Ancient Greece Humanism Speculative Leap
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The document provides an overview of ancient Greek civilization from approximately 3000-332 BCE. It discusses the Minoan and Mycenaean cultures, including art, architecture, and mythology. It also describes the rise of the Greek city-states and their unification against the Persians in the 5th century BCE. Key figures mentioned include Homer, whose epics defined Greek mythology, and landmarks such as the Parthenon and Temple of Zeus.
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Ancient Greece Humanism Speculative Leap
- 1. Hum 2220 Ms. Owens
- 2. Greece: Humanism and the Speculative Leap (ca. 3000–332 B.C.E.) “ We are all Greeks,” Percy Bysshe Shelley (19 th cen. British Poet).
- 4. Greek city-states first emerged on islands and peninsulas in the Aegean Sea, along the coast of Asia Minor, and in southern Italy and Sicily
- 8. Minoan Art
- 11. Palace of Minos, Knossos, on the island of Crete, ca. 1500 b.c.e .
- 12. © The queen’s quarters, Palace of Minos, Knossos, Crete, ca. 1450 b.c.e.
- 14. Minoan Flying Fish fresco
- 15. Palace of Minos, Knossos, Crete
- 16. Palace of Minos, Knossos, Crete La Parisienne Boxing Boys
- 17. ©. Palace of Minos, Knossos, Crete
- 18. Palace of Minos, Knossos, Crete
- 19. Minoan ceramics
- 26. Cretan cave shrine is the Cave of Eileithyia (island of Crete) ©2010, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
- 29. Mycenae Lion Gate c. 1350-1200 B.C.E., constructed heavily fortified citadels and walls so Massive that later generations thought they had been built by a mythical race of giants known as the Cycops. I
- 32. The palace at Mycenae
- 33. Reconstruction of the large megaron at Pylos.
- 34. Mycenaean Civilization: Burial of rulers in giant beehive-shaped tombs.
- 36. Mycenaean , "Agamemnon" Mask, Tomb V, 16 B.C.E. I
- 40. The city of Troy computer modeled reconstruction of Troy 6 Troy 7 walls - an archeologist's reconstruction
- 43. It took three hundred years before they were written down. The Iliad and Odyssey became the “ national” poems of ancient Greece. Achilles bandages the arm of his friend Patroclus. (Homer gets credit) The adventures of the Mycenaeans and the Trojan War Iliad and Odyssey
- 44. ©2010, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Euphronios and Euxitheos, Death of Sarpedon , ca. 515 B. C. E.
- 50. Greek Mythology The Gods of Olympus The Olympians are a group gods who ruled after the overthrow of the Titans. All the Olympians are related in some way. They are named from their dwelling, Mount Olympus.
- 51. Mount Olympus ( Greek : Όλυμπος ; also transliterated as Ólympos , and on Greek maps, Óros Ólimbos ) is the highest mountain in Greece at 2,919 meters high (9,570 feet ). Mount Olympus & Litochoro Mitikas, the highest peak
- 55. Perseus Once there was a king named Acrisius, he had a beautiful daughter named Danae. The oracle of Apollo told Acrisius that Danae's son would one day kill him. Acrisius could not let that happen, so he locked Danae in a bronze tower so that she would never marry or have children. Perseus with Medusa's Head Benvenuto Cellini Bronze statue, 1545-54 Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence
- 59. Zeus overthrew his Father Cronus and then drew lots with his brothers Poseidon and Hades. Zeus won the draw and became the supreme ruler of the gods. Zeus & Ganymedes Olympia Museum , Greece Zeus Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain Zeus (Dias)
- 60. Hera is Zeus wife and sister. She is the protector of marriage and takes special care of married women. Musee du Louvre, Paris, France Hera Hera & Zeus
- 61. Poseidon is the brother of Zeus. After the overthrow of their Father Cronus he drew lots with Zeus and Hades,(brothers), to share the power of the world. His prize was to become lord of the sea . N ational Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece Sculpture Copenhagen Port Poseidon – Milos
- 62. Athena is the daughter of Zeus. She is fierce and brave in battle but only fights to protect the state and home from outside enemies. She is the goddess of the city, handicrafts, and agriculture Varvakeion Athena Parthenos , National Archaelogical Museum, Athens, Greece Athena
- 63. Apollo is the son of Zeus and Leto. His twin sister is Artemis. He is the god of music, playing a golden lyre, of light and truth, who can not tell a lie. Temple of Apollo at Delphi Fokidos, Greece Apollo - west pediment of Zeus‘ temple at Olympia , Greece, British Museum, London, UK
- 64. Artemis i s the daughter of Zeus and Leto. Her twin brother is Apollo. She is the lady of the wild things. She is the huntsman of the gods. She is the protector of the young. Musee Du Louvre, Paris , France Artemis – Face Artemis - Draw
- 65. Hermes is the son of Zeus and Maia. He is Zeus’s messenger. He is the fastest of the gods. He wears winged sandals, a winged hat, and carries a magic wand. Hermes of Praxitelis Archaeological Museum of Olympia, Greece Hermes of Lysippos Hermes - statue
- 66. Demeter is t he Greek earth goddess par excellence , who brings forth the fruits of the earth, particularly the various grains. Museo Pio-Clementino, Musei Vaticani, Vatican City , Italy Demeter,Persephone,Triptolemus Demeter
- 67. Ares is the son of Zeus and Hera. Both parents disliked him. He is the god of war and he is considered murderous and bloodstained ,but also a coward. Palazzo Altemps, Museo Romano Nazionale, Rome,Italy Head of Ares, copy ca. 150–160 CE, after a votive statue of Alcamenes in the temple of Ares in Athens
- 68. Aphrodite is the goddess of love, desire and beauty. In addition to her natural gifts she has a magical girdle that compels anyone she wishes to desire her. Aphrodite, Eros & Pan N ational Archaelogical Museum,Athens,Greece Aphrodite by Boticelli Aphrodite of Milos Musee du Louvre, Paris, France
- 69. Hephaestus is the son of Zeus and Hera. Sometimes H e is the god of fire and the forge. He is the patron god of both smiths and weavers. He is kind and peace loving. Hephaestus, God of fire and the forge Hephaestus - draw
- 70. Hestia is Zeus sister. She is a virgin goddess. She does not have a distinct personality. She plays no part in myths. Athenian red-figure clay vase 525-475 BC, Characterized as the most gentle, peace-loving, and charitable of the Olympian gods. Hestia, Goddess of hearth and home, remains guardian of the threshold of personal security and happiness. Hestia State Hermitage Museum, St.Petersburg,Russia
- 71. The Temple of Zeus at Olympia, which housed the magnificent gold and ivory statue of Zeus by Phidias , one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, Attica, Greece. The temple is of Doric style and was built in the 5th Century B.C.E., supposedly on the location of an even older temple.
- 72. The Temple of Hepha i st o s in central ancient Athens-Greece , is the best-preserved ancient Greek temple in the world Temple of Apollo at Delphi Fokidos, Greece. Central among the number of imposing ruins that are interspersed on the Southern slopes of Parnassos mountain .
- 73. The Temple of Athena Nike ("Victorius Athena") in Athens, Greece, was the earliest Ionic building to be built on the Acropolis. The temple was begun around 427 B.C.E. and completed during the unrest of the Peloponnesian war . The temple of Hera , at Olympia, is one of the oldest monumental temples in Greece, protected by a powerful terrace wall .
- 74. The site of the temple of Artemis Agrotera (the Huntress) is one of the most important historical and archaeological sites that have survived in the center of Athens. The building of the Temple of Olympian Zeus actually began in the 6th Century by Peisistratos but work was stopped, and the temple was not finished until the Emperor Hadrian completed in 131 C.E., seven hundred years later .
- 75. The recently restored Temple of Demeter in Naxos, Greece . Until recently, the 6th-century BC Temple of Demeter was in a state of complete ruin. It had been partially dismantled in the 6th century AD to build a chapel on the site, and what was left was plundered repeatedly over the years. The Temple of Ares stood in the northern part of the Agora in Athens; originally built on another site around 440 B.C., it was moved to its present position in the Augustan period.
- 76. Samos - Temple of Hermes and Aphrodite was built in the beginning of the 7 th century . Temple of Aphrodite at Rhodes , Greece is situated opposite the Gate of Freedom; This temple was built in the beginning of the 3rd century B . C .E. , and is one of the few ancient remains to be found in the Old Town of Rhodes.
- 90. The boy who followed the Spartan code . Spartan children were taught stories of courage and fortitude .
- 91. Spartan Women ©2010, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Spartans believed that strong mothers produced strong children.
- 125. He was sentenced to death by drinking hemlock, a poisonous herb . Jacques-Louis David’s , The Death of Socrates, 1787
- 135. The end! ©2010, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
- 145. Heracles
Editor's Notes
- He meant by this that modern individuals-profoundly influenced by the Hellenic ideals of reason, beauty, and the good life on earth-bear the unforgettable stamp of ancient Greece. Classicism describes a style of creative expression marked by clarity, simplicity, balance, and harmonious proportion – features associated with moderation, rationalism, and dignity. The foundation of classicism were laid in the Aegean civilizations of the Bronze Age. But it was not until the fifth century B.C.E that the Greek city of Athens enshrined classicism as the expression of a Golden Age in the arts. The Ancient city of Athens enshrined classicism as the expression of a Golden age in the arts. The ancient Athenians called themselves “Hellenes” and their land “Hellas” (the English “Greece” deriving from the roman place –name , Graecus). The Hellenic (Greek) phase of classical antiquity reproduced some of the most memorable landmarks in the history of culture, The subsequent Hellenistic (Greek-like) age, inspired by the ambitions of Alexander the great, drew on its Hellenic ancestry and spread classicism throughout much of the civilized world.
- Because Hellenic culture reflects a concern with life as it is lived here on earth, the Greeks have been called the humanists of the ancient World. This ancient civilization called itself “Hellas” an its people “Hellenes” Greeks have been so committed to exploring human intellect and action, as they affect the individual and the community.
- The Minoans were an advanced peaceful civilization that lived in comfort with paved streets and sewers that were unheard of in the ancient world. They dedicated themselves to art and the love of life. They valued the natural world and created a naturalistic art style that is remarkable even by modern standards and was far advanced for the time. Thier joy in life shows in the remarkable frescoes that survive filled with vivid color, and finding beauty in both small and large things
- The island of Crete was home to a strikingly sophisticated culture during the Bronze Age, known today as the Minoan civilization. The remains of the Minoan culture were only rediscovered in the early twentieth century by Sir Arthur Evans , with his initial exploration and excavation at the site of Knossos . Evans dubbed the material assemblage he found at this central Cretan site after the mythical king of Crete, King Minos. The complex of buildings he discovered reminded the excavator of the Labyrinth constructed by Minos at his palace, Knossos, to house the Minotaur. Thus, Knossos and the Minoans received their names. Besides his pioneering work in excavating the main palace site, among Evans' most significant discoveries at Knossos was the recovery of about 3000 ancient Linear A and B writing tablets . Linear B eventually proved to be an early form of ancient Greek from a later, Mycenaean occupation of the site. Linear A, a script representing the language of the Minoans, still remains largely undeciphered.
