Book Notes and Questions

1. direct democracy- Direct democracy was a huge part of Athens success, and it is where the individual citizen rules directly and not through a representative.

classical art- Athenians began to see the value in art and spent lots of money on supplies such as gold and marble to make these sculptures. Values of harmony, order, balance, and proportion became the standard for this.

tragedy- A type of play created in Ancient Greece that was a serious topic based on the themes such as love, hate, war or betrayal. Had fatal flaw (hubris)

comedy-  A type of play created in Ancient Greece that contained more humorous content. Had slapstick comedy and crude humor, and often made fun of politics.

Peloponnesian War- A war between the two city states Athens and Sparta, which went on for many years before Sparta finally won. Athenians trapped themselves in their city walls and a disease wiped out 1/3 of their population, and then the Spartans invaded.

philosopher- Great thinkers that were determined to seek the truth, philosopher meaning "lovers of wisdom."

Socrates- A greek philosopher that thought the unexamined life was not worth living, always tried to get the deepest meaning out of your answer.

Plato- A student of Socrates and also a Greek philosopher, wrote The Republic. 

Aristotle- A student of Plato, also a Greek philosopher who questioned the nature of the world.


3. In order to strengthen Athens democracy, Pericles increased the number of working political officials that got paid. This way, only wealthier citizens could hold public office. This had more citizens engaged in self-governement than any other city state. This was then the introduction of direct democracy.

4. Pericles knew that Sparta was stronger on land, so his strategy was to avoid land battles and wait to strike from the sea. However Sparta eventually marched into Athenian territory and burned many valuable supplies such as food and homes.

5. I think some people were against Socrates way of thinking because it was so different than anything they were used to. He also questioned the Greek Gods which was very unusual to do back then and this made a lot of people uncertain of him.