Pr02a3_Ancient Greece’s Golden Age: Democracy (Slide by Slide Description)
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Pr02a3_Ancient Greece’s Golden Age: Democracy
(Cover) Slide #1: The Parthenon
Slide #2: Pivotal questions to ask about any study of Democracy. Remember, Greek ‘Direct’ Democracy is not like our ‘Representative Republican’ Democracy. Refresh your memory by referring to the auxiliary notes and reading in the course textbook.
Greek history in general, Athenian history more specifically, could be reexamined by posing hypothetical questions to ourselves. In attempting to answer them, we might better appreciate the choices Greeks made and debate the pros and cons of each. Ultimately, our 20/20 hindsight vision is the final judge.
Slide #3: Samples of two issues Athenian Greeks would have voted on.
Slide #4: Hypothetical questions to ponder.
An example of a public works project that was controversial in general, but it appealed to the rising hubris of Athens. Pericles could push the project as a tangible reminder of Greece’s greatest city-state without revealing to the populace how he intended to build it: Using contributed funds meant to strengthen Delian League defenses against future invasions. Pericles went forward with the project and he did use those funds.
Therefore, we have here an example of how Democracy may be good at home but not when dealing with others. It’s reasonable to expect that a league of Greek City-States would not endorse Pericles’ building project since it only appeased Athenians.
Slide #5: The Parthenon, then and now. The artist rendition shown here of how the structure may have appeared after completion, is still lacking. Some of the masonry work above the columns, the color that must have been applied to the exterior, and of course, the interior adornments, are missing. Knowing this, the structure is still beautiful even in that ‘plain’ condition.
Slide #6: The General, Pericles. We have an idea of just how much of an Athenian cheerleader he was when we look at the Parthenon. But, it doesn’t stop there. In a class activity, we will look closely at one of the greatest speeches of all time, which happened to be given by him. In this speech, we will try to squeeze out any information about the man and his views.
Slide #7 – 9: Relates to the class activity alluded to in slide #6.
Slide #10: Hypothetical questions to ponder.
We enter the next, and final, phase of the Greek Golden Age: The Peloponnesian War (war between the Greek City-States).
We know who won the war. But, who won the minds of the Western World for the next 2500 years (until the present)?
Slide #11: Sources
