Temples generally followed the same basic rectangular plan, although a round temple, known as a tholos, were used at some sites in starting in the Classical period. Temples were oriented east to face the rising sun. Patrons would leave offerings for the gods, such as small votives, large statues, libations or costly goods.
Due to the wealth dedicated to the gods, the temples often became treasuries that held and preserved the wealth of the city. Greek temples would be extensively decorated, and their construction was a long and costly endeavor. Rituals and animal sacrifices in honor of the god or goddess would take place outside, in front of the temple. Rituals often included a large number of people, and sacrifice was a messy business that was best done outdoors.
The development and decoration of temples is a primary focus in the study of Greek art and culture. Sacrificial scene : Scene of a sacrifice. Attic red-figure bell krater. Circa — BCE. Athens, Greece. Privacy Policy. Skip to main content. Ancient Greece. Search for:. Introduction to Ancient Greece. Introduction to Ancient Greece Ancient Greek culture spans over a thousand years, from the earliest civilizations to the cultures that became the Ancient Greeks. Key Takeaways Key Points Ancient Greek culture is noted for its government, art, architecture, philosophy, and sports, all of which became foundations for modern western society.
It was admired and adopted by others, including Alexander the Great and the Romans, who helped spread Greek culture around the world. Before Greek culture took root in Greece, early civilizations thrived on the Greek mainland and the Aegean Islands. The fall of these cultures and the aftermath, known as the Dark Age, is believed to be the time when the Homeric epics were first recited.
Greek culture began to develop during the Geometric, Orientalizing, and Archaic periods, which lasted from to BCE. During this time the population of city-states began to grow, Panhellenic traditions were established, and art and architecture began to reflect Greek values. During these periods, Greece flourished and the polis of Athens saw its Golden Age under the leadership of Pericles.
However, city-state rivalries led to wars, and Greece was never truly stable until conquered. The Hellenistic period in Greece is the last period before Greek culture becomes a subset of Roman hegemony. It marks the spread of Greek culture across the Mediterranean. Key Terms polis : A city, or a city-state. In fact, some claimed that truths were only meaningful when placed in a particular context, and seen from a particular point of view.
They rejected the notion of the supernatural and universal standards of morality and justice. Some went on the state that nothing really exists, the material world is just an illusion. Some taught that all the meaning there is in the universe resides in the words we use. Language is therefore a tool to give things meaning. In due course sophists came to be associated with specious reasoning, using words to mean whatever one wants them to mean. Greek philosophy reached its high point in the careers of three thinkers who lived and worked in Athens, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.
Socrates BC challenged the thinking of his contemporaries by posing penetrating questions. In this way he aimed to strip away the prejudices we all bring to our thinking.
He believed that reason and clear thinking could lead men to truth and happiness. He was executed by poisoning. Plato believed that the material world is not real, but an imperfect image of the real, or ideal. A bust of the philosopher Plato. He spent some time as tutor to the future king of Macedon, who would become known to history as Alexander the Great. After this, he founded the Lyceum in Athens. Aristotle left behind a vast body of work. To help clear thinking, he developed a system of formal rules of logic.
These became extremely influential in future Western thought. He believed ideas were indistinguishable from matter, in that they could exists only through material objects. Greek thought would continue to evolve in Hellenistic times, with the Stoics and Epicurians becoming particularly prominent. Thales of Miletus is usually regarded as the first prominent Greek mathematician, and he is credited with developing the methodologies of observation, experimentation and deduction, which are still used today.
One of the main concerns for Greek philosophers was the nature of the universe, and their thinking about this had theological dimensions — Heraclitus BC , for example, believed that the universe pervaded by Logos, or divine will, and Xenophanes BC taught that was a supreme being, and attacked the idea of a pantheon of gods — and some was more along what we today would recognize as scientific lines.
Empedocles BC proposed that all matter was indestructible and eternal. He was the first to come up with the idea that matter exists in only four basic forms — earth, air, fire and water. Different balances lead to different kinds of materials. Democritus c. Anaximander BC asserted the theory of organic evolution, with the earliest animals being fish, which later adapted to different environments to become land animals and human beings.
In medicine, the Greeks dissected animals to refine their ideas on anatomy. They located the optic nerve and recognized the brain as the locus of thought. They discovered that blood flows to and from the heart. Hippocrates c. He advocated rest, proper diet, and exercise for a healthy life; he knew the uses of many drugs, and he helped improve surgical practices.
He is considered one of the key figures in the history of Western medicine. In astronomy, the first three-dimensional models to explain the apparent motion of the planets were developed in the 4th century BC. Aristotle advanced the scientific method by his insistence on observation of the material world being an important root to knowledge.
Together with his rules of logic see the section above, Philosophy , this laid some important foundations for the scientific method in the West. He put this method into action himself by classified many plants and animals, so making a great contribution to botany and zoology.
Greek mathematics and science continued to make advances in Hellenistic times. The civilization of ancient Greece has been immensely influential on subsequent world history. The language, politics, educational systems, philosophy, science, and the arts of the ancient Greeks were crucial in laying the foundations of Western civilization.
