Film:  “Greece:  A Moment of Excellence”

 

This movie will serve as an introduction to our study of the Greek view of human nature.  It describes the Fifth Century BCE in the city of Athens, Greece, which was the western world’s first democracy.  You will see the contributions that Greek society made in philosophy, politics, the arts, sciences, religion, athletics and more.  You will also see how this brief experiment in perfection was destroyed less than a century later by war, plague and complacence.

 

As you watch the film, find the answers to these questions.  If you don’t find the answers from watching the film, find the answers by looking them up in an encyclopedia or on the Internet (there are some links to check out on the course website).   For homework, write the answers to questions 

1 - 20 only on a separate piece of paper to be handed in.

 

  1. What time and what city does the film describe?

 

  1. Name three important values of ancient Greek society.

 

 

3.  What was the name of the group of female devotees who left their homes to roam the wilderness in ecstatic devotion? To which god?

 

 

4.  Who was the famous Greek leader who led Greece to democracy and restored and built many new temples, including the Parthenon?

 

 

5.  What is the name of the games that began as religious observances and celebrated the beauty of the human body? When did they first take place?

 

6.      Name two of the buildings included in the Acropolis.

 

 

  1.  Who was the famous teacher condemned to death by his fellow citizens?   Who was his famous student who recorded his last words?

 

 

8.      What was the name of the statues most of which were made by the Greek sculptor Phidias that ended up in the British museum of London?

 

  1. Whom did Athens fight during the Peloponnesian War?

 

  1.   Where did the western world’s first democracy originate?  Under what leader?

 

 11. What is the name of the woman in the famous play by Euripides who seeks revenge against Jason by killing her children?

 

  1.  What did most Greeks think about homosexuality?  What contributed to this attitude?

 

  1. What was a woman’s role in ancient Greece?

14.   Where did drama (comedy and tragedy) originate in western culture?  What did it start out as?

 

  1. What did the young men of Athens do in the Gymnasium?

 

  1. In addition to philosophy, what other disciplines that we might study today began in ancient Greece?

 

  1. What qualifications did one need to be a citizen of ancient Greece?

 

  1.  Why did people travel to the Temple at Delphi?

 

  1.  The Greeks worked everyday, except when they attended athletic events, plays or celebrated      religious holidays.   Approximately how many days a year were devoted to these special events?

 

 

  1. What are some of the factors that led to the downfall of Athens?

 

 

 

For further reflection: The film gives many examples of Greek values.  E.g., the film discusses how important physical beauty was to the Greeks.  The film also gives many examples of this – the Greek sculptures that glorified the human body, covering the body with gold dust before an athletic competition, etc.

 

Has our society inherited any of the Greek values?  Which ones?   Could our society today benefit by returning to any of these values?  Which ones and why?

 

 

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(c) 2000, 2001 by Anne Knop.  Only students in Manor College's PL 100 course have permission to make unlimited copies of this page. Others may request permission by e-mail: aknop@manor.edu