CLSICS 180 - Poets, Warriors, and Sages

final exam review

classical period

500-323 BCE

Peisistratus

tyrant of Athens; helped the merchant to flourish

Cleisthenes

reforms instituted Athenian democracy (6th-5th century BCE)

Boule

council of 500; sets business for the assembly; Athenian democracy

Greco-Persian wars

480-479 BCE

Darius I

king of Persia; sent an infantry against Greece; lost the battle of Marathon in 490 BCE

Xerxes

son of Darius I; led Persia against the Greeks and lost

Leonidas

held off the Persians at Thermopylae; led 300; king of Sparta

battle of Thermopylae

480 BCE

Themistocles

convinced Athenians to invest in the navy; crucial for Athenian victory at the battle of Salamis

battle of Salamis

480 BCE

Satrap

governor of a province in the kingdom of Persia

Peloponnesian war

432-404 BCE

Pericles

Athenian general; told Athenians to just wait it out and don’t become greedy/power drunk

Alcibiades

Athenian general; Socrates’ lover; went on the expedition to Sicily and betrayed Athens by giving the Spartans advice

Cleon

demagogue; wanted war

Nicias

opponent of Cleon; advocated against attacking Sicily

Aristophanes

comic poet; wrote Clouds to make fun of Socrates

Socrates

ethical philosopher; “the smartest” according to the oracle at Delphi; questioned others and engaged in conversation to teach

Socratic method

asking questions and engaging in dialogue as a form of teaching

sophists

higher education professionals who travelled Greece and taught for a fee

archon

one of the nine ‘city counsellors’ of Athens; 1 year tenure; lottery

demagogue

a political leader that appeals to the people’s desires and prejudices in order to gain power; a politician who acts in self-interest

Sicilian expedition

415-413 BCE; catastrophe for Athens; gave Sparta the upper hand

strategos

general of Athens; one of the only elected positions in Athens

post Peloponnesian war period

404-338 BCE

Demosthenes

orator; didn’t approve of Phillip II of Macedon; wrote the Philippics against Phillip

Isocrates

orator; encouraged Phillip II of Macedon to unite Greece against Persia

Epiminondas

Theban general; defeats Sparta at the battle of Leuctra

battle of Leuctra

371 BCE'; Thebes beat Sparta in a land battle'; Thebes had the Sacred Pairs

Sacred Pair

gay men who fight harder because they love each other; a pair of male lovers who die/defend each other; a unit in the Theban army (battle of Leuctra)

Phillip II of Macedon

father of Alexander the Great; king of Macedon; improved the Macedonian army; defeated Athens at the battle of Chaeronea in 338 BCE)

Plato

student of Socrates; recorded Socrates’ dialogue (hard to tell between Socrates’ opinions and Plato’s); eventually founded the Academy outside of Athens

trial of Socrates

399 BCE; Socrates was convicted of (1) corrupting the youth, (2) bringing youth, and (3) impiety/disbelief in the gods; Socrates’ Apology; he was sentenced to death

the Academy

the school founded by Plato outside of AThens

the Lyceum

the school founded by Aristotle outside of Athens

forms

distinguishes realm between where things (forms) are permanent and unchanging from our world where things are unstable and always changing

Hellenistic period

323-31 BCE

Alexander the Great

king of Macedon; led an expedition against Persia; subdued large swathes of territory and spread Greek culture

Aristotle

student of Plato; tutor to Alexander the Great; founded the Lyceum

Hellenistic

refers to Greek culture and society post 323 BCE

sarissa

a very long spear used by the Macedonian infantry

the Museum

located in Alexandria, Egypt; an institute of advanced study

the Library

located in Alexandria, Egypt; said to have a copy of every scroll that passed through Alexandria; burned :(

septuagint

Greek translation of the Old Testament comissioned by Ptolemy II

Pastoral Poetry

literary imitation of songs sung by shepherds; many done by Theocritus