Chapter 5 Greece Sec 1

Greek Mythology Chapter 5, Section 1
The Greeks believed that gods and goddesses controlled nature and shaped their lives. Myths: traditional stories about gods and heroes. Greek mythology expressed the Greek peoples religious beliefs.
The Greeks believed that the gods and goddesses controlled nature. According to Greek myth, the god Zeus ruled the sky and threw lightning bolts, the goddess Demeter made the crops grow, and the god Poseidon caused earthquakes.
Zeus: the chief god Athena: the goddess of wisdom and crafts Apollo: the god of the sun and poetry Ares: the god of war Aphrodite: the goddess of love Poseidon: the god of the seas and earthquakes These gods and goddesses lived on Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece.
Greek gods and goddesses were not thought to be all powerful. According to Greek myths, even though gods had special powers, they looked like human beings and acted like them. They married, had children, quarreled, played tricks on each other, and fought wars.
Because Greeks sought their gods favor, they followed many rituals. They prayed to their gods and gave them gifts. In return, they hoped that the gods would grant good fortune to them.
If you had the ability to be told about your future, would you? Why or why not?
The Greeks believed that each person had a fate or destiny. They believed that certain events were going to happen no matter what they did. They also believed in prophecy. (What is a prophecy?) The Greeks believed that the gods gave prophecies to people to warn them about the future in time to change it.
To find out about the future, many Greeks visited an oracle. This was a sacred shrine where a priest or priestess spoke for a god or goddess. The most famous was the oracle at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. The oracle chamber was deep inside the temple. The room had an opening in the floor where volcanic smoke hissed from a crack in the earth.
A priestess sat on a tripoda three legged stoolin the oracle chamber and listened to questions. The priests translated her answers.
State leaders or their messengers traveled to Delphi to ask advice from the oracle of Apollo. The priestess in the oracle often gave answers in the form of a riddle.
Main Idea: Greek poetry and fables taught Greek values. Greek poems and stories are the oldest in the Western world. For hundreds of years, Europeans and Americans have used these early works as models for their own poems and stories.
Shakespeare, for example, borrowed many Greek plots and settings The earliest Greek stories were epics. These long poems told about heroic deeds. The first great epics of early Greece were the Iliad and the Odyssey.
The poet Homer wrote these epics during the 700s B.C. He based them on stories of a war between Greece and the city of Troy, which once existed in what is today northwestern Turkey.
In The Iliad, a prince of Troy kidnaps the wife of the king of Sparta. The kidnapping outrages the Greeks.
The king of Mycenae and the brother of the king of Sparta lead the Greeks in an attack on Troy.
The battle for Troy drags on for ten years. Finally, the Greeks come up with a plan to take the city. They build a huge, hollow, wooden horse. The best Mycenaean warriors hide inside the horse. The Trojans, thinking the horse was a gift from the Greeks, celebrate and roll the giant horse into the city. That night, the Greek warriors quietly climb from the horse and capture the city.
About 550 B.C., a Greek slave named Aesop made up his now famous fables. A fable is a short tale that teaches a lesson. In most of Aesops fables ,animals talk and act like people. These often funny stories point out human flaws as well as strengths.
Each fable ends with a message or moral. One of the best-known fables is The Tortoise and the Hare.
What happens in this story?

Some of the phrases we hear today came from Aesops fables. Sour grapes, a wolf in sheeps clothing, and appearances often are deceiving are examples.
What is drama?
A story told by actors who pretend to be characters in a story. In a drama, actors speak, show emotion, and imitate the actions of the characters they represent.
Tragedies and Comedies:

Plays were performed in outdoor theaters known as amphitheaters In a tragedy, a person struggles to overcome difficulties but fails. In a comedy, the story ends happily. Today we use the word comedy to mean a story filled with humor. The word actually means any drama that has a happy ending.
Greek stories dealt with big questions, such as:
What is the nature of good and evil? What rights should people have? What role do gods play in our lives.
DUE TOMORROW: Please find an example of Greek Drama. Describe whether the play is a tragedy or comedy and write a brief summary.
Greek art and architecture expressed Greek ideas of beauty and harmony. Think back to Chapter 2. How does Greek art compare to art from the Egyptians?
Artists in ancient Greece believed in certain ideas and tried to show those ideas in their work.
These ideas have never gone out of style.

Greek artists wanted people to see reason, moderation, balance, and harmony in their work.
We know that the Greeks painted murals, but none of them have survived. However, we can still see example of Greek painting on Greek pottery.
Large vases often had scenes from Greek myths.
Small drinking cups showed scenes from everyday life.
In addition to making pottery, the Greeks were skilled architects. Architecture is the art of designing and building structures.
The most important architecture was the temple dedicated to a god or goddess. The best-known example is the Parthenon. (We saw this in Alecs photos from his trip!)
Which type of column is sitting on Miss Sees desk?
The Greeks decorated their temples with sculpture. The favorite subject of the Greek artists was the human body. Greek sculptors did not copy their subjects exactly, flaws and all. Instead they tried to show their ideal version of perfection and beauty. They were heroically nude.

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Greek Mythology Chapter 5, Section 1

What happens in this story?

Tragedies and Comedies:

Greek stories dealt with big questions, such as:

These ideas have never gone out of style.

Large vases often had scenes from Greek myths.

Small drinking cups showed scenes from everyday life.

Which type of column is sitting on Miss Sees desk?

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