Almost-test and Pericles

Today in Western Civ, the class took a class, but Mr. Schick was nice and gave me an extra day to study so I'll be taking the test tomorrow. While they took the test I studied a little and once everyone was done I got on my laptop and now I'm going to give you the page 134-136 notes:

Pericles Plan for Athens

• Pericles led Athens during much of it's golden age
• honest and fair and had support for 34 years; skillful politician, inspiring speaker, respected general 
• so dominated his reign of Athens that the time from 461-429 BC became known as the Age of Pericles 
• had three goals: 
• strengthen Athenian democracy
• increased number of public officials who were paid salaries 
• got all citizens rich and poor and in-between to engage in the government, making Athens one of the most democratic governments in history 
• introduced direct democracy: form of government where citizens rule directly and not through representatives 
• to hold and strengthen the empire 
• helped organize the Delian league 
• Athens in time took over it 
• made the Athenian Navy the strongest in the Mediterranean 
• helped Athens strengthen the safety of its empire 
• navy used surrounding waterways for battle and citizens used them for trade overseas 
• Athenian military might've made Pericles to treat other members of the Delian league as part of the empire 
• some cities resisted Athens though and formed their own alliances 
• to glorify Athens 
• used money from Delian League to beautify Athens 
• without the league's approval he persuaded the Athenian assembly to vote huge sums of the leagues money to buy gold, ivory, and marble, but money also went to the workers who used these materials 

Glorious Art and Architecture 

• Pericles wanted Artists to build sculptures and buildings to glorify Athens 
• at the center of his plan was the Parthenon 
• was a masterpiece of architectural design and craftsmanship but not a unique style because the same style was used to build temples for many years before 
• was built to honor Athena 
• contained examples of Greek art that set an example for artists all over the world 
• entrusted most of the work to the sculptor Phidias who crafted a giant gold and ivory statue of Athena inside the Parthenon that was over 30 feet tall 
• Phidias and other aimed to create perfectly formed figures that only showed serenity 
• wanted to portray ideal beauty not realism 
• considered classical art 

Drama and History 

• Greeks invented drama as an art form and built the first theaters in the West 
• theatrical productions were both an expression of civic pride and a tribute to the gods 
• wrote two types of drama 
• tragedy: serious drama about common themes such as love, hate, war, or betrayal
• Aeschylus and Sophocles were two people who wrote these kinds of plays 
• comedy: contained slapstick situations and crude humor 
• made fun of politics and respected rules and rules 
• Aristophanes wrote the first kind of comedy 
• no written records from the Dorian period  besides epics of Homer 
• Herodotus' book on Persian Wars is considered the first work of history 
• greatest historian was the Athenian Thucydides