Ethan Blog Western Civ

A direct democracy is a form of government in which citizens rule directly and not through representatives, was an important legacy of Periclean Athens.  Classic Art was their values of harmony, order, balance, and proportion became the standard  A tragedy was serious drama about common themes such as love, hate, war, or betrayal Comedy contained scenes filled with slapstick situations and crude humor  Peloponnesian war was a war between Athens and Sparta that lasted several years that ended by a truce  Philosophers were people determined to seek truth no matter where it took them  Socrates believed that absolute standards did exist for truth and justice Plato wrote down conversations of Socrates "as a means of Philosophical investigation  Aristotle questioned the nature of the world and of human belief, thought, and knowledge 2. The biggest goal Pericoles had that influenced todays world was the fact that he wanted to have a strong army and na...

Today in class we had our first test of Western Civilization. I feel like I did pretty well on the test. I feel like i did well because i did everything I needed to do. I studied the powerpoint that he made and the slides he told us to do. I also, studied my notes that I took in class yesterday so I knew what to study and what type of questions would be on the test. But there was still a few questions that I was not one hundred percent sure on but I feel like I still got them right from what I studied and what I learned in class. So I feel like i did very well on the first test in Western Civilization so I have a goos starting point for the rest of the school year in this class.

Greece is a mountainous peninsula mountains cover three-quarters of Greece approximately 2000 islands in the Ionian and Aegean Seas this combination shaped Greece’s culture they had many skilled sailors and shipbuilders also farmers, metalworkers, weavers, potters they had poor / limited natural resources, so they needed to trade it was difficult to unite the ancient Greeks because of the terrain they developed small, independent communities (city-states)  that’s who they were loyal to • although fertile valleys cover one quarter of the peninsu la, only about 20% is arable (suitable for farming) • Greek diet consists of grains, grapes, olives & fish Mycenaean kings dominated Greece from 1600-1100 BCE Dorians moved into this war-torn region, dominating from 1150 - 750 BCE Dorians were far less advanced the trade-based economy collapsed writing disappeared for 400 years talk about a culture in decline

more reforms (around 500 BCE): allowed all citizens to submit laws for debate at the assembly created the Council of Five Hundred (members chosen at random, to counsel the assembly) but… only free adult male property owners born in Athens were considered citizens sorry, women, slaves, “foreigners” Hippias was a tyrant who ruled from 527 to 510 BCE his brother was murdered, and his rule became harsh eventually he was expelled from Athens (this is called being ostracized ) in revenge, he began working with the Persian king Darius I , helping them invade Marathon with Hippias gone, Isagoras and Cleisthenes (both were aristocrats) engaged in a power struggle Isagoras had support from some fellow aristocrats, plus from Sparta Cleisthenes had support of the majority of Athenians Isagoras becomes archon eponymous (tyrant) He ostracizes Cleisthenes  Cleisthenes’ supporters - and the ordinary Athenian citizens! - revolt against Isagoras’ t...

saw the value of tapping into the talents, intelligence, and energies of the non-aristocrats (the middle class citizens) too bad he didn’t realize the value of women - but, hey, one step at a time Cleisthenes - definitely a member of the elite very rich insulated from the “hoi polloi” but… a crafty politician citizens could participate - but only one-fifth of Athenians were citizens (free adult male property owners born in Athens) after several years, Athens practiced a direct democracy it’s where the state (or in this case, the city-state) is ruled by its citizens rule is based on citizenship majority rule decides vote in the agora , citizens argued, made speeches, then voted with white stones (yes) / black stones (no) it was first practiced in Athens under Cleisthenes by around 500 BCE Poseidon (god of the sea) interfered with Odysseus trying to return home Aphrodite (goddess of love) had lovers of both gods and men Dionysus (god of w...

the “Homeric question” - Homer may have been a mythical creation himself a blind wandering minstrel; an heroic figure Iliad and Odyssey may be the culmination of many generations of storytelling or…Homer actually existed and he was just that awesome Warring City States polis : fundamental political unit, made up of a city and the surrounding countryside politics (affairs of the cities), policy, political, etc. monarchy : rule by a single person (a king, in Greece) aristocracy : rule by a small group of noble, very rich, landowning families oligarchy : wealthy groups, dissatisfied with aristocratic rule, who seized power (often with military help) tyrant : powerful individual who seized control by appealing to the common people for support  During the seventh and sixth centuries BCE, aristocrats ran the show in most of Greece Back then, rich people wielded much more influence in society, and held much more governmental power, than the middle ...

Greeks have fought in many wars over time Trojan War - fought around 1200 BCE part of Greek mythology - until the 19th cent. most historians thought it was fictional because gods and goddesses got involved  the goddesses Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera were given the “apple of discord” Paris judged Aphrodite as “the fairest” Aphrodite made Helen (who was married) fall in love with Paris, who took her back to Troy sure… except a war was really fought in Troy so, the Dorians moved into this war-torn region, dominating from 1150 - 750 BCE Dorians were far less advanced the trade-based economy collapsed writing disappeared for 400 years talk about a culture in decline around 1200 BCE the mysterious “sea people” began to invade Mycenae, and burnt palace after palace Greek oral tradition - stories passed on by word of mouth Homer lived at the end of these “Greek Dark Ages” he composed stories (epics) of the Trojan War c. 750-700 BCE The Ili...