Introduction

Contact with Egypt, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor

Greeks forged their own unique ideas, values

Polis - city-state - foundation of Greek life

Conflict with the Persian empire

Extraordinary cultural achievements

Eventual fall to Macedonians

Expansion in Hellenistic age

Minoans - 3rd and 2nd Millennia

Minoan Bronze Age civilization on island of Crete

Major influence on early Greeks

Named after Minos, legendary founder

Early, Middle, and Late Minoan

Cnossus - extraordinary remains

Early forms of writing

Evidence of early form of Greek

Trade with the Mycenaeans

Eventually fall to Mycenaeans

 

Mycenaeans ca. 2000-1100

Earliest Greek-speaking society

Influenced by Minoans, but very different

Mycenaeans were warriors

Independent, well-organized monarchies

Tholos tombs

Wanax - title of Mycenaean king

Height of power - 1400-1200 B.C.E.

Sacked Troy around 1250 B.C.E.

Inspiration for Homer�s Iliad, Odyssey

Fall of Mycenaean Power

Palaces destroyed, cities abandoned; art, way of life, and writing system buried and forgotten 1100 B.C.E

Possible invasion of Greece by the Dorians

Resulted in dispersion of Greeks and Greek dark �Middle Age,� lasting to 750 B.C.E.

Age  of  Homer - 10th-9th cens

Greek �Middle Age� - 1100-750B.C.E.

Homer wrote of Mycenaeans

But reflected age he lived in - 10th-9th cens.

Kings less powerful than Mycenaean rulers

Limited, constitutional government

Sharp class divisions - society was aristocratic

Values - physical prowess, courage, protection of one�s friends, property, honor and reputation

Arete - courage, manliness

Polis and Hoplite Phalanx

City-state

Characteristic Greek institution

Thought of as a community of relatives

Agora - marketplace and civic center

Hoplite phalanx

Dominant military force in Mediterranean

Phalanx and polis heralded the decline of kings

Bond between aristocrats and farmers

 

Expansion of the Greek World

Tremendous expansion by 6th century B.C.E.

Macedonia, southern Italy, Sicily, Spain, southern France, Black Sea, north African coast

Magna Graecia

Relieved pressure and land-hunger

Safety valve for poleis to escape civil wars

Panhellenic (�all-Greek�) spirit

Common religious festivals - Olympia, Delphi

Encouraged trade and industry

 

The Tyrants ca. 700-500 B.C.E

Economic expansion brought social pressures

Tyrant - monarch who had gained power in unorthodox but not necessarily wicked way

Strong one-man rule - might be popular

�Expelled aristocratic opponents

�Public works projects, land division

Tyrants disappeared - some outrages

Mainly - concept of tyranny was inimical to ideal of polis

Life in Archaic Greece

Features of Greek life coming into focus

Increasing role of merchants, artisans

Farmers - simple, hard life, Hesiod�s Works and Days, 700 B.C.E

Aristocrats - rich enough to employ

�Hired laborers, sharecroppers, slaves

�Symposion

�Athletic contests

�Running, long jump, discus, javelin, pentathlon, boxing, wrestling, chariot race

Religion

Worship did not involve great emotion

No hope for immortality

Justice lay in paying one�s debts

Cult of Apollo at Delphi very important

Priests preached moderation

�Know thyself� and �Nothing in excess�

Sophrosyne - self-control

Hubris - arrogance

�Leads to divine vengeance

Gods - Pantheon

Zeus - father of the gods

Hera - Zeus� wife

Zeus�s siblings

 Poseidon - god of the seas and earthquakes

 Hestia - goddess of the hearth

 Demeter - goddess of agriculture and marriage

Zeus�s Children

Aphrodite - goddess of love and beauty

Apollo - god of the sun, music, poetry, prophecy

Ares - god of war

Athena - goddess of wisdom and the arts

Hephaestus- god of fire and metallurgy

Hermes- messenger of the gods

Sparta

Second Messenian War - 650 B.C.E.

Fear of Helots

Transformation of society

Control exerted over each Spartan from birth

Powerful commitment to polis

Ambition - glory and respect by glory in war

Spartan girls had greater freedom

Mixture of monarchy, oligarchy, democracy

Leadership of Peloponnesian League

Athens - Early Tensions

Initially an aristocratic polis

No written law code

Areopagus - council of nobles

Elected magistrates, archons

Agrarian crisis

Economic and social pressures

Many debtors pledged family as surety

Solon elected archon in 594 B.C.E.

Solon - ca. 639-559

Shaking off of burdens�

Canceled current debts

Forbade future debts secured by person

Freed Athenians enslaved for debt

Expanded citizenship

Included immigrant artisans and merchants

Divided citizenry into four classes

Third class - serve in council of four hundred

Thetes - fourth class - voted in assembly

 

Pisistratus - 605?-527 B.C.E

Seizes power as tyrant in 546 B.C.E.

Increased power of central government

Public works projects

Supported poets and artists

Hippias - r. 527-510 B.C.E.

Son of Pisistratus

Exiled when Sparta invaded

Brief revival of noble power under Isagoras

Clisthenes and Democracy

Central aim of Clisthenes� reforms

Diminish influence of noble factions

Final authority in all things in assembly of all adult male Athenian citizens

Debate in assembly was free and open

Any Athenian could submit legislation

Persian Wars

Asia Minor fell under Lydian then Persian control

Greek city-states on Ionian coast in rebellion

Persians under Darius invade in 490

Marathon - 490, Greek victory under Miltiades

Xerxes - r. 486-465 B.C.E.

Massive invasion in 481 B.C.E.

