Alexander Movie

Today Mr. Schick showed us part of "Alexander", and what the ancient battles looked like back then. Besides that, we did not do much else.

Presenting PowerPoints

Today we went up in front of the class and presented our Alexander the Great PowerPoint's in front of the whole class. Our group assignment was to explain Alexander the Great's parentage. I started the presentation by speaking about King Phillip II of Macedon, and his relationship with Alex and his military career. My group members also talked about Olympias, who was one of the many wives of King Phillip and the mother of Alexander the Great. Back then, it was also believed that Alex was the son of Zeus, who was the King of the Gods and the God of Thunder and Lightning in Greek Religion. Because Alexander the Great  was the most powerful general and leader of his time, he was often thought of the son of Zeus, due to his superior military strength. As we listened to other groups presentations, we learned about the various battles Alexander fought in, and some background information on his history and the time period in which he lived in.

Last Day of the Third Quarter

Today in class we continued to work on our Alexander the Great PowerPoint  My group continued to find research on Alexanders Parentage, as well as their historical backgrounds. My job was to find information on King Phillip II of Macedonia, who was the father of Alexander the Great. When doing my research, I found out that he had conquered a large part of Upper Greece during his reign. I also learned that he had lost his right eye during the conquest of Methone, and he was also assassinated in 336 B.C. During his life, he had many wives, including Cleopatra, Audata, and Olympias who gave birth to Alexander. I believe that this will be the last assignment before the third quarter ends, so we want to try to make it good so we can have a good grade. I hope we do well presenting tomorrow.

Chapter 5 Powerpoint

In today's class we decided that we discussed more about the Hellenistic period and reviewed our homework from last night. We talked about the meaning behind Hellenistic, and discussed Alexander the Great into more detail. Mr. Schick even paired us up into groups to make a powerpoint on part of his life. Our group was assigned to write about Alexanders parents, while others were assigned to write about other things, like his military life and the battles he fought in, the places he visited, etc. I believe Mr. Schick said that this assignment was due Friday, which leaves us lots of time to complete the assignment. My group partners and I worked on it a bit in class today, and we are planning to do a lot of it at home as well.

*Notes on Chapter 5*

Ancient Macedonia

Today in class we took the Chapter 4 Test. I actually found it pretty easy, and didn't really need to use my blog to look up some of my notes to help me. I also didn't need to use the entire class period to take the test,  which left me with some time to read Chapter 5. My notes are below.

Definition of Hellenistic: Hellenistic refers to the time period in Greek history in which many of the civilizations and territories around the Mediterranean were internationally connected and were influenced under Greek rule.



There are a number of reasons why Athens lost the Peloponnesian War against their rival Sparta. First of all, the ruler of Athens at the time, Pericles, was eager to start a war with Sparta and to vanquish their enemy as quickly as possible, but didn't take the time to strategically plan how they would destroy them. Athens jumped at the opportunity to start a war with Sparta, but didn't have a good plan before they did.
Another major factor resulting in Athens defeat was the Plaque that wreaked havoc upon the streets. When the people abandoned the city during the war, they took refuge behind the massive walls that protected the nearby harbor of Piraeus. Athens plan was to bring in food and supplies through ships, but the ships happened to bring something else with them into the city. They ships had accidentally brought the Plaque with them, and the disease spread like wildfire. Before long, one-third of the population had died, including Pericles. The disease only made it easier for the Spartans to take control of Athens and soon the surrounding area. One last factor amounting to Athens defeat was their incapability to fight in land. Athens had an enormous navy, but was limited to fighting on land. On the contrary, Sparta was better on land than at sea. This made it difficult for either side to gain an advantage over the other, and each side never got any closer to victory. In conclusion, Athens had it very difficult in the wartime.

In 359 B.C., King Phillip II became the ruler of Macedonia. He was a ruler who had a bright future for Macedonia, and he was determined to conquer the city-states, and use their power to destroy their rival, Persia.

Chapter 4 Test on Monday

Today we reviewed the study guide for Monday. Mr. Schick realized that some of our classmates did not even know about the study guide for Chapter 4 until today, so he decided that we would spend the day going over the answers to the study guide to help us study for the test. I had updated my study guide during the class, so that is where most of my work is.

*Pastafarians and Socrates*

The Death of Socrates

Today we talked a bit more about Socrates in class. We studied a famous painting called The Death of Socrates. It was painted in 1787 by the French painter Jacques-Louis David. This painting however, is not historically accurate though. Socrates was actually an old, frail man during his life. Socrates always wore a dirty rag and cared nothing for his physical appearance. He looked no where close to the buff, 6-packed man in the painting. Another interesting thing about the painting is that the artist painted himself next to Socrates (the one with the orange gown). He has said that the reason he is clutching to Socrates leg, is to symbolize that he wants part of Socrates to stay with him even after Socrates dies. He is basically saying "yes, I agree in what you believe, and that I want to grasp onto your knowledge". The painting is ironic in general, because it shows this heroic, strong, brave man in the painting, yet the real Socrates was far from strong and bold.

There was one other topic that was very interesting to me. It was about this sort-of new religion called Pastafarianism. Basically, the followers believe in a giant flying spaghetti monster that created the universe. One of the Amendments in the Bill of Rights says that people in the United States of America have freedom of religion, speech, and press. But what is the limit to religion that draws the line? How can people say that there religion is right and others are wrong? What makes some religions better than others?

More Video

Today we once again continued to watch "The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization". In today's viewing, we learned the Sparta had eventually won the Peloponnesian War, after years of fighting and Athens eventually being destroyed and the Plague. Humiliated by the Spartans, and with a destroyed city-state, the Athenian people looked for someone to blame the loss of the war on. That person happened to be Socrates.
Socrates was arrested for undermining the state religion and corrupting the youth of Athens.
While Socrates had a chance to prove himself not guilty, he spent it by telling the Athenian people that what he had done was good. He said that the teachings and questions he told to people made others think for themselves, and to think twice about the world around them. He had said that...