- the Minoan periods on Crete had been defined well enough to identify them as a major civilization. knowledge of the Bronze Age Minoan culture was only faintly reflected in a few Classical Greek myths. By the time this pioneering work was finished several decades later, the Minoan periods on Crete had been defined well enough to identify them as a major civilization from ca. 1900-1300 BC. Evans first visited Crete in 1894 to study and decipher two types of unknown scripts appearing on Cretan seals. A year later he published the results in the Ashmolean publication Cretan Pictographs and Prae-Phoenician Script (Evans 1895), therein identifying both the enigmatic Minoan hieroglyphs ("Pictographs"), and the syllabic or pre-alphabetic ("Prae-Phoenician") scripts, now called Linear A and B. Political fortunes then played a part in assisting Evans to excavate in Crete, after the island had won its independence from Turkey. In 1899, Evans used money from a family inheritance to buy the site at Kefala. Using a sizable local work force, Evans began large-scale, systematic excavations at Knossos in 1900, and by the end of 1903 had uncovered many of the foundations of the large, sprawling structures he designated as the Palace. [Note: This is article appears in the printed issue of Vol.3, no.3 of Athena Review (p.19). Copyright 2003, Athena Publications, Inc. ]
- Evans was born in 1851 in Nash Mills, Hertfordshire, England. Studying history at the Universities of Oxford and Göttingen, Evans later became Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. During this period (1884-1908), he became interested in seals (tiny carved stones) as sources of inscriptions from ancient, pre-Classical Mediterranean civilizations. [ Fig.1: Arthur Evans holding Minoan vase.] Evans was particularly drawn to Crete as one such source of seals containing undeciphered early inscriptions. The ancient town site of Kafala (Knossos) on the northern coast of Crete, next to the capital city of Herakleion, was well-known to local inhabitants, who plowed up ancient objects, including pottery, coins, and seals, as they cultivated their fields. Knossos had been occupied up through the Roman period, and during the Classical and Hellenistic eras (500-200 BC) had issued its own coinage, which interestingly showed pictures of labyrinths, Minotaurs, and Ariadne, the stuff of later interpretations (fig.2).
- Since we cannot yet translate the writings from Crete , Linear A , we must rely on their architecture and art to find out who the Minoans were. The beautiful frescoes that the Minoans left behind them reveal a sensitive culture, dependent on the sea, and alive to human beauty and the beauty of the world around them. Much of what we know of the Minoans comes from their art and architecture. In sharp contrast to other Bronze Age societies, such as the Mycenaeans , Minoan art does not immortalize brutality or war. Their art celebrates everyday things that overflow with the joy of life. Entire walls were decorated with creatures and plants from the natural world around them, such as dolphins , swimming fish, monkeys , lilies, octopi, or birds and swallows. They glorified the everyday portraits of men and women going about ordinary tasks, whether fishing or gathering saffron .
- The Minoan people seem to have been peace-loving - there are no displays of power or glorification of weapons as are seen in their contemporaries the Egyptians and the Mycenaeans . They were prosperous, and could indulge a love for the finer things of life. This can be seen in their elaborate facilities such as bathrooms with toilets and private pools, in the figures left behind in the frescoes which adorned their walls, and in the beautiful creations of metal-workers, goldsmiths, woodworkers and sculptors. entered in the palace of Minos at Knossos on the island of Crete, Minoan culture was prosperous and seafaring.
- The absence of protective walls around the palace complex suggests that the Minoans enjoyed a sense of security. The three-story palace at Knossos was a labyrinthine masonry structure with dozens of rooms and corridors built around a central courtyard. The interior walls of the palace bear magnificent frescoes illustrating natural and marine motif , ceremonial processions and other aspects Cretan life.
- Some of the best examples of such figured frescoes come from the excavations at Knossos. The frescoes at this site fall into two general categories, scenes from nature and scenes from the court and ritual events. Probably associated with the cult of the bull- ancient symbol of virility- the ritual game prefigures the modern bullfight, the “rules” of which were codified in Roman times by Julius Caesar.
- The Flying Fish fresco is a perfect example of the nature scene that the Minoans often used. The fish appear to fly through the water, their brightly colored wings and bodies contrasting with the watery background.
- A processional scene was located in the entry way of the palace at Knossos. It is only partially preserved, but it has some of the best examples of the Minoan style of depicting humans. Possibly the most striking figure Minoan fresco is undoubtedly that of the woman known as La Parisienne . She has eyes and lips that appear strikingly against the white of her skin, and enhance her already regal pose. Yet another beautiful fresco is that of the Boxing Boys found at Thera. It is a realistic representation of children playing together. The youths are depicted with childish anatomy, the earliest naturalistic representations of children.
- The style of Minoan ceramics did not disappear with the collapse of the palace on Crete. They continued their evolution toward greater stylization and abstraction in the hands of the Mycenaeans of the Greek mainland (see Mycenaean Art ). Evidence suggests that the Minoans disappeared so suddenly because of the massive volcanic eruption in the Santorini Islands. Excavations there have uncovered Akrotiri, a Minoan town which was buried in this eruption, one of the largest in recorded history. The eruption was only 70 miles from Crete, the center of the Minoan civilization . Recent evidence suggests that the Santorini eruption was up to 10 times more powerful than the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883. It caused massive climatic disruption and the blast was heard over 3000 miles away.
- They valued leisure time and practiced sophisticated athletic recreation . Women in Minoan culture had as important a place as men and economically all prospered, not just a wealthy few. Everyone appears to have lived in prosperity, unlike other ancient cultures. It was matrilineal, that is people traced their descent through the female, rather than the male line, and women played as important a role in the society as men. They did not feel the need for a standing army, and appear to have avoided military conflict. They were so sure of their security, perhaps because of their large fleet , that they lived in unfortified cities along the coast, again unheard of in this time of constant warfare. Although there is much that we don't know about the Minoans , what we do know paints a remarkable picture of a society that was free of most of the problems that continue to plague us today. The later Greeks, looking back on this amazing culture, might well have thought of it as a utopia, a perfect place of knowledge, peace and prosperity. Many have suggested that the Minoans might well be the people that formed the basis of the legend of Atlantis , though other locations have been suggested over the years. The Minoans may be the best fit.
- We know now that the Santorini eruption and the collapse of the volcanic cone into the sea caused tsunamis which devastated the coasts of Crete and other Minoan coastal towns. Radiocarbon dating shows that a large tsunamis hnit Crete at the same time as the Santorini eruption. Scientists have discovered Minoan building material, pottery and food residue mixed with tiny fossilized sea shells which lived only in deep water deposited up to 7 meters above sea level. This could only have happened by a single devasting sweep of a tsunami. following a pattern similar to the Asian tsunami of 2004. Excavations at Palaikastro on the eastern side of Crete, and show evidence corroborating the tsunami theory - including missing walls which faced the sea where side walls survived. Climate experts have found that climate change as a result of the eruption would have meant cold wet summers for years. The 2004 tsunami resulted in population loss of as much in 80% in places. If the Minoans suffered a similar population loss, it explains why this was a cataclism that they could not recover from. The economic basis of the Minoan civilization was the trade network among the coastal cities supported by its large fleet . Without a fleet and the other cities to trade with, the economic loss must have been great. Writing long after the disappearance of the Minoans, Herodotus, the Greek historian, mentions the much diminished civilization of the Cretans, ravaged by pestilence and famine, a reference consistent with the aftermath of the violent eruption on Thera. See Herodotus on the Cretans . The palaces in Crete were destroyed - none survived but Knossos . This palace was rebuilt and continued to function. The much weakened Minoan Civilization limped along for another 50 years and then disappeared, falling to the mainland Mycenaean civilization . Records kept at Knossos began to be kept in a new script, Linear B, the script found at Mycenaean sites. The population loss, poor harvests and disruption of their trade network seem clear. The social upheaval resulting in such a great mark of the gods' displeasure can only be imagined. Some have speculated that the people no longer had faith in their religious leaders.
- The legend of Atlantis first appears in western literature in the works of Plato. He speaks of Atlantis in his dialogues Kritias and Timaios. He reports that the Atlantians were a strong people who were virtuous and lived in peace. They had divine origins and were altogether remarkable. In time their divine nature faded and human nature asserted itself, leading to the decline of the Atlantians. The gods destroyed Atlantis in a single day and night by earthquakes and floods, and sunk it into the sea, leaving only mud behind. Plato reports through Kritias that it was a story which came from the Egyptians. The loss of perfection has fascinated us since, and there has been much speculation about the location of the lost city. Plato's purpose in writing about Atlantis was to tell a moral tale and to glorify Athens. Although most agree that there was a story of a lost civilization, no one can tell to what extent Plato might have embellished or manipulated the facts for his purposes. But if you look at the germ of the story - an advanced peaceful island civilization which disappeared suddenly by natural disaster - you have something very like the Minoans. Could the Minoans be the people so distantly remembered in the time of Plato? Recent discoveries about their disappearance have supported this theory. Plato describes Atlantis as an isle that had its position in the Atlantic. He stated that the Atlanteans appeared to be superlatively fair and blessed, yet they were filled with lawless ambition and power. The Atlanteans started valuing material wealth above goodness-that's where they went wrong. Plato said, "The portion of divinity within them was now becoming faint and weak through being oftentimes blended with a large measure of mortality." The Atlanteans were unable to bear the burden of their possessions. So, "There occurred portentous earthquakes and floods, and one grievous day and night befell them, when...the island of Atlantis...was swallowed up by the sea and vanished." Plato doubted that any sign of the lost land would ever be found. "The ocean at that spot, has now become impassable and unsearchable." This contributes to the Bermuda Triangle theory above.
- This shift in power in the Greek world may be confirmed by another Greek legend. The Greeks in later times remembered the story of Theseus, the son of the king of Athens. Athens had to send young people to Crete every year in tribute. These hostages were sacrificed to the Minotaur, a half-bull monster. In the legend Theseus found his way out of the Labyrinth, killed the Minotaur and liberated the Athenians. A myth is a made-up story that explains the existence of a natural phenomenon — such as where thunder comes from or why snow falls from the sky. Myths — which often include gods and goddesses and other supernatural characters who have the power to make extraordinary things happen — are popular even when people know the actual reasons for natural phenomena. According to the story, the clever Athenian hero Theseus, aided by the king’s daughter Ariadne, ( she gave him a ball of string)threaded his way through the Minotaur’s labyrinthine lair to kill the monster, thus freeing Athens from its ancient bondage to the Minoans. Theseus tells his father King Aegean that if he is successful he will change his sail on his ship to white sails. But Theseus forgot and the King thought his son was dead so he through himself into the sea. And since that time the people called the sea the Aegean sea.
- The small statue of a bare-breasted female brandishing snakes (ancient symbol of rebirth) may represent a popular fertility goddess; or it may depict a priestess performing specific cult rites. Sir Arthur Evans, the discoverer and excavator of the Minoan palace of Knossos, was the first to ponder aspects of the Minoan religion. Based on a series of female figurines found at the site and analogy with the cults of the ancient Near East, Evans hypothesized that the Minoans worshipped the Great Mother , a female goddess who embodied fertility, fertility of the earth, of the animal world and of humans. In addition to being a fertility goddess, she was a protectress of the people.
- Her cult also involved two other figures that of her youthful consort, and her daughter, though neither appear with the same prominence or frequency as the Mother. Evans envisioned an almost monotheistic worship of the “Goddess,” who possessed different natures each depicted in a different way. As a protectress of house and home she was depicted with snakes, as the “Mistress of Animals” she appeared flanked by two beasts, sometimes lions and other times deer. She also appeared as a goddess of the land, often shown with crocuses and/or poppies. Evans interpreted these different depictions as different aspects of the same goddess, who encompassed all parts of life among the Minoans. This interpretation was based on an analogy with the Early Bronze Age settlement of Catal Hoyuk in present day Turkey. Catal Hoyuk and several other Near Eastern sites also demonstrated a near obsession with female figurines, and it was argued by Evans that the Minoan people of Crete originally came from this Near Eastern tradition and brought the worship of the “Great Mother” with them.
- The cave shrines are usually very simple, with little architectural modification within them. Both ritual offerings of ceramics and figurines, as well as the remains of animal sacrifice have been found in such shrines. A famous example of a Cretan cave shrine is the Cave of Eileithyia , which was a site of veneration from the Neolithic period through the Roman period on the island. The shrine itself is centered around a natural formation that closely resembles the figure of a woman.
- Such figures are identified as agricultural deities, associated with the regenerative powers of the snake, an ancient symbol of rebirth.
- Heinrich Schliemann , a nineteenth century excavator and explorer, was famous for seeking, and finding, the locations of the great myth cycles of the Greeks. He discovered and excavated Troy, and after that triumph he moved on to the great Bronze Age city of the Argolid, Mycenae . He wanted to excavate the city of Atreus and Agamemnon, to reveal the splendor of the period. Ultimately, Schliemann wanted to prove to the world that the stories of Greek epic and tragedy were more than imagined stories, but based on a real period, real places, and real events. At, Mycenae he succeeded.
