1. Chapter 5-2 Notes Greek Philosophers

2. I. Definitions A. Philosophy: The study of nature and the meaning of life. It comes from the Greek word meaning “Love of Wisdom.”

3. B. Philosophers: Thinkers who believed the human mind could understand everything.

4. C. Sophists: Professional teachers in ancient Greece.

5. II. Philosophers  Pythagoras: Taught his pupils that the universe followed the same laws that governed music and numbers. 1. He believed that all relationships in the world could be expresses in numbers. 2. He developed the Pythagorean Theorem.

6. B. Socrates: An Athenian sculptor whose true love was philosophy. 1. He believed that an absolute truth existed and that all real knowledge was within each person. 2. Developed the Socratic Method. a. A way of asking questions to force his pupils to use their reason and to see things for themselves.

7. C. Plato: A student of Socrates. Most famous work was the Republic. 1. He focused on the ideal government. 2. He divided society into three groups. (Philosophers, Warriors, and Common People) 3. He established a school in Athens.

8. D. Aristotle: The best student of Plato. Opened a school called the Lyceum. 1. Taught his students the “Golden Mean.” 2. States that a person should do nothing to excess. 3. Made advances in science and compared governments. Most famous book was the Politics. 4. His ideas shaped the way Europeans and Americans thought about government.

10. III. Greek Historians  Herodotus: Wrote the history of the Persian War. 1. Also known as the Father of History. 2. Attempted to separate fact from legend.

11. B. Thucydides: The greatest historian of the ancient world. Most famous work was History of the Peloponnesian War. 1. He actually fought in this war. 2. This work of literature is a primary source of the Peloponnesian War.

12. 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 Thucydides lived during Peloponnesian War, wrote about it Included primary sources, like speeches he heard delivered Looked at sources critically, ignored unreliable, irrelevant ones Primary Sources Another early historian, Xenophon fought in Persia after Persian Wars Concentrated less on sources, debates, more on describing famous men; had less critical style Work has helped us learn what life was like in 300s BC Greece Describing Famous Men History

13. These two works became basis for the Greek education system. Other Greek literature remains, with a great many works still popular today. Greeks excelled in poetry—both epics and other forms—history, and drama. Most famous works are some of earliest Epic poems of great events and heroes The Iliad and the Odyssey, attributed to poet Homer, tell stories of Trojan War Homer’s Epics Greek Literature Iliad tells story of last year of war, two heroes—Achilles and Hector Odyssey tells story of heroes from the war, with Odysseus who was forced to wander the sea Iliad and Odyssey

14. 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