Giovanna's Western Civ. Blog

today I wasnt in class because I came in late

the academic study of anything what is the nature of reality itself? why do you what you do? why do you think what you think? why do you feel what you feel? are any of my choices actually free? philos and mythos ~ science and storytelling Philosophia~the love of wisdom first universities in the western world- Plato's Academy Aristotle's Lyceum studied many subjects Philosophy came to be understood more as a way of thinking about questions what is the world like what's the nature of reality? is the world just made up of matter and energy or is there something else going on?

looked to science and logic (not the mythological gods) for explanations of how the world worked the Socratic Method fostered critical thinking “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Socrates was charged with serious crimes impiety (disrespecting the gods) corrupting the youth of Athens at his trial, he described himself as a stinging gadfly, and Athens as a lazy old horse did not deny what he had done; asked for free dinners found guilty by an Athenian jury, and sentenced to death by drinking poison hemlock (nasty way to go) Plato was a student and follower of Socrates he wrote out Socrates’ teachings, and described his trial in A pology Republic was Socrates’ discussion of justice and the ideal state - one of the most influential books on philosophy ever written Aristotle was a student of Plato he helped foster the idea of Athens as an intellectual destination his school - the Lyceum - focused on cooperative research - building o

Pericles held onto popular support for 32 years a skilful politician, inspiring speaker, and a respected general dominated life of Athens from 461 to 429 bc Age of Pericles He had three goals to strengthen Athenian democracy hold and strengthen the empire to glorify Athens Pericles increased the number of public officials who were paid salaries most positions in public office were unpaid only wealthier Athenian citizens could afford to hold public office now, even the poorest citizen could serve if elected had more citizens engaged in self-government than any other city-state in Greece Athens helped organize the Delian league Athens took over leadership of the league and dominated all the city-states in it Pericles used the money from the league's treasury to make the Athenian navy the strongest in the Mediterranean pericles also used money from the Delian league to beautify Athens Pericles' goal was to have the greatest Greek artists and architects creat

Yesterday in class we took our test on Ancient Greece. I studied really hard and I hoped it payed off. I only struggled with a few questions but other than that I think I did pretty well. We also took notes from the notebook. Direct democracy-  A form of government in which citizens rule directly and not through representatives  Classics art-  values of harmony, order, balance, and proportion became the standard  Tragedy-  A serious drama about common themes such as love, hate, war, or betrayal  Comedy-  slapstick situations and crude humor  Peloponnesion War-  A war lasting from 431 - 404 BC in which Athens and it’s allies were defeated by Sparta and its allies  Philosophers - “ lovers of wisdom” Socrates-  Believed that absolute standards did exist for truth and justice  Plato-  student of Socrates, wrote down the conversation of Socrates “ as a means of philosophical investigation” Aristotle-  questioned the nature of the world and of human belief, thought, and knowledge

Tomorrow we have a test on what we've learned so far about Ancient Greece and will be about the following: great civilization/key river Mesopotamia/ Tigris and Euphrates River Egypt/ Nile river India/ Indus River China/ Huang He River Greece's Geography  note the significance of Greece's location Describe Greece's topography Look at Greece's surroundings How would all this affect their culture A closer look what bodies of water surround Greece what large island is to the south/southeast describe where Athens and Sparta are located relative to the sea, and to each other identify Aegean Sea Ionian Sea Adriatic Sea Peloponnesus (north of the Ionian Sea) Athens Sparta  Crete Asia Minor Macedonia Geography/ Its significance Greece os a mountainous peninsula mountains cover three- quarters of Greece approx 2000 islands in the Ionian and Aegean Seas This combo shaped Greece's culture they had many skilled sailors and shipbuilders

508 BC: the ordinary people have turned on their rulers demanding freedom Athens was built around an acropolis   Socrates: most famous philosopher   Illiad and the Odessey- Homer might battles epics struggles mythical figures images of heroes are found all over Greek art Cleisthenes was not the only one to take the tales to heart a big change in the middle of the sixth century a tyrant came to power Athena; goddess of Athens welcomed by Athenians as the new ruler a man without doubt   Pisistratus reduced taxes allowed people to build farms through loans olive trees manifest in Greek culture; has many uses sold wine, silver, gold, olives for Athenian olive oil prosperity was on the rise consequences Designs on pottery was inspired by art shown capacity for extraordinary achievement  Cleisthenes saw how Athens changed 527 BPisistratusus was killed Hippias, his son took over  540 Bc Hippias brother was murdered  cruelly tortured one the of murderers wives  ki

Zeus - ruler of heaven and earth; father of Athena; god of the sky, weather, thunder, lightning, law, order, and justice.   Had a temper and was known to hurl thunderbolts. Athena- Goddess of wisdom, skill,  warfare (and peace), intelligence, battle strategy, and handicrafts. She was born from Zeus' head fully formed and armoured. A special patron of heroes - such as Odysseus. She was the patron of Athens (the city was named after her). Apollo - god of music, arts, knowledge, healing Zeus was his father, Artemis was his twin sister he’s associated with the sun, his sister with the moon Poseidon - god of the sea, rivers, floods, earthquakes brother of Zeus, king of the sea and waters Aphrodite - goddess of love, beauty, desire, sexuality her lovers included Ares (god of war), Adonis (demi-god of desire), and Anchises (a mortal who fathered a baby) Demeter - goddess of grain, harvest, agriculture Zeus’s sister Spartans Greeks

Today was quite eventful class. We decided after Mr Schick too forever to get to class we decided to be silent for the rest of class. This was to show how we should question things and not be sure who is correct. Why should we follow what we know? I think this class showed that we take into consideration what we learn and put it into effect. I would say that this was a successful silent protest to show our knowledge of ancient Greece.

What is unique about the Greeks’ relationship with their gods is the interaction with humans 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 wine) was son of Zeus (a god) and of Semele (a human princess) and on and on and on... Today we discussed Gods and Goddesses and what's real or not real. We talked about religion and the different beliefs/ views each person has. Although some people were very firm in their opinions and voiced them, I enjoyed listening to the conversation and hearing what everyone else thought about the topic.

today in class we worked on our group project creating a class textbook. my group Jamie, Faith, and Sydney were assigned the government and developing democracy. Some of the topics we cover are Rule and Order in Greek city-states Types of government aristocracy oligarchy monarchy building democracy Draco Solon Isagoras Cleisthenes Direct democracy Tyranny  Hippias

I wasn't in class today due to being at a doctors appointment