- These “cyclopean” walls were guarded by symbols of royal power: in the triangular arch above the entrance gate to the citadel two 9-foot high stone lions flank a column that rests on a Minoan style altar. The city walls were immense, incredibly thick, and consisting of several ton boulders. The 'Lion Gate of Mycenae , a rather late addition, is one of the few examples of a decorated entranceway in the Bronze Age on mainland Greece. The space above the lintel is filled with a sculptured image of two lions on either side of a Minoan style column. Underground tunnels were built to wells and springs at both Mycenae and Tiryns in preparation for sieges.
- The Linear A Language is the language of the Minoans , a remarkable civilization which dominated the Aegean Sea. The Mycenaeans eventually dominated and then supplanted the Minoans on Crete. Linear A has still not been successfully deciphered. Linear B, was undecipherable until the code was cracked in 1952.
- Megaron – ancient Greek room - the largest room in a house built during the Mycenaean period of ancient Greek civilization The more impressive of the private residences were inspired by the large palaces, and were quite similar in layout and plan, usually centered around a megaron-like room.
- Master stonemasons, the Mycenaean's buried their rulers in beehive-shaped tombs. The royal graves, uncovered by Schliemann in 1876, are filled with weapons and jewelry fit for an Egyptian Pharaoh.
- Homer described the city as "Mycenae, rich in gold" in the great epic poem The Iliad . Certainly the graves at Mycenae were rich in gold grave goods, such as this mask. The splendor of the graves at Mycenae demonstrate the power and grandeur of the Mycenaean kings of that time.
- A gold death mask that once covered the face of the deceased, Schliemann identified as belonging to Agamemnon, the legendary king who led the ancient Greeks against the city of Troy. This tale is immortalized in the first of the Greek epic poems, the Iliad.
- Was there a Trojan War? The short answer is "probably." Though for most of modern history, archeologists believed that the war was just a legend, today it is accepted that there probably was such a war. The amateur archeologist Heinrich Schliemann, using The Iliad and the The Odyssey of Homer as a guide, discovered the ruins of a powerful city in Asia Minor. The Ancient Greeks from the classical period thought the Trojan War was a historical event that had taken place in the 13th or 12th century BC, and believed that Troy was located in modern day Turkey and the Dardanelles. The city Schlieman found is where Troy would have been, and was destroyed at the end of the 13th century. Its location and apparent wealth suggest that it would have been a trade rival to the fpowerful Mycenaeans. The prize was control of the Aegean. Other parts of the poems appear to have had a historical basis. Archeologists discovered great bronze age cities on the mainland, the remnants of the Mycenaeans .
- The city of Troy was destroyed many times and rebuilt. Archeologists have found 9 different levels of Troy. Troy 6 and Troy 7 are the likely candidates for the Troy of the Trojan War. Troy 7a is most likely to be the Troy destroyed by a great war and immortalized as a distant legend by Homer in his stories about The Trojan War in The Iliad and The Odyssey . It existed mid- to late-13th century BC and was destroyed about 1190 BC. This city lasted for around 100 years and was abandoned after its destruction until about 700 BC. The city appears to have been destroyed by a war, but it is not yet clear. There have been discoveries that suggest people who died by violence - partial human remains and bronze arrowheads. A human skull, a human jawbone and a full skeleton suggest that there were no survivors of the catastrophe that ended Troy VII, with no one to bury the dead. All the inhabitants may have been killed or enslaved. Further excavation should answer this question.
- Storytellers kept alive the history of early Greece, the adventures of the Mycenaeans, and the Trojan War, passing them orally from generation to generation. They are almost always referenced as just "the Dorians", as they are in the earliest literary mention of them in Odyssey , [4] where they already can be found inhabiting the island of Crete . They were diverse in way of life and social organization, varying from the populous trade center of the city of Corinth , known for its ornate style in art and architecture, to the isolationist, military state of Sparta . And yet all Hellenes knew what localities were Dorian and what not. Dorian states at war could more likely than not (but not always) count on the assistance of other Dorian states. Dorians were distinguished by the Doric Greek dialect and by characteristic social and historical traditions. Around the year 1200 BCE the Mycenaean civilization shows signs of decline. By 1100 it was extinguished. The palaces were destroyed, and their system of writing, their art, and their way of life were gone. The causes of their decline are not entirely clear. According to Greek legends, they were replaced by half-civilized Dorian invaders from the north. They spoke a different Greek dialect, and were a new wave of Greek migration. Evidence for this may be found in the legend of The Return of the Heraclidae, which recounts how the Dorians joined the Heraclidae, a Greek tribe, in an attack on the Peloponnese. We get a glimpse of the fall of the Mycenaeans from a tablet found at the palace of Pylos. The palace was destroyed by an invasion from the sea. Most of the tablets recovered there describe preparations for the attack. The first attack involved attacks on the priests but no burning. The scribes had a chance to write about it before the 2nd attack which destroyed the palace. The enemy grabbed all the priests from everywhere and without reason murdered them secretly by simple drowning. I am calling out to my descendants (for the sake of) history. I am told that the northern strangers continued their (terrible) attack, terrorizing and plundering (until) a short time ago. Py FR 1184 (Michael Ventris translation)
- Where as the Epic of Gilgamesh takes as its theme the pursuit of everlasting life, the Greek epics deal with the quest for individual honor and glory. Iliad Summary - In the tenth and final year of the Trojan War, Chryses , a priest of Apollo , attempts to ransom his daughter from Agamemnon , commander-in-chief of the Achaeans, who has taken her captive while on a raid. When Agamemnon treats him roughly and refuses the ransom, Apollo is angered and brings plague on the Achaeans. The Achaean prophet Calchas correctly identifies the cause of the problem, and he suggests giving the girl back with gifts to Apollo. Agamemnon demands that he be compensated for the loss of the girl, and Achilles , the greatest Achaean warrior, objects. The two men quarrel viciously. Agamemnon says he will take back Briseis , a captive woman who was given to Achilles as a prize for valor. Horribly dishonored, Achilles returns to his ships and refuses to fight. Agamemnon has Briseis taken from Achilles, and he returns Chryses' daughter to him. Achilles asks his mother, the goddess Thetis , to prevail on Zeus , king of the gods, to bring ruin on the Achaeans as long as Achilles does not fight for them. Zeus is indebted to Thetis, and he grants her request. With Achilles out of the way, Hector , champion of the Trojans, drives the Achaeans back to their beached ships. The Achaeans build fortifications, but at the urging of the chieftains Agamemnon sends and embassy to ask Achilles to return to battle. Agamemnon offers rich prizes, but Achilles refuses the offer and remains withdrawn from battle. The Achaean fortifications are breached, and many of the the greatest remaining Achaean warriors are wounded. Achilles beloved companion, Patroclus , begs Achilles to do something to help their fellow soldiers. He asks that he be allowed to put on Achilles' armor, so that the Trojans will think that Achilles has returned. Achilles grants the request, but warns Patroclus to return once he has driven the Trojans back from the ships. Patroclus drives the Trojans back all the way to their own city walls, but there Hector kills him with the help of Apollo. Hector strips his armor and puts it on himself, and the Achaeans barely manage to save Patroclus' body from desecration. Achilles goes berserk with grief and rage. Thetis warns him that if he kills Hector, he will die soon afterward. Achilles accepts his own life as the price for revenge. He reconciles himself to Agamemnon, receives new armor, via his mother, forged by the smith of the gods, Hephaestus . He charges into battle, slaughtering Trojans left and right, routing the Trojan army almost single-handedly. He meets Hector, chases him around the city, and kills him easily. He then drags the body from the back of his chariot, running laps around the city of Troy so that the Trojans can watch as their champion's body is horribly desecrated. Achilles returns to the Achaean camp, where he holds magnificent funeral games for Patroclus. He continues to abuse Hector's corpse. Zeus sends Thetis to tell Achilles that he must accept the ransom that Priam , king of Troy and father of Hector, will offer in exchange for Hector's body. Priam himself comes to see Achilles, the man who has slaughtered so many of his sons, and Achilles suddenly is reminded of his own father‹who, as Priam has, will outlive his most beloved son. He understands what he has done, and his rage and grief give way to compassion. He returns the body and offers a cease-fire so that the Trojans can bury Hector. With the word of Achilles as their guarantee, the Trojans take eleven days to give Hector a proper mourning and funeral. As the epic ends, the future is clear: Achilles will not live to see the fall of Troy, but the city is doomed nonetheless. All but a handful of her people will be slaughtered, and the city will be wiped off the face of the earth.
- The legendary warrior and Trojan ally, Sarpedon, was killed by Patroclus in the course of the war. He is shown being carried from the battlefield by the winged figures of Hypnos (sleep) and Thanatos (Death). Central to the lyrically balanced composition is the figure of Hermes, messenger of the gods, who guides the dead to the underworld.
- Homer was a legendary early Greek poet traditionally credited with writing the major Greek epics The Iliad and The Odyssey. These two works represent a brilliant retelling of myths and legends. For the Greeks of the 7th century BC. however, these books were their history. Their past had been obliterated by the destruction of Mycenaean Civilization. Tradition depicts Homer as a blind minstrel wandering from place to place reciting poems that had come down to him from a very old oral tradition. Many scholars believe that the books as they exist today were not written by a single person and were not put in writing until centuries after they took their present form. It is probable that much of the epic tradition of the two books was formed in the 200 or 300 years before an alphabet reached Greece in the 9th or 8th century BC. If so, it is possible that Homer used earlier writings to help him, or he could have dictated his poems to someone else because of his blindness or because he was illiterate.
- Achilles - The son of the military man Peleus and the sea-nymph Thetis. The most powerful warrior in The Iliad, Achilles commands the Myrmidons, soldiers from his homeland of Phthia in Greece. Proud and headstrong, he takes offense easily and reacts with blistering indignation when he perceives that his honor has been slighted. Achilles’ wrath at Agamemnon for taking his war prize, the maiden Briseis, forms the main subject of The Iliad . Achilles, greater than any hero known to man was recruited for the Trojan expedition, he was the son of Thetis the nymph and Peleus, king of Myrmidons, it is prophesized that Thetis would bear a son greater than his father. Homeric heroes in Iliad exemplifies aristocratic virtues, dominantly honour, excellence and greatness, to do better than the rest (better than his father) Trojans equally responsive to heroic impulse, all about glory gain, honour, pride Aristocrats had to earn their distinguished social status through their fearless fighting on the battlefield, since we can’t avoid aging and death in a matter of forms, but as well join the fight and gain honour or have it for others to gain. Risk a glorious death as opposed to forgo glory for the sake of holding onto insignificant life, choice made wholeheartedly (charma: eagerness for battle) Hector: despite foreboding of his own death he gallops onto the battlefield as if confident to win. Achilles: supreme because of virtue, superior physical prowess but also choosing to be at Troy, his mother had told him to choose: long, undistinguished life or eternal fame if he stayed at Troy. Greatest glory at greatest price, heroic choice aware of ultimate cost.
- Patroclus grew up alongside the great warrior. He stands by the enraged Achilles but also dons Achilles’ terrifying armor in an attempt to hold the Trojans back. Helen - Reputed to be the most beautiful woman in the ancient world, Helen left her husband, Menelaus, to run away with Paris. She loathes herself now for the misery that she has caused.. Although her contempt extends to Paris as well, she continues to stay with him .
