Transcript Polis - Warren County Schools

Introduction
About 2000 B.C.E. Greek speaking people settled
the lands surrounding the Aegean Sea
Contact with Egypt, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor
Greeks forged their own unique ideas, values
Polis - city-state - foundation of Greek life
Conflict with the Persian empire
Extraordinary cultural achievements
Eventual fall to Macedonians
Expansion in Hellenistic age
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Minoans - 3rd and 2nd Millennia
Minoan Bronze Age civilization on island of
Crete
Major influence on early Greeks
Named after Minos, legendary founder
Early, Middle, and Late Minoan
Cnossus - extraordinary remains
Early forms of writing
Evidence of early form of Greek
Trade with the Mycenaeans
Eventually fall to Mycenaeans
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Mycenaeans ca. 2000-1100 B.C.E.
Earliest Greek-speaking society
Influenced by Minoans, but very different
Mycenaeans were warriors
Independent, well-organized monarchies
Tholos tombs
Wanax - title of Mycenaean king
Height of power - 1400-1200 B.C.E.
Sacked Troy around 1250 B.C.E.
Inspiration for Homer’s Iliad, Odyssey
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Fall of Mycenaean Power
Palaces destroyed, cities abandoned; art,
way of life, and writing system buried and
forgotten 1100 B.C.E
Possible invasion of Greece by the Dorians
Resulted in dispersion of Greeks and Greek
dark “Middle Age,” lasting to 750 B.C.E.
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Age of Homer - 10th-9th cens.
Greek “Middle Age” - 1100-750 B.C.E.
Homer wrote of Mycenaeans
But reflected age he lived in - 10th-9th cens.
Kings less powerful than Mycenaean rulers
Limited, constitutional government
Sharp class divisions - society was aristocratic
Values - physical prowess, courage, protection of one’s
friends, property, honor and reputation
Arete - courage, manliness
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Polis and Hoplite Phalanx
City-state
Characteristic Greek institution
Thought of as a community of relatives
Agora - marketplace and civic center
• Heart of Greek social life
Hoplite phalanx
Dominant military force in Mediterranean
Phalanx and polis heralded the decline of kings
Bond between aristocrats and farmers
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Expansion of the Greek World
Tremendous expansion by 6th century B.C.E.
Macedonia, southern Italy, Sicily, Spain, southern
France, Black Sea, north African coast
Magna Graecia
Relieved pressure and land-hunger
Safety valve for poleis to escape civil wars
Panhellenic (“all-Greek”) spirit
Common religious festivals - Olympia, Delphi
Encouraged trade and industry
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The Tyrants ca. 700-500 B.C.E.
Economic expansion brought social pressures
Tyrant - monarch who had gained power in
unorthodox but not necessarily wicked way
Strong one-man rule - might be popular
• Expelled aristocratic opponents
• Public works projects, land division
Tyrants disappeared - some outrages
Mainly - concept of tyranny was inimical to ideal of
polis
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Life in Archaic Greece
Features of Greek life coming into focus
Increasing role of merchants, artisans
Farmers - simple, hard life, Hesiod’s Works and Days,
700 B.C.E
Aristocrats - rich enough to employ
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Hired laborers, sharecroppers, slaves
Symposion
Athletic contests
Running, long jump, discus, javelin, pentathlon, boxing,
wrestling, chariot race
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Religion
Worship did not involve great emotion
No hope for immortality
Justice lay in paying one’s debts
Cult of Apollo at Delphi very important
Priests preached moderation
“Know thyself” and “Nothing in excess”
Sophrosyne - self-control
Hubris - arrogance
• Leads to divine vengeance
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Gods - Pantheon
Zeus - father of the gods
Hera - Zeus’ wife
Zeus’s siblings
Poseidon - god of the seas and earthquakes
Hestia - goddess of the hearth
Demeter - goddess of agriculture and marriage
Zeus’s Children
Aphrodite - goddess of love and beauty
Apollo - god of the sun, music, poetry, prophecy
Ares - god of war
Athena - goddess of wisdom and the arts
Hephaestus- god of fire and metallurgy
Hermes- messenger of the gods
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Sparta
Second Messenian War - 650 B.C.E.
