Transcript Chapter 2

Chapter 2
• The early Greeks built a civilization in the
Aegean peninsula in which the tensions
between individual pride and heroism
would become a dominant theme, as
would an emphasis on the role of humans
and their abilities to understand and
master their world.
The Rise and Fall of Ancient
Heroes, 2000-800 B.C.
• The Greek Peninsula
• The Greek peninsula is dominated by mountain ranges that caused
the ancient civilization to be made up of many communities.
• The Minoans, 2000-1450 B.C.
– Economic Power
• Minoan ships were the
best-made in the region
• Centers of economic as
well as political power,
Minoan palaces comprised vast mazes of storerooms, workrooms,
and living quarters
– Religious Ritual
• Paintings portrayed many of the everyday objects and activities that
Minoans held dear, including religious rituals
The Rise and Fall of Ancient
Heroes, 2000-800 B.C.
– Minoan Destruction
• Archaeological evidence shows that Minoan
society was toppled by invaders from across the
sea
(Crete Island) Not Greek
Probably a Semitic people related to those
living in the Eastern and Southern
Mediterranean
The Rise and Fall of Ancient
Heroes, 2000-800 B.C.
• King Knossos (Ruled over all of Crete)
–
–
–
–
–
–
Large Palaces
Influence From Other Peoples
Art Egyptian
Writing From Sumerians
Bronze Tools & Weapons
Minoans Ships Were Best Made in the Area
• Minoan Destruction
– Reasons Uncertain
Taken over or passed to the earliest Greeks whom we
call the Mycenaeans
The Rise and Fall of Ancient
Heroes, 2000-800 B.C.
• Mycenaean Civilization: The First Greeks, 20001100 B.C.
– Trade
• Traded for copper and tin to make bronze weapons and
tools. Trade was widespread – and their pottery replaced
Minoan pottery.
– Violence and Disruption
• In about 1200 B.C., violence and a
wide-ranging movement of peoples disrupted
the eastern Mediterranean
– Egyptian empire Besieged Lost Territory
The Rise and Fall of Ancient
Heroes, 2000-800 B.C.
– Syria Confronted Invaders
– Mycenaean Involved in These Invasions
– 1250 B.C. Trojan War
The Rise and Fall of Ancient
Heroes, 2000-800 B.C.
• 1200 B.C. Mycenaean Civilization Dissolved
– Bases Over Trojan War
• Leaders & soldiers away too long which brought about the
down-fall of the highly structured life on the great mainland.
• 1100 B.C.
– Excavation Show out of 13 villages Only Three
Remained
– All Main City Centers Were Destroyed Except Athens
• From “Dark Ages” to Colonies 1100-800 B.C.
– Founding Colonies
• Greek culture spread through the many colonies Greeks
established in the region
Chapter 2
• The Greeks adopted the Phoenician
alphabet, which allowed them to record
and transmit their powerful values and
ideas to others.
Emerging from the Dark: Heroic
Beliefs and Values
– Founding Colonies
• Toward the end of the Dark Ages trade flourished in wine,
olive oil, and other goods.
• While trading the Greeks adopted new ways – such as the
system of weight from Babylonia and making of coins from
the Lybians.
“Whatever the Greeks have acquired
from foreigners, they have in the end
turned into something finer.”
Emerging from the Dark: Heroic
Beliefs and Values
• Heroic Values Preserved
– Homer (800 B.C.)
• The most influential Greek poet, historians believe
lived in the early eighth century B.C.
• Homer’s two greatest epics were the Illiad and the
Odyssey
– Hesiod
• For three centuries life was based on small
villages.
Emerging from the Dark: Heroic
Beliefs and Values
• The Family of Gods
– Oracles
• Interpreted Divine Will
• The Delphic oracle could enter
into a trance and receive cryptic
Messages from Apollo
– Worship of Dionysus
• God of Wine & Fertility
• Special Appeal to Women
– Impact of Religious Ideas
• Gods Human-Like
• Made Greeks Aspire to the Greatest in Human Accomplishments
• Encouraged Greeks to Master and Understand Their World
Emerging from the Dark: Heroic
Beliefs and Values
• Studying the Material World
• The Greeks rejected earlier explanations about the world and
studied nature for themselves
– Thales and Democrates
• Thales studied astronomy and geometry, and believed in an
orderly cosmos accessible to human reason.
