Andrew's Western Civ Blogs

1) a) With Direct Democracy, citizens can rule directly and not through representatives. b) Classical Art was made in the golden age, and showed beauty, balance, and calmness. c) Tragedies were serious plays about war or love that provided entertainment to everyone. d) Comedies were the opposite of tragedies, with humor and slapstick jokes to make people laugh. e) The Peloponnesian War was the 10 year long war between Athens and Sparta. It later ended in a truce in 421 B.C. f) The thinkers of Greece who fought to seek the truth were called philosophers. g) Socrates was a great thinker, who was a critic of the Sophists, and made people question themselves morally. h) Plato was a student of Socrates, and wanted to form a government based on insight, and also wrote "Allegory in the Cave" i) Aristotle was the student of Plato, and came close to summarizing the knowledge of his time. He also made the method to arguing with rules of logic. 2) The greatest goal that still ...

Today in class we had the first test on our unit on Ancient Greece, and I am pretty confident that I did alright on this one. The only questions that I had some trouble on were the dates and the different battles/conquests. I did do well on the map, which I made sure to study extra time on. I also think that these tests are fair, and I'm definitely glad there are no trick questions. I don't know what we are going to be learning next, but at least the class isn't too challenging for me. I hope I get a good grade on this, so I'm both nervous and excited to see how I did.

Today in class we looked at a few more slides for our recent lessons on ancient Greece. First, we learned some more about Draco, which was when all Athenians were equal under the law. Also, death was the primary punishment for any crime, even doing something like stealing cabbage. Debt slavery was also considered to be alright then. In Solon's reforms, debt slavery was outlawed, and all citizens could speak at assembles. Also, any citizen could press charges. Later the aristocrats Isagoras and Cleisthenus had a power struggle, and eventually Isagoras wins. Then he kicked out Cleisthenus, making the citizens revolt, which led to him being also kicked out of the city-state. Athens also later practiced a direct democracy. Well I'll see you Thursday for the test!

Today in class we did a review day of sorts to prepare for out upcoming test on Thursday. We also looked back on some term names for different forms of government, such as monarchy, ruled by a king or queen, and a oligarchy, which is ruled by the few powerful men. Finally, there is aristocracy, which is government ruled by the rich. For our test, we need to memorize where the seas and different regions were in ancient Greece. Also Tyrants, which back then meant the normal way to take control, worked with the military and the hoplites to take control. Lastly, we talked about climate change and how it relates to aristocracy today. Alright, that's all for today so see you tomorrow!

In this new lesson we are starting, we are learning all about Greece's prosperous time, or its golden age. The main idea of this chapter is that demographic principles and classical culture flourished during Greece's golden age. This matters now because at it's highlight, Greece set lasing standards in art, politics, literature, and philosophy that are still relevant today. Also, in the Peloponnesian War, Sparta and Athens battled against one another for 10 years. Athens also had a stronger navy while Sparta had the better army, meaning Athens tried hard to avoid land battles with Sparta. Anyway, that's all for today so I'll see you on Monday.

Today in class we took notes on some important and historical events in ancient Greece. Did you know that 25% of the entirety of Greece is covered in fertile valleys, but only 20% is actually suitable for farming? Also, Greeks had a very good diet consisting of grains, grapes, fish, and olives. Greece also had a lack of natural resources which eventually led to colonization. There is also a debate on whether Homer was actually a mythical, fictional creature. Others think that he was actually the culmination of of generations of storytelling. Anyway, I'll see you on Friday!

There is one great thing that each great civilization has in common, a key river. For Mesopotamia, there is the Tigris and the Euphrates river. Egypt has the Nile River, while India has the Indus River. We also in class saw the philosophical thought of the pipe picture. It is supposed to make you think of what it is, a painting, a picture of a painting, or a painting of a painting, but as the caption says, it is not a pipe. We also need to know the Aegean sea, the Ionian sea, the Adriatic sea, Peloponnese, Athens, Sparta, Crete, Asia Minor, and finally Macedonia. That' all for now, see you soon!