- Hector - He mirrors Achilles in some of his flaws, but his bloodlust is not so great as that of Achilles. Paris is self-centered and lacks the spirit for battle and prefers to sit in his room making love to Helen while others fight for him, thus earning both Hector’s and Helen’s scorn. Iliad Summary In the tenth and final year of the Trojan War, Chryses , a priest of Apollo , attempts to ransom his daughter from Agamemnon , commander-in-chief of the Achaeans, who has taken her captive while on a raid. When Agamemnon treats him roughly and refuses the ransom, Apollo is angered and brings plague on the Achaeans. The Achaean prophet Calchas correctly identifies the cause of the problem, and he suggests giving the girl back with gifts to Apollo. Agamemnon demands that he be compensated for the loss of the girl, and Achilles , the greatest Achaean warrior, objects. The two men quarrel viciously. Agamemnon says he will take back Briseis , a captive woman who was given to Achilles as a prize for valor. Horribly dishonored, Achilles returns to his ships and refuses to fight. Agamemnon has Briseis taken from Achilles, and he returns Chryses' daughter to him. Achilles asks his mother, the goddess Thetis , to prevail on Zeus , king of the gods, to bring ruin on the Achaeans as long as Achilles does not fight for them. Zeus is indebted to Thetis, and he grants her request. With Achilles out of the way, Hector , champion of the Trojans, drives the Achaeans back to their beached ships. The Achaeans build fortifications, but at the urging of the chieftains Agamemnon sends and embassy to ask Achilles to return to battle. Agamemnon offers rich prizes, but Achilles refuses the offer and remains withdrawn from battle. The Achaean fortifications are breached, and many of the the greatest remaining Achaean warriors are wounded. Achilles beloved companion, Patroclus , begs Achilles to do something to help their fellow soldiers. He asks that he be allowed to put on Achilles' armor, so that the Trojans will think that Achilles has returned. Achilles grants the request, but warns Patroclus to return once he has driven the Trojans back from the ships. Patroclus drives the Trojans back all the way to their own city walls, but there Hector kills him with the help of Apollo. Hector strips his armor and puts it on himself, and the Achaeans barely manage to save Patroclus' body from desecration. Achilles goes berserk with grief and rage. Thetis warns him that if he kills Hector, he will die soon afterward. Achilles accepts his own life as the price for revenge. He reconciles himself to Agamemnon, receives new armor, via his mother, forged by the smith of the gods, Hephaestus . He charges into battle, slaughtering Trojans left and right, routing the Trojan army almost single-handedly. He meets Hector, chases him around the city, and kills him easily. He then drags the body from the back of his chariot, running laps around the city of Troy so that the Trojans can watch as their champion's body is horribly desecrated. Achilles returns to the Achaean camp, where he holds magnificent funeral games for Patroclus. He continues to abuse Hector's corpse. Zeus sends Thetis to tell Achilles that he must accept the ransom that Priam , king of Troy and father of Hector, will offer in exchange for Hector's body. Priam himself comes to see Achilles, the man who has slaughtered so many of his sons, and Achilles suddenly is reminded of his own fatherwho, as Priam has, will outlive his most beloved son. He understands what he has done, and his rage and grief give way to compassion. He returns the body and offers a cease-fire so that the Trojans can bury Hector. With the word of Achilles as their guarantee, the Trojans take eleven days to give Hector a proper mourning and funeral. As the epic ends, the future is clear: Achilles will not live to see the fall of Troy, but the city is doomed nonetheless. All but a handful of her people will be slaughtered, and the city will be wiped off the face of the earth.
- The Greek gods, Pantheon of multiple deities, Zeus and Hera as supreme couple The 12 Gods of Olympus represented a single concept: nature, in all i t ’ s phases and each god or goddess was associated with one or more of the p owers of nature. Their role was not so much that of creating the world as of maintaining order and harmony in it. To the Greek mind, the gods were immortal and magnificent. They could control all mortal beings in every sphere of their lives, determining their fortunes, their relationships, and when they came into the world and left it. The gods were not inaccessible beings. Man could approach them easily, seeing them, hearing them and even touching them. As contradictory and mutually complimentary beings, they constituted the incarnation of the perfect human, but a human who was free of the deprivations and prohibitions of life, who could take pleasure in whatever presented itself to him, who could injure himself without suffering pain or death, could fall in love without being subject to the barriers applicable to mankind, who could experience anger or jealousy without having to suppress his feelings, who could carouse and get drunk, who could live and enjoy himself with his creatures as if he were both creator and creation. The ancient Greeks assigned to their gods all the properties that they themselves would have liked to possess, but which their human nature prevented them from obtaining. This is the light in which we have to view the anthropomorphism of the ancient Greek gods. The twelve gods of Olympus , formed a special category of their own. Six male and six female, were divided in accordance with their properties and activities into six couples united by bonds of friendship or kinship.
- Since its base is located at sea level, it is one of the highest mountains in Europe in terms of topographic prominence, the relative altitude from base to top. It is situated at 40 ο 05’Ν - 22 ο 21’Ε, in mainland Greece. It is located about 100 km away from Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city. Mount Olympus is noted for its very rich flora with several endemic species. The highest peak on Mount Olympus is Mitikas at 2,919 metres high (9,570 feet), which in Greek means "nose" (an alternative transliterated spelling of this name is "Mytikas"). Mitikas is the highest peak in Greece, the second highest being Skolio (2912 m). Any climb to Mount Olympus starts from the town of Litochoro, which took the name City of Gods because of its location on the roots of the mountain.
- The ancient Greeks believed that it was not wise to anger the gods. They built temples all over ancient Greece. Each temple, no matter how elaborate, honored only one god. The major gods had more than one temple built in their honor. Nearly everyone was fond of Apollo. He was the god of music, reason, and light. Apollo's chariot brought up the sun each day. Apollo had other powers. One was a very special skill - Apollo could see the future. He had the gift of prophecy. Many people in ancient Greece brought gifts to Apollo, and asked for advice in exchange. Apollo liked the attention. And the gifts. It was all very nice, but it was also exhausting. As the story goes .... One day, Apollo decided that what he needed was an oracle, a wise woman to speak for him. In ancient Greece, an oracle was a person who could predict and interpret the future. Apollo used some magic and established his oracle in a temple at Delphi. There were many oracles, or fortune tellers, in ancient Greece. Apollo's oracle at Delphi was the most famous. The predictions made by other oracles were rather vague. A normal oracle might answer, "Yes, the frost will be gone, and spring will come, if the gods decree it." Such an answer was not much help if your question was, "Should I plant my garden tomorrow?" People in ancient Greece had heard that Apollo had shared his special power with the oracle at Delphi - the power of prophecy. He did give her the power of prophecy. But Apollo had put a limit on her power. Apollo's oracle had to tell people the truth, but she could not answer yes or no. The oracle could only make a truthful statement. It was up to you, the listener, to figure out what she meant by it. Sometimes people misunderstood what she was telling them. That was the trouble with oracles, even the best of them. There is an old story about Apollo's oracle that went something like this .... Once upon a time, a long time ago, a weary king traveled to Delphi to ask the oracle, "Who will win the battle tomorrow?" The oracle smiled at him, and gently answered, "A great king." The king was very happy to hear this. He left many gifts for the oracle, and went quickly away to ready his men for battle, quite pleased that he had come. What he had overlooked in his haste is that more than one king would lead his men to battle in the morning. An oracle's smile meant nothing.
- He is lord of the sky, and the rain. His weapon is a thunderbolt, which he hurls at those who displease him. He is married to Hera but is famous for his many affairs. He is also known as the god that punishes those that lie or break oaths.
- Zeus courted her unsuccessfully. Then he changed himself into dishevelled cuckoo. Hera feeling sorry for the bird held it to her breast to warm it. Zeus then transformed in his normal form and took advantage of the opportunity he gained, and raped her. Then she married him to cover her shame. Her sacred animals are the cow and the peacock. Her favourite city is Argos.
- He was widely worshipped by seamen. He married Amphitrite, a granddaughter of the Titan Oceanus. He desired Demeter, who asked him to make the most beautiful animal that the world had ever seen, just to put him off. So, Poseidon created the first horse. I n some accounts, his first attempts were unsuccessful, he created a variety of animals in his quest and then created the first horse. His weapon is a trident, which can shake the earth, and shatter any object. He is the most powerful Olympian god, after Zeus.
- . She has invented the bridle, which permits man to tame horses, the trumpet, the flute, the pot, the rake, the yoke, the ship, and the chariot. She is the embodiment of wisdom, reason, and purity. She is Zeus's favourite child and she is allowed to use his weapons including his thunderbolt. Her favourite city is Athens. Her tree is the olive and the owl is her bird. She is a virgin goddess.
- One of Apollo's more important daily tasks is to harness his chariot with four horses and drive the sun across the sky. He is famous for his oracle at Delphi and people use to travel to it from all over the Greek world to divine the future. His tree is the laurel, his bird is the crow and his animal is the dolphin.
- . Like Apollo she hunts with silver arrows. She is a virgin goddess, and the goddess of chastity. She also presides over childbirth, which may seem odd for a virgin, but goes back to cause Leto no pain when she was born. She became associated with Hecate. The cypress is her tree. All wild animals are scared to her and especially the deer.
- He is the god of thieves and commerce. He is the guide for the dead to go to the underworld. He invented the lyre, the pipes, the musical scale, astronomy, weights and measures, boxing, gymnastics, and the care of olive trees.
- She taught mankind the art of sowing and ploughing so they could end their nomadic existence . As such, Demeter was also the goddess of planned society. She was very popular with the rural population. I n systematized theology, Demeter is a daughter of Cronus and Rhea and sister of Zeus by whom she became the mother of Persephone. When Persephone was abducted by Hades , lord of the underworld, Demeter wandered the earth in search of her lost child. During this time the earth brought forth no grain. Finally Zeus sent Hermes to the underworld, ordering Hades to restore Persephone to her mother. However, before she left, Hades gave her a pomegranate (a common fertility symbol). When she ate from it, she was bound to spend a third of the year with her husband in the infernal regions. Only when her daughter is with her, Demeter lets things grow (summer). The dying and blossoming of nature was thus connected with Demeter .
- When he was caught in an act of adultery with Aphrodite, her husband Hephaestus publicly ridiculed him. His bird is the vulture. His animal is the dog.
- There are two accounts of her birth. One says she is the daughter of Zeus and Dione. The other goes back to when Cronus castrated Uranus and tossed his severed genitals into the sea. Aphrodite then arose from the sea foam on a giant scallop and walked to shore in Cyprus. She is the wife of Hephaestus. The myrtle is her tree, the dove, the swan, and the sparrow are her birds.
- it is said that He is the only god who is physically ugly and lame . A ccounts as how he became lame vary. Some say that Hera, upset by having an ugly child, flung him from Mount Olympus into the sea, breaking his legs. Others that he took Hera's side in an argument with Zeus and Zeus flung him off Mount Olympus. His wife is Aphrodite. Sometimes his wife is identified as Aglaia.
- She is the Goddess of the Hearth, the symbol of the house around which a newborn child is carried before it is received into the family. Each city had a public hearth sacred to Hestia, where the fire was never allowed to go out.
- The Temple of Hepha i st o s in central ancient Athens-Greece , is the best-preserved ancient Greek temple in the world, but is far less well-known than its illustrious neighbour, the Parthenon. The temple is also known as the Hepha i steum or Hepha i steion. It is sometimes called the Theseion , due to a belief current in Byzantine times that the bones of the legendary Greek hero Theseus were buried there; in fact the bones alleged to be those of Theseus were buried in the 5th century BC at another site nearer to the Acropolis Temple of Apollo at Delphi Fokidos, Greece. Central among the number of imposing ruins that are interspersed on the Southern slopes of Parnassos mountain is the temple of Apollo. It is an imposing temple of the Doric order whose existence was woven through the turbulent history of the site, and endured numerous incarnations before it settled to the ruinous state we find it today, and which dates back to the 4th c. B.C.
- The temple of Hera , at Olympia, is one of the oldest monumental temples in Greece, stands in the north-west corner of the sacred precinct of the Altis, on the south slopes of Kronios hill, protected by a powerful terrace wall .
- The site of the temple of Artemis Agrotera (the Huntress) is one of the most important historical and archeological sites that have survived in the center of Athens. It is situated on Ardittou St, (Mets area) a few meters from the Panathenian Stadium and the hill of Ardittos, facing the Acropolis, the temple of Olympian Zeus and the Lycabetos The building of the Temple of Olympian Zeus actually began in the 6th Century by Peisistratos but work was stopped either because of a lack of money or because Pisistratus's son, Hippias, was overthrown in 510 BC. The temple was not finished until the Emperor Hadrian completed in 131 AD, seven hundred years later .
