Hist 1A Midterm 2

Knossos

• Earliest settlements (6100 BC) More settlers arrive (3000 - 2000 BC) from Asia minor

• Capital of Minoan civilization (2000 -1450 BC) on the Island of Crete, where the first settlements on the Island of Create were located. Location of the most important Minoan palace, the Palace at Knossos. Multiple artistic depictions helped us understand daily Minoan life, like clothing style and sporting events, such as the Minoan’s favorite sport, bull jumping. Knossos was also where Minos’s labyrinth in Theseus and the Minotaur was located. the Palace at Knossos was destroyed at the latest in (1400 - 1375 BC), after all other palaces in Crete had been destroyed in the mid 15th century. Mycenaean Linear B, grave styles, weapons, and pottery were found at the palace, meaning they had been using it as their base of operations until a second invasion of Mycenaeans destroyed the the palace.

Agoge

• 5th Century BC at the very latest

• A practice credited to Lycurgus by Plutarch, by 5th Century BC. Upon birth, a male baby is given a physical exam, and if he passes, is sent home with his mother. Otherwise, he is abandoned on mount Taygetos. At the age of 7, a Spartiate boy is given military education for the next 13 years of his life. He has to construct his own bed and is given one cloak per year. The boys were underfed to encourage them to steal food, which would be useful when they were behind enemy lines as adults. They were punished for getting caught. They were also placed in public contests called “Steal the Cheese”, where boys had to steal cheese while getting whipped. Held at the sanctuary of Artemis Orthia. Whoever got the most cheese wins. Later, it just became a contest of who could get whipped for the longest.

Thermopylae

• August 480 BC

• Narrow mountain pass where a small part of the Hellenic League, a group of 31 Greek city-states formed to stop the Persian invasion, decided to intercept the invading Persian King Xerxes and his army. The Greek army was led by King Leonidas of Sparta, with 5200 soldiers, 300 of which were Spartans, with 900 Spartan helots as well. Goal was to stall the Persian army and not to actually win. On the night of day 3, a local trader named Ephialtes shows the Persians a way around, giving Persians the upper hand. Leonidas sends home other Greek soldiers and fights to the death against the Persian army.

Aristotle

• 384 - 322 BC

Helots

• 9th/8th Century BC Sparta

• At the bottom of Spartan social structure. They were uniquely state owned, not like the chattel slaves which were privately owned by almost all other Greek city-states at the time. Helots were assigned to work the lands of individual Spartiates, but that individual could not dispose of or set slaves free. As opposed to chattel slaves, Helots had almost no chance of being set free, only being freed if the Spartan state made an official decision to release them.

Salamis

• September 480 BC

• Island near to where a major naval battle in the second Persian war occurred. Themistocles, a Athenian naval commander, came up with a plan, allowing the outnumbered Hellenic forces to defeat the invading Persians. Xerxes chooses to go back home, taking much of his navy ships with him.

Trojan War

• ca. 1193 - 1184 BC

• A Trojan prince named Paris abducted a woman named Helen, supposedly the most beautiful woman in the world. She lived in Sparta with her husband, King Menelaus. The king and his brother assemble an army to bring her back from Troy. Realistically, the war didn’t last for 10 years, since the Greeks didn’t have the resources to fight for that long. It was most likely just a successful raid by Mycenaeans on Troy. Multiple cities of troy are said to have existed, with the one regarding the Trojan war being Troy 7A, destroyed by fires around 1200 BC.

Draco

• Appointed 621/0 BC

• Athens’ first lawgiver, appointed to write Athens’ first code of laws, due to generations of civil strife and debt slavery in Athens. His laws didn’t work, and he was replaced 27 years later by Solon

Pericles

• 450s - 429 BC

• Athenian politician who created a major public building program using tribute money from Athens’ allies. Parts of this building program included the Athenian acropolis, as well as the Temple of Athena Parthenos using monumental architecture. The temple’s back room became the treasury of the Delian League.

Homer

• 8th Century BC

• First poet of the Ancient Greek World, writing 2 great epic poems, The Iliad (750 - 725 BC), detailing the end of the Trojan war, and The Odyssey (750 - 725 BC), which is about the adventures of the Greek hero Odysseus, who fought in the Trojan War. The Homeric Question: Did Homer exist? If he did, did he write The Iliad, The Odyssey, or both? One reason for skepticism is that the Greek dialect used in these poems was a combination of Greek dialects spoken in different parts of Greece at different times. Homer’s warriors mostly and accurately bronze weapons, but the occasional iron weapons were used, which was impossible for the time.

