Classics Final

406 BCE

Athenian victory at Arginusae under Conon, but disastrous recovery mission of survivors (due to storm, inexperienced rowers, and bad management)

Conon

a prominent Athenian general and admiral at the end of the Peloponnesian War, noted for rebuilding Athens' naval power after his defeat at Aegospotami.

405 BCE

Spartan victory at Aegospotami under Lysander

Metics

free, foreign-born residents who lived permanently in the city without possessing citizenship rights

401 BCE

Cyrus the Younger’s (failed) campaign against his brother Artaxerxes which employed 10,000 Greek mercenaries with Xenophon as their general

Xenophon

a prominent Athenian-born historian, soldier, and Socratic philosopher known for his vivid accounts of Greek history and military leadership, most notably leading the "Ten Thousand" mercenaries in Anabasis. A student of Socrates, he wrote extensively on philosophy and practical leadership, favouring Spartan traditions over Athenian democracy, which led to his temporary exile. Our chief source for Classical Greek history [via the Hellenica] after Thucydides’ death in 411BCE)

decarchy

‘board of 10’ ten-man oligarchic juntas installed by Spartan commander Lysander in former Athenian ally cities around 405-404 BC to ensure control after the Peloponnesian War.

Thirty Tyrants

installed by Spartans to rule Athens (with 700 Spartan soldiers at their disposal) who immediately began a reign of terror

Critias

most notorius ‘tyrant’

Theramanes

a part of the thirty tyrants but displayed resistance and as a result was murdered by Critias via hemlock

395 BCE

Corinthian War

Thrasybulus

led a band of refugee democrats who attempt a coup to retake Athens from the Thirty and re-establish democracy 🡪 Critias is killed!

amnesty

general pardon

Sophists

were professionals charging fees to teach persuasive rhetoric and promoting relativism

Socrates

sought absolute moral truths through questioning (Socratic method) without taking payment

peltasts

javelin throwers with small wicker shields

387 BCE

Persian king Artaxerxes II eventually imposes the King’s Peace

382 - 379BCE

Sparta takes over Thebes by teaming up with a supportive faction in the city to take over the acropolis and establish a Spartan-controlled oligarchy + garrison!

378-355 BCE

Restoration of Boeotian League AND formation of the Second Athenian League [even though the first one was technically called the ‘Delian League’]

synedrion

assembly of allies

Mausolus

the Persian satrap of Caria

Epaminondas

Thebans charismatic general who had been a key player in the 379 BCE liberation and was a skilled, innovative tactician. Plus the sacred band

Theban Sacred Band

fighting force composed of 150 pairs of male lovers (300 men total)

Quote from Plato’s Symposium about the sacred band

“in view of their mutual emulation and their fear of dishonoring themselves in front of one another, there could be no better organization for a state or an army than for it to consist entirely of pairs of lovers. A handful of such men, moreover, fighting at each other’s sides, could defeat practically the entire world”

371 BCE

Theban victory in the Battle of Leuctra in Boeotia

federalism

united force of internally autonomous states

370 BCE

Arcadian League in the central Peloponnese

Megalopolis

Arcadian League capital in this place is established

Epimanondas and the Sacred Band march westward to

Liberate Messenia and grant freedom to the helots. Arcadian League and Athens are a little panicked so they challenge the Thebans at the Battle of Mantinea (362BCE). The Thebans can’t be beat, but Epimanondas dies.

Euthyphro is set in

Athens in 399 BCE immediately before the trial of Socrates. Athens is still recovering from the Thirty Tyrants and the failure of their democracy-based empire

litigiousness

the tendency or inclination to frequently engage in lawsuits or legal disputes, often deemed unnecessary or contentious

Every-increasing litigiousness in Athens since the formation of the democracy:

more peer-juried courts available, more training accessible, professional class of lawyer/orators called rhetors broadly available for hire etc.

The courts are being abused for personal gripes and political opportunism

personal gripes

specific, often minor, complaints or annoyances regarding unfair or unpleasant situations

political opportunism

exploiting situations for political gain, power, or influence while disregarding ethical principles, consistent ideology, or long-term consequences

asebeia

Impiety

what Socrates is charged with and ultimately condemned for in 399BCE

Impiety which is rejecting traditional gods

Euthyphro was going to court to

prosecute his father

Naxos

which had been a cleruchy from 447-404BCE – creates some legal questions around property rights of cleruchs post-war. It was where Euthyphro took place

monists

believe that everything in the cosmos boils down to one thing

Parmenides of Elea

monist that said there is only ‘the one’ i.e. ‘Being’. Our observations only obscure the true consistent nature of Being which is perceived only by reason/revelation

Heraclitus of Ephesus

monist that said that all is one thing ultimately, but that one thing is becoming. “everything flows” / “as they step into the same rivers, different and (still) different waters come upon them”. our senses tell us that this is so!

pluralists

the cosmos is ultimately more than one thing

Empedocles of Akragas

pluralist who believed in four rhizai (“roots”)—fire, water, air, earth—coming in and out of spherical shape through the forces of love and strife

four rhizai

“roots”

Anaxagoras of Clazomenae

pluralist who believed the cosmos is a bundle of ingredients separated by a master Nous (“Mind”) whose perception constitutes Reality.

Atomists

pluarists who proposed that the universe is composed entirely of tiny, indivisible, indestructible particles called atoms that float around in the void

Leucippus and Democritus of Abdera

atomists who believe ‘not-thing’ (to den) does exist  (i.e. a ‘void’) and it is filled with stuff. When you break this stuff down as far as you can, you get “uncuttables” (atoma)

‘not-thing’ (to den)

‘void’

“uncuttables” (if only!)