- The Temple of Ares stood in the northern part of the Agora in Athens; originally built on another site around 440 B.C., it was moved to its present position in the Augustan period. Although only scanty remains have survived, there is sufficient evidence to establish that this temple resembled the Temple of Hephaistos and was probably built by the same architect. At the outside of the temple is the altar .
- an ancient Greek city-state.
- Much of what we know about the Persian Wars comes to us from the world’s first known historian. 9 volume History of the Persians Wars is not only the West’s first historical narrative it is the first major literary work written in prose, Like the Homeric epics, and designed “to preserve the memory of the past,” the History shaped the Greek national identity. His writing not as an eyewitness to the wars, but a half-century later. By presenting various and often contradictory pieces of evidence and weighing them against one another before arriving at a conclusion
- The Persians placed tyrants in control of the new city-states. The conquered Lydians revolted with the help of Athens. With the help of the Athenian ships, the Lydians burned the capital of Sardis. The Athenians lost interest and left; Persia soon had the kingdom of Lydia under control again in 495 BCE and wanted payback. 6 th century B.C.E. the Persian Empire advanced westward, - Persia annexed Ionia, the Greek region on the coast of Asia Minor. A move that clearly threatened mainland Greece.
- In 490 BCE the Athenians met the vengeful Persians at Marathon. The Athenians were vastly outnumbered but prevailed through superb strategy. Without this victory the Athenians would have been destroyed and the Persian war would have ended before it could have begun. The Persian army awoke to see the Athenians running at them. The Persians were groggy so it took them a moment to mobilize, when they did they began to push back the center of the Athenian army. This is what the Athens commander Miltiades wanted. After the lines of the Persians were thinned the center stood and held its ground while the strengthened flanks pushed in on the sides. The Persian army collapsed and fled. 6 th century B.C.E. the Persian Empire advanced westward, - Persia annexed Ionia, the Greek region on the coast of Asia Minor. A move that clearly threatened mainland Greece. Thus, when in 499 B.C.E. the Ionian cities revolted against Persian rule, their Greek neighbors came to their aid. In retaliation, the Persians sent military expeditions to punish the rebel cities of the Greek mainland. In 490 B.C.E., on the plain of Marathon, near Athens, A Greek force of eleven thousand men met a Persian army with twice its numbers and defeated them, losing only 192 men. Persian casualties exceeded 6,000. the Greek warrior who brought news of the victory at Marathon to Athens died upon completing the 26-mile run. Hence the word ”marathon” has come to designate a long-distance endurance contest.
- Sparta was chosen as the leader of the of land and sea operations for its superior military capabilities.
- to buy the Athenians enough time to finish the construction of their navy. However it is commonly overlooked that a few thousand made the last stand in the Hot Gates and not only the 300 Spartans. The Spartans were accompanied by Thespians and Thebans. During two full days of battle, the small force led by King Leonidas I of Sparta blocked the only road by which the massive Persian army could pass. After the second day of battle, a local resident named Ephialtes betrayed the Greeks by revealing a small path that led behind the Greek lines. Aware that his force was being outflanked, Leonidas dismissed the bulk of the Greek army, and remained to guard the rear with 300 Spartans , 700 Thespians , 400 Thebans and perhaps a few hundred others, the vast majority of whom were killed.
- (F-e-altees) who told the Persian King Xerxes of a back way to the Greek Army. This resulted in the inevitable loss of the battle, however it bought the Athenians the time they needed.The Greeks were able to hold out due to their military formation the Hoplite, which required every man to cover the man to the left with his shield, thus making a wall of shields and spears. When the spears failed the resorted to the short sword at their hip.
- This was the defining battle that delivered the crippling blow to the Persians. The Greeks lured the Persian navy to the island of Salamis. The Greeks vacated Athens and the Persians pillaged and burned it to the ground. The Greeks wanted to force the Persians to have a naval battle. The Greeks sent a message, perhaps sent by a slave, to tell the Persians that the Greeks were fleeing and if they followed them quickly they could easily defeat the Greeks and achieve victory. This forced the Persians to reduce their numbers in order to fit through the straights. So the Greek navy was waiting for the Persians the trap was set. As the Persian navy sailed into the straight the Greeks cut off the escape route and systematically rammed and sunk the Persian navy of twice their size. Xerxes who had been watching the battle from a hill fled back to Persia and left his army to fight their way back under the command of Mardonius. This was the first Naval battle to change the course of history. Up to this point major battles were always on land army against army.
- They used the wind and currents to their advantage. Some sea battles have changed the course of a campaign and even a war - very few change the course of world history. One such battle was fought nearly 2,500 years ago. The victory gained by this battle was to give prominence to sea power - for it was perhaps the first time that dominance in maritime power altered the outcome of a war and world history. Nearly all the wars fought up to that time had been decided by large armies, but in 480 B.C. Greece had no large armies when she was threatened by the greatest military power in the ancient World - Persia. The events of 480 B.C. were later recorded in detail by the Greek historian, Herodotus, who was born sometime around 490 B.C. As a young man Herodotus travelled widely throughout Greece and the Mediterranean world, compiling his book, 'The Histories'. During his travels he would have spoken with some of the veterans who took part in the sea battle of Salamis. His chapters on this battle not only give an interesting insight into Naval tactics of the time but also the politics of war. Themistocles was exiled.
- and Mardonius was killed, thus ending the Persian War. The movement was intended to be completed in the darkness as to prevent attack. This goal was missed and dawn found the three segments of the Greek line scattered and out of position. Realizing the danger, Pausanias instructed the Athenians to join with his Spartans, however this failed to occur when the former kept moving toward Plataea. In the Persian camp, Mardonius was surprised to find the heights empty and soon saw the Greeks withdrawing. Believing the enemy to be in full retreat, he gathered several of his elite infantry units and began pursuing. Without orders the bulk of the Persian army also followed ( Map ). The Athenians were soon attacked by troops from Thebes which had allied with the Persians. To the east, the Spartans and Tegeans were assaulted by Persian cavalry and then archers. Under fire, their phalanxes advanced against the Persian infantry. Though outnumbered, the Greek hoplites were better armed and possessed better armor than the Persians. In a long fight, the Greeks began to gain the advantage. Arriving on the scene, Mardonius was struck down by slung stone and killed. Their commander dead, the Persians began a disorganized retreat back towards their camp.
- This mind set was the driving force behind the great cultural achievements that would catapult Athens into the leading culture of the time.
- The Spartan family was quite different from that of other Ancient Greek city-states. The word "spartan" has come down to us to describe self-denial and simplicity. This is what Spartan life was all about. Children were children of the state more than of their parents. They were raised to be soldiers, loyal to the state, strong and self-disciplined. It began in infancy. When a Spartan baby was born, soldiers came to the house and examined it carefully to determine its strength. The baby was bathed in wine rather than water, to see its reaction. If a baby was weak, the Spartans exposed it on the hillside or took it away to become a slave ( helot ). Infanticide was common in ancient cultures, but the Spartans were particularly picky about their children. It was not just a matter of the family, the city-state decided the fate of the child. Nurses had the primary care of the baby and did not coddle it. Soldiers took the boys from their mothers at age 7, housed them in a dormitory with other boys and trained them as soldiers. The mother's softening influence was considered detrimental to a boy's education. The boys endured harsh physical discipline and deprivation to make them strong. The marched without shoes and went without food. They learned to fight, endure pain and survive through their wits. The older boys willingly participated in beating the younger boys to toughen them. Self-denial, simplicity, the warrior code, and loyalty to the city-state governed their lives.
- Spartan children were taught stories of courage and fortitude. One favorite story was about a boy who followed the Spartan code. He captured a live fox and intended to eat it. Although boys were encouraged to scrounge for food, they were punished if caught. The boy noticed some Spartan soldiers coming, and hid the fox beneath his shirt. When the soldiers confronted him, he allowed the fox to chew into his stomach rather than confess, and showed no sign of pain in his body or face. This was the Spartan way. At the age of 20 or so, they had to pass a rigorous test to graduate and become full citizens. Only the soldiers were received the aristocratic citizenship. If they failed their tests they never became citizens, but became perioeci , the middle class. So to some extent class was based on merit rather than birth. If the young men passed, they continued to live in the barracks and train as soldiers but were required to marry to produce new young Spartans. The state gave them a piece of land which was farmed by slaves and which they did nothing to tend. The income provided for their support so they could remain full-time soldiers. At the age of 30 they were allowed to live with their families, but continued to train until the age of 60 when they retired from military service.
- Girls also were removed from the home at 7 and sent to school. Here they learned wrestling, gymnastics, were taught to fight, and endured other physical training. Spartans believed that strong mothers produced strong children. Young women competed at athletic events and may have competed in the nude as the men did. If they passed their citizen tests, they were assigned a husband. Because this did not happen until they were 18-20, they were more emotionally mature when they married and closer to the age of their husbands. Marrying later than other Greek women, the Spartan women produced stronger children, if not as many. To prepare for the wedding night, her hair was cut short and she was dressed in male clothing. The man then returned to his all-male barracks. Men and women did not live together, but met occasionally for procreation. The wedding consisted of a ritualized physical struggle which resulted in the man slinging the woman over his shoulder and taking her off. By the end of the 4th century BCE there were more women than men in sparta and women often had more than one father for their children, and a several men might share a wife. (Connubial) love within the marriage was discouraged by the city-state, but there is evidence that some husbands and wives loved each other very much. This fact would embarrass them if it were known, a shameful weakness, so such attachments were usually kept secret. Women enjoyed much greater freedom and independence in sparta than in other Greek city-states. Because mothers had little responsibility for the care of their children, they were not as tied to the home as most Greek women were. They were allowed to walk abroad in the city and transact their own affairs. They owned their own property, as much as a third of the property in Sparta. Their husbands were only a minor part of their lives, and except in matters relating to the military were generally their own masters. They were not as close to their children as other Greek women in some ways, but a mother had pride in her son's stature as a courageous and strong soldier. “Come home with your shield or upon it” was said to be the advice one woman gave her son as he went off to war. They shared the culture's shame of weakness. Although the Spartans did not have a family life as we think of it, there is evidence that in some cases at least Spartan men and women had close ties to their children and with each other. Their system certainly was well-ordered and avoided the "moral degeneration" they despised in the Athenians who they saw as wallowing in luxuries. And their is no doubt that the system produced strong soldiers. The Spartan army was legendary in ancient Greece, and the legend continues to this day.
- What were the unique characteristics of Athenian democracy? Oligarchy - a small group of people who together govern a nation or control an organization, often for their own purposes. Athens first mob rule - stormed the acropolis and over through the tyrants. So lets try something different the people will decide the laws, and we will vote on them. You had to be a male citizen to vote. You had to be burn in Athens and your parents had to be born in Athens. Women and Foreigners were not allowed. Of course excluding slaves. They were a military state. They continuously voted to go to war. Never went more then two years with out war. The democratic government of Athens rested on three main institutions, and a few others of lesser importance. The three pillars of democracy were: the Assembly of the Demos, the Council of 500, and the People’s Court. These were supplemented by the Council of the Areopagus, the Archons, and the Generals. Actual legislation involved both the Assembly and the Council, and ad hoc boards of “Lawmakers.”
- It is estimated that in Athens , the majority of citizens owned at least one slave. some isolated debate began to appear, notably in Socratic dialogues while the Stoics produced the first condemnation of slavery recorded in history. There may have been as many, if not more, slaves than free people in ancient Greece. It is difficult for historians to determine exactly how many slaves there were during these times, because many did not appear any different from the poorer Greek citizens. There were many different ways in which a person could have become a slave in ancient Greece. They might have been born into slavery as the child of a slave. They might have been taken prisoner if their city was attacked in one of the many battles which took place during these times. They might have been exposed as an infant, meaning the parents abandoned their newborn baby upon a hillside or at the gates of the city to die or be claimed by a passerby. This method was not uncommon in ancient Greece. Another possible way in which one might have become a slave was if a family needed money, they might sell one of the children into slavery.
