3/30

Today in Western Civilization we worked on our paper. I am editing the paper with Christina to make sure it sounds the best it can. I know we all put a lot of time and effort into this paper. This paper sounds good and as of now we have 1172 words.

3/27

Today in Western Civilization we worked on our project more. I actually got to finish my part (first paragraph and Socrates). I will edit over the weekend and fix it a little but I am done for the most part. I think my partners are also almost done. I think we have done a good job on the paper and used our time wisely. On Monday we will go over each of our parts and make it flow together. Right now I am at lunch writing my blog and Mckenna is right next to me. She saw that I was doing my blog. Here is a note from her to Mr. Schick:

I miss you and doing blogs!!!! McKenna

3/26

Today in Western Civilization we worked on our 1000 word paper. I got about 140 words done before the bell rang. I  am writing the introduction paragraph and Suky and Christina are writing the conclusion paragraph. I am going to work on it over the weekend and tomorrow in class. I don't really know what else to write for today since we didn't take any notes and we had a sub, so I guess this is it for today.

3/25

Today in Western Civilization we took more notes. These notes are mostly about the topics we had to make a Google Slides Presentation on. Here are the notes.

Gods and Goddess

• What is unique about the Greeks' relationship with their gods is their 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)

Who's who in the Pantheon

• 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 lightning bolts

• Athena - goddess of wisdom, skill, warfare (and peace), intelligence, battle strategy, and handicraft
• She was born from Zeus' head fully formed and armored
• A special patron of heroes - such as Odysseus
• She was the patron of Athens (the city was named after her)

• Apollo - god of music, art, knowledge, healing
• Zeus was his father, Artemis was his twin sister
• He's associated with the sun, his sister with the moon

• Poseidon - god of the sea, rivers, floods, earthquakes
• Brothers of Zeus, king of sea and waters

• Aphrodite - goddess of love, beauty, desire, sexuality,
• Her lovers included Ares (god of war), Adonis (Demi-god of desire), and Anchises (a mortal who fathered a baby)

• Demeter - goddess of grain, harvest, agriculture
• Zeus's sister

The Fighting Spartans

• Greeks were certainly a warlike people - especially Spartans
• Spartans were known for their tough, ruthless infantry: soldiers who fought on land
• Spartan boys trained front he time they were seven

A Naval Power

• Athens had a great infantry too, but nothing could compare to their navy
• Their most effective weapon was the trireme
• A technological marvel
• Fastest ship in the world at the time
• Rowed by up to 170 men on three levels
• Could be used as battering ram
• Agile, but also the fastest

The Phalanx

• 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

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 in 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 gadflies, and Athens as a lazy horse
• Found guilty
• Sentenced to death by drinking poison hemlock

3/23

Today in Western Civilization we talked about the 1000 word paper that is due next Wednesday. We also talked about the test. The essay does not seem as hard as this test surprisingly. For the test, we have to watch a two-hour movie and study all of our notes and his blog. I am worried that the movie will talk about a lot of things that we haven’t already talked about and that a lot of the test will be about the presentations, which I didn’t get as many notes as I would have liked to. Our Google Slides is almost like an outline for this paper so I don’t think it will be as hard as I did before. We also get to split it up between our partners so it’s not like I have to write 1000 words by myself.

3/20

Yesterday in class we presented all of our google slides projects. I tried to take notes but sometimes i could keep up. I thought they all looked good and I'm happy with how ours looked. We only got through have of ours but Mr. Schick said he will still put it on third quarter. I'm guessing we will finish presenting maybe on Monday?

3/19

Today in Western Civilization we took more notes and talked about what we would do when Mr. Schick was away. At the end of class we also started watching a movie about Ancient Greece. Here are the notes I took.

Next in Line

·      With Hippias gone, Isagoras and Cleisthenes  (both were aristocrats)

·      Isagoras had support from some fellow aristorats, plus from Sparta

·      Cleisthenes had support of the majority of Athenians

Isagoras wins! (but not for long)

·      Isagoras ostracizes Cleisthenes

·      Cleisthenes supporters – and the ordinary Athenian citizens revolted Isagoras: tyranny

·      They trap Isagoras on the acropolis for two days - on the third day he fled and was banished

·      508 BCE

Cleisthenes and Democracy

·      Cleisthenes – definitely part of the elite

·      Very rich

·      Insulated from that “hoi pollai”

·      A crafty Politian

3/18

Today in Western Civilization we took notes. Here are the notes I took.

Transformation Of Government

-During the seventh and sixth centuries BCE aristocrats ran the show in most of Greece
-Really? Rich people held much more influence in society, and held much more governmental power, than the middle class or the poor.

