How%20did%20Greek%20philosophy%20influence%20later%20thinking?

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Greek Achievements
Main Idea The ancient Greeks made great
achievements in philosophy, literature, art, and
architecture that influenced the development of
later cultures and ideas.

• How did Greek philosophy influence later
  thinking?
• What types of literature did the Greeks create?

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Philosophy of Socrates
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• Plato
• One of Socrates students, became great
  philosopher in own right
• Left behind great number of writings that record
  ideas on wide variety of topics, from nature of
  truth to ideal form of government
• The Republic argues that government should be led
  by philosophers

• Theory of Government
• Philosophers most qualified to make good
  decisions
• Did not support Athenian democracy in which all
  men could take part
• Plato wanted to make philosophers education more
  formal
• Founded the Academy, which in Platos lifetime
  became most important site for Greek philosophers
  to do their work

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Aristotle

• The Third Philosopher
• Aristotle was among students who studied at the
  Academy
• More concerned with nature of world that
  surrounded him
• Tried to apply philosophical principles to every
  kind of knowledge

• Emphasis on Reason and Logic
• Emphasis on reason, logic
• Reason, clear and ordered thinking use reason to
  learn about world
• Observe carefully, think rationally about what
  one has seen

• Inferring New Facts
• Aristotle also helped develop field of logic,
  process of making inferences
• Example birds have feathers, lay eggs owls have
  feathers, lay eggs therefore, owl must be a type
  of bird

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Greek Literature
Other Greek literature remains, with a great many
works still popular today. Greeks excelled in
poetryboth epics and other formshistory, and
drama.
These two works became basis for the Greek
education system.
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Other Forms of Poetry

• Greeks wrote many types of poetry besides epics
• Hesiod wrote descriptive poetry about works of
  gods, lives of peasants
• Greeks also created lyric poetry
• Named after the lyre, musical instrument often
  played to accompany reading of poems
• Lyric poems do not tell stories, but deal with
  emotions, desires
• Lyric poets
• Sappho, one of few Greek women to gain fame as
  writer dealt with daily life, marriage, love
• Pindar, late 500s, early 400s poems commemorated
  public events, like Olympic Games

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Drama
While the Greeks wrote histories to preserve the
past, they created a new form of writing for
entertainmentdrama, the art of playwriting.
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Distinct Forms
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History

• Among fields for which Greeks best known
• Greek authors wrote about and analyzed own past
• First major Greek historian, Herodotus
• Lived in Greece during wars with Persia
  described battles and public debates in The
  Histories

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Greek Architecture and Art

• Beauty
• Athenians enjoyed beauty, both written and visual
• Expressed love of written beauty through
  literature visual beauty through architecture,
  art

• Architecture
• Athenians wanted their city to be most beautiful
  in Greece
• Built magnificent temples, theatres, public
  buildings

• Enhancements
• To enhance appearance of buildings, added fine
  works of art, painted and sculpted
• Grandest buildings built on acropolis, at citys
  center

• Parthenon
• Most magnificent on acropolis
• Massive temple to Athena
• Begun by Pericles, 447 BC
• Took 14 years to build

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Sculpture

• Human Forms
• Greek sculptors among finest world has ever known
• Particularly adept at sculpting human form
  studied people at rest, moving
• Tried to re-create what they saw, paid particular
  attention to muscles

• Lifelike, Not Realistic
• Greeks wanted statues to look lifelike, active,
  not necessarily realistic
• Portrayed subjects as physically perfect, without
  blemishes, imperfections
• Greek statues almost all depict figures of great
  beauty, grace

• Roman Copies
• Few original works remain most copies made a few
  hundred years later
• Roman artists made many copies of greatest Greek
  statues
• Many copies survived even after original statues
  destroyed

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• Painting
• Only a few original Greek paintings survive
• Best preserved are paintings on vases, plates,
  other vessels
• Scenes from everyday life, or from myths, legends
• Most use only red, black still convey movement,
  depth

• Larger Paintings
• Little evidence of larger works written sources
  say Greeks created murals in many public
  buildings
• Often included scenes from Iliad, Odyssey showed
  aftermath of battles, rather than battle itself
• Themes similar to tragic drama popular with
  Athenians