Ancient Greek History Exam 1

What was the Peloponnesian League?

it solidified Sparta's power

What are Areopagus?

council, senate, decision makers

Who was Solon?

He created a new law code for Athens
became revered as a founding father of Athens

Who created the Four Property Classes?

Solon

Who was Peisistratus?

He was a tyrant who took advantage to seize power with the support of the lower classes

Who took power, was driven out twice, and returned in a 6 year period?

Peisistratus

How long did Peisistratus rule as a tyrant?

19 years

What did Peisistratus keep?

Solon's reforms

What did Peisistratus create?

public works offices, developed silver mines, secured steady grain shipments, & city festivals

What did Peisistratus try to do?

make the city great

What did Cleisthenes do?

forced spartans to surrender
introduced more reforms to break the aristocratic hold over Athens

Cleisthenes filled positions through what method?

through lot -> drawing names

Who was Cleisthenes?

founder of Athenian democracy

Cleisthenes transformed Athens into a form of what?

democracy

What does demanding dirt and water signify?

give us control of your land and sea

Who was Themistocles?

convinced the people to spend their silver building boats called Triremes

What was Thermopylae?

the narrow pass between the mountains & the sea

Where did Themistocles trick Xerxes?

Salamis

What happened at Salamis?

Greeks on one side, Persians on the other
using the narrowness of the pass 200 Persian ships were destroyed causing Xerxes to retreat to Thessaly

What is the Delian League?

Athenians created an agreement that the remaining Greek city states would help each other
they bound themselves to Athens

Where was the headquarters of the Delian League?

Delios --> the mythical birthplace of Apollo and Artimis

What did each of the 150 poelis contribute to the Delian League?

money &/or ships

Peleponnisian League

Sparta --> land power & oligarchy

Delian League

Athens --> sea power & democracy

What happened at Marathon?

Athens saw the Persian army coming
they charged the Persians in a dead run and then encircled them --> Persians panic and flee = Victory for Athens

What did Hesiod critique?

critiqued the aristocracy from the POV of the common man

who is HIGHLY misogynistic?

Hesiod

What did Hesiod initiate?

the myth of Pandoras box

What did Hesiod wrote?

Works and Days
divine favor shown to farmers for harvest

What happens in Theogany?

Zeus wins a struggle between the gods,
- establishment of justice by relying on a shared power

Theogany is the first what?

ancient Greek text

What did Homer do?

wrote the Illiad and the Odyssey which provided a traditional history that provided common identify

What POV is Homer's works written in?

Aristocrates

Who's works is a source for morals and Greek ideals?

Homer's

Pericles was partnered with who?

Ephialtes

How did Pericles and Ephilates come to power?

they came to power from the humiliation that stemmed from Sparta's rejection of the hoplites that Athens sent to help

Pericles and Ephilates came to power after who was ostracized?

Chimon

Who limited citizenship to only people who's parents were both Athenian citizens? and
What did this action cause to happen?

Pericles
most of the aristocrates were eliminated from the assembly
disadvantaged aristocrates & advantaged lower class

Who introduced payment for jury service which attracted the lower classes?

Pericles

Alcibiades tried to undermine what?

the peace of Nicias

Alcibiades conviced who to do what?

Athens to invade Thessaly

Alcibiades was the nephew of who?

Pericles

Who were the three generals sent to invade Thessaly?

Alcibiades, Nicias, Lamacus

Why did Alcibiades flee from Athens?

because he was told to go to trial for possible vandalizing the Herms which was a statue of the god Hermes

After fleeing from Athens where did Pericles go?

Sparta

What happened to Alcibiades in Sparta?

he had to flee because he had an affair with the kings wife so he fled to Persia

which was the only island to remain loyal to Athens after the revolt of all Athenian allies

Samos

How did the Four Hundred form?

They threatened and killed Athenian democrats to get rid of democracy and replace it with oligarchy while they were all away at Samos

When the Four Hundred took over Athens who did the people at Samos call to be their leader and form their own democracy?

Alcibiades

Who was the Four Hundred replaced with?

The Five-Thousand

After Alcibiades was reinstated with the Five-Thousand how did his reputation get damaged?

he used his dictator-like powers to build a private getaway and people got suspicious

Who was Lysander?

an ambitious new spartan commander

What did Lysander do?

he surprised and captured the Athenian fleet which was irreplaceable for Athens

First Peleponesian War

Athens was invading and Sparta didn't like it
it was a war primarily between Athens and Sparta's allies

Second Peleponesian War had which parts

- The Archidamian War: through the Peace of Nicias
- The Sicilian Expedition: turning point of the war
- The Ionian War

What event was the end of the Archaic Period and the beginning of the Classical Period?