Aristocracy

-Aristocracy is ruled by aristocrats
-They attended symposiums
-Symposiums were meetings where the elite men would enjoy wine and poetry, performances by dancers and acrobats and the coming of hetaeras (courtesans) while discussing politics

An Exclusive Club

-No women allowed (except the "entertainment")
-No middle class
-Certainly, no slaves
-Sometimes, even aristocrats who didn't have the right connections or who fell out of favor, were excluded
-What to do if you're "on the outside"?

Tyrants Seize Control

-Sometimes, aristocrats would form alliances with hoplites (well-armed soldiers) and set up an alternative form of government called a tyranny
-Tyrant: someone who rules outside the framework of the polis
-Modern meaning of tyrant: an abusive or oppressive ruler
-The Greek meaning of tyrant: someone who simply seized power on their own (usually with hoplite)

Clash of the Tyrants
-Hippias was a tyrant who ruled from 527 to 510 BCE
-His brother was murdered and his rule became harsh
-Eventually he was expelled from Athens (this is called being ostracized)
-In revenge, he began working with Persian King Darius I, helping them invade Marathon

More work on our Google Slides Project

Today in Western Civilization we worked more on our Google Slides project. This was the last day we could work on our projects together in class. I had to make some more corrections and add one more slide. After getting some more suggestions from Mr. Schick and using them, I was finished. I think my partners are also close to being finished. We have a total of 17 slides including our sources. I think we all did a very good job and put a lot of effort into this. Today was a very successful day and I'm glad we are already finished even though its due Friday. If we did a good job I'm hoping the paper will be easy to write.

3/13

Today in Western Civilization we worked on our projects. We got a lot done today and I feel like our group is making good progress. Mr. Schick helped me figure out the most important facts for Socrates. I also had to find pictures to put on the slides but I made them to big so I had to make the text box smaller. I have around four slides so far for Socrates explaining some facts, the Socratic Method and his death. My partners are doing very well and making good progress with each of their philosophers also. We never talked about how much it would be worth. We also didn't talk about what quarter the grade would be put on.

3/12

Today in Western Civilization, we picked our groups for the project and picked what our topic would be out of a hat. My partners are Suky and Christina and our topic is Socrates, Plato and Aristotle - Three Great Philosophers. We decided that we are going to split the three philosophers between us. I will be doing the slides on Socrates. We got started as soon as we were given time to. I think that we will do a well on this project. Mr. Schick also mentioned how he wasn't sure if the writing portion would be worth 100 points or 200 points. I'm not really sure what I would rather have. I think we will do a good job so then that would benefit our grades, but also 200 points is worth a lot and it would be really bad if we did not do as well as I think we will.

3/11

Today I was not in class because I was out of town.

Here are the notes Sydney let me use to put on here.

Homer the Storyteller

• Greek oral tradition - stories passed on by word of mouth 
• Homer lived at the end of the "Greek Dark Ages"
• He composed stories of the Trojan War c. 750 - 700 BCE 
• The lliad: probably one of the last conquests of the Mycenaens (the Trojan War) 
• The Odyssey: Odysseus attempt to return home, being thwarted by angry god of the sea, Poseidon 
• The Odyssey was 12,110 lines of clactylic hexameter 

Did Homer actually exist ?

• "Homeric question" Homer may have been a mythical creation himself 
• A blind wandering minstrel; a heroic figure 
• lliad and the odyssey may be the culmination of many generations of storytelling 
• Or Homer actually existed and was just that awesome 

Ancient Greece

Today in Western Civilization, we took notes on Ancient Greece. Here are the notes I took.

Ancient Greece is the Word

-The Worlds greatest civilization are all located on a river

-Great Civilization/Key River

Mesopotamia – Tigris/ Euphrates River

         Egypt – The Nile

         India – Indus River

         China – Huang He River

-Ionian Sea

-Terra – means “earth”

-Medi – means “medium”

         Mediterranean – Middle of the Earth

-Crete is the largest island in Greece

Greece’s Geography

·      Greece is a mountainous area

·      Mountains cover ¾ of Greece

·      -The combination of the Peninsula and the mountainous area shaped Greece’s culture

·      They had many sailors and shipmakers (They lived on the sea)

·      They had poor/limited natural resources, so they had to trade

·      It was difficult to unite Ancient Greeks because of the terrain, they had

·      Although fertile valleys cover one quarter of the peninsula, only 30% is suitable for farming

·      Greek diet: Grains, grapes, olives

·      Lack of resources led to Greek Civilizations

·      Arable – good for farming

·      Back then, temperature usually raged from the mid 40s in the winter to low 80s in the summer, although it could get hot in the summer, it was pretty nice year-round

