Alex's Western Civilization Blog

The main differences between patricians and plebeians were that patricians were upper-class wealthy landowners and they held the most, while the plebeians were middle-class commoners who make up most of the population. Almost all the government and religious positions were taken by patricians because they were able to make laws, own land, and be army generals. The plebeians had fewer rights than the patricians. The Greek versions of patricians and plebeians would be that the aristocrats were equivalent to the patricians and the middle-class farmers/commoners were equivalent to the plebeians.

Republic - a form of government in which power rests with citizens who have the right to vote for their leaders Patrician - wealthy landowners who held the most power Plebeian -   common farmers, artisans, and merchants who made up the majority of the population Tribune - representatives that protected the rights of plebeians from unfair acts of patrician officials Consul - the two officials in Rome Senate - the aristocratic branch of Rome's government Dictator - a leader who had absolute power to make laws and command the army Legion - large military units Punic Wars - The wars between Rome and Carthage that lasted from 264 BC to 146 BC Hannibal - a Carthaginian general and a brilliant military strategist who wanted to avenge Carthage's earlier defeat

My essay question would be: Who were Philip II, Alexander the Great, Bucephalus, and Darius III and what is the relation between them? My first paragraph would be about Philip II, covering what he did during his rule and the foundation he built for his son Alexander the Great before he was possibly assassinated by Darius III, which would lead me to the second paragraph where I write about Alexander the Great and write about all that he's accomplished by himself and with his horse. The third paragraph would be about Bucephalus where I would describe the relationship between him and Alexander the Great and what they accomplished together including when they defeated Darius III's army at the Granicus. My fourth paragraph would be about Darius III where I mention what he did during his rule and give the reasons as to why he might've assassinated Philip II. My fifth paragraph would briefly wrap all these ideas together and restate how all of them are related.

1)  Q: Alexander the Great had a special bond with his horse __________.          A: Bucephalus 2)  Q: What theme would you NOT find in a Greek drama?                   a) love     b) hate    c) crude humor      d) betrayal            A: c) crude humor 3) Q: What was Pericles' plan for Athens against Sparta?                         a) fight back       b) don't fight back and stay within the walls     A: b) don't fight back and stay within the walls 4) Q: Pericles ruled during ___________.          A: The Golden Age 5) Q: Which of the following were not one of Plato's three groups in his ideal society?               a) producer      b) military       c) ruler        d) slave      A: d) slave    

Our cyber assignment today is to watch a video about Plato's best and worst ideas and answer the following questions, 1) How did Plato define The Forms? Plato defined forms as the ideal versions of the things and concepts we see around us, they serve as an instruction manual to our world.  2) Who are the three groups in Plato’s ideal society? The three groups in his ideal society were the producers, the military, and the rulers. 3) What were Plato’s thoughts on women? Plato believed that women were equally able to rule, but he saw women as children, and he saw babies in the womb as live animals that could wander around their mothers' bodies to cause illness. 4) What was the Noble Lie that Plato proposed? The noble lie that he proposed was that we were all born with gold, silver, or a mixture of brass and iron in our souls, and this would determine our roles in life.

Our cyber assignment today is to write a poem about something. Pericles In 495 BC a great leader was born Loved to learn Music, politics, ethics, and philosophy stuck out to him Ruled during the Golden Age Lead Athens through the Peloponnesian War He had a plan Stay behind the city walls   Don't fight back This worked until disaster struck A plague was brought into the city walls of Athens The Athenians failed to keep their heads up They stopped caring  They lived with a certain mindset "why be good if the good and bad die just as easily" The plague wiped nearly 1/3 of the population Pericles was struck with the plague He had a great biographer, Plutarch He wrote about his sufferings After fighting for six months Athens greatest leader died in 429 BC

Our cyber assignment today is to find two pictures of classical Greek structures and describe them. This structure looks like it's on the roof of a building. It has sculptures of what look like Greek gods. There are a bunch of fine details around the perimeter of the structure. The top border has a pattern of designs going all around it. This structure is filled with many pillars. It looks like each pillar is filled with very fine designs and imprints. The top of the structure has even more fine details around the border of it. The rooftop of the structure is triangular shaped and has a lot of details.

Our cyber assignment today is to  look at p. 136 from the textbook and answer the following questions about Greek theater. (1) The two kinds of dramas that were performed in Greek theater were tragedies and dramas. Tragedies were serious dramas and they had common themes like love, hate, war, or betrayal. They usually have main characters known as "tragic heroes" who also have a "tragic fall" which would lead to their downfall. Comedies contained scenes that had slapstick situations and crude humor. The playwrights often made fun of politics, respected people, and ideas of time. (2b) The movie Dumb and Dumber can be related to Greek Comedies because it uses slapstick and crude humor because the two main characters are very slow and they are put in situations where they don't know how to act properly. (3) The theater is very open and there is no roof. There are a lot of seats and they rise pretty high, so it must be a pretty tall theater. It's shaped li