The Byzantine Empire inherited Classical Greek culture from the Hellenistic world , without Latin intermediation, and the preservation of classical Greek learning in medieval Byzantine tradition further exerted strong influence on the Slavs and later on the Islamic civilization of the Golden Age. Through these channels it came again to Western European in renewed force, and was hugely instrumental in stimulating the Italian Renaissance.
The art and architecture of ancient Greece have had an enormous impact on later cultures, from ancient times to the present day. This is particularly the case with sculpture and architecture. Roman art was largely a continuation of Greek — in fact, in many cases it was actually executed by Greek artists. The distinctive Persian art of the medieval period incorporated the plasticity of Greek art and solidity of Mesopotamian.
The Ghandara style of northern India similarly embodied the artistic heritage of two quite different civilizations, ancient India and Greece, and had a large impact on the Buddhist art of northern India, central Asia and Eastern Asia. In the West, following the Italian Renaissance after c.
From that time until well into the 19th century, the classical tradition derived from Greece and Rome was the dominant strand in Western civilization.
Ancient Greek mathematics contributed many important developments, including the basic rules of geometry, the idea of formal mathematical proof, and discoveries in number theory and applied mathematics. It is now increasingly recognized that Greek mathematics owed a great deal to Mesopotamia; however, the Greeks made many advances of their own. The discoveries of Greek mathematicians are foundational to modern mathematics.
Greek science provided Islamic and medieval European thought with its world view. The Greeks came up with a huge range of rationally argued propositions about nature and the universe, which, even when dramatically wrong, provided hypotheses which modern Western thinkers have been able to test, often demolish, and in some cases corroborate.
Click here to track the history of Ancient Greece through maps. Other maps which include references to ancient Greek civilization including the Minoan and Hellenistic periods , and show the impact of theAncient Greeks on a wide area of the world, are:.
Click here for an overview of Minoan civilization. Click here for an overview of the Hellenistic world. Click here for an overview history of ancient Europe at the time when Greek civilization was flourishing. Click here for an overview history of the Ancient Middle East , showing the important role Greek civilization played in that region and vice versa. The following references show the influence of the Ancient Greeks on different parts of the world:.
The History of Ancient Rome. The History of Ancient Palestine. The History of Ancient Turkey. The History of Ancient Syria. Burn, A. Morkot, R. Frost, F. Tzorakis, G. Talbert, R. McEvedy, C. Despite its title, this small book, with its lovely clear maps, only covers the ancient West. Haywood, J. This book covers the rise of all major ancient civilizations, but only up to c. The text and the maps are excellent.
Grant, M. Connolly, P. For an overview of the archaeology of ancient Greece, I found the following useful and enjoyable due to its lavish illustrations : Renfrew, C. A work on general archaeology aimed more at students, but readable and with very good coverage of ancient Greece, is Scarre, C.
For an insightful look at government in ancient Greece, especially at how Athenian democracy worked, see Finer, S. See also masses of information on the topic in Ancient Greece. A website called Crystalinks has a very informative section.
Subscribe for more great content — and remove ads. Upgrade to Premium to Remove Ads. One of the most brilliant civilizations in world history , that of the ancient Greeks laid many of the foundations for the whole of Western civilization. It produced radical innovations in a wide range of fields — philosophy, science, art, architecture, government and politics, and more.
Signup to our Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter to receive updates on new articles, lesson plans and special offers. Email address:. First Name:. Last Name:. Sophocles produces "Antigone" in Athens Peloponnesian War resumes Euripedes produces "Medea" in Athens. Athenians resume hostilities Spartans defeat Athens at Mantinea. Athens expedition to Syracuse Alcibiades defects to Sparta. Athens surrenders to Sparta Thirty tyrants rule Athens. Macedonian army defeats Athens and its allies at Chaeronea League of Corinth founded.
Phillip II Assassinated. Alexander the Great becomes king of Macedonia. Alexander the Great defeats Persian army at Granicus river in Anatolia. Hellenistic Period Macedonia divided into four republics. Rome rules Greece henceforth. Cyprus is divided into Greek and Turkish areas, and is monitored by the United Nations to make sure neither country starts a fight over the island.
Family life is considered very important in Greece. Children often live with their parents, even after they get married. Greeks live long lives and it is thought that their varied diet of olives, olive oil, lamb, fish, squid, chickpeas and lots of fruits and vegetables keep them healthy. Olive trees have been cultivated in Greece for over 6, years, and every village has its own olive groves.
Nearly two-thirds of Greeks live in large cities. Athens is the largest city, with over 3. As a result, air pollution can be a big problem in the capital, where thick clouds of smog form, known locally as nefos. Greece abolished their monarchy in and became a parliamentary republic. Under the new constitution, there is a president and a prime minister. The prime minister has the most power, and is the leader of the party running the country.
The president selects cabinet ministers who run the different government departments. The parliament, called the Vouli , has only one house with members who are elected every four years. Greece became part of the European Union in While you wait for it to be checked and approved why not to add a pre-selected message and a cool badge. Super duper amazing for school projects. I always have to use this for help on homework Thanks for all your help.
See all. These tales are known as Greek mythology
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