Some early peoples, first Mycenaeans

·      Their influence began around 2,000 BCE

·      Mycenae is located on a rocky ridge and was protected by a 20ft wall

·      Mycenaean kings dominated Greece from 1600-1200 BCE

o  Controlled trade in the region

·      1400 BCE – Mycenaeans invaded Crete and absorbed Minoan culture and language

Then, “sea people” and Dorians

·      around 1200 BCE, the mysterious “sea people” began to invade Mycenae and burnt palace after palace

·      So, the Dorians moved into this war-torn region

·      Dorians were far less advanced

·      The trade based economy collapsed

·      Writing disappeared for 400 years

·      Talk about a culture in decline… except…

Cyber Day

Today is another cyber day. Our cyber day assignment is to write one paragraph on one of three famous Philosophers. I picked Socrates.

Socrates was born around 470 BC and lived until 399 BC. He was born in Athens, Greece. His views in Philosophy came from his own Socratic Method, which is used by asking a series of questions to create more ideas. Socrates is not know for writings because he was against it and worried that "reliance on writing would erode memory." Due to Athenian law, Socrates worked in the armored infantry. Socrates had three children with his wife, Xanthippe. She did not approve of his second occupation as a philosopher. She didn't think it supported his family. Eventually, Socrates was tried for his "corrupting the youth" and ignoring their gods. Even though he did have a large amount of supporters, they were not enough because he was voted as guilty. He even was given a chance to escape, but he was brave and would not allow it. He is now looked upon as a hero for facing death, and also for standing up for his beliefs and not backing down.

Sources: http://www.biography.com/people/socrates-9488126#philosopher, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates
Quote came from: http://outofthejungle.blogspot.com/2007/11/socrates-objections-to-writing.html

Cyber Day

Today is another Cyber Day. We have to talk about three different building built in Ancient Greece.

The Parthenon

The construction and building of The Parthenon began in 447 B.C. and was finished in 432 B.C. The design of this specific building was the Doric design. This Doric design consisted of " Ionic Architectural features. The main reason for it to be built was to cover up and replace a destroyed temple, but was also built to thank one of their goddesses Athena. The Parthenon was 469 silvers to build, which most was spent delivering the stone from Mount Pantelakos to Athens.
Source: http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/Parthenon/

 

The Temple of Hera

The Temple of Hera was built around 600 B.C. and is located on the "south slopes of Kronios hill". This is one of the oldest temples in Ancient Greece. The design is, again, the Doric design. It was made of shelf-limestone and stone, but decorated with Terra-cotta. This temple was split in three chambers which are pronaos, cella, and opisthodomos.
Sources: http://www.olympia-greece.org/hera.html and http://www.mesogeia.net/trip/olympia/heraion_en.html

The Greek Theatre

Greek theaters were built to honor and praise their gods. These theaters are very big and most were built on the slopes of hills. Athens was the main spot for theaters. In these theaters were three main areas: the orchestra, the skene, and the theatron. The stages were made of wood had to be rebuilt often. 700 B.C. was when these theaters were very popular and the most popular types of theater were comedy and drama (after honoring their gods).

Source: http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/Theatre/

3/4/15

Today in Western Civilization we talked about cuber days. Today we were 2 hours late so this class was very short. Mr. Schick is positive we will have a cyber day tomorrow and we will more than likely not be on time Friday or have off. He explained the cyber days, why he has to put homework up by 10 am, and why they benefit us. He also mentioned what our cyber day homework will be and around how long it will take us. Tomorrow, if we have a cyber day, we will start learning about Greece, specifically about five different buildings that were significant in their society.

Ancient Greece

Today was another cyber day. Our cyber day homework is to write notes on Ancient Greece and answer some questions about it.

Notes

(Ancient) Greece is the World - An introduction to a great civilization

• The world's great civilizations are all located on rivers:
• Mesopotamia - Tigris and Euphrates River
• Egypt - Nile River
• India - Indus River
• China - Huang He River

Greece's Geography

• Note the significance of Greece's location
• Describe Greece's topography
• Look at Greece's surroundings

1. Greece is located near a lot water which can be used for drinking, bathing, irrigation, and transportation. There is also a lot of mountains which would affect their culture because it would affect where they would live. Their does not seem to be much flat land.

2. Greece is surrounded by the Adriatic Sea and the Aegean Sea.

3. The large island that is to the south/southeast of Greece is Crete.

4.  Both Athens and Sparta border the sea. Sparta is southwest of Athens.