Ancient Greece

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Ancient Greece

• -Key Concepts-

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I. Prehistoric Beginnings

• The Myceneans and the Minoans
• Heinrich Schliemanns Discoveries
• --Ancient Troy (1870)
• --Mycenae (1876)
• Arthur Evans Uncovers Knossos (1899)

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A. Minoan Civilization

• Society at its peak between 2000-1500 BCE
• Harmonious and peaceful society
• --first known flush toilet
• Minoan civilization closely interrelated to
  Mycenean civilization
  
• Minoan government

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A. Minoan Civilization (cont)

• Minoan Social Classes
• Treatment of Women
• Minoan Entertainment
• A Gift for Inventions and Engineering
• Minoan Religion
• Minoan Art

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B. Mycenaean Civilization

• Emergence of Mycenean Civilization
• Mycenean Conquest of the Minoans
• The Fall of Mycenean Civilization
• --Dorians
• Mycenean Culture and Government
• -- wanax
• A culture geared toward war
• Mycenean Art

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C. Influence and Significance of Early Greek
Civilization

• Minor impact on later Greek life and culture
• Cultural slate wiped clean by Dark Ages
  (1200-750 BCE)
  
• Great wave of immigration during this era all
  over the Aegean and along western coast of Asia
  Minor
  
• Still, significant contributions
• --earliest European civilizations
• --progressive Minoan art
• --Minoans worldly and innovative

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II. The Dark Ages (1200-750 BCE)

• Dark Ages in the Near East were shorter, ending
  around 900 BCE
  
• Homer provides some glimpses
• Simple political patterns
• Emergence of an aristocracy exerting influence
  over society

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II. The Dark Ages (cont)

• Social Life during the Dark Ages
• Purpose of Early Greek Religion
• Anthropomorphic Greek gods
• Greek indifference to an afterlife
• The role of arete or excellence in early Greek
  thought

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III. Early Greek Literature and the Greek
Alphabet

• Development of the Greek alphabet
• Benefits of the Greek alphabet
• Homers Iliad
• --Achilles and the Trojan Wars
• Homers Odyssey
• --Odysseus and Penelope

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III. Early Greek Literature (cont)

• Lessons of Homers Epics
• Women as well as men pursued excellence
• Homers depiction of the gods
• Arete and the Birth of the Olympic Games (776
  BCE)
  
• Centrality of religion for communal activity

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III. Early Greek Literature (cont)

• Hesiod and the theme of justice
• -- Works and Days
• Solon and the theme of moderation
• 6th Century BCE Lyric Poetry
• --Sappho from the island of Lesbos
• --Archilocus the sailor

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IV. Greek Geography

• Mountains and islands created isolation
• Blessed with lots of good harbors
• Isolation led to political disunity
• Intimate size of Greek city-states
• Most plentiful natural resources

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V. Early Political History and Colonization

• The Emergence of the City-State (Polis)
• --Athens, Sparta and Thebes
• Importance of access to the sea in trading
  internationally
  
• Role of the gods in sea travel
• The prosperity of Corinth
• Origins of Greek colonization movement

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V. Early Political History (cont)

• Reasons for Greek colonization between 735-600
  BCE
  
• The Pattern of Greek colonization
• -- metropolis
• -- oikist
• Interaction with local inhabitants
• --1500 city-states stretching from modern Spain
  to Asia Minor (550)

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V. Early Political History (cont)

• Influence of other cultures through trade on
  Greek culture
  
• Evolution of Greek city-state government
• --phalanxes
• Difference between ancient Greek political system
  and current American system

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V. Early Political History (cont)

• The concept of Greek citizenship
• --ethnos (league)
• --metics
• Extension of some political rights to the poor
• Humanistic approach to politics

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VI. The Centrality of the Greek Polis

• The basic political unit was the polis
• The center of the polis was the acropolis
• The Greek agora or marketplace
• --Athens Painted Stoa
• Most Greeks were farmers
• Some small-scale craftsmen

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VI. The Centrality of the Greek Polis (cont)

• Intimacy was a key feature of polis life
• Polis laws and government varied
• The simplicity of the Greek lifestyle
• Layout of Greek homes
• --mens dining room
• --womens room for working wool
• --courtyard
• Furniture and clothing

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VI. The Centrality of the Greek Polis (cont)

• Greek Dietary Habits
• The nature of Greek slavery
• Duties of Greek slaves
• Sources of slaves
• Treatment of slaves
• Leisure and sociability of Greek life
• Greeks were very religious people
• Individual defined by place within the polis