Fear of Helots
Transformation of society
Control exerted over each Spartan from birth
Powerful commitment to polis
Ambition - glory and respect by glory in war
Spartan girls had greater freedom
Mixture of monarchy, oligarchy, democracy
Leadership of Peloponnesian League
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Athens - Early Tensions
Initially an aristocratic polis
No written law code
Areopagus - council of nobles
Elected magistrates, archons
Agrarian crisis
Economic and social pressures
Many debtors pledged family as surety
• Many defaulted and enslaved
Solon elected archon in 594 B.C.E.
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Solon - ca. 639-559
“Shaking off of burdens”
Canceled current debts
Forbade future debts secured by person
Freed Athenians enslaved for debt
Expanded citizenship
Included immigrant artisans and merchants
Divided citizenry into four classes
Third class - serve in council of four hundred
Thetes - fourth class - voted in assembly
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Pisistratus - 605?-527 B.C.E.
Seizes power as tyrant in 546 B.C.E.
Increased power of central government
• At expense of nobles
Public works projects
Supported poets and artists
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Clisthenes and Democracy
Central aim of Clisthenes’ reforms
Diminish influence of noble factions
• Four tribes become ten tribes
• New council of five hundred
Final authority in all things in assembly of all
adult male Athenian citizens
Debate in assembly was free and open
Any Athenian could submit legislation
Or argue merits of legislation
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Persian Wars
Asia Minor fell under Lydian then Persian control
Greek city-states on Ionian coast in rebellion
Persians under Darius invade in 490
Marathon - 490, Greek victory under Miltiades
Xerxes - r. 486-465 B.C.E.
Massive invasion in 481 B.C.E.
150,000 men and 600 ships
Greek victories at Thermopylae, Salamis
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Classical Greece
Victory in Persian Wars - leads to 150 years of
intense, almost unmatched cultural achievement
After victory - two sources of power
• Sparta - head of Peloponnesian League
• Athens - head of Delian League
Reasons for split
Need for protection from Persia
Desire for revenge and reparations
Leadership of Cimon
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First Peloponnesian War
Collapse of Cimon’s authority
Supported positive relations with Sparta
Rebellion of Thasos against Delian League
Thasians appeal to Sparta for aid
War began when Megara switched sides from
Sparta to Athens
Athens suffers defeat in Egypt versus Persia
Athenian leader Pericles
Agrees to thirty years truce with Sparta
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Athenian Empire and Democracy
Reign of Pericles - best and worst in Athens
Athens bullies other city-states
Freest government world had ever seen
Citizenship was key
Every decision approved by citizen assembly
Collection of people, not their representatives
All public officials subject to scrutiny
No standing army or police force
• No way to coerce people
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Women of Athens
Women excluded from most aspects of public life
Always under control of male guardian
Married very young
Divorce difficult to obtain
Main function was to produce male heirs
Carefully segregated from men
Men could seek sexual gratification outside marriage
with prostitutes
Ironic - strong women in Greek tragedy/comedy
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Great Peloponnesian War
Thirty Years’ Peace lasted ten years
Spartan strategy - invade and crush army
Athenian strategy - raids on coast
Athenian decline after death of Pericles, 429
Peace of Nicias in 421
Alcibiades - ca. 450-404
Athenian disaster at Sicily in 413
Spartan leader Lysander
Athens surrenders in 404 B.C.E.
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Struggle for Greek Leadership
Spartan hegemony
Handed Ionian Greek city-states to Persia
Lysander installs “Thirty Tyrants” in Athens
Loss to Thebans at Leuctra in 371 B.C.E.
