Western Civilization

I felt really sick this morning so I just stayed at home.

Today in class we watched a video about Philosophy. It talked about some big questions in our lives. And Mr. Shick told us the story of him being saved from a flying truck when "someone" touched his shoulders. The story reminds me of what happens to me. Sometimes in my life, when I'm doing something, I feel like the exact scene of what I'm doing or talking to people what ever I'm doing, has happened before. It feels really weird because I'm pretty sure I've never really done the thing or I know I've never been to the place, but I just feel like the same exact thing has happened before. So I just really want to know the answer of all this weird things. Know after watching the video i feel like there should be an either scientific or philosophic way to explain this.

Today in class we chose the topic for our project on Ancient Greece. Our group decided to do a project on the Ancient Greek pottery. We are going to make an actual ancient Greek pottery and paint it with some ancient t greek designs and a story of a greek legend or historical event.

Today in class we learned about the philosophers of Greece. Socrates -looked to science and logic (not the mythological gods) for explanations of how the world worked --- the Socratic Method fostered critical thinking -“ The unexamined life is not worth living.” -Socrates was charged with serious crimes -impiety (disrespecting the gods) -corrupting the youth of Athens -at his trial, he described himself as a stinging gadfly, and Athens as a lazy old horse -did not deny what he had done; asked for free dinners -found guilty by an Athenian jury, and sentenced to death by drinking poison hemlock (nasty way to go) Plato -Plato was a student and follower of Socrates -he wrote out Socrates’ teachings, and described his trial in A pology -Republic was Socrates’ discussion of justice and the ideal state - one of the most influential books on -philosophy ever written Aristotle - Aristotle was a student of Plato -he helped foster the idea of Athens as an intel...

Today in class i made up my test while everyone else taking note from the book. I planned to make up the test tomorrow so i didn't study at all!! But the good thing is Mr. Shick allowed us to use our blogs while taking the test. I got an 80 which is not really good, but I'll make sure I study before test next time.😀

Today in we reviewed for the test on Friday( which i'll take on Tuesday). The key rivers of the world are Mesopotamia/Tigris and Euphrates Rivers  Egypt/ Nile River  India/Indus River China/ Huang He River. Greece is in the middle of the seas so it's easy to trade. Mediterranean Sea=" Middle- Land Sea". Topography: mountains, rocky, hard for transportation.And we need to be able to identify Agean Sea, Ionian Sea, Adriatic Sea, Peloponnesus, Athens, Spara, Crete, Asia Minor, Macedonia. Polis : fundamental political unit, made up of a city and the surrounding countryside. P olitics affairs of the cities, policy, political. M onarchy : rule by a single person , a king, in Greece. Aristocracy : rule by a small group of noble, very rich, landowning families. Oligarchy : wealthy groups, dissatisfied with aristocratic rule, who seized power often with military help. T yrant : powerful individual who seized control by appealing to the common people for support. -Aristo...

Today in class we reviewed on our own for the test. I finished reading the text book and reviewing for the test on Friday.( the first few slides of the powerpoint): -Climate is an important influence on Greek civilization. Greece has varied climate( average from48-80). It supports outdoor life for Greek people. - Mycenaean Civilization Develops   -A large wave of Indo-Europeans migrated from the Eurasian steps to Europe and India and Asia. -Mycenae was located on a steep, rocky ridge and was surrounded by a thick wall in Greece. - Contact with Minoans    -From the Minoans, the Mycenaean learned the significance in seaborne trade. They also greatly influenced their culture, religion, art, literature -The Trojan War   -During 2000B.C., ten-year war, against Troy   -Some historians thought the story of the war was just fictional. But later on a German archeologist proved that the story was based on real cities and events. And then we continued on the Pow...

Today in class we learned about the Persian War. close-rank, dense grouping of warriors armed with long spears and interlocking shields soldiers would advance slowly toward the enemy, until they broke through their ranks Persian Empire vs. Greece look at how little and insignificant Greece appears look at how big the Persian Empire is Persians have a huge army, and nearly unlimited resources this beatdown shouldn’t take long! Greek army iron weapons meant ordinary citizens could afford to arm themselves foot soldiers ( hoplites ) trained from an early age armed with spears, swords, shields often fought in phalanx formation “home field” advantage motivated to preserve democracy Persian army first archers (do damage from a distance) then cavalry (they disrupt communication between generals and soldiers) then lightly armored infantry (carried spear, sword, and bow) huge numbers long way from home professional army (soldiers for hire, or mercenaries )

Today in class we did not do what we normally do because Mr. Shick's sick. We took notes from the book about the warring city-states. -Polis : fundamental political unit, made up of a city and the surrounding countryside. P olitics affairs of the cities, policy, political. M onarchy : rule by a single person , a king, in Greece. Aristocracy : rule by a small group of noble, very rich, landowning families. Oligarchy : wealthy groups, dissatisfied with aristocratic rule, who seized power often with military help. T yrant : powerful individual who seized control by appealing to the common people for support. -Aristocrats : members of the ruling class . T hey attended symposiums , meetings where the elite men would enjoy wine and poetry, performances by dancers and acrobats, and the company of hetaeras while discussing politics. -Tyrant : someone who rules outside the framework of the polis . The m odern meaning of tyrant : an abusive or oppressive ruler.  T he Greek meaning of t...

 Today in class we learned about the gods and goddesses in Greece. it’s where the state (or in this case, the city-state) is ruled by its citizens rule is based on citizenship majority rule decides vote in the agora , citizens argued, made speeches, then voted with white stones (yes) / black stones (no) it was first practiced in Athens under Cleisthenes by around 500 BCE What is unique about the Greeks’ relationship with their gods is the interaction with humans Poseidon (god of the sea) interfered with Odysseus trying to return home Aphrodite (goddess of love) had lovers of both gods and men Dionysus (god of wine) was son of Zeus (a god) and of Semele (a human princess) and on and on and on... Zeus - ruler of heaven and earth; father of Athena; god of the sky, weather, thunder, lightning, law, order, and justice.   Had a temper and was known to hurl thunderbolts. Goddess of wisdom, skill,  warfare (and peace), intelligence, battl...

Today in class restarted on the essay about Homer. Another great work of Homer is The Iliad .The Iliad is a book of the ancient Greek epic poem in dactylic hexameter,which is a ancient greek rhyme that Homer created. Set during the Trojan War, i t tells stories of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles . The story covers only a few years after the Trojan War. The Iliad mentions or alludes to many of the Greek legends about the siege; and some of the early events, like the gathering of warriors of siege, the cause of the wars, and the concerns after the war. And then the epic narratives takes up events after prophesied for the future, such as Achilles' imminent death and the fall of Troy. Although the story ends before the events takes place, it covers more or less the complete story of the Trojan War. The Iliad is paired with the Odyssey, which is also attributed to Homer. This is the part I did in class, it...

Today in class restarted on the essay about Homer. Another great work of Homer is The Iliad .The Iliad is a book of the ancient Greek epic poem in dactylic hexameter,which is a ancient greek rhyme that Homer created. Set during the Trojan War, i t tells stories of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles . The story covers only a few years after the Trojan War. The Iliad mentions or alludes to many of the Greek legends about the siege; and some of the early events, like the gathering of warriors of siege, the cause of the wars, and the concerns after the war. And then the epic narratives takes up events after prophesied for the future, such as Achilles' imminent death and the fall of Troy. Although the story ends before the events takes place, it covers more or less the complete story of the Trojan War. The Iliad is paired with the Odyssey, which is also attributed to Homer. This is the part I did in class, it...