Today in class we looked at some slides on the allegory of the cave, and saw a video explaining the story. Something new that I learned was that Plato said "The effect of education and the lack of it on our nature", which means that the prisoners not shown the light are the ones uneducated. On the other hand the one who was brought into the light, was the one educated. We also learned that the prisoners believed that they were the smart ones, and the prisons are actually the humans before philosophy came around. It is also said that the shadows were just phantoms and that is what we see before we are educated. Anyway, see you after the long weekend!

Today in class we started to learn about Plato's Allegory in the Cave. This is a story about prisoners who are chained and forced to look at a dark wall only illuminated by a fire that is projecting light to that side. On the other side of the wall are people using puppet-like objects to teach these prisoners what things are.  On the blog, you can also see the exit to outside, where there is light. Well, one of these prisoners is forced up to the light and it hurts his eyes, but after a while he is accustomed to it. He realizes he was blind to the truth and he now knows what is real. He goes down to the cave again out of pity for the others, but the prisoners, who have never been shown the real light, don't believe him and even plan to kill him. This can symbolize ignorance and what education can do for someone who just doesn't know better. Those who are open-minded, even if forced, can be shown the truth, or the light. We also see that those who are ignorant might not want...

Today in class we had a sub and we took notes on the next lesson of the battling city-states in Greece. The Main Idea of this lesson is that the growth of city-states in Greece led to the development of several political systems, including democracy. This matters now because many political systems in today's world mirror forms of government that evolved from ancient Greece. We also need to know 4 different types of government, monarchy, aristocracy, oligarchy, and democracy. Monarchy is government ruled by a single person while Aristocracy is ruled by the rich. Oligarchy is ruled by the few powerful ones and finally democracy is ruled by the people. That's all for now, see you soon!

1) a) The Mycenaeans were those who migrated from the Greek mainland and who dominated Greece from 1600 to 1100 B.C. b) In the Trojan War, Troy and Mycenae fought and had troy fall; one of Mycenaean's last battle campaigns. c) Dorians were less advanced then Mycenaeans and brought with them less trade and bad economy. d) Homer was the greatest storyteller who was said to write the epics between 750 to 700 B.C. e) An epic was a great poem celebrating heroic deeds of events in their history. f) Myths were traditional stories about their gods and helped for humans to explain things they couldn't. 3) With Greece being close to the sea, trade by sea made Greece thrive, and transportation was made easy. It also gave them food and access to other resources on other land. 4) The Mycenaeans saw the value of seaborne trade from the Minoans, helping them to grow from other towns. They also helped them with writing systems and religious practices, along with art and politics. 5)...

Today in class we had our quiz on Egypt and I think I did pretty well on it! We also started on our month long unit on Greece. The main idea of this lesson is that the roots of Greek culture are based off of interaction of the Mycenaean, Minoan, and the Dorian cultures. Why does this matter now? Well, the seeds of much of Western cultural heritage were planted during this time. Also, in the Greek city-states of Athens, a new form of government called Democracy was formed. Democracy means that government is where the people have power. Anyway, that's all for today, see you on Monday!

 Today in class we did a review day for our quiz tomorrow all about Egypt. We also watched an interesting video about how to make a mummy. This showed exactly how the Egyptians could preserve these bodies for an extended amount of time. We also saw just how long the Nile river is compared to the United States, which would be about 1.5 of its length. We also had a problem with talking today which unfortunately meant we couldn't listen to his favorite song. Luckily I feel pretty prepared for this quiz coming up so we'll see what happens!

Today in class we had a surprise pop quiz for our lesson on Egypt. I was pretty confident in it except for the question about Menes, or Namer. He was the pharaoh who united the two kingdoms together under one rule. We also took notes that in 3100, hieroglyphics were starting to be written. These symbols were written on papyrus with ink from berries and other colored things. We also learned that the pyramids were originally covered in marble, but were stripped of by the Muslims in their conquest. Also, the Temple of Amon at Karnak is the largest religious building in the world. That's all for today, see you later.