• Democrates thought of an infinite universe of tiny atoms with
spaces between them.
– Pythagoras
• He studied mathematics and astronomy, and new first
attempts to understanding the world in a scientific and
philosophical way.
Emerging from the Dark: Heroic
Beliefs and Values
– Practical Applications
• The sixth-century B.C. engineer Eupalinus
constructed a 3,000 foot long tunnel through
mountain in order to bring water from a spring into
a city.
• He used only hand tools, and had to work in the
dark.
– Fears of “Impiety” (Crime to Deny the Gods)
• Accusations of impiety always hovered on the
borders of scientific inquiry.
Chapter 2
• In the great city-states Greeks developed
an economy based on olives and
experimented with different political forms
which varied in the degree of democratic
participation allowed to citizens.
– Hoplite Armies
• Ancient Greek infantrymen equipped with
Large round shields and long thrusting spears.
Life in the Greek Polis: 700-489
B.C.
• Changes in Warfare
– Brisk trade brought down the price of metals
• Raise Armies (Infantrymen)
– Called Hoplites
• They could form a tight formation called a Phalanx
• The Invention of Politics
– Tyrants (650-550 B.C.)
• Civil war broke out lower classes rose to overthrow the
aristocracy which led to rulers by physical force.
Life in the Greek Polis: 700-489
B.C.
– Tyrants
• This was a new form of authority – based on power, not
heredity right
• Tyrant granted popular support by: Freeing Slaves,
Eliminating Debts, and Redistributing Land
• Later as tyrants relied on force to hold power, the term tyrant
acquired the negative meaning it holds today.
– City-States (Greek City-State Called a Polis)
• A political unit that generated intense loyalty from its citizens
• The poleis usually included a fortified high ground called an
acropolis
Life in the Greek Polis: 700-489
B.C.
– City-States
– Had A Market Called the Agora
– Unlike Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Mycenae Where Their
Was A King or Priesthood
– Citizens Were Actively Responsible for Guiding Their
Own Poleis
Each city-state created its own form of government and retained
some form of oligarchy (rule by a few)
Life in the Greek Polis: 700-489
B.C.
• The Heart of the Polis
• The household
– Men’s and Woman’s Roles (Sparta Different)
• Men – Outside, Women – Inside
• Women taught female slaves, managed goods, participated in
spinning and weaving.
– Slave Labor
•
•
•
•
•
•
Captives of War or Debtors
Lived on Their Own
Save Money
Work Along Side the Free
Some Slaves Had Brutal Masters
Work in Silver Mines
Life in the Greek Polis: 700-489
B.C.
• Fears and Attachments in Greek Emotional Life
• Strict Segregation of Men and Woman
– Bisexual Relations
• Many ancient Greeks accepted bisexuality
• Relationships were seen as a natural part of a world which
men feared female sexuality, spent all their time together,
exercised nude in the gymnasia, and praised the male body
as the ideal of beauty
Life in the Greek Polis: 700-489
B.C.
– Sappho of Lesbos
• Sappho from the island of Lesbos, expressed passionate
love for the young women in her social circle
• Sappho’s poetry was so
influential that the word
“Lesbian”
• She has become
synonymous with female
homosexuality
– Courtesans
• prostitutes
Life in the Greek Polis: 700-489
B.C.
• Athens: City of Democracy
– Oligarchy
• Rule by a small group or by a particular social class – often
wealthy middle classes
– Solon’s Reforms
• Introduced reforms intended to appease lower classes while
keeping aristocrats in power
– Increased Democracy
• Archons, Areopagus, Council of 400, Ecclesia, people’s court
of appeal
– Tyranny
• Athens turned to tyranny bringing Peisistratus to power in
560 B.C.
• Hippias was the last of Athens’s tyrants
Life in the Greek Polis: 700-489
B.C.
– Assessing Democracy
• Ecclesia represented only about 20 percent of the population
of Athens, but it excluded women, slaves, and resident
foreigners.
– Ostracism
• A political technique by which people believed to be threats
to the city-state were chosen for exile by popular vote.