- Pericles was the leading proponent of Athenian democracy who dominated the Board of Ten generals for more than thirty years. The defeat of Persia inspired a mood of confidence and a spirit of vigorous chauvinism. Oligarchy - a small group of people who together govern a nation or control an organization, often for their own purposes. An aristocrat by birth, Pericles was a democrat at heart, In the interest of broadening the democratic system, he initiated some of Athens’ most sweeping domestic reforms, such as payment for holding public office and a system of public audit in which the finances of outgoing magistrates were subject to critical scrutiny. In Pericles’ time many public offices were filled by lottery- a procedure that invited all citizens to seek governmental office, and one so egalitarian as to be unthinkable today. Pericles’ high-handed actings, along with his imperialistic efforts to dominate the commercial policies of league members, led to antagonism and armed dispute between Athens and a federation of rival city-states lead by Sparta.
- Speech by Pericles, excerpted from Thucydides’ (Thu-cid-idees) History of the Peloponnesian Wars, was presented on the occasion of a mass funeral held outside the walls of Athens to honor those who had died in the first battles of the war , Nowhere are the concepts of humanism and individualism more closely linked to civic patriotism than in this speech. Pericles reviews the “principles of action” by which Athens rose to power, He describes Athens as “the school of Hellas”;that is , it is the model and the teacher for all the other Greek communities, The greatness of Athens, according to Pericles, lies not merely in its military might and in the superiority of its political institutions, but in the quality of its citizens, their nobility of spirit, and their love of beauty and wisdom . Pericles’ views, which were shared by most Athenians as primary articles of faith, reflect the spirit of civic pride that characterized Hellenic culture at its peak.
- Nowhere are the concepts of humanism and individualism more closely linked to civic patriotism than in this speech.
- The most famous woman of Ancient Athens was Aspasia, the companion of the great leader of democratic Athens, Pericles. Because she was a courtesan, Pericles was not permitted to marry her, but in every way she was his partner and an important Athenian in her own right. Aspasia was probably a hetaira . There is no English word to accurately translate hetairai , but they were more than courtesans. They were indeed sexual partners, but they were also companions, better educated than other Greek women. They were educated in philosophy, history, politics, science, art and literature, so that they could converse intelligently with sophisticated men. Aspasia was considered by many to be the most beautiful and intelligent of the city's hetairai . Her influence was so great that Plato later joked that she had written Pericles' most famous speech, The Funeral Oration . Both Aspasia and Percales. were intellectually curious and on the cutting edge of philosophy, art, architecture and politics. They entertained intellectuals at their home. With her help and support Percales. built magnificent public spaces such as the Parthenon. They lived together for nearly twenty years and ushered in the " golden age of Greece ," that flowering of culture which continues to inspire us.
- Pericles’ foreign policy was even more ambitious than his domestic policies, In the wake of the Persian Wars, he encouraged the Greek city-states to form a defensive alliance against future invaders, At the outset , the league’s collective funds were kept in a treasury on the sacred island of Delos (hence the name “Delian League”). But in a bold display of chauvinism , Pericles moved the fund to Athens and expropriated its monies to rebuild the Athenian temples that had been burned by the Persians.
- The Greeks competed in the nude, so nude sculptures were considered normal.
- 6 th century B.C.E. the Persian Empire advanced westward, - Persia annexed Ionia, the Greek region on the coast of Asia Minor. A move that clearly threatened mainland Greece. Thus, when in 499 B.C.E. the Ionian cities revolted against Persian rule, their Greek neighbors came to their aid. In retaliation, the Persians sent military expeditions to punish the rebel cities of the Greek mainland. In 490 B.C.E., on the plain of Marathon, near Athens, A Greek force of eleven thousand men met a Persian army with twice its numbers and defeated them, losing only 192 men. Persian casualties exceeded 6,000. the Greek warrior who brought new of the victory at Marathon to Athens died upon completing the 26-mile run. Hence the word ”marathon” has come to designate a long-distance endurance contest.
- Greek drama was a form of play that addressed the dynamic relationship between the individual, the community, and the gods. The ancient Greeks were the first masters in the art of drama, the literary genre that tells a story through the imitation of action, recitation and chant, music, dance, and mime animated the enactment of myths that celebrated rites of passage of marked seasonal change. They were paid by the state. The plays acted out right and wrong, subjects that were debated in the assembly. Some subjects played out odd sexual behaviors.
- Eskalus, Euripitees, aristofanees, The number of surviving plays from the ancient age of Greek theater is approximately 45.
- Tragedy: A work with tragic consequences for the hero.The hero is usually a noble, often one who has accomplished great things. But he has some defect (see tragic flaw) That brings him to ruin at last Comedy: A work, usually with happy endings. Only later did it become identified with amusement. Often a work with realistic ends. Hubris: Tragic Flaw. The hero is a noble. He is a man (almost always a man) of some accomplishment) But he has some defect That defect proves destructive to the hero. Catharsis: the cleansing of the soul brought about by witnessing a demise Tragic Waste
- ANTIGONE Oedipus Trilogy by Sophocles Antigone, daughter of Oedipus, the late king of Thebes, in defiance of Creon who rules in his stead, resolves to bury her brother Polyneices, slain in his attack on Thebes. She is caught in the act by Creon's watchmen and brought before the king. She justifies her action, asserting that she was bound to obey the eternal laws of right and wrong in spite of any human ordinance. Creon, unrelenting, condemns her to be immured in a rock-hewn chamber. His son Haemon, to whom Antigone is betrothed, pleads in vain for her life and threatens to die with her. Warned by the seer Teiresias Creon repents him and hurries to release Antigone from her rocky prison. But he is too late: he finds lying side by side Antigone who had hanged herself and Haemon who also has perished by his own hand. Returning to the palace he sees within the dead body of his queen who on learning of her son's death has stabbed herself to the heart.
- According to the legend, when Oedipus blinded himself after his marriage to his mother was revealed to him, Antigone shared her father's exile near Athens. Central issues: the law of man versus the law of god; male power versus female power; the rights of the individual versus the requirements of the state; the demands of family versus the demands of the community. one might pursue investigation of the other characters in the play. One might ask, for instance: “Imagine this play without Ismene: does she help to put Antigone in relief?” Some argue that the play is the tragedy of both Creon and Antigone. It is true that although she dies, she becomes immortal by her action, whereas Creon ends up in a kind of personal desert—that is, without family. The meaning of the word tragedy (as generally understood versus as a literary genre) will be crucial here, as is Aristotle’s description (Reading 4.3).
- After his death, she returned to Thebes and attempted, with her sister Ismene, to reconcile her quarreling brothers Eteocles and Polynices. Both brothers were killed, but her uncle Creon, now king, forbade the burial of Polynices because he had betrayed Thebes. Definition : Tragedy depicts the downfall of a noble hero or heroine, usually through some combination of hubris , fate, and the will of the gods. The tragic hero's powerful wish to achieve some goal inevitably encounters limits, usually those of human frailty (flaws in reason, hubris , society), the gods (through oracles, prophets, fate), or nature. Aristotle says that the tragic hero should have a flaw and/or make some mistake ( hamartia ). The hero need not die at the end, but he / she must undergo a change in fortune. In addition, the tragic hero may achieve some revelation or recognition ( anagnorisis --"knowing again" or "knowing back" or "knowing throughout" ) about human fate, destiny, and the will of the gods. Aristotle quite nicely terms this sort of recognition "a change from ignorance to awareness of a bond of love or hate."
- Antigone (an-tig'-uh-nee}, the devoted daughter of Oedipus, king of Thebes in Greek legend, was also the heroine of one of Sophocles' greatest dramas. According to the legend, when Oedipus blinded himself after his marriage to his mother was revealed to him, Antigone shared her father's exile near Athens. After his death, she returned to Thebes and attempted, with her sister Ismene, to reconcile her quarreling brothers Eteocles and Polynices. Both brothers were killed, but her uncle Creon, now king, forbade the burial of Polynices because he had betrayed Thebes. When Antigone secretly buried her brother against the edict of her uncle, she was walled up alive in a tomb.
- Warned by the seer Teiresias Creon repents him and hurries to release Antigone from her rocky prison. But he is too late: he finds lying side by side Antigone who had hanged herself and Haemon who also has perished by his own hand. Returning to the palace he sees within, the dead body of his queen who on learning of her son's death has stabbed herself to the heart.
- Most of the evidence from which knowledge of dramatic costume comes from is pottery depicting dramatic scenes. Two well-known examples of vases of this sort are the Pronomos vase and the Choregoi vase. The Pronomos vase (so-named for the aulos -player pictured), above, is a red-figure volute-krater, from roughly 400 B.C., which shows a scene of actors preparing for a satyr-play performance. The two central seated figures are Pronomos the aulos -player and Dionysus, while the poet Demetrios sits to the left. The rest of the 11 figures are chorus members in preparation. The Pronomos vase captures the ornate nature of satyr-play costumes.
- one of a few known female poets of the ancient world. She was an aristocrat who married a prosperous merchant. Her wealth afforded her with the opportunity to live her life as she chose, and she chose to spend it studying the arts on the isle of Lesbos. An aristocrat, married and had a daughter. Settled on The island of Lesbos, where she led a group of young women dedicated to the cult of Aphrodite. At Lesbos, she trained women it the production of love poetry and music. Her homoerotic attachment to the women of Lesbos as reflect the realities of ancient Greek culture, in which bisexuality and homosexuality were commonplace both in life and as subject mater.
- What do we mean by the speculative leap?
- instructed his students to question any and all mathematical problems. In this way they would deduce the general rule which can then be applied to any case to which the problem relates. This is now generally used in both mathematics and philosophy.
- Heraclitus criticizes his predecessors and contemporaries for their failure to see the unity in experience. He claims to announce an everlasting Word (Logos) according to which all things are one, in some sense. Opposites are necessary for life, but they are unified in a system of balanced exchanges. The world itself consists of a law-like interchange of elements, symbolized by fire. Thus the world is not to be identified with any particular substance, but rather with an ongoing process governed by a law of change. The underlying law of nature also manifests itself as a moral law for human beings. Heraclitus is the first Western philosopher to go beyond physical theory in search of metaphysical foundations and moral applications.
- Aristotle gives a clear and intelligible account of the way Leucippus’ theory arose. It originated from Parmenides’ denial of the void, from which the impossibility of multiplicity and motion had been deduced. Leucippus supposed himself to have discovered a theory which would avoid this consequence. He admitted that there could be no motion if there was no void, and he inferred that it was wrong to identify the void with the non-existent Leucippus was the founder of Atomism. We know next to nothing about his life, and his book appears to have been incorporated in the collected works of Democritus. No writer subsequent to Theophrastos seems to have been able to distinguish his teaching from that of his more famous disciple. Indeed his very existence has been denied, though on wholly insufficient grounds.
- He acquired fame with his knowledge of natural phenomena, and predicted changes in the weather. He used this ability to make people believe that he could predict future events. Democritus was born at Abdera, about 460 BCE, although according to some 490. His father was from a noble family and of great wealth, and contributed largely towards the entertainment of the army of Xerxes on his return to Asia. As a reward for this service the Persian monarch gave and other Abderites presents and left among them several Magi. Democritus, according to Diogenes Laertius, was instructed by these Magi in astronomy and theology. After the death of his father he traveled in search of wisdom, and devoted his inheritance to this purpose, amounting to one hundred talents. He is said to have visited Egypt, Ethiopia, Persia, and India. Whether, in the course of his travels, he visited Athens or studied under Anaxagoras is uncertain. During some part of his life he was instructed in Pythagoreanism, and was a disciple of Leucippus. After several years of traveling, Democritus returned to Abdera, with no means of subsistence. His brother Damosis, however, took him in. According to the law of Abdera, whoever wasted his patrimony would be deprived of the rites of burial. Democritus, hoping to avoid this disgrace, gave public lectures. Petronius relates that he was acquainted with the virtues of herbs, plants, and stones, and that he spent his life in making experiments upon natural bodies. He acquired fame with his knowledge of natural phenomena, and predicted changes in the weather. He used this ability to make people believe that he could predict future events. They not only viewed him as something more than mortal, but even proposed to put him in control of their public affairs. He preferred a contemplative to an active life, and therefore declined these public honors and passed the remainder of his days in solitude.