Solon

• Appointed in 594/3 BC

• Athens’ second great law giver, appointed as the lead Archon after the failure of Draco, the first. Solon replaces all of Draco’s laws except for homicide laws, and cleared everyone of debts. Ends debt slavery in Athens for future debts. He creates a system with 4 income classes, where eligibility for political power is based on income class. Only people in the top 2 classes can be elected to the board of Archons. Changes system from Aristocracy (based on birth) to Timocracy (based on wealth).

Sophocles

• 496 - 406 BC

• Greek playwright who wrote 123 plays, with only 7 surviving plays. He won no less than 24 times at the Dionysia festival. His most famous work was Oedipus Rex (Latin), which describes the story of king Oedipus, whose fate, given by the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi, was to marry his mother and kill his father, which he fulfills. He uncovers the truth, much to his distress.

Hesiod

• 8th Century BC

• Lived shortly after Homer. Hesiod wrote shorter poems, and more focused on contemporary times than homer. He wrote the Theogony, an epic poem focused on the distant past. His most famous poem is Works and Days, which deals with his own life, formally addressed to his brother Perses. The brothers had a dispute over their father’s inheritance, where Hesiod lost the dispute. First example of didactic (instructional) Greek poetry. First half discusses justice, with Zeus as its ultimate guardian, and the second half was like an early farmer’s almanac.

Peisistratus

• r. 561/0 - 528/7 BC

• First tyrant of Athens who begins the Peisistratid tyranny, and was extremely popular among Athenian citizens. He solidifies his status in his last 17 years of rule. His popularity existed due to him ruling constitutionally under Athenian law, and his low tax rate of 5%. He also sponsored Athenian drama, and begins the building of the Temple of Olympian Zeus, which would’ve been the largest temple in the Ancient Greek world. Upon his passing, his sons, Hippias and Hipparchus, jointly rule as tyrants till 514 BC, until Hipparchus was assassinated. Hippias becomes paranoid, and ruins the image of a tyrant in Athens by executing or exiling Athenian people who he considered enemies for the next 3 years until 511 BC, when he is exiled.

Thucydides

• 5th Century BC

• Second great historian who is the immediate successor to Herodotus. He is a historian of war, and focuses more directly on it than Herodotus. He wrote about the Peloponnesian war (431 - 404 BC) in Histories. Thucydides had one main causation on the human level, while Herodotus also discussed divine causation. Thucydides also recorded what was said, but also what he thinks should have been said. He stated that the Peloponnesian war was a result of complaints and fear of the growth of the Athenian empire to Sparta. He survives to the end of the war, but his Histories abruptly ends in 411/10 BC. Thucydides had also been elected to the board of Athenian generals, and is exiled for 20 years when the Athenian colony Amphipolis is lost to the Spartans in 424/3 BC, since it was his job to protect it.

Sappho

• Second half of 7th Century BC

• From the Island of Lesbos, one of the few female Greek poets whose work survives in antiquity. Wrote lyric poetry focused on love, some of which were directed at other women. Origin of the word “lesbian”.

Cleisthenes of Athens

• 508/7 BC

• Politician who introduces a set of reforms that creates the first democracy in Athens. the reform of the tribes, the council of 500, and a new legal procedure called ostracism. He divides Attica into the city (Athens), the coast of Attica, and the interior of Attica, dividing that into smaller demes. Tribe membership begins as based on geography but becomes hereditary. The members of the council of 500 were composed of 50 people from each of the 10 tribes, and a lottery system determined who would be part of the council that year. One military general is elected per tribe, not based on the lottery system. The council of 500 is meant to prepare business for the Athenian assembly, which is now the most powerful governmental entities in Athens. Every year, the Athenian assembly would cast their votes on a pottery shard to exile one person from Athens for a decade, where returning early would result in potential death. The person with the most votes gets picked. This was done to avoid tyrants.

Peace of Nicias

• 421 BC

• Peace treaty signed between Athens and Sparta to stop fighting the Peloponnesian war (431 - 404 BC). This isn’t a true peace, essentially what we would consider a “cold war”. Stops direct fighting, but indirect hostilities continue. Guylippis, a Spartan general, helps drive out Athenians when they try to invade Sicily and take Sycruse (415 - 413 BC).

