The Time of Glory
This one's about ancient Greece, and their democracy
For about fifty years
From 477 to 431 B.C.
Led by Pericles
With three of his dreams
The age of Pericles
He tried strengthening, glorifying, and holding Athens u
Politician, General, and speaker, he was honest and fair
The numbers of the public officers were increased, rich or poor he allowed them all
They became the most democratic government in history
The people ruled without representatives
Direct democracy was a legacy
Athens organized the Delian League after Persians’ defeat
Money was used from the league’s treasury by Pericles
The military of the Athens became the strongest
Powerful navy strengthened their empire
The Athens have a need for trade, they wanted materials and grains
Alliances with other members of the Delian League was formed
Then Pericles decided to beautify Athens
But the League didn’t agree so he made the Athens take a vote
Money of the League’s was spent on gold, ivory, and marble
Even more was spend on artists, architects, and workers
The goal was to have the greatest Greek people create things
The Parthenon was the center of the plan
It was a masterpiece but not exactly unique in style
The workers made the building traditional and it became a temple
The Parthenon was built to honor Athena
She was got goddess of wisdom and the Athens protector
Phidias, a sculptor, made a 30-feet-tall staute of Athena
It is located in the temple, made from precious materials
The sculptors back then were made to look graceful and strong
As well as perfectly strong
The sculptors tried to capture the grace of the perfect human body in motion
And aimed for beauty rather than what is real
The values were harmony, order, balance, and proportion and they later became the standard of
classical art
Now drama and history
Was a form of art and built in theaters in the West
The people took pride in it
The plays they performed were about justice
Not to mention leadership and duties to the gods
They also sang songs and danced around
There were two types of drama, tragedy and comedy
Tragedy was serious and their themes were love, hate, war or betrayal
The main Character would be the tragic hero
Aeschylus was a notable dramatist who wrote more than 80 tragedies
Sophocles and Euripides were also notable dramatists of that time
Now for comedy
Which is about humor
Play writers often make fun of politics and the respected people
Aristophanes was the first one to write this type of play
The first work of history was written by Thucydides
He wrote about the Persian Wars and believed that some events and situations reoccur over time
They Athens grew in wealth, prestige, and power
Other city-states began to become hostile
The Spartans showed extremely strong ill will and their leaders wanted war
The Peloponnesian War began
Athens had the stronger navy while the Spartans had the stronger army
Because the war was on land, Pericles had a plan
They avoided land battles and the Spartans marched into the Athenian territory
Pearl Sindhuchatra 3
The food supply was burned but the city was safe as long as ships could sail into ports
The second year was terrible
A plague swept through the city and many died including Pericles
Even though the people were weakened, then continued fighting until both the sides got tired and
had a truce
The peace did not last for the Athenians attacked
They aimed to destroy Syracuse which was on of Sparta’s richest allies
Athenians were defeated and eventually, Athens lost its empire, power, and wealth
Confidence was lost in democratic government and the Athenians quested their values
That was the time where great thinkers appeared
Philosophers, lover of wisdom, they were called
Ideas were based on the orderly universe
One man questioned the existence of the gods
He was Protagoras and said that ‘Man is the measure of all things’
Socrates was a man who believed in absolute standards for truth and justice
And he encouraged the Greeks to question themselves and their characters more
He was admired by many while other people were puzzled by him
When he was 70 years old, he was brought on a trial for some things
Corrupting the youth of Athens and neglecting the gods
He had his defense but he was condemned to death
Plato was his student
He wrote down their conversations and wrote The Republic
It was his thinking of the perfect society where the citizens would either be farmers, artisans,
warriors, or the ruling class
In the ruling class would be a philosopher-king
His ideas spread and his rivals were Socrates and his pupil Aristotle
Aristotle had questions about the world, belief, thought and knowledge
He invent a method for arguing according the logic’s rules
Later, he used the method for psychology, physics, and biology
His works makes the basis of the scientific method used today