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VII. The Armed Camp of Sparta

• Spartan militarism forged out of treatment of
  their neighbors
  
• --Messenian Revolt (650 BCE)
• Spartan governmental system
• --ephors (overseers)
• The equality of Spartan citizens Equals

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VII. Ancient Sparta (cont)

• Treatment of Helots
• The training of Spartan boys
• The role of women in Sparta
• The common mess of Spartan men
• Spartan attitudes toward materialism
• Spartan military posture was isolationist and
  defensive

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VIII. The Athenian Political Partnership

• The legend of Theseus
• Athens evolved in a different direction than
  Sparta
  
• Hereditary aristocracy ruled from 750-600 BCE
• --Dracos Laws (610 BCE)
• Emergency powers given to Solon (594 BCE)
• Solon introduces democratic principles

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VIII. Athenian Political Partnership (cont)

• The tyranny of Pisistratus (546 BCE)
• The overthrow of the tyranny of Hippias (510
  BCE)
  
• Lasting stability introduced by Cleisthenes (507
  BCE)
  
• All Attica divided into 10 regions demes
  

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VIII. Athenian Political Partnership (cont)

• Basic components of Athenian political system
• --Assembly
• --Athenian Council
• --magistrates
• --generals
• The institution of ostracism

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VIII. Athenian Political Partnership (cont)

• Athenian democracy was never truly democratic,
  but close
  
• Problems with the system
• --undue influence of persuasive speech
• --continuity of experience of officeholders
• Reason-focused, humanistic foundation for
  Athenian political system

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IX. Greek Military History

• The golden age of Greece is set between two wars
  like giant bookends.

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A. The Persian Wars

• Initial Athenian contact with Persia
• Athenian assistance to Ionian Greeks
• Two Persian campaigns 490 and 480-479 BCE
• The Battle of Marathon (490 BCE)
• Xerxes invasion of Northern Greece (480)

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A. The Persian Wars (cont)

• The burning of Athens and Spartan resistance at
  the Pass of Thermopylae
  
• The naval battle of Salamis (479 BCE)
• Significance of victory over the Persians
• Victory released a tremendous surge of confidence
  and optimism in human potential

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B. Growth of the Athenian Empire (478-431 BCE)

• Glorious war followed by inglorious era
• Establishment of the Delian League
• --triremes
• Growing Athenian abuse of the Delian League
• Spartan creation of the Peloponnesian League

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B. Growth of Athenian Empire (cont)

• Rich Athenians exploited the Delian League
• Evolution of the Athenian Jury System
• The political leadership of Pericles
• Aggressive foreign policy against Sparta

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C. The Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE)

• Origins of the War
• Athenian military strategy
• Problems with this strategy
• Faltering Athenian religious confidence
• Deteriorating political leadership in Athens
• --Cleons capture of 120 Spartan Equals (425)

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C. Peloponnesian War (cont)

• Changing Spartan Military Strategy
• --Athenian siege of Melos (416 BCE)
• --Betrayal of General Alcibiades
• Athenian surrender and aftermath
• --Rule of the Thirty Tyrants
• Continuing strife between Greek city-states

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X. Women and Slaves in the Daily Life of Ancient
Athens

• Discrimination against women seclusion
• Special privileges for priestesses and
  courtesans
  
• --Aspasia
• Ancient Greek marriage
• Life expectancy and daily duties of women
• Property rights of Athenian women

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X. Women and Slaves in Athens (cont)

• Sexual bias against women
• Legendary bias against women
• --Pandoras box
• The importance of bearing male children
• The role of Athenian slaverysmall-scale but
  crucial to the development of Athenian culture

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XI. Early Greek Philosophy

• Phileo To love
• Sophia Wisdom

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A. Ionian Cosmologists (or Pre-Socratics)

• Studied the workings of the physical universe
  apart from a religious context
  
• --Thales
• Nature is not governed by chance or manipulated
  by the godsnature is orderly
  
• Importance of human reason

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A. Ionian Cosmologists (cont)

• All things could be reduced to a primary
  substance
  
• --concept of metaphysics
• --Thales water
• --Democritus primal matter (atoms)

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A. Ionian Cosmologists (cont)

• Used general concepts crucial to abstract
  thought
  
• --Anaximander notion of boundless and
  evolution
  
• --Pythagoras numbers explain natural world
• --Parmenides reality known solely through the
  mind, not the senses

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B. The Sophists

• Professional teachers offering worldly wisdom and
  lessons in persuasion
  
• The importance of oral culture in Athens
• The training of Athenian youth
• --Symposium