Archilochus

• Mid 7th Century BC

• From the island of Paros. The time he lived in was determined based on an eclipse astronomically dated to 648 BC, which he mentions in his work. Archilochus confesses to dropping his shield in Fragment 5, which was seen as cowardly in the Ancient Greek world. Accusing someone of being a shield dropper was serious in the Greek world, and being found guilty could result in loss of civil rights in various Greek cities

Herodotus

• 5th Century BC

• Herodotus focused on the question “Why do things happen?” He used a concept of double causation in his writings. There was divine and human causation operating simultaneously. However, almost everything in Herodotus’ works can be explained on the human level alone, which is why he is considered the “Father of History”. Herodotus wants to preserve the wondrous works of mankind for both Greeks and Barbarians (Non Greek foreigners), and how they came into conflict. He discusses conflict mainly with the Persian wars. His use of the word historie (inquiry) became the modern word history. Herodotus travels around and interviews people, consulting documents as well to get his information.

Lycurgus

• Lived somewhere around 1100 - 700 BC, some historians claim he never even existed

• Ancient Greek lawgiver; many Greeks by the 5th century believed he was the sole creator of Sparta’s entire social and political institutions. Those who believe Lycurgus existed credit him with the foundational documents of the Spartan constitution, The Great Rhetra (The Great Law). It set out the roles of the three main parts of the Spartan government: The Kings, the Council of Elders, and the Assembly. Lycurgus supposedly got his ideas for Sparta when he went to the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi.

Marathon

• August 12th, 490 BC

• After Darius (r. 521 - 486 BC) attacks Eretria as revenge for supporting the Ionian revolt (499 - 494 BC), he focuses on Athens, and his army, led by former Athenian tyrant Hippias (r. 528/7 - 511 BC). They land in Attica, specifically marathon. Athenians realized they needed help, so they went to Sparta, but the Spartans show up a day late, after finishing a religious event for Apollo. Both sides engage in a 5 day stalemate, and on the morning of the 6th day, Ionian Greek soldiers climb up a tree and observe that the Persian cavalry has disappeared. They had gone around to Phaleron and were heading to the undefended city of Athens. Athenian general Miltaietes beats the Persians at Marathon, and the Persians at Phaleron flee back to Persia. This ends the first Persian war (490 BC).

Linear B

• Rise of Minoan Civilization (2000 - 1600 BC), Peak Minoan Civilization (1600 - 1450 BC)

• Mycenaeans adopted 2/3s of the Minoan script Linear A and formed their own script, Linear B, used to write an early form of the Greek language, Mycenaean Greek. Linear A was never deciphered, but Linear B was. Linear B was mainly used as a record keeping bureaucratic script.

Oedipus

• Written in 5th Century BC

• Main character in the famous play Oedipus Rex written by Greek playwright Sophocles (496 - 406 BC). He is abandoned on mount Cithaeron by his parents, King Laius and Queen Jocasta as an infant, since they are afraid of a prophecy that the baby would grow up to kill his father and marry his mother. A shepherd decides to spare Oedipus’s life. Oedipus hears about the prophecy growing up from the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi, and tries to flee from Corinth to avoid it. He unknowingly kills his father over an argument on the road, and later travels to Thebes and unknowingly marries his mother. He uncovers more information about the prophecy from the blind prophet Tiresias and the shepherd, while trying to uncover who kills the king, and is horrified to learn the truth.

Philip II

• r. 359 - 336 BC

• King of Macedon who deals with threats his first two years of rule but then secures the throne. Participates in the Third Sacred War (355 - 346 BC), where a Sacred War was any war concerning the control of the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi. This gives Phillip II the chance to extend his influence further south. He gains the position of military commander in chief of the region immediately south of Macedonia, Thessaly. A major debate grows in Athens, between those that opposed Macedonian power, led by Demosthenes (384 - 322 BC), and those who wanted to reduce hostility, led by Aeschines (390 - ca. 322 BC). These debates lasted from the 350s BC to the 330s BC. In 346 BC, the Peace of Philocrates was signed, but Demosthenes accused Aeschines of acting in bad faith, and the treaty quickly falls apart. Demosthenes gets the upper hand and when Phillip II reaches out to discuss terms with Athens, he gets ignored, so the fighting continues. In 338 BC, the battle of Chaeron is fought, where the Macedonians win, and the next year, the League of Corinth is formed, which includes all Greek city states of the mainland, except for Sparta. Phillip plans to invade Persia with his new forces, but he gets assassinated in 336 BC, and his son, Alexander the Great (r. 336 - 323 BC) (Lived 356 - 323 BC).