***The unexamined life is not worth living ***

Another interesting thing he had said was that the Athenian people should be thanking him for all of the work he has done for them, and that as a reward he should be served free dinners for the rest of his life. Surprisingly, the vote was very close. Socrates was only found guilty by 30 or so votes. He was sentenced to death by drinking hemlock. Even his friend broke in to his cell, and tried to convince him to break out with them. But Socrates insisted that this was a democratic vote, and that his sentence shall stand. 

Reviewing Greek Test

Today we decided to review our tests on Greeks that we just took. When he was passing back the tests, he said that he would ring his bell if anyone had got on A. When my name was called, I had heard an A. I had done a pretty good job on it, and there wasn't really much else for me to know. Mr. Schick spent pretty much the entire class going over the lengthy test, and some of the information was quite useful. We had talked about the ancient City-States, and some of the economic and political aspects of Greek culture. Besides those things, we didn't do much else.

More Video Viewing

Today we once again continued to view the documentary "The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization". Mr. Schick was on the senior retreat today, so me and a couple other of my classmates helped set up the projector and the movie player. In today's viewing, we learned that a man named Pericles, was a very important man during Athens climax, and was an essential figure in bringing up the arts and cultures of the city. His main focus was on the Acropolis, and planned a massive reconstruction project to build a massive temple for their Goddess Athena. The Acropolis was very expensive to build. He had spent about 5000 talons on the building, worth more than a billion dollars on today's money. With the large amount of help he was given, the temple was built in just 15 years. All of the critics were silenced, and everyone for around the area gaped in awe at the massive structure. Athens was also a great learning and education center as well. The Amphitheater was another area where people gathered to view entertainment and comedy. Athens was doing very well for its time.
Things started to change in 431 B.C, when Pericles takes the podium of the democracy and decides he wants to prepare a war with their old enemy, Sparta. He decides that it is finally time to rid of the old fiend, and by doing so would make Athens the most powerful and influential city-state in all of Greece. He proposed a strategy to abandon the city, and hide in the nearby port city. They would also use the Athens Navy to help then win the war. Soon, the Plaque erupts in the city as the war is taking place. It is a devastating disaster, and 1/3 of Athens population is killed by the disease, including Pericles. He ended up dying in 429 B.C, after 6 months of sickness. Athens was in big trouble, and they would have to depend on a miracle in hopes of ever surviving the mighty Sparta.

More on Greece

Today we continued to view "The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization" in class. Mr. Schick said that he would not be in class tomorrow because he would be going on the senior retreat. So he appointed me and a couple other people to help set up the movie and DVD player while he was out. He was really appreciative that we were willing to help out. In the movie today, we learned that in 490 B.C, a man named Pheidippides had ran 140 miles in just 2 days to inform Sparta about the invasion by the Persians. This story was what inspired the Marathon, the 26.2 mile race. Apparently after running non-stop all the way to Sparta, the Spartans had told him that they were busy celebrating a holiday at the moment, and that they would not be able to help defend Athens from the Persians. Meanwhile back at Athens, the Greeks had miraculously won the battle against the Persians, even though the odds were against them and they were outnumbered 2-1. They ended up slaughtering 6,000 Persians in one day.
Themistocles had been a warrior in Athens, and he rose in power when democracy was established. He is credited with the idea of building an Athenian Navy, and developing the Trireme.
Using the large deposit of silver they had discovered, they were able to afford building 200 of these massive ships. These ships had helped win another battle for Athens when Persia had invaded again.

This ^ is a Trireme.

More about Greece

On Monday we continued to watch the video "The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization". We learned more about the history of Cleisthenis and Pisistratus, and more about the history of Athens. We had learned that pottery was considered one of the lowest ranks in social class that you can get. However, pots and vases were very important to Athenian society, as they allowed for goods to be carried and contained for long distances. In 527 B.C, Pisistratus had been murdered and he was put to rest in the graveyard. His brother, Hippias, had soon took the throne over and had taken revenge for what happened to his brother. The murderers family were brutally tortured and killed, and Hippias had taken his anger upon all of the citizens of Athens. In order to protect the people of Athens and to save the town he loved, Cleisthenis had overthrown Hippias so he could manage the city-state well, and do what he was destined to do. In 776 B.C, the Olympic games were founded. Over 40,000 Greeks assembled in peace to participate in the games, and whoever won the games had great honor bestowed upon them.
Later on, a man named Isagoris had also been brought up to be a ruler by his family, and plotted to overthrow Cleisthenis so he could become the ruler. Isagoris was an old friend of the Spartans, and he used their military strength to rid Cleisthenis of the throne.

Watching Greek Video

On Friday we watched a video on the people, the culture, and the history of Greece. Some of the people that were mentioned in the video were Cleisthenis, who was a war hero when the people rebelled against Athens government. Another man mentioned was Pisistratus, who was a normal man who convinced the public that he had brought Athena to the town, which soon allowed him to become the tyrant of the city-state. Pisistratus actually made quite a positive difference in the town, by freeing the demos from the aristocrats, by allowing the demos to own their own farms, and by making trade from far-away colonies. Athens economy soon grew in wealth.
About Cleisthenis, he was born around 570 B.C. He had been raised and taught that he was an aristocrat at birth, and was born to rule. By 508 B.C, there was pandemonium on the streets of Athens. The people had rebelled against the government for the first time in history. Cleisthenis was one of the men to help lead Athens into a democratic state of government.