Summary: Democracy And Greece's Golden Age Of Athens

Terms and Names

m) helots – basically peasants that were required to stay and work on a piece of land. In Sparta, these were the Messenians because their land was taken over. They were to give half of the crops to them and when they tried to rebel they failed to do so.

The Persian Wars

The Persian Wars, started from the Persian Empire trying to get revenge on the Athenians. Even though they were outnumbered, the Athenians still won with their new weapons and army formations, but Xerxes, the son was determined to invade back after a decade. Eventually the Athenians overcame them by fighting over the sea, creating the Delian League that put the Athenian empire in a higher position over other city-states.

Terms and Names

n) phalanx – an army formation of the Greeks, where hoplites (foot soldiers) stood side-by-side. They carried a spear and shield in their hands and it became a powerful formation to use in fighting.
o) Persian Wars – from 490-479 B.C. and began from the Persian Empire wanting revenge on the Athenians who helped the Ionians to revolt against them. Though the Athenians won against them at first, the Persian King’s son Xerxes led a huge invasion that successfully marched through the east side of Greece. However, the tides turned when Themistocles planned an invasion of the city and instead fight on the sea, defeating the Persians once again. The result of this gave the Greeks more confidence and liberty, especially Athens. The Delian League was created also.

Chapter 5.3 – Democracy and Greece’s Golden Age

Pericles’ Plan for Athens
The Golden Age of Athens lasted for around 50 years and was led by Pericles.

He took part in strengthening their government in a direct democracy, which not many city-states followed. He also improved their navy, as a part of trading and defense, along with using the money of the Delian league to glorify their city.

Terms and Names

p) direct democracy – the Athenians form of government, where citizens have the power. Pericles was able to put this in place by having more officials being paid. Unfortunately this was limited to citizens that were men and of age. Plus, you would have to be elected first.

Glorious Art and Architecture

As part of Pericles plan to glorify the city Athens, he set out to have the Parthenon temple built. It was to honor their god Athena and he let Phidias do what he wanted, which included a giant statue of the god. Many sculptors too created statues that represented classical art.

Terms and Names

q) classical art – examples of these were all over Athens and were basically pieces of art that captured the ideal beauty/grace of humans. It represented the harmony, order, and more. Specifically in statues, the faces showed no significant emotions but a serene

face.

Drama and History
The Greeks had two types of drams, comedy and tragedy. They performed these in plays that included colorful costumes, singing and much more. History-wise, there are not exact records from the Dorian time, but Thucydides speculated that historical events can repeat during the course of time.
Terms and Names
r) tragedy – a type of drama in Greek culture. These were much more serious and would have a hero who would have a downfall of some sort. Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides were some of the famous dramatists who wrote tragedies.
s) comedy – on the other hand, this type of drama poked fun at many situations and included crude humor. However, many were not offended because of how open everything was. Aristophanes is said to of wrote the first one.

Athenians and Spartans Go to War
Due to how well Athens was doing, many city-states began to loathe it, especially Sparta, resulting in the start of the Peloponnesian War. Even with Athens’ strong navy, and Sparta’s strong army, both were weakened and signed a truce. After a few years, the Athenians attempted to destroy one of Sparta’s allies, but failed, resulting in surrender.
Terms and Names
t) Peloponnesian War– lasted from 431-404 B.C., between Athens and Sparta. The first part of it weakened both sides into signing a truce, but the Athenians broke that by trying to crush Syracuse, a wealthy ally of Sparta. Instead, they were crushed, weakening their entire empire. Though they lasted for about nine years against the Spartans, they were forced into surrendering.

Philosophers Search for Truth
With their lost in the war, people wondered about their values and many philosophers rose to look for the truth. Socrates, along with his student Plato and his student Aristotle were some of most famous philosophers at the time, all with slightly different ideas.
Terms and Names
u) philosophers – this was what the Greeks called the thinkers who searched for a truth and mean ‘lovers of wisdom’. Their thoughts were based on the universe being created in an orderly way that could be modified and also how people come to understand from logic and reason. Sophists were a group of these and questioned the people’s traditional values and ideas. Socrates, Plato and Aristotle were philosophers too.
v) Socrates – a philosopher (470-399 B.C.) in Athens and criticized the Sophists thinking. One of his famous quotes is said to be “The unexamined life is not worth living” and he encourage people to question their own beliefs. However, he was sent to death for allegedly corrupting minds and not caring about the gods. He died by drinking hemlock around the age of 70.
w) Plato – lived from (427-347 B.C.) and was a philosopher. He was also the student of Socrates and wrote the famous “The Republic” where he expressed his thoughts on having an ideal society where people who be classified into groups. He proposed philosopher being the king for their knowledge.
x) Aristotle – another famous philosopher in Athens (384-322 B.C) and was the student of Plato. He was one to having questioned everything and came up with a method to argue with logic, which is something that modern scientist use, known as the scientific method. He taught the son of King Phillip II, Alexander of Macedonia.
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