Alexander III (The Great)

• (r. 336 - 323 BC) (Lived 356 - 323 BC)

• Becomes king after the death of his father, King Phillip II (r. 359 - 336 BC). He plans to continue his father’s dream of conquering Persia. His conquest can be divided into 4 stages: (1) His landing near Troy in 334 - 330 BC and battle against Persian King Darius III; (2) His conquest inland of Persia from 329 - 327 BC; (3) Attack on India, only conquers a part of the Northwest 327 - 325 BC; (4) Alexander’s return 325 - 323 BC

Delian League

• 478/7 BC

• Also referred to as the Athenian Empire. Athenians maintain a naval presence after the victory against the Persians in Sestos during the second Persian war. Many local allies and Athens form the Delian League, with headquarters on the island Delos. The main goal was to get revenge on Persia, which was seen as honorable in Ancient Greek culture. Allies had to pay annual tribute with money, troops, or ships. Generally successful, but adds to the league by force, threatening other great powers like Sparta. This eventually leads to the first Peloponnesian war in 460 BC.

Socrates

• 470/69 - 399 BC

• Famous Greek philosopher who was put on trial for impiety, and a second reason for corrupting the youth, though that was not an official charge. Athenians later admitted that the main reason they put him on trial was for corrupting the youth, specifically Critias, who was the worst of the 30 tyrants who ruled for 8 months in 404/403 BC. The students of Socrates were wealthy and tended to be Oligarchic in their beliefs. Plato’s apology is faithful to what Socrates actually said, since there were 500 witnesses and Socrates was his former teacher. Apology meant a defense speech at trial in this case. There are 3 speeches: One before he is found guilty, one after he is found guilty, and one after he is sentenced to death. Socrates angers men who didn’t even consider him guilty, and more men sentenced him to death than had voted him guilty.

Zeno of Elea

• Early 5th Century

Plato

• 428 - 347 BC

Polis

• 9th and 8th Century BC

• Greek word for city-state, which included the urban center plus the surrounding agricultural land, where most people lived. Predominant form of political organization in Greek civilization. Aristotle defines the Polis in the 4th Century BC: “A polis is a community of several villages that possesses the goal of virtually complete self sufficiency.” No polis was truly self sustaining, and needed imported goods like iron and food.

Olympic Games

• Began 776 BC

• Held in Olympia at the Sanctuary of Zeus. The initial and only competition was the foot race, but more events were added as the games grow in popularity, like boxing, and chariot racing. First and the greatest of all panhellenic athletic competitions. Fundamentally religious and held in honor of Zeus. To participate in the Olympic games, you had to be male and Greek.

Ionian Revolt

• 499 - 494 BC

• During the reign of Darius (r. 521 - 486 BC), Persian subjects, the Ionians, rise up in a revolt with help from Athens and Eretria. In 498 BC, the rebels nearly succeeded in capturing the Persian city Sardis, burning the Temple of Cybele, which was considered a war crime. The revolt is crushed by Darius in 494 BC, and he plans to take revenge against the supporters of Ionia, beginning the first Persian war in 492 BC against the Greeks.

Dorian Invasions

• 1100 BC

• Invaders from the Northwest, the Dorian Greeks, go to central Greece and destroy all Mycenaean palaces other than the one in Athens, bringing the Mycenaean civilization to an end. Along with the Mycenaeans, literacy disappears, since literacy was only present in a small portion of Mycenaean civilization at the time. These invasions begin the Dark Ages, lasting from 1100 - 800 BC.

Oracle of Apollo at Delphi

• One of the important panhellenic religious sites at Delphi, the most famous oracle in Greek antiquity. Anybody could come to the oracle and get advice by offering a sacrifice. The Pythia was the priestess who would first inhale an ether like compound, which can be dangerous if too much is inhaled. The priests of Apollo would then translate what she says and gives it to you. Played significant roles in Oedipus Rex by Sophocles (496 - 406 BC), and in the trial of Socrates (470/69 - 399 BC).