- Sometimes he is represented as a man of science, and a preacher of mystic doctrines Must have been one of the world’s greatest persons, but he wrote nothing, and it is hard to say how much of the doctrine we know as Pythagorean is due to the founder of the society and how much is later development. It is also hard to say how much of what we are told about the life of Pythagoras is trustworthy; for a mass of legend gathered around his name at an early date. Sometimes he is represented as a man of science, and sometimes as a preacher of mystic doctrines, and we might be tempted to regard one or other of those characters as alone historical. The truth is that there is no need to reject either of the traditional views. The union of mathematical genius and mysticism is common enough. Originally from Samos, Pythagoras founded at Kroton (in southern Italy) a society which was at once a religious community and a scientific school. Such a body was bound to excite jealousy and mistrust, and we hear of many struggles. Pythagoras himself had to flee from Kroton to Metapontion, where he died.
- Hippocrates of Cos was said to have lived sometime between 450 BCE to 380 BCE. He was a physician, and the writings of the Corpus Hippocraticum provide a wealth of information on biomedical methodology and offer one of the first reflective codes of professional ethics. Though Plato (a contemporary) makes reference to Hippocrates ( Phaedrus 270a and elsewhere), it is generally believed that most of the writings in the Corpus Hippocraticum are actually the work of a number of different writers. By convention of time, place and general approach a common name of ‘Hippocrates’ was assigned to the lot (without distinguishing those of the historical Hippocrates). Hippocrates and the other associated writers provide the modern student with a number of different sorts of insights. He may also be deemed the “father of medical ethics”: to this day, graduating physicians are encouraged to practice medicine according to the precepts of the Hippocratic Oath (probably not written by Hippocrates himself), which binds them to heal the sick and abstain from unprofessional medical practices.
- Being a young woman of the Athenian high society, Agnodice was frustrated by the law that banned women from studying. Encouraged by her father, she cut her hair and dressed like a man so that she could attend classes, particularly those of famous physician Herophilus. In the year 350 BC, on June 3rd , she obtained the highest marks in the medicine test and became a gynecologist, still hiding her real identity. Soon, patients began to flock her practice and the other doctors, jealous by her success, spread the rumor that “he” would be taking advantage of “his” profession to seduce and corrupt married women. Accused of raping two patients she was forced to reveal her identity under the risk of being condemned to the death penalty for having practiced medicine being a woman. A crowd of her patients declared in front of the temple that if she were executed, they would die with her.
- They were a professional class rather than a Greek school or a category of Greek philosophy , and as such they were scattered over Greece and exhibited professional rivalries. The educational demand was partly for genuine knowledge, but mostly reflected a desire for spurious learning that would lead to political success. They wandered about Greece from place to place, gave lectures, took pupils, and entered into disputations. For these services they exacted large fees, and were, in fact, the first in Greece to take fees for teaching wisdom. Though not disgraceful in itself, the wise men of Greece had never accepted payment for their teaching. The sophists were not, technically speaking, philosophers, but, instead taught any subject for which there was a popular demand. Topics included rhetoric, politics, grammar, etymology, history, physics, and mathematics. Early on they were seen as teachers of virtue in the sense that they taught people to perform their function in the state. Protagoras of Abdera, who appeared about 445 BCE. is named as the first Sophist; after him the most important is Gorgias of Leontini, Prodicus of Ceos and Hippias of Elis. Wherever they appeared, especially in Athens, they were received with enthusiasm and many flocked to hear them. Even such people as Pericles, Euripides, and Socrates sought their company.
- Socrates- ask questions like – Does wealth really make you happy? Do you know the difference between good and evil? Make citizens feel humiliated and stupid. Socrates was a Greek philosopher who taught by asking questions. When teachers ask questions that encourage students to draw conclusions, they are using the "Socratic method" of teaching. The oracle of the prominent polis of Delphi pronounced Socrates the wisest man in Greece. Socrates concluded that while others professed knowledge they did not have, he knew how little he knew. Socrates asked many questions, but he gave few answers. He often denied knowing the answers to the questions he asked. Socrates was a well-known teacher in Athens. He drifted around the city with his students, engaging many people in arguments about "justice, bravery, and piety." What we know about Socrates comes from what others wrote about him. Socrates did not write any books because he believed in the superiority of argument over writing. Socrates' students wrote that he believed that evil is ignorance, and that virtue could be taught. According to this philosophy, all values are related to knowledge. Evil is ignorance, and virtue can be taught. Socrates regarded the tales of the gods as an invention of the poets. The leaders of Athens did not want a critic like Socrates in their city. They threatened to bring him to trial for neglecting the gods and for corrupting the youth of Athens by encouraging them to consider new ideas. The leaders expected the seventy-year-old Socrates to leave Athens before his arrest, but he remained in Athens, stood trial, and was found guilty. A friend tried to plan an escape from prison, but Socrates refused to participate. He believed that he must obey the law, even if his disagreed with it. His last day was spent with friends and admirers. At the end of the day, Socrates calmly drank from a cup of poison hemlock, the customary practice of execution at that time.
- dī'ə-lĕk'tĭk Socrates maintains that most of his contemporary Greeks and Athenians have been led astray from the path of virtue exactly because they mistake false routines of pleasure for true arts of good. Consequently, for Socrates's fellow citizens, the nature of politics, justice, power, good living and the like is based upon a fundamental conflation of true and false arts corresponding to a belief that the pleasant equals the good. The entire text considers how this confusion of art with flattery manifests itself, and as such it adds great strength to Plato's overall philosophical project of defining virtuous existence. The art or practice of arriving at the truth by the exchange of logical arguments. The process especially associated with Hegel of arriving at the truth by stating a thesis, developing a contradictory antithesis, and combining and resolving them into a coherent synthesis. Hegel's critical method for the investigation of this process. The Marxian process of change through the conflict of opposing forces, whereby a given contradiction is characterized by a primary and a secondary aspect, the secondary succumbing to the primary, which is then transformed into an aspect of a new contradiction. Often used in the plural with a singular or plural verb. The Marxian critique of this process. dialectics (used with a sing. verb) A method of argument or exposition that systematically weighs contradictory facts or ideas with a view to the resolution of their real or apparent contradictions. The contradiction between two conflicting forces viewed as the determining factor in their continuing interaction.
- “ To the Greeks, moral value lay in proper action, even if the consequence of that action meant death.” The personalities of Achilles and Socrates inevitably present themselves as examples. Socrates won as many enemies as he won friends. He was brought to trail for subversive behavior, impiety, and atheism. The leaders of Athens did not want a critic like Socrates in their city. They threatened to bring him to trial for neglecting the gods and for corrupting the youth of Athens by encouraging them to consider new ideas. The leaders expected the seventy-year-old Socrates to leave Athens before his arrest, but he remained in Athens, stood trial, and was found guilty. A friend tried to plan an escape from prison, but Socrates refused to participate. He believed that he must obey the law, even if his disagreed with it. His last day was spent with friends and admirers. At the end of the day, Socrates calmly drank from a cup of poison hemlock, the customary practice of execution at that time.
- The dialogue takes place in Socrates' prison cell, where he awaits execution. He is visited before dawn by his old friend Crito, who has made arrangements to smuggle Socrates out of prison to the safety of exile. Socrates seems quite willing to await his imminent execution, and so Crito presents as many arguments as he can to persuade Socrates to escape. On a practical level, Socrates' death will reflect badly on his friends--people will think they did nothing to try to save him. Also, Socrates should not worry about the risk or the financial cost to his friends; these they are willing to pay, and they have also arranged to find Socrates a pleasant life in exile. On a more ethical level, Crito presents two more pressing arguments: first, if he stayed, he would be aiding his enemies in wronging him unjustly, and would thus be acting unjustly himself; and second, that he would be abandoning his sons and leaving them without a father. Socrates answers first that one should not worry about public opinion, but only listen to wise and expert advice. Crito should not worry about how his, Socrates', or others' reputations may fare in the general esteem: they should only concern themselves with behaving well. The only question at hand is whether or not it would be just for Socrates to attempt an escape. If it is just, he will go with Crito, if it is unjust, he must remain in prison and face death.
- Plato Most of what we know about Socrates comes from Plato, his most famous student. Plato called Socrates “the best of all men I have ever known.” When his mentor was executed, Plato left Greece for more than a decade. He returned to start the Academy, a school that would operate for more than 900 years. Plato described his idea of an ideal society in his most famous book, the Republic. Plato did not believe in democracy. He argued in favor of an “aristocracy of merit,” rule by the best and the wisest people. Plato believed a small group of people intelligent and educated men and women should govern society. This small group would select the best and the brightest students to join them. Plato believed the government should rear all children so that everyone would have equal opportunities. Schools would test students on a regular basis. Those who did poorly would be sent to work, while those who did well would continue their studies. At the age of thirty-five, those persons who mastered their education would be sent to the workplace to apply their learning to the real world. After fifteen years, if the student succeeded, they would be admitted to the guardian class. Plato taught that the ideals of truth or justice cannot exist in the material world. Today we describe a "platonic" relationship as one in which people have mental and spiritual exchanges but refrain from physical intimacy. There are varying degrees of controversy over which of Plato’s works are authentic, and in what order they were written, due to their antiquity and the manner of their preservation through time. Nonetheless, his earliest works are generally regarded as the most reliable of the ancient sources on Socrates, and the character Socrates that we know through these writings is considered to be one of the greatest of the ancient philosophers.
- "What was this Theory of Forms? It originated out of several different and partly independent features of the general ideas or notions that constituted the recurrent themes of dialectical disputations. Definitions. Every discussion of a general issue turns ultimately upon one or more general notions or ideas. Even to debate whether, say, fearlessness is a good quality is to work with the two general notions of fear and goodness. Two disputants may disagree whether fearlessness is a good or a bad quality, but they are not even disagreeing unless they know what fear and goodness are. Their debate is likely, at some stage, to require the explicit definition of one or more of the general terms on which the discussion hinges. They may accept a proferred definition, but even if a proferred definition is justly riddled by criticism, this criticism teaches what the misdefined notion is not. If "fearlessness" were misdefined as "unawareness of danger," the exposure of the wrongness of this definition would by recoil bring out something definite in the notion of fearlessness. The Socratic demolition of a proferred definition may be disheartening, but it is also instructive. The major intent of the debate in the Republic is to determine an extended definition of what constitutes Justice in a given state, whether or not a concept of Justice may be determined by citizens in a given state at the time that Plato is writing, and how Justice may be accomplished in a given state (how laws might be enacted that would serve the citizens of a just state in courts of law). Thus it is that the conversation in the Republic proceeds from a question of meaning (what is Justice?), augmented by questions of fact (are there examples of justice in action or of just men?), to a question of policy (what laws may be effected to ensure the carriage of justice?). Of course if a given state could be founded on a resolution and emulation of such precepts, it would be an ideal state; Plato is generally acknowledged to be an idealistic philosopher.
- This metaphor is meant to illustrate the effects of education on the human soul. Education moves the philosopher through the stages on the divided line, and ultimately brings him to the Form of the Good. make sure the students understand all the elements of the Allegory of the Cave and then focus on its major themes: Plato’s conviction that there are ultimate realities, non-relative absolutes; his notion that education is a process of conversion; his political view that political power is best vested in people who do not seek it. Other “prompts” for discussion: How do Plato and Aristotle define the good? What does Plato mean when he says that enlightenment is a “conversion of the soul”? Given Plato’s view of education, what would a good teacher be like?