(atoma)

atomists are Deterministic

everything that is not to den is made of atoma and their movements determine everything that happens

Deterministic

all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes regarded as external to the will.

Socrates wants to apply the ‘idealist’ insights of metaphysicians to the field of ethics

what is the idea of Beauty, Truth, Goodness, Piety, Justice that determines all manifestations of it?

elenchus

‘cross-examination’

Plato

foundational Athenian philosopher, student of Socrates, and teacher of Aristotle who founded the Academy, the first Western university. He is best known for his Theory of Forms. develops these ideas into his famous Forms (eide): absolute Reality exists, but it is only accessible in the realm of thought; the world we see is full of debased imitations (mimeseis) of this Reality (cf. Plato’s Cave)

Forms

eide

Plato’s Cave

depicts prisoners chained in a dark cave, mistaking shadows on a wall for reality. When one prisoner escapes to the sunny outside world, they realize the true nature of reality. It symbolizes the philosopher's journey from ignorance (shadows) to enlightenment (forms/sun)

Plato’s Republic

a Socratic dialogue outlining the construction of an ideal, just city-state—Kallipolis—to define justice and prove it is better than injustice. Plato also develops these ideas into political theory within his Republic, arguing for the rule of philosopher-kings who can apprehend the Forms

Academy

Plato opens a school in Athens in the sacred grove of Athena called this (after an Athenian hero named Academus) and his followers becomes know as Academics

Aristotle

moves from Stagira to Athens in the 360s and studies at the Academy. He takes Academic philosophy into a more modern scientific direction based on empirical observation (e.g. biology vs. mathematics, which became the especial focus of the Academy. Started his own school in Athens (after a stint in Macedonia as Alexander the Great’s personal tutor and a time spent researching in Asia Minor) in a temple of Apollo called the Lyceum. His followers become known as the Peripatetics (“walkers”)

Alexander the Great’s personal tutor

Aristotle

temple of Apollo

the Lyceum

Peripatetics

“walkers”

‘4 causes’ of Aristotelian Philosophy

• material cause (what’s it made of?)

• efficient cause (who made it?)

• formal cause (what shape is it to be made into?)

• final cause (what is it made for?) – telos = final goal, end, finish line

telos

final goal, end, finish line

Teleology

things are defined based ultimately on what they’re for

eudaimonia

‘happiness’

Categorization

• Some key Aristotelian distinctions from Plato:

  • more overtly misogynistic and patriarchal

  • sees more value and potential in the wisdom of the collective and in the public arts

argues for the philosophical value of theatre in the Poetics

Epicurus

founded Epicureanism. Strong lines of influence from Democritus and the atomists. Epicurus’ followers gathered in what they called the Kepos (‘Garden’). Within the garden, one lived according to the following values:

• seclusion

• deep friendship

• radical social inclusivity

• asceticism

• aversion to violence

• arts and leisure

Kepos

‘Garden’

Kuriai Doxai

‘Key Doctrines’

Epicurus’ Kuriai Doxai (‘Key Doctrines’)

• 1. A blessed and eternal being has no trouble himself and brings no trouble upon any other being; hence he is exempt from movements of anger and partiality, for every such movement implies weakness

• 2. Death is nothing to us; for the body, when it has been resolved into its elements, has no feeling, and that which has no feeling is nothing to use

• 3. The magnitude of pleasure reaches its limit in the removal of all pain. When pleasure is present, so long as it is uninterrupted, there is no pain either of body or of mind or of both together.

‘Villa of Papyri’ in Herculaneum

• first excavated in the 18^th c.

preserved after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius (79CE) and contained an extensive library of Epicurean papyri, as well as many sculptures (incl. of Epicurus! 🡪)

materialism

void + matter (‘bodies’) in constant motion creating infinite, random universes

Tenets of Epicureanism

• Physics:

  • materialism: void + matter (‘bodies’) in constant motion creating infinite, random universes

  • the gods exist but have no interest in us or our universe

• Epistemology:

  • reason + sensation 🡪 knowledge

• Ethics:

  • life goal: maximize hedone (‘pleasure’), but only the natural and the necessary

    • pursue this goal primarily by minimizing pain, especially the fear of death (= ‘hedonistic calculus’)

🡪 ataraxia (‘impassiveness’, ‘lack of agitation’)

hedone

‘pleasure’

‘hedonistic calculus’

an algorithm proposed to calculate the total amount of pleasure or pain an action produces

ataraxia

‘impassiveness’, ‘lack of agitation’

stoicism was founded by

Zeno of Citium

Stoa

architectural form consisting of a covered walkway or portico, typically featuring a front colonnade

Tenets of Stoicism

• Physics:

  • All that exists are bodies in a mixture infused with a universal intelligent force of Reason (logos, theos, pneuma, ratio etc.)

  • the universe will never end for good, but will eternally renew

• Epistemology:

  • Fate = The universal mixture functioning according to its inherent Reason 

  • We use our share of this Reason to understand Fate

    • What gets in the way of our reason are passions i.e. false judgements which result from emotionally-charged sensory experiences

• Ethics:

  • Our goal in life is happiness which is only achieved by living in accordance with nature/fate through Reason. Everything outside of this goal is morally ‘indifferent’

  • The power of choice via exercising assent to one’s impressions or not.

  • Stoics have an obligation to promote Reason in all human beings (esp. through political engagement)

based on the principal of affinity (oikeiosis): it’s natural and reasonable to look after oneself 🡪 to look after one’s relatives 🡪 to look after their relatives 🡪 to look after everyone in the city 🡪 to look after everyone in the universe

Fate

The universal mixture functioning according to its inherent Reason

first Macedonian king was

Perdiccas (c. 700BCE)

start back at Mar 23