Transcript Greece Lecture

Greece
Individualism of the States
• Greece was a compilation of citystates
– Athens
– Olympia
– Sparta
– Thebes
– Syracuse
– Delphi
• They were more apart than together
Individualism of the States
• There was much competition:
– Food supply (remember none of the
technology we have today)
– Distant markets
– Olympics
– Leadership in other areas (arts,
law/government, wealth/power)
– Religion (my god vs. your god)
Individualism of the States
• Separateness brought about unique
cultures
– Festivals and calendars
– Laws and customs
• Balance between order (laws) and
liberty (freedom)
– Too small a city state – no power, instability
– Too large a city state – dictatorship and
tyranny
Individualism of the States
• In the end, this independent
freedom/spirit was the Greek demise.
• All the different cultures were unable
to unite and stand together for
common cause
Ionian Revolts and the Golden Age
• Sparta began as the main power in
the Greek world
– Athletic prowess
– Wealthy
– Sea farers
Ionian Revolts and the Golden Age
• 512 BC
– Darius I of Persia conquered many lands
going westward up to and including Thrace
and Macedon
• 510 BC
– Darius had heard of Athens
– Decided to conquer
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Hippias, a deposed ruler of Athens, wanted the
Persian ruler to help him recapture Athens
Ionian Revolts and the Golden Age
• Sparta had been under Persian rule
for some time
• Decided they’d had enough
– The leader, Aristagorus, asked Athens for
help
– Instead of money, Athens offered ships and
people
• The overthrow was not successful
– Persians maintained their rule
– Darius knew who the Athenians were ;
decided to put them in their place
Ionian Revolts and the Golden Age
• 491 BC
– 600 ships traveled across the sea and
camped near Marathon
– The Greek city states were scared, but
raised the armies and went to fight
– The numbers: Greeks 20,000, Persians
100,000
– Greeks used massive offensive and
defensive attacks
– Persians were used to fighting one on one
Ionian Revolts and the Golden Age
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Greeks fought with skill, courage, and
strategy
It was not only one of the most decisive
victories in history, it was also one of the
most incredible
Greek testimony is that 6,400 Persians
died, but only 192 Greeks fell at Marathon
One runner ran the 26 miles from
Marathon to Athens to let the town know
that the Greeks were victorious
– He arrived, delivered the message, and
dropped dead
Ionian Revolts and the Golden Age
• The Second Persian war was fought
by Darius’ son Xerxes
• For 4 years he collected:
– About 2 million men
– 1207 ships in all
• Persians did not kill Greek spies but
sent them home
– Tell them what you saw…
Ionian Revolts and the Golden Age
• Northern Greek cities bowed easily
out of fear
– $1,000,000 feast
– Tried to appease Persians
• Themosticles in charges of Athens
• Strategy:
– Athenians fled the city to regroup elsewhere
– Persians arrived to deserted city
– Greeks congregated at Salamis
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a great defensive position!
Ionian Revolts and the Golden Age
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Greek “spies” told Persians that Greeks were
at Salamis
Persians floated down and blocked entrances
– Wanted to “finish off” the Greeks
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Greeks fought like crazy
– defensive positions
– ambushes from behind
– 200 ships went down
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Greeks knew how to swim, but Persians didn’t
Lots of other ethnicities besides Persians died
Humiliated Persians went home
Athens in Glory
• Themosticles
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Great general, lousy peacetime leader
Took bribes
Insulted people
Unscrupulous
However…
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He recognized the need for trade
Built ship ports
put walls @ cities
negotiated w/Persia for trade
Athens in Glory
• Themosticles
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stole money from the treasury
He hated Sparta
tried to make Athens great to spite Sparta
Sparta found documents to implicate him in some
scandals
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Fled Athens
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handed docs over to gov’t in Athens
tried to hide in a couple of other cities, but they turned
him away
He ended up going to Persia (turncoat)
Died before he could weasel his way back into
power (449 @ 65 years old)
Athens in Glory
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Eventually leadership of Athens went to
Pericles, 467-428 BC
Friend and pupil of Anaxagorus (Greek
philosopher)
Studied under Zeno (Greek Philosopher)
Considered a true Greek (complete man)
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Economy
Military
Literary
Artistic
Philosopher
Athens in Glory
• Pericles created:
– first paid jury (unheard of at that time)
– paid military
– pay fee to enter festivals and games (to raise
$ for city)
– Public works for the unemployed or idle build
ships, arsenals, warehouses, walls @ cities
– He wanted to beautify Athens and keep
people working.
Athens in Glory
• At plays, people of Athens could see
philosophers and artists attend
– These were the sports heroes & superstars
of their day
• Pericles did democracy
• He strengthened laws
– Pericles came up w/trial by jury where jurors
were called to work and paid for
the day
Athens in Glory
• Pericles did some dumb stuff too
– No legal marriage btwn. Athenians and
foreigners
– Established Athenian colonies on foreign soil
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Gave that land away to poor citizens
– Got the funds that were acquired from the
war transferred from Delios to Athens
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“not secure enough”
– Delios was unaware that he was
stealing to pay for Athenian public works
Greek Accomplishments
• Letters
• Greeks leaned writing from Phoenicians
– Back and forth, then left to right
• Greeks added vowels
• 10 different alphabets were competing as
the correct form of writing between all the
city states
• Greeks eventually added spaces too
Greek Accomplishments
• Letters cont.
• Earliest writings were commercial and
religious
• Every book written by hand
– books were limited
• Most people did not know how to read
• Most books (and learning) was done
verbally
– read by trained reciters
Greek Accomplishments
• Literature
– Divided and united Greece
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Dialects
Recited aloud, rarely rhyming
– Songs of love, war, and heroic deeds
Greek Accomplishments
• Literature cont.
– Homeric poems oldest known epics
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Illiad earliest
– All about fighting
– Achilles is main character
» Part god/part human
» Big fat baby really spoiled and pouting and
unwilling to fight
» Then his friend is killed and he’s cruel and
vindictive.
Greek Accomplishments
• Literature cont.
– Homeric poems oldest known epics
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Odyssey came later
– Almost seems like a different author
– Story emphasizes:
» wit, not strength
» resilience and determination
» patience and cool calculation, not temper
– May not have been Homer
Greek Accomplishments
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Olympics
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“Of all things the measure is Man, of the things that
are, that they are, and of the things that are not, that
they are not.” – Protagorus
Greeks real religion was health, beauty, and
strength. Why?
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Constantly called upon to defend their cities
Working the land and keeping themselves fed was
arduous
Heroes were the athletes
Things like hunting became a sport when they used
to be necessities
First recorded Olympic is 776 BC in Olympia
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Besides running, javelin, discus, also wrestling, singing &
boxing
Greek Accomplishments
• Arts
– We have only a small portion of what existed,
but lots of words about it
– Vases, sculpture, architecture, music &
dance, theatre
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Originally religious bent – lots of it (competition)
The win in the Persian war made Greeks think
“Gee! Look at what we can do!”
What made Greek art improve and flourish so
much was the cultural exchange of ideas and
techniques
Achieve greatness just to be the best