Ashleigh's Blog

Today in class we took our Greece test. I think I did well, but I don't think I got an 100%. There were about 2-3 questions that I didn't know and guessed on. One of the questions was about the dactylic hexameter . I didn't  know what that was. Another question I didn't know was about the democracy with land owning nobility and the next one was about wealthy groups and the military. I didn't know which one was oligarchy or aristocracy. After looking at the PowerPoint, I think I got them wrong, I think I will still get a good grade. The way I studied helped me while I was taking the test. To study I just looked through the PowerPoint every chance I got yesterday and today. This really helped me to remember things. I think I probably could have looked at my notes more. I was going to look at m quiz, but I couldn’t find it. Next time I will study a little more for the test. 

Today in class we reviewed more for our test tomorrow. Today we talked about how Cleisthenes was part of the elite class and very rich. He got regular people involved in government, it had limits. Only citizens could be involved. A citizen was  free adult male property owners born in Athens, but only  one-fifth of Athenians were citizens. Soon after that they started practicing direct democracy. Direct democracy is where the state (or city-state) is ruled by its citizens. The majority rule decides the vote. In the agora, citizens argued, made speeches, then voted with white stones (which meant their answer was yes) and black stones (which meant their answer was no). This  was first practiced in Athens under Cleisthenes by around 500 BCE. For the test tomorrow I will look over my notes (from the textbook, PowerPoint, and allegory of the cave), the quiz we took recently, the western civ blog, and my blogs.  

Today in class we reviewed for our test. To review we went over the parts of the PowerPoint we have learned. For the test we will need to know where the  Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea, Adriatic Sea, Peloponnesus, Athens, Sparta, Crete, Asia Minor, and  Macedonia are on a map. We also need to know the geography of Greece, the Greek diet, and their climate for farming. WE also need to know about the Myceneans, Minoans, and the Dorians. Also, when each culture dominated Greece. I will probably review our notes about Homer and his 2 epics (Iliad and Odyssey). The Iliad is about the Trojan War and the Odessa is about a man trying to get home from the War. From 1150 - 750 BCE the Dorians took over. Tis was also called the Dark Ages. The Dorians didn't write down anything, so there is no written record of them. Another thing we need to know is the Homeric question which is if Homer actually existed or was, he just a myth like his stories. We also need to know the government terms like poli...

Today in class we took notes on Democracy and the Greek Golden Age. The Golden Age of Athens was from 477-431 B.C. Pericles led Athens during the Golden Age for 32 years. He dominated life in Athens from 461-429 B.C. This was also called the Age of Pericles. His three goals were to strengthen the Athenian democracy, to hold and strengthen the empire, and to glorify Athens. Direct democracy is the form of government which citizens rule directly and not through representatives. The parathion is architecture's noblest works. It has 23,000 square feet, its honored Athena, and set standards for artists around the world. Phidias was who Pericles entrusted a lot of the work on the Parthenon. Greeks invented drama and built the first theaters in the world. They had two kinds of drama which were tragedy and comedy. Tragedy was a serious drama about common themes such as love, hate, war, or betrayal. Comedy was contained scenes filled with slapstick situations and crude humor. 

Today in class we took more notes from the PowerPoint. In this part of the PowerPoint we talked about the terms polis (a fundamental political unit made up of a city and surrounding country side), monarchy (rule by a single person), aristocracy (rule by a small group of noble, very rich, landowning families, (oligarchy (wealthy groups, dissatisfied with aristocratic rule, who seized power, and a tyrant (powerful individual who seized control by appealing to the common people for support). Aristocrats were members of the ruling class. They attended symposiums which were meetings where elite men would enjoy wine and poetry. They would also watch performances by dancers and acrobats. Hetaeras (courtesans) were women that entertained the men while they discussed politics. No women, middle class, slaves, or even some other aristocrats were allowed to discuss politics. We also learned about Draco and the set of laws. That all Athenians (rich and poor) are equal, death is a punishment for ma...

Today in class we took more notes on the PowerPoint. This part of the PowerPoint talked about the Mycenaeans, the Trojan War, the Dorians, and Homer. The Mycenaeans were located in Peloponnesus. They dominated Greece from 1600-1100 B.C. They invaded Crete and absorbed the Minoan culture in 1400 BC. The Trojan War was important time in history, but some people did not believe it happened, but evidence was found that proved that it did happen. In 1200 BC the mysterious sea people invaded Mycenae. Then the Dorians moved into the war-torn region and dominated from 1150-750 BC. They were less advanced, the trade-based economy collapsed, writing disappeared for 400 years, the economy declined. Homer was an old, blind, storyteller. he led in the Greek Dark Ages. he composed epics about the Trojan War. Some of his most famous epics are the Iliad and the Odyssey. Some people don't believe that Homer existed, but other believe he existed. 

Today in class we watched a video about the allegory of the cave. I thought that the video explained the allegory of the cave well because we were able to put the words to pictures and get the full idea of what Plato meant. Plato was trying to show that the cave people believed that if you paid attention to the shadows on the walls, you will succeed. This relates to school because if we study what we are taught, we will get better grades. He shows how people are told what to believe, instead of doing what they think is right. To compare to life, the shadows on the walls were like the internet. The internet doesn't show the full reality of the world, just like how the shadows were not showing the full reality of the world until one man stepped outside the cave and saw the real world for the first time. The allegory of the cave can have many meanings. I think this allegory really makes you have a whole new perspective on life.