150,000 men and 600 ships

Greek victories at Thermopylae, Salamis

Classical Greece

Victory in Persian Wars - leads to 150 years of intense, almost unmatched cultural achievement

After victory - two sources of power

Reasons for split

Need for  protection from Persia

Desire for revenge and reparations

Leadership of Cimon

First Peloponnesian War

Collapse of Cimon�s authority

Supported positive relations with Sparta

Rebellion of Thasos against Delian League

Thasians appeal to Sparta for aid

War began when Megara switched sides from Sparta to Athens

Athens suffers defeat in Egypt versus Persia

Athenian leader Pericles

Agrees to thirty years truce with Sparta

Athenian Empire and Democracy

Reign of Pericles - best and worst in Athens

Athens bullies other city-states

Freest government world had ever seen

Citizenship was key

Every decision approved by citizen assembly

Collection of people, not their representatives

All public officials subject to scrutiny

No standing army or police force

Women of Athens

Women excluded from most aspects of public life

Always under control of male guardian

Married very young

Divorce difficult to obtain

Main function was to produce male heirs

Carefully segregated from men

Men could seek sexual gratification outside marriage with prostitutes

Ironic - strong women in Greek tragedy/comedy

Great Peloponnesian War

Thirty Years� Peace lasted ten years

Spartan strategy - invade and crush army

Athenian strategy - raids on coast

Athenian decline after death of Pericles, 429

Peace of Nicias in 421

Alcibiades - ca. 450-404

Athenian disaster at Sicily in 413

Spartan leader Lysander

Athens surrenders in 404 B.C.E.

Struggle for Greek Leadership

Spartan hegemony

Handed Ionian Greek city-states to Persia

Lysander installs �Thirty Tyrants� in Athens

Loss to Thebans at Leuctra in 371 B.C.E.

Theban hegemony

Generals - Pelopidas and Epaminondas

Second Athenian empire

Repeat mistakes of Delian League

Return to disorganization and war fare

Fifth Century B.C.E. Culture

Two sources of tension fueled creativity

Pride in accomplishments vs. fear of hubris

Hopes of individual vs. limits of state

Socrates, Plato, Aristotle

Architectural achievements under Pericles

Pericles - Athens as �school of Hellas�

Temples to honor city�s gods

Projected Athenian greatness

Attic Tragedy and Comedy

Tragedy

Religious observations in honor of Dionysus

Role of chorego

Questions of religion, ethics, morality

Comedy

Aristophanes - ca. 450-385 B.C.E.

History

Herodotus - 484?-425? B.C.E.

�The father of history� - studied Persian War

Attempted to explain human actions

Draw instructions from them

Thucydides - ca. 460-ca. 400 B.C.E.

History of the Peloponnesian War

Used evidence to try and discover meaningful patterns of human behavior

Understanding of history - guide to future

Fourth Century B.C.E. Culture

Middle Comedy

Turn away from life of polis

Towards everyday life, family, satire

New Comedy

Meander - 342-291 B.C.E.

Tragedy faded - revivals of classics

Euripides becomes a favorite

Psychology of individual human beings

Sculpture - ordinary, real, individual

Macedonian Conquest

Kingdom of Macedon

Philip of Macedon - r. 359-336 B.C.E.

Admiration for Greek culture

Undermined Athenian control of Aegean

Battle of Chaeronea in 338 B.C.E.

Alexander the Great 356-323

Alexander�s personality

Invasion of Persia in 334 B.C.E.

Battle of Granicus River - 334 B.C.E.

Battle of Issus - 333 B.C.E.

Battle of Gaugamela - 331 B.C.E.

Fall of Persepolis - 330 B.C.E.

Alexander enters Indus Valley - 327 B.C.E.

Alexander�s place in history

Man of vision vs. murderous tyrant

Alexander�s Successors

Ptolemy I - 367?-283 B.C.E.

Ptolomies - Thirty-first dynasty in Egypt

Seleucus I - 358?-280

Seleucid dynasty in Mespotamia

Antigonus I - 382-301 B.C.E.

Antigonid dynasty in Asia Minor and Macedon

Tremendous trade and prosperity

Greece, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia

Hellenistic Culture

Significant turning point in Greek literature, philosophy, religion and art

Dominant role of polis is lost

Arrogant Greek humanism gives way to

Plato�s Academy

Becomes center of skepticism (Pyrrho)

Aristotle�s Lyceum

Center of literary and historical studies

Epicureans

Epicurus of Athens - 342-271 B.C.E.

Goal was happiness, not knowledge

Achieved through a life based on reason

Gods took no interest in human affairs

Goal was to liberate people from the fear of death, the gods, and the supernatural

Hedonistic - identified happiness with pleasure

Absence of pain and trouble

Ataraxia - condition of being undisturbed

Stoics

Zeno of Citium - 335-263 B.C.E.

God and nature are the same

Humans must live in harmony with themselves

Logos - divine reason

Guiding principle in nature

Source of misery is passion

Apatheia - freedom from passion

World is a single large polis

All people as children of god

Literature and Sculpture

Alexandria - center of Hellenistic world

Museum - great research institute

Library - great body of past Greek literature

Study of history

Eratosthenes - ca. 275-195 B.C.E.

Tremendous demand for sculpture

Sentimental, emotional, realistic

Laocoon

Mathematics and Science

Euclid - 3rd century B.C.E.

Elements - plane and solid geometry

Archimedes of Syracuse - ca. 287-212 B.C.E.

Theory of lever, invented hydrostatics

Aristarchus of Samos - ca. 310-230 B.C.E.

Heliocentric theory of universe

Ptolemy of Alexandria - 2nd century C.E.

Eratosthenes of Cyrent - ca. 275-195 B.C.E.

Circumference of earth, treatise on geography