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B. The Sophists (cont)

• Humanistic and relativistic teaching of
  Protagoras
  
• -- Man is the measure of all things
• --no absolute truths
• Impact of such teaching
• Conservative criticism of the Sophists
• Fear that Sophist teaching would offend the gods

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C. Socrates

• His life and background
• Human beings and society were the essential
  subjects of philosophical inquiry
  
• Did believe in universal values and absolute
  good
  
• His method of teaching was continuous questioning

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C. Socrates (cont)

• New Direction in Greek philosophy Ethics
• An emphasis on critical self-examination
• Charges brought against Socrates by a democratic
  faction
  
• The trial of Socrates
• The execution of Socrates

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XII. Greek Religion in the Classical Period

• Concept of reciprocity
• Divine punishment of humans
• --miasma
• The nature of the gods
• No uniform Greek faith or creed
• Priests, priestesses and religious observances

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XII. Greek Religion in the Classical Period
(cont)

• The nature of a religious sacrifice
• The role of hero cults
• --Hercules
• The Cult of Demeter and the Mysteries of Eleusis

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XIII. Greek History

• historia humanistic inquiry
• Herodotusthe Father of History
• --Father of anthropology as well
• --chronicled the Persian Wars

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XIII. Greek History (cont)

• Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War
• --scrutinized the reliability of sources
• --sought underlying principles of history
  moralistic writing
  
• --Athenian hubris led to Peloponnesian War
• --humanistic explanation for historical events

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XIV. Greek Medicine

• Hippocrates Father of Scientific Medicine
• Four humors (fluids) in the human body blood,
  phlegm, black bile and yellow bile
  
• Physician should base his knowledge on careful
  observation of patients and their response to
  remedies

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XV. Greek Art and Architecture During the Golden
Age

• Black Figure Vases and jugs
• Athenian sculptors took human greatness as their
  main theme
  
• Well-proportioned, naturalistic human nudes
  appear early in the 5th century BCE
  
• Sculptors and tragedians both depicting
  universal man

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XV. Greek Art and Architecture During the Golden
Age (cont)

• Aristocrats commission public statuary
• Popularity of bronze as a medium for sculptors
• --Myrons Discus Thrower
• Motion and energy in Greek statuary reflected the
  possibility of change and instability in
  classical Greek times

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XV. Greek Art and Architecture During the Golden
Age (cont)

• The Athenian Parthenon (447-438 BCE)
• Difference from Egyptian and Near Eastern
  temples
  
• A new depiction of Athena
• Not a gathering place for worshippers
• Size and appearance of the building
• An Ionic Frieze is used on a Doric-style Temple

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XVI. Classical Greek Drama

• Emergence of the Tragic Drama (500 BCE)
• Athenian dramatic competitions
• --protagonists
• The role of the chorus and special effects
• Tragedies were very humanistic
• The universal law of fate and the role of
  rational reflection

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XVI. Classical Greek Drama (cont)

• The theatrical production
• --Thespis first single actor
• Ideal plot inspired pity or fear leading to a
  catharsis or cleansing for the audience
  
• --Sophocles Antigone
• Plays frequently featured women as central,
  active figures

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XVI. Classical Greek Drama (cont)

• Aeschylus and patriotic dramas
• --The Persians
• Sophocles and the problems of the human
  conditionmoderation also a key
  
• --Oedipus Rex

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XVI. Classical Greek Drama (cont)

• The innovations of Euripides
• --Medea and Electra
• --most psychological of classical Greek
  tragedians
  
• Aristophanes and classical Greek comedies
• --The Clouds
• --Lysistrata
• --Birds (414 BCE)
• State sponsorship of Greek comedies with no
  censorship

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XVII. The Significance of Greek Athletics

• Origins of the Olympic Games
• Importance of sportsmanship at the games
• Individual, not national competition and the
  nature of training
  
• Classical Greek Olympic Events

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XVII. Greek Athletics (cont)

• Determining a winner
• Prizes for victors and the keeping of Olympic
  records
  
• --The significance of the pentathlon
• No women allowed athletes performed in the nude
• Later history of the Olympics before the modern
  era

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XVIII. The Legacy of Ancient Greece

• See the Greeks realistically
• The primacy of freedom
• --eleutheria
• Glorification of the mind and body
• Dignity of the individual
• Key words traced back to Greek civilization
• Notion of democracy
• Rich philosophical foundation
• Fullest development of the human potential
• --paidea everyone must sculpt their own statue