Ancient Greece and Achievements of the Golden Age

Achievements of the Golden Age
Pericles wanted Athens to become "the school of Greece." He offered support to Athenians working in the arts and the building trades. He also invited artists from other Greek city-states to come to Athens.

Athens Greece

Architects and builders set about making Athens more beautiful. Architects designed new temples, gymnasiums, theaters, and other public buildings. Artists decorated the new buildings with murals, or wall paintings, showing scenes from Athens's history and from Greek myths.

Writers also contributed to the Golden Age. Herodotus (hih»RAH«duh»tuhs), whom some call the first historian and one of the earliest geographers, wrote about the Persian Wars. Herodotus explained that he wrote the history to put on record "the astonishing achievements of our own and of other peoples." Even today many people read his works. Sophocles (SAHF»uh»kleez) wrote tragedies, or serious plays in which the main character comes to an unhappy end. Aristophanes (air»uh»STAHF«uh»neez) wrote comedies, or humorous plays. His comedies usually made fun of political leaders or traditional ideas.

Athens Greece

 During the time of Pericles, scientists who studied nature and human life came to Athens from all around the Mediterranean. Their findings changed the way people saw their world. One of the great scientists of the Golden Age was Hippocrates (hih»PAH*kruh»teez). Hippocrates and his followers showed that illnesses came from natural causes. Before Hippocrates' time, many people believed that diseases were punishments from the gods.

Doctors in Athens used the ideas of Hippocrates. They advised the Greeks that to stay healthy, "wheaten bread is to be preferred to barley cake, and roasted to boiled meats." While many of their ideas made sense, they also thought that "vegetables should be reduced to a minimum."

Athens Greece

Hippocrates is perhaps best remembered for the rules of behavior he wrote for doctors. Today, doctors still promise to follow these rules when they graduate from medical school.

What kinds of people worked in Athens during the Golden Age?

The Peloponnesian War resulted from ongoing conflicts between Sparta and Athens.
During the war, which do you think had control of the Aegean Sea, Sparta or Athens?

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