Age of Pericles

1. Age of Pericles
460-429 BCE

2. Age of Pericles (460-429 BCE)
Athens in the 5th
century BCE
experienced a great
largely due to the
statesman Pericles,
leader of Athens.

3. Age of Pericles (460-429 BCE)
 Under Pericles, Athens developed
the world’s first democracy
 It was a great golden age which
occurred mostly between the
Persian Wars and the
Peloponnesian Wars (5th
Century
B.C.E.).

4. Age of Pericles
We’ve traced the rise of
democracy in Athens, but
Pericles extended
democracy so that most
adult males had equal
voice.

5. Age of Pericles
 Pericles had Athens rebuilt after
destruction in Persian Wars
 An older temple that was dedicated to
the Greek Goddess Athena (destroyed by
the Persians) was rebuilt into the
Parthenon.

6. Architectural Achievement for
the Greeks
•Use of Doric Columns

7. Age of Pericles
Pericles hired the
best architects and
sculptors to rebuild the
Acropolis.
Phidias was hired to sculpt the statues
which once graced the Parthenon as
well as the giant statue that once stood
inside

13. Golden Age Achievements
 During the Golden Age, art, drama,
philosophy, science, mathematics, and
architecture flourished in Athens.

14. Golden Age Achievements
 Philosophy: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
 Drama: Aeschylus, Sophocles
 Poetry: Homer (Iliad and Odyssey)
 History: Herodotus, Thucydides
 Sculpture: Phidias
 Science: Archimedes, Hippocrates
 Mathematics: Euclid, Pythagoras
 Architecture: Parthenon and columns – Doric
(Parthenon), Ionian, and Corinthian

15. Socrates - Philosopher
 Founder of Western Philosophy
 Socratic Method
 Inquiry and debate between
individuals with opposing viewpoints
 Questioned the notion of “might makes right”
 Put to death by drinking hemlock
 Known through the writings of his student,
Plato

16. Plato – Philosopher
 Student of Socrates
 Laid the foundation of philosophy
and science
 Wrote The Republic
 Founder of the Academy in
Athens
 First higher education facility in
the western world
 Teacher to Aristotle

17. Aristotle - Philosopher
 Student of Plato and teacher
of Alexander the Great
 Greek Philosopher
 Geocentric Theory
 Geo = earth
 Centric = center
 Earth at center of universe
 Later expanded by Ptolemy
in Rome

18. Aeschylus - Drama
 The roots of Greek drama are in religious
festivals for the gods, chiefly Dionysus, the god
of wine in the City of Dionysia
 Believed to have won 13 times at the City of
Dionysia
 Wrote 70-90 plays
 Only 7 tragedies survived
 The Persians
 Seven against Thebes
Modern picture of the Theatre of
Dionysus in Athens where many of
Aeschylus's plays were performed

19. Sophocles - Drama
 Like Aeschylus, wrote Greek tragedies
including the Theban plays
 Antigone
 Oedipus
 Won many competitions in Athens and the City
of Dionysia for his tragedies
 Influenced the development of dramas by
adding a third actor which reduced the chorus’
role and allowed characters to be developed
more in-depth

20. Homer - Literature
 Epic poet, 8th century BCE
 Epic poetry – lengthy narrative
poem
 Author
 Iliad
 One of the oldest works of Western Literature
 Takes place during the Trojan War
 Odyssey
 Sequel to Iliad, Odysseus returning
home after the fall of Troy

21. Herodotus - Historian
 5th
Century BCE Historian
 Called the “Father of History”
 The Histories
 1st
historian known to collect
his materials systematically,
test their accuracy to a point
and arrange them in a well-
constructed and vivid
narrative

22. Thucydides - Historian
 Greek Historian
 “Father of Scientific
History”
 Evidence gathering
and analysis
 History of the
Peloponnesian War
 27 year war between
Athens and Sparta

23. Phidias - Sculptor
 Greek sculptor, painter and architect
 Statue of Zeus at Olympia
 One of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World
 Statue of Athena in Parthenon (hired by
Pericles)

24. Archimedes - Science
 Advances of Physics
 Lever
 “Give me a place to stand and I will
move the earth!”
 Screw pump to move water

26. Hippocrates - Science
 “Father of Western Medicine”
 Greatly advanced the
systematic study of medicine
 Humorism
 Belief in the 4 Humors
 Later disproved

27. Euclid - Mathematics
 Known as the
“Father of Geometry”
 His Elements is the
most influential work
in the history of
mathematics

28. Pythagoras - Mathematics
 “Everything is made of numbers”
 Meant that mathematical relationships
explained the basic order in nature.
 Pythagorean Theorem
The sum of two squares whose
sides are the two legs (blue-a
and red-b) is equal to the area
of the square whose side is the
hypotenuse (purple-c).
A2
+ B2
= C2

29. Quick Check
1. Who created the lever?
2. Who wrote the Iliad?
3. Who was the teacher of Alexander the
Great?
4. Who sculpted the statue of Athena in the
Parthenon?
5. Who was considered the Father of History
and wrote a book The Histories?

30. Architectural Achievements
Columns
 Column is a vertical structural element that
transmits, through compression, the weight
of the structure above to other structural
elements below
 3 types were used in ancient Greece
 Doric
 Ionic
 Corinthian

31. Doric Columns Corinthian ColumnsIonic Columns

32. Doric Columns
 Originally stood on flat
pavement in front of a temple
 20 concave grooves around
column up to a flat capital (top
piece)
Modern reproduction
of Doric Columns
Parthenon has Doric Columns

33. Ionic Columns
 Established in Ionia (in
Asia Minor)
 Stands on a base
 Volutes on capital
 Spiral/Twisted formation
Temple of Artemis

34. Corinthian Columns
 Most ornate of the columns
 Fluted Columns
 Elaborate Capitals
decorated with ecanthus
leaves and scrolls
Modern Corinthian Columns in New York
Post Office

35. Quick Check
 Which Column?