Theban hegemony
Generals - Pelopidas and Epaminondas
Second Athenian empire
Repeat mistakes of Delian League
Return to disorganization and warfare
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Fifth Century B.C.E. Culture
Two sources of tension fueled creativity
Pride in accomplishments vs. fear of hubris
Hopes of individual vs. limits of state
Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
Architectural achievements under Pericles
Pericles - Athens as “school of Hellas”
Temples to honor city’s gods
Projected Athenian greatness
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Attic Tragedy and Comedy
Tragedy
Religious observations in honor of Dionysus
Questions of religion, ethics, morality
• Aeschylus - 525-456 B.C.E.
• Sophocles - ca. 496-406 B.C.E.
• Euripides - ca. 480-406 B.C.E.
Comedy
Aristophanes - ca. 450-385 B.C.E.
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History
Herodotus - 484?-425? B.C.E.
“The father of history” - studied Persian War
Attempted to explain human actions
Draw instructions from them
Thucydides - ca. 460-ca. 400 B.C.E.
History of the Peloponnesian War
Used evidence to try and discover meaningful patterns
of human behavior
Understanding of history - guide to future
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Fourth Century B.C.E. Culture
Middle Comedy
Turn away from life of polis
Towards everyday life, family, satire
New Comedy
Meander - 342-291 B.C.E.
Tragedy faded - revivals of classics
Euripides becomes a favorite
Psychology of individual human beings
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Macedonian Conquest
Kingdom of Macedon
Philip of Macedon - r. 359-336 B.C.E.
Admiration for Greek culture
Undermined Athenian control of Aegean
Defeated Athens in 338 B.C.E.
• Role of Philip’s son Alexander
• End to Greek freedom and autonomy
• Philip assassinated in 336 B.C.E.
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Alexander the Great 356-323
Alexander’s personality
Invasion of Persia in 334 B.C.E.
Battle of Granicus River - 334 B.C.E.
Battle of Issus - 333 B.C.E.
Fall of Persepolis - 330 B.C.E.
Alexander enters Indus Valley - 327 B.C.E.
Alexander’s place in history
Man of vision vs. murderous tyrant
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Alexander’s Successors
Ptolemy I - 367?-283 B.C.E.
Ptolomies - Thirty-first dynasty in Egypt
Seleucus I - 358?-280
Seleucid dynasty in Mespotamia
Antigonus I - 382-301 B.C.E.
Antigonid dynasty in Asia Minor and Macedon
Tremendous trade and prosperity
Greece, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia
• One single political, economic, cultural unit
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Hellenistic Culture
Significant turning point in Greek literature,
philosophy, religion and art
Dominant role of polis is lost
Arrogant Greek humanism gives way to
• Resignation to fate, helplessness
Plato’s Academy
Becomes center of skepticism (Pyrrho)
Aristotle’s Lyceum
Center of literary and historical studies
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Epicureans
Epicurus of Athens - 342-271 B.C.E.
Goal was happiness, not knowledge
Achieved through a life based on reason
Gods took no interest in human affairs
Goal was to liberate people from the fear of
death, the gods, and the supernatural
Hedonistic - identified happiness with pleasure
Absence of pain and trouble
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Stoics
Zeno of Citium - 335-263 B.C.E.
God and nature are the same
Humans must live in harmony with themselves
Logos - divine reason
Guiding principle in nature
Source of misery is passion
World is a single large polis
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Literature, Mathematics and Science
Alexandria - center of Hellenistic world
Museum - great research institute
Library - great body of past Greek literature
Euclid - 3rd century B.C.E.
Elements - plane and solid geometry
Archimedes of Syracuse - ca. 287-212 B.C.E.
Theory of lever, invented hydrostatics
Aristarchus of Samos - ca. 310-230 B.C.E.
Heliocentric theory of universe
Ptolemy of Alexandria - 2nd century C.E.
Eratosthenes of Cyrene - ca. 275-195 B.C.E.
Circumference of earth, treatise on geography
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