- Aristotle was the greatest scientist of the ancient world. He is considered the father of the natural sciences. Aristotle believed in using logic and reason, rather than the anger or pleasure of gods, to explain events. Aristotle was born in Macedonia, a mountainous land north of the Greek peninsula. At that time, many Greeks believed Macedonia was a backward place with no culture. Aristotle moved to Athens and studied at Plato’s Academy. He remained at the school for more than twenty years until shortly after Plato died. Aristotle then returned to Macedonia, where King Philip hired him to prepare his thirteen-year-old son, Alexander, for his future role as a military leader. His student would one day be known as known as Alexander the Great, one of the greatest military conquerors of all time. Once Alexander became King of Macedonia, Aristotle returned to Athens and opened a school he called the Lyceum. For the next twelve years, Aristotle organized his school as a center of research on astronomy, zoology, geography, geology, physics, anatomy, and many other fields. Aristotle wrote 170 books, 47 of which still exist more than two thousand years later. Aristotle was also a philosopher who wrote about ethics, psychology, economics, theology, politics, and rhetoric. Later inventions like the telescope and microscope would prove many of Aristotle’s theories to be incorrect, but his ideas formed the basis of modern science.
- Aristotle's Poetics can be read as a response to Plato's attack on art. Aristotle (384–322 B.C.E.) was a student at Plato's Academy from the time he was seventeen until Plato's death some twenty years later. He spent the next twelve years engaging in scientific research and serving as tutor to the then teenaged Alexander the Great. He returned to Athens in 335 B.C.E., and founded his own school on the steps of the Lyceum. He remained there until 323 B.C.E., when he was forced to leave as a result of his associations with Alexander. He died a year later of natural causes. The Lyceum remained open until 525 C.E., when it was closed by the emperor Justinian.
- The empirical method is generally taken to mean the approach of using a collection of data to base a theory or derive a conclusion in science . A syllogism ( Greek : συλλογισμός – syllogismos – "conclusion," "inference") or logical appeal is a kind of logical argument in which one proposition (the conclusion) is inferred from two others (the premises ) of a certain form, i.e. categorical proposition . In Prior Analytics , Aristotle defines syllogism as "a discourse in which, certain things having been supposed, something different from the things supposed results of necessity because these things are so." (24b18–20) Despite this very general definition, he limits himself first to categorical syllogisms [1] (and later to modal syllogisms). The syllogism was at the core of traditional deductive reasoning , where facts are determined by combining existing statements, in contrast to inductive reasoning where facts are determined by repeated observations. The syllogism was superseded by first-order predicate logic following the work of Gottlob Frege , in particular his Begriffsschrift ( Concept Script ) (1879). The analysis of the role of reason in acquiring virtue is one of the finest accomplishments in all of Aristotle’s teaching, something like a masterpiece of intellectual art. Students, however, can be asked if the semi-technical “mean with respect to the individual” can be reduced to two old Greek folk maxims: “nothing too much,” and “know yourself.” How do we find out what is “too much” (liquor, arsenic, anger, compassion) in general and “too much” for us as individuals? If consensus is reached that no amount of poison and a moderate amount of everything else (discovered through individual trial and error) leads to happiness, students will understand the subtle blend of absolute and relative in Aristotle’s ethical thought.
- He explains that action in accordance with reason is necessary for the acquistion of excellences , or virtue.
- There was no hospital in the ancient world - physicians would sometimes allow patients to stay in their homes while they were treated, but there was nothing like a hospital until the cult of Asclepius and the Temples of Healing. Asclepius was in Greek myth the son of the god Apollo and Coronis, daughter of King Phlegyas of Trikka in northern Greece. He is associated with the physician staff with a snake wrapped around it. Today this is the symbol of the medical profession. The cult of Asclepius spread throughout Greece and in about 430 BC a great temple was More Information built to Asclepius at Epidaurus, near the east coast of sourthern Greece. Hippocrates, the famous ancient Greek physician and founder of the Hippocratic Oath taken by all physicians today, was an Asclepiad. The temple at Epidaurus began as a healing shrine. The process of healing was known as incubation . The patient spent the night at the temple. During the night they would be visited by the god in a dream. Priests would then interpret the dreams and prescribe treatment. Epidaurus also took in seriously ill patients, providing them with sanctuary. The Roman emperor Antoninus Pius later expanded the site at Epidaurus by building a 180 room structure for the dying and for women in childbirth. Most of the Temples of Healing were built in wooded valleys close to springs and caves where 'good spirits' were thought to dwell. votive tablet from the Temple of Asclepius at Athens, depicting a case of scalpels and cupping instruments In ancient times the cock was sacrificed at his altar. According to Plato's Phaedo , the last words of the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates were a reminder to Crito to sacrifice a cock for him to Asclepius.
- Achilles - The son of the military man Peleus and the sea-nymph Thetis. The most powerful warrior in The Iliad, Achilles commands the Myrmidons, soldiers from his homeland of Phthia in Greece. Proud and headstrong, he takes offense easily and reacts with blistering indignation when he perceives that his honor has been slighted. Achilles’ wrath at Agamemnon for taking his war prize, the maiden Briseis, forms the main subject of The Iliad . Achilles, greater than any hero known to man was recruited for the Trojan expedition, he was the son of Thetis the nymph and Peleus, king of Myrmidons, it is prophesized that Thetis would bear a son greater than his father. Homeric heroes in Iliad exemplifies aristocratic virtues, dominantly honour, excellence and greatness, to do better than the rest (better than his father) Trojans equally responsive to heroic impulse, all about glory gain, honour, pride Aristocrats had to earn their distinguished social status through their fearless fighting on the battlefield, since we can’t avoid aging and death in a matter of forms, but as well join the fight and gain honour or have it for others to gain. Risk a glorious death as opposed to forgo glory for the sake of holding onto insignificant life, choice made wholeheartedly (charma: eagerness for battle) Hector: despite foreboding of his own death he gallops onto the battlefield as if confident to win. Achilles: supreme because of virtue, superior physical prowess but also choosing to be at Troy, his mother had told him to choose: long, undistinguished life or eternal fame if he stayed at Troy. Greatest glory at greatest price, heroic choice aware of ultimate cost.
- Their scientific interests included mathematics, astronomy, and biology. As the first philosophers, though, they emphasized the rational unity of things, and rejected mythological explanations of the world. Only fragments of the original writings of the Presocratics survive, in some cases merely a single sentence. The knowledge we have of them derives from accounts of early philosophers, such as Aristotle’s Physics and Metaphysics , The Opinions of the Physicists by Aristotle’s pupil Theophratus, and Simplicius, a Neoplatonist who compiled existing quotes.
- This led to charges of impiety, and he was sentenced to death by the Athenian court. He avoided this penalty by leaving Athens, and he spent his remaining years in exile. While Anaxagoras proposed theories on a variety of subjects, he is most noted for two theories. First, he speculated that in the physical world everything contains a portion of everything else. His observation of how nutrition works in animals led him to conclude that in order for the food an animal eats to turn into bone, hair, flesh, and so forth, it must already contain all of those constituents within it. The second theory of significance is Anaxagoras’ postulation of Mind ( Nous ) as the initiating and governing principle of the cosmos.
- Soul, the copy of the reason, is emanated by and contained in it, as reason is in the One, and, by informing matter in itself non-existence, constitutes bodies whose existence is contained in soul. Nature, therefore, is a whole, endowed with life and soul. Soul, being chained to matter, longs to escape from the bondage of the body and return to its original source. In virtue and philosophic thought soul had the power to elevate itself above the reason into a state of ecstasy, where it can behold, or ascend up to, that one good primary Being whom reason cannot know. To attain this union with the Good, or God, is the true function of humans, to whom the external world should be absolutely indifferent.
- Aegean Civilization (Minoans) (ca. 3000-1200 B.C.E.) This maritime civilization flourished when it seems to have been absorbed or destroyed by the Mycenaeans.
- He tried to find the definitions of the virtues, such as courage and justice, by cross-examining people who professed to have knowledge of them. His method of cross-examining people, the elenchus, did not succeed in establishing what the virtues really were, but rather it exposed the ignorance of his interlocutors.
- How democratic was Athens? Since I've known what Ancient Greece was, I've known that Athenian democracy is touted as the great predecessor of our own American democracy and of all democracies, to some extent, throughout the world. This is a fact often taken for granted in studying the ancient world. It is very easy to make comparisons between the U.S. and Athens. However, as I am learning more about the form of democracy developed and employed at the height of Athenian power, I am become more and more suspicious that this system may not be all it is cracked up to be. There are the obvious undemocratic aspects of Athens, such as slavery and the political and social repression of women. I am willing to leave these out of the equation, given that America, too, was guilty of these same crimes for the better part of her existence. Apart from this, however, I am finding things that make me wonder how democratic this place really was. Several instances in the Peloponnesian War are particularly questionable. Take the case of Alcibiades, for example. The night before the great (but doomed) Athenian expedition to Sicily was to launch all but one of the Hermea in the city were mutilated. The Hermea, podiums with the head of Hermes and a phallus, were located all throughout the city calling on the god for protection from evil. Such a sacrilege, particularly the night before such a crucial expedition, was seen as a very bad omen for the mission and a grave crime that had to be punished. Although it still remains uncertain who was responsible for the acts, Alcibiades was accused. (His actual guilt or innocence is irrelevant to the point I am making with this story.) According to Thucydides in his History of the Peloponnesian War , Alcibiades denied the charges but requested to stand trial before leaving for Sicily. He begged the citizens not to listen to his enemies in his absence but rather try and, if necessary, put him to death right there while he could still defend himself. He even acknowledged “how unwise it would be to send him out in command of such a large army with such serious accusations still hanging over his head” (VI: 29). This seems like a very level-headed and fair thing for a man in such a position to say. However, the Athenians, so worked up about their attack on Sicily, were willing to overlook this offense for the sack of the mission. The Athenians decided, then, it would be best not to hold up the army. Alcibiades would sail with them and return in a set number of days to stand trial. Does this sound very democratic to you? Because of his position of military and social prominence, Alcibiades was allowed to avoid trial. Eventually, after fighting for some time with Sicily, Alcibiades, rather than returning to Athens for his trial at the appointed time, deserted. He ended up becoming a key advisor and strategist for none other than the Spartans. Even if he wasn’t the one who mutilated the Hermea, he’s still probably not the kind of guy you want leading your army into an expedition of such a size and importance of that of the one headed for Sicily. (He then deserted Sparta and returned to, yes, you guessed it, Athens. And (get this!) he was reinstated as a general! How’s that for democracy?) The fact that the popularity of Alcibiades, as well as the influence of his enemies who wanted more time to gather incriminating evidence, was capable of overruling law, a fairly serious, religious law at that, says to me that this “democracy” still had a long way to go
- The Sophists - Interior of a red-figured kylix (a Greek drinking cup), Douris, ca. 480 b.c.e. Terracotta, height 4 3/8” , The scene recreates a moment of conversation between a teacher and a student, scholars interpret the painting to depict an older man propositioning a younger one. The artist , Douris, is said to have ornamented some 10,000 pieces of pottery in the course of his career.
- As a prolific writer and polymath, Aristotle radically transformed most, if not all, areas of knowledge he touched. It is no wonder that Aquinas referred to him simply as “The Philosopher.” In his lifetime, Aristotle wrote as many as 200 treatises, of which only 31 survive. Unfortunately for us, these works are in the form of lecture notes and draft manuscripts never intended for general readership, so they do not demonstrate his reputed polished prose style which attracted many great followers, including the Roman Cicero . Aristotle was the first to classify areas of human knowledge into distinct disciplines such as mathematics, biology, and ethics. Some of these classifications are still used today. The analysis of the role of reason in acquiring virtue is one of the finest accomplishments in all of Aristotle’s teaching, something like a masterpiece of intellectual art. Students, however, can be asked if the semi-technical “mean with respect to the individual” can be reduced to two old Greek folk maxims: “nothing too much,” and “know yourself.” How do we find out what is “too much” (liquor, arsenic, anger, compassion) in general and “too much” for us as individuals? If consensus is reached that no amount of poison and a moderate amount of everything else (discovered through individual trial and error) leads to happiness, students will understand the subtle blend of absolute and relative in Aristotle’s ethical thought.