear echoes of sounds.

16. The prisoners can see shapes of shadows moving across the walls. They
can also hear echoes of sounds.

17. The prisoners can see shapes of shadows moving across the walls. They
can also hear echoes of sounds.

18. The prisoners give names to the shadows.

19. One day, a prisoner is set free!

20. He leaves the cave for the first time, and is blinded by the sun.
At first, his new discovery confuses him.

21. But he eventually learns that the shapes on the cave wall were only
the shadows of real objects. Now, he understands a greater truth
about reality.

22. But he eventually learns that the shapes on the cave wall were only
the shadows of real objects. Now, he understands a greater truth
about reality.

23. He returns to the cave to tell his friends about what he learned.
However, they have never experienced it for themselves, so they don’t
understand what he’s talking about, and they don’t believe him.

24. In fact, they become insulted when their friend tells them that they
don’t understand the truth, because they feel like he is calling them
stupid. This makes them angry at him, and they don’t want to leave the
cave even when their friend tries to free them.

25. In the minds of the cave prisoners, the outside world does not exist.
However, that does not make it any less real.

26. Allegory of the cave
Lessons it teaches us:
• Human understanding of truth is limited by
our experiences. We can never fully
understand reality because we can only know
about the things we have experienced.
What is the allegory?:
• An allegory is a story with a hidden
meaning, where characters and events
represent ideas. It’s sort of like an
extended metaphor.
• The slave that leaves the cave represents
a philosopher. He understands more about
reality and truth than average people do,
and it is hard for him to teach others the
truth because they are stubborn and
ignorant.

27. Aristotle
• Aristotle was a student of Plato.
• Opened his own school in Athens
called the Lyceum.
• His work provides the basis for the
scientific method, which we still
use today.
• He was the tutor of the prince of
Macedon…who grew up to become
Alexander the Great.
• He wrote books on how to be
happy, how to be good, and how to
be a persuasive speaker (Ethos,
Pathos, Logos)
“It is the mark of an
educated mind to be
able to entertain a
thought without
accepting it.”

28. Yes: The idea of democracy started to spread. There
were major breakthroughs in philosophy and the best
Greek art was produced during this time. The idea of
meritocracy developed (that your worth is determined by
your knowledge and skills, not by your social class).
No: Life expectancy was short. There was still very
limited rights for women and the poor. Also, slavery
existed. The Athenian democracy was limited: not many
people were considered citizens.
Was it really a Golden Age?

29. Athenians and Spartans Go to War
As Athens expanded and became more powerful,
tensions grew between Sparta and Athens. Sparta
was unhappy that Athens was the leader of Greece,
and their fundamental beliefs with the Athenians
were almost the polar opposite.
In 431 BC, Sparta declared war on Athens.

30. ATHENIANSSPARTANS
-Militaristic.
Obsessed with
warfare and
physical
prowess.
-Government
was led by
kings and an
elected senate
of only wealthy
Spartan
citizens.
-Cared about
education and
maintaining a
balance
between
military
strength and
intelligence.
- Government
was a direct
democracy. The
idea of
democracy was
born in Athens.

32. Both had slaves
Both were
city-states
Had a powerful
army
Had a powerful
navy
Both boys and girls
went to school, and both
received military training.
Only boys went to school.
Girls were educated by
their mothers.
Main value was strength:
babies with deformities
or weakness were
killed after birth.
Main value was
education: The greatest
philosophers lived in
Athens.
Both had
assemblies
of male citizens
Cared about art.
Spartans promoted a
simple lifestyle. They
dressed in simple clothes
and ate simple, hardy
food.
Athenians desired a
lavish lifestyle with
fancy homes, clothing,
banquets, and parties.

33. Peloponnesian War
-Athens had the advantage of money and a navy. Sparta
had the advantage of land power.
-Pericles persuaded the Athenians to let the Spartans
come to them instead of attacking first. He thought
they could fight from behind their city walls or wait for
the opportunity for a naval battle to arise.
Athenian City Walls Today -Half of the city-states allied
with Athens (Athenian
League), the other half sided
with Sparta (Spartan
League).

35. • A terrible plague infected Athens and killed 1/3 of
the population, including Pericles.
• Both sides created a truce in 421 BC.
• Six years later, Athens broke the truce by attacking
one of Sparta’s strongest allies.
• Athens was brutally defeated in this attack, and
the Peloponnesian War was over.

36. LEGACY
Much of Greek civilization had been
damaged and destroyed.
Despite the fact that the Spartans
were claiming to “fight for Greece”,
after their victory much of the
Eastern lands of Greece fell under
Persian rule.
The “Golden Age” had
come to an end. The real winners were the
Macedonians