The Battle of Marathon

who was Socrates?

an influencer philosopher
--> beginning of philosophy

What are the only record that we have of Socrates existence?

the plays and the records of Plato

Why is Socrates considered the wisest man in the world?

because the Oracle of Delphi said so
--> he knows that he doesn't know

What did Socrates believe in?
- Socratic method

reincarnation and when you die your soul sees the truth but through the trauma of birth you forget so the Socratic method is by asking questions to pull out what you already know

what was Socrates main question?

how should one live
the 4 schools of thought

who was Plato?

Socrates pupil

what was Plato's main influential contribution?

his notion of Ideas
- ideas were fundamental universal concepts
- what we see around us isn't truly real, just copies of the real ideas out there

what is Plato's most famous work?

Republic

who and what did Plato influence?

early Christian thought
Augustas

Who was Aristotle?

Plato's pupil

Who did Aristotle tutor?

Alexander the Great

What was Aristotle concerned with?

he is more concerned with the possible rather than the ideal

What is Aristotle known for promoting?

Golden Mean = moderation
- not perfect, just the best you can achieve
- pursue the best possible rather than the best not possible

Aristotle is Father of...?

botany, zoology, logic, physics, linguistics

What is Aristotle famous for?

Hierarchicalism
- things can be categorized --> most to least important

Who were the Epicureans?

they denied any divine plan or purpose
nature was mearly atoms at work
everything is material

What did Epicureans seek?

Seekers of (Moderate) Pleasure
- this is your only life so you should enjoy it
- pleasure = no pain --> physical or emotional

Why are Epicureans called Epicureans?

because they met in Epicurus's garden

What did the Stoics believe?

humans can't do anything and have no control over anything
the only thing we can control is our reactions

What did the Stoics seek out?

a state of calm to divine reason
live rationally according to natural divine law

What was the Stoics virtue?

Virtue is the chief good - Not pleasure

Who was the founder of the Stoics?

Zeno

Who was the father of history?

Herodotus

what did Herodotus sought to preserve?

sought to preserve events and explain what caused it

what was the driving force of history for Herodotus?

Interplay of Events and Characters
- emphasis on those who were involved and their character when explaining events

Herodotus was a what?

traditionalist --> fate, gods, justice, suffering

he dealt with the big picture & grand events

What was the driving force of history according to Thucydides?

Human Nature
- humans were motivated and could be manipulated by fear, power, honor, & self-interest

Thucydides had a darker view of ______________?

history

What was Thucydides most famous work?

Peloponnesian War explanation --> case study

What did Thucydides believe?

believed that human behavior could be predicted
what men say & think reflects human nature
the mind is what causes events

What did Xenophon begin?

the practice of writing works in smaller scopes
- specific events events, specific practices, specific biographies
(tried to gain psychological insights)

What did Pythagoras create?

Pythagorean Theorem

What did Pythagoras discover?

the connection between math and music
quadratic equations

What did Pythagoras claim?

that number is the primary source of reality and this can lead to the salvation of your soul

what did Pythagoras get the Greeks into?

irrational numbers & geometric forms
understanding proportion
contemplating the idea of infinity

what did Pythagoras apply?

the use of sun and shadow to calculate the height of pyramid

What were the Thirty Tyrants in Athens?

an oligarchy

In the Thirty Tyrants, Critias led a board of __________ & __________

- 30 men
- 300 whip-bearers (enforcers from Sparta)

What did the Thirty Tyrants create as a new citizen role?

a list of 3,000 people and if you were not on the list then you were forbidden from entering Athens.
You could be executed with impunity & your property could be confiscated
(if you were on the list but uncooperative then you would be removed from the list and executed)

What did Sparta forbid the cities around Athens to do?
(Thirty Tyrants)

forbidden from accepting Athenian refugees

Who disobeyed Sparta and harbored refugees and why?

Thebes because they were tired of Sparta

What did the refugees from Thebes do and what did it lead to?

they came to take over the Thirty Tyrants leading to the first amnesty in history being granted

How did everything with the Thirty Tyrants happen?

Socrates taught his students not to believe in the gods & he publicly embarrassed political figures
he was charged with impiety & corrupting the youth

How did Socrates die?

he was convicted with 30 votes but he angered the jury during the punishment phase so they executed him
(it wasn't long after that a statue was raised in his honor)