GREEK

GREEK Architecture in Greece Most Greek buildings were recognized by columns. Early buildings had columns that were thin and tall, made of bricks and wood. Beginning in 5th and 6th century replaced the bricks and wood by stones. Some buildings were square and narrow. Others were square shaped. Greek architecture is the designing of different structures. One of the structure was Acropolis. The Parthenob is the largest building on the top of the Acropolis, made of pentelic marble and surrounded by free- standing columns Ship Building The Homeric ship had a keel, a stempost, ribs and outside planking fastened with treenails. These were long narrow vessels. The construction was quite light. By 250 B.C some of Greek shipshad lead sheathing. Economy in Ancient Greece The land is mostly mountainous and not fertile for farmland. The main crops were grapes and alives. Animals could graze on the slopes, so they could raise sheep, goat for meat, cheese, wool, and milk. The Mediterranean Sea was the most important resource for ancient Greeks. Sea provided food for them. The Greek islands were close, so Athenians could sail from island to island trading, using boats called Triremes. Government in Greece Ancient Greeks were divided into areas called city-states, were also called polises. Each polis has its own government. Everybody obeyed its laws and leaders. City-states always had walls around them. The walls were there to keep intruders out. A city-state would have an Agora. An agora is a central marketplace. An acropolis is also part of a city state. Athens was the intellectual center of Greece. Democracy came from the Greek words demos, meaning people, and kratein, meaning to rule. This form of government was used meeting place which the Greeks called the Assembly. Athens was governed by a monarchy. A monarchy is a Greek work meaning ‘ruled by one’. Democracy meant ‘Power of the people’, although women couldn’t vote or run for office. The Arts in Greece Theater was a big part of every Athenian. Tragedy plays were shown in the morning so that sad feelings would pass by them. The other topic was comedy. Everybody came sit in the amphitheater to watch the festivals or plays. If a person was too poor to pay, they could watch the plays for free. People were even let out of jail just to watch the festivals or plays. Early Greek Science

The Milesians The first recorded important contributions to Greek Science are from City of Miletus, near the coast which is now known as Turkey. Lightning was the anger of Zues. The theories of the Milesians fall into 2 groups: 1. theories regarding particular phenomena or problems 2. doctrines of general cosmological import Early Geometry Geo means earth and metry means measurement of - in Greek. Greek historian Herodotus, writing about the Egyptian King Sesotris. The Pythagoreans: Pythagorus founded what we would say a cult, a religious group with strict rules about behaviour including diet, and a belief in immorality of the soul. The Pythagoreans believed strongly that numbers by which they meant the positive integers had a fundamental, mystical significance. They thought that numbers had physical existence and that the universe was somehow constructed from them. The Pythagoreans divided the mathematical subjects into four main parts: Numbers absolute (arithmatic) Numbers applied (music) Magnitudes at rest (geometry) Magnitudes in motion (astronomy) Change and constancy in the Physical world Hippocrates and his followers adopted the Milesian point of view, applied to disease that it was caused by the gods, even epilepsy which was called the sacred disease. The Hippocratic doctors criticized the philosophers for being too ready with postulates and hypothesis. And not putting effort into careful observation. Plato: believed that the universe was created by a rational god, who took chaotic matter and ordered it. , his god was not omnipotent. Plato’s theory of matter was based on Empedocles four elements fire, air, water, earth. Greek astronomy The Greeks began to think of the philosophy from the times of Thales in about 600 B. C. At this time astronomy was basically to do with time keeping. Solon’s Calendar was based on a two yearly cycle. There were three months of 30 days and 12 months of 29 days in each period of 2 years so this gave a period of 369 days and a

month of 29 ½ days. Pythagorans recognized earth was sphere, also recognized the orbit of moon was inclined to equator of the earth. Meton introduced a calendar based on 19 year cycle vitruvius famed for his atomic theory. Aristarchus measured the ratio of the distances to the moon and to the sun.