• Sparta: Model of a Military State
• Spartans were militaristic, strict, and sparing of words
– Spartan Life
• Harsh – if a child was deemed physically deficient, it would
be left outdoors to die
• Women handled most of the household arrangements
Life in the Greek Polis: 700-489
B.C.
• The love of the Contest
• Athens and Sparta would stop their warfare to
celebrate their love of the contest
– Olympic Games
• 1st held in 776 B.C.
– Women at Olympics
• They were prohibited from
attending the contest
• Some women conducted
games of their own
Chapter 2
• After their victory against the Persians, the
Athenians built an empire, creating
tensions between themselves and the
citizens of other city-states.
Imperial Athens, 489-431 B.C.
• The Persian Wars, 490-431 B.C.
– Battle of Marathon
• The Athenians were far outmatched by the
Persians
• The Athenian victory was in Philippides
– A Second Invasion
– Thermopylae
• Narrow pass, held by a small coalition of
Greeks led by Spartans
• Only the Spartans stayed to fight to the death
Imperial Athens, 489-431 B.C.
– Greek Naval Victory
• Greek vessels crushed almost the entire Persian
fleet
• Herodotus: The Father of History
• Herodotus recorded the details of the Persian
Wars in a 600 page work.
• The Father of Western history
Imperial Athens, 489-431 B.C.
• Athens Builds an Empire, 477-431 B.C.
– Delian League
• In 477 B.C. poleis on the coasts and the islands of the
Aegean decided to form a defensive league.
• Each member contributed money to maintain a large fleet for
the defense of them all.
– Pericles’ Democracy
• Tried to ensure that even poor citizens could participate fully
in Athenian politics and culture
• Artistic Athens
• The Parthenon
• Mathematical proportion
Imperial Athens, 489-431 B.C.
• Greek Theater: Exploring Complex Moral
Problems
• Eight playwrights were chosen to perform at the
religious celebration of Dionysus
• Men in masks played the woman’s roles
– Aeschylus and Sophocles
• Aeschylus wrote The Persians
• Sophocles wrote The Theban Plays
Chapter 2
• The end of Athenian prosperity, which came with
the wars between Athens and Sparta and their
respective allies, raised new questions among
Greek philosophers, which were accompanied
by innovations in culture and science.
– Thucydides
• Wrote History of the Peloponnesian War
Destruction, Disillusion, and a
Search for Meaning
• The Peloponnesian War, 431-404 B.C.
• The Peloponnesian League – Sparta gathered together allies
to challenge the Athenian Empire’ power
– Melos Destroyed
• Athens took the right to force Melos into serving as its ally
• The Meliams maintained that they had the right to make their
own choices
• The Athenians killed every last man, and enslaved the
women and children
– Athens Loses
• The Peloponnesian League’s fleet destroyed the Athenian
fleet
• Athenians were forced to surrender in 404 B.C.
Destruction, Disillusion, and a
Search for Meaning
• Philosophical Musings: Athens Contemplates Defeat
– Socrates
•
•
•
•
Absolutes of truth and justice and excellence
“Socratic” method
Accused of impiety and corruption of the young
He received the death penalty, and drank a cup of deadly poison
– Plato
• Believed that truth and justice existed only as ideal models, or
“forms”
• Established a school called the Academy
• Disillusioned with democracy, encouraged an autocratic state ruled
by philosopher-kings
– Aristotle
• Three categories of knowledge: ethics, natural history, and
metaphysics
• “Golden Mean” no extremes in all aspects of life
Destruction, Disillusion, and a
Search for Meaning
• Tragedy and Comedy: Innovations in
Greek Theater
– Euripides
• Wrote tragedies in which people grappled with
anguish on a heroic scale
• Women of Troy
– Aristophanes
• Used costumes and crude humor to deliver biting
political satire
• Lysistrata
• Hippocrates and Medicine
• Considered the father of modern Western medicine
Destruction, Disillusion, and a
Search for Meaning
• The Aftermath of War, 404-338 B.C.
– Power Struggles
• Postwar developments heightened competition
among the poleis in the years after Athen’s loss.
• Wars among the poleis only aggravated
weaknesses within each city
• Government in all the poleis unraveled further with
innovations in military tactics