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Golden Age of Athens. Parthenon and Acropolis. Greeks built their most famous structure, the Parthenon, as a temple to honor the Goddess Athena. The Parthenon stans atop the Athenian Acropolis and is 237 feet long, 110 feet wide, and 60 feet high. It has 8 columns along the
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Greeks built their most famous structure, the Parthenon, as a • temple to honor the Goddess Athena. • The Parthenon stans atop the Athenian Acropolis and is 237 feet • long, 110 feet wide, and 60 feet high. It has 8 columns along the • front and back and 17 columns along each side. • Two distinctive features of the Parthenon: • 1. 525-foot band of sculpture or frieze which surrounded the • top of the temple. • 2. 35-foot-high gold and ivory statue of the Goddess Athena.
Athenians conducted most of their commerce at the Agora, a huge • marketplace. • Greeks could purchase food and household or personal items such • as sandals and jewelry. • Greeks began using coins in the 600s b.c.e. and each city-state had • its own system of coinage. • Athenians traded with other Greek city-states and foreign lands to • obtain many of their goods and resources.
Greek pottery created during the Geometric period was painted and • carved with simple, repeating shapes such as circles, triangles, and • squares. • Around 700 b.c.e., Greek potters began creating vases with realistic • black figures painted on red clay, known as the Black-Figure style- • showing both mythical and daily-life scenes.
Around 500 b.c.e. Athenian artists used new production methods to create • realistic red-clay figures against black backgrounds, known as the Red-Figure • style, showing a variety of poses, human muscles and facial features, and • details of clothing.
Athenians developed two types of plays that we still have today: • tragedy and comedy. • Tragic plays presented the downfall of a great hero. • Comic plays made fun of Athenian politicians and other well- • known personalities. • Athenian plays were staged in outdoor marble theaters, with • stone rows of seats arranged around the stage area. • Two or three actors, who used huge masks and colored costumes • performed plays along with a chorus of 15 to 24 men.
Both boys and girls attended school in Athens, but they were schooled • separately. • Athenian children attended three different schools: • 1. School for reading, writing and arthmetic • 2. School that taught sports • 3. School that taught music. • At the age of 18, Athenian males began two years of military training.
Most Athenian women married at a young age-in marriages arranged • by their parents-and bore several children. • According to Athenian society, a respectable woman’s main responsibility • was overseeing the household. • Athenian women from all classes participated in the religious celebrations • in the city, and some women were religious figures, or priestesses.
The Greeks had a well-established legal system, with written • laws that covered both civil and criminal cases. • In Athens, large juries-chosen by lottery-heard and decided the • court cases. • Athens did not have prisons, so other punishments-including • death or exile-were enforced.
The ancient Greeks were polytheistic-they believed in many gods • rather than one God. • The Greeks believed there were 12 major Gods, each of which had power • over one or more aspects of human life. • To earn the favor of the gods, most people prayed, made sacrifices, and • built sacred places to honor them.
In the seventh century b.c.e., Greek artists began carving life-size • statues that were strongly influenced by Egyptian styles of art. • By the fifth century b.c.e., Greek sculptors began to create marble • statues that showed bodies in movement or in emothional poses. • In the early 400s b.c.e., a new method of casting bronze allowed • artists to create more realistic details of a figure’s muscles, • clothing and hair.
During its Golden Age, there were 75,000 slaves living in Athens, • a number equal to the number of nonslaves living there. • Female slaves were often domestic servants, while male slaves • were often factory workers, shopkeepers, ship cargo • handlers, miners, and farmers. • Many slaves endured great hardships, and some of the worst • conditions were in the Laurium silver mines, just outside Athens.
