Transcript Classica Greece - jsimmersworldhistory

Classical Greece
Two Centuries of Thought, Drama,
Art, and War
5th Century Classical
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Attic Tragedy
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Major form of Greek poetry
Submitted to archon
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Publicly funded-literally
Most performed in the theater of Dionysus (God)
Made people think about issues of the day
Almost always chosen from mythology
Old Comedy
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Mostly political comedies/satires
Like Colbert Report or Daily Show today
Architecture and Sculpture
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Pericles
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Undertook extensive building program on the
Acropolis
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Representation of the Greatness and power of Athens
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Parthenon
Theaters
Temples
Not military, but civilization
Columns
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Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian
Philosophy/History
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Atomists
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World consists of tiny, solid, indivisible, unchangeable particles
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Sophists
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Traveled and were paid to teach
Law was a creation, not part of nature
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When joined they create colors and shapes (i.e. what we see
How does this fit with the idea of the polis?
History
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Herodotus-Persian War
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used evidence of legends and oracles-reliable?
Thucydides-Peloponnesian War
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Much more scientific in his appraoch
4th Century Classical
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Internal and external strife evident in
works
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Class conflict
Professionalism in the military
Reduction in citizenship population
Increased resident alien population
Drama/Art
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Turn away from polis and exploration of
the individual self
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Daily life now the subject
Menander
Domestic tragicomedy
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Like modern day sitcoms
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Everything will work out in the end
Sculpture
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Away from the ideal to the real
Amphitheater
Philosophy
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Socrates-469-399 bce
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Search for truth about human affairs
Questioned and at times condemned democracy
Individualism
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399 bce
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All got him into a lot of trouble
Condemned to death for bringing new gods into the city
More importantly his ideas and teaching blamed for Athenian
loss in Peloponnesian War
Drinks the Hemlock
Believed in the Polis
Philosophy Con’t
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The Cynic School
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Diogenes of Sinope-400-325
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Kosmopolites- citizen of the world not the polis
Satisfication in natural needs
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Not natural is not indecent
Ridiculed religious observations
Plato-429-347 bce
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Student of Socrates
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Provides the only documentation of Socrates’ teaching
360-founded the academy that last until 6th century ce
Believed in the virtues of the polis
Search for goodness
Aristotle- 384-322 bce
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336 bc- Lyceum
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Gathering, ordering, and analyzing human knowledge
Teleological
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Purpose went beyond the individual human being
The good life
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Moderate wealth, comfort and pleasure
The importance of the middle-class
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Rich-=arrogant
Poor-=malice
Middle=class- stability
Defender of the polis
Peloponnesian War
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Dilean League
Causes
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Civil War on Epidamnus
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Corinth-ally of Sparta
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Corcyra- allied with Athens
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Also had 2nd largest fleet in Agean
Broke 30 years peace after first war
432 bce- Spartans meet to consider situation
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Athens (by now an empire) seen as threat to enslave all
of Greece
Vote for war
Con’t
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Spartans Strategy
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Invade, threaten crops, engaged in hoplite battle, and
win.
Athenian strategy
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Allow destruction of land
Show Sparta they could not hurt Athens
Use Navy on Peloponnesian League allies
Force them to urge Sparta to sue for peace
429 bce
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Confined and lack of food creates famine
Pericles die
Athens Rise
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Cleon takes power
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More aggressive tactics
Spartan sue for peace, but Athens continues war
Try to take Megara and Broetia-fail
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423 bce truce
Brasidas
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Takes Spartan Army to Thrace and Macedonia
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422 bce-Cleon meets with his own army
Both men die
421 bce- Peace of Nicias
Athens Fall
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Peace never held
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Neither side carried out commitments
Failure of ratification
415 bce Athenian attack on Sicily
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Persians join with alliance with Sparta
405 bce- Athenian fleet destroyed at Aegospotami
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413 bce- end in failure and naval weakness
Could not rebuild another
Lysander
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Cuts off food supply at Hellespont
404 bce- Athens starved into submission
Installs oligarchic state in Athens- Thirty Tyrants
Power shifts
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Sparta a weak empire
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War with Persia over Asia minor costly
Persians support Thebes
Corinthian War- 395-387 bce
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Sparta falls, Thebes in power
Results
Athenians and Peloponnesian coalition rise up
 Thebes falls from power
 Revolts forces Athens to abandon most of empire
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