greece

knossos

• wealthiest and most powerful city on minoan crete

• center of civilization

• surrounding area fell due to invasion by myceneaen’s from the mainland (1450 - 1400)

• destroyed sometime between 1400 and 1200

aristotle

• 384 - 327 bc

• star pupil of plato

• tutored alexander iii

• founded his own school (the lyceum)

• overarching goal: to collect and test all availible information

  • scientific method

  • teleological doctrine

  • formal cause + form and matter

• humans are animals that live in polis'

  • thought a polis was the best system of government

trojan war

• 1193 - 1184

• paris (son of the trojan king prium) abducts helen (wife of menelaus of sparta)

• agamemmnon (king of mycenae) assembles a group of greek states to attack

• war fought between the myceneaen greeks and the city of troy

homer

• illiad (750) and odyssey (725)

  • common stories

  • horrific violence

  • fluid authority

• gods portrayed as a closely connected family on olympus who seldom work in unity

• mycenaean (bronze age) and contemporary (iron age) elements

• unknown identity

• wrote down oral poetry

• didactic

hesiod

• around 700 bc

• theogony

  • act of creation

  • primitive and tempestuous gods

• dark depths of human psyche

• works and days

  • phases of history

  • justice (dike) w zeus as its protector

  • dawning of a new age

sappho

• 630-570 bc

• archaic greek poet from lesbos

• wrote lyrical poetry that was to be sung with music

• focus on sensuality

• only one complete poem (hymn to aphrodite)

archilochus

• 680-645 bc

• first poet to write on his own experiences and emotions

• described his life in a new colony

• dropped his shield in battle, but saved his own life

  • unheard of humiliation

  • old greek values challenged by a world that values initiative andgood luck

marathon

• 490 bc

• first persian war

• persians badly outnumbered the athenians, so pheidippedes was sent to run for spartan help

  • they were in the middle of a celebration for apollo, so they came

  • one day after the battle

• still an athenian victory

philip ii

• 359-336 bc

• becomes king of macedon in 359

• father of alexander the great

• consolidation of macedonia in northern greece (359 - 357)

• took part in the third sacred war (355 - 346)

• battle of chaeroneia (338)

• created league of corinth (337)

  • alliance w all of greece (below olympus) except sparta

• was assassinated at a macedonian royal wedding in 336

socrates

• 470 - 399 bc

• dialectic method

• no notes or writings

• wisest man ever according to the oracle

• ethics: virtue and knowledge

• trial and execution by hemlock (399)

polis

• community of several villages with the goal of self-sufficiency

• formation during 9th or 8th century

• unification of several pre-existing villages

• urban center w agricultural territory

dorian invasions

• 1200 - 800 bc

• explanation for the end of mycenaean culture

• destruction of all palace except athens

agoge

• training/discipline

• system of military education for youth of sparta

  • began at age seven and lasted thirteen years

• used from 3rd century onward

helots

• lowest class in spartan society

  • in bondage to spartans by 6th century

• slaves

• worked for spartan citizens

draco

• 621/0 bc

• first law giver

• appointed bc of severe civil unrest due to debt

• first written laws

  • all laws except homicide were annulled by solon

  • biased against aristocrats

  • distinguished between intent

• lasted a generation

  • didn’t actually end civil strife

solon

• 594/3 bc

• overhauled constitution/laws

• "shaking off of burdens"

  • canceled all existing debt

• created four property classes based on land ownership

• timocracy: political power based on wealth

• new law code

• mediator

peisistratus

• 561/0 - 528/7 bc

• started the peisistratid tyranny

• "good" tyrant

  • constitutional rule (but didn't actually follow the constitution bc tyranny was punishable by death)

  • followed and did not change the constitution

  • comparatively low taxes

• coinage

cleisthenes of athens

• created reforms around 508/7 bc

• birth of athenian democracy

• tribal system

  • created ten tribes instead of four

• council of 500

  • second council

  • annual office

  • equal representation

  • fifty members from each of the ten tribes

• ostracism

  • voted on each year

  • essentially a ten year exile that, if broken, results in kill on sight orders

  • anti-tyranny and anti-persian measure

• served as chief archon

herodotus

• 484 - 425 bc

• father of history

• divine and human causation

  • focus on humans

• wrote his histories (440s) to explain why persian-greek conflicts came to be

  • why the persian war happened

• obtained info by inquiry

linear b

• contemporaneous w linear a but still slightly different

• pre-greek

• tablets (~1200 bc) show existence of olympic gods and worshipping of the majority of the later pantheon

  • burned, therefore they survived

alexander iii (the great)

• 336 - 323 bc

• planned invasion and conquest of persian empire

• four stages of conquest

  • darius iii (334 - 330)

  • inland provinces of persian empire (329 - 327)

  • failed attempt to conquer india (327 - 325)

  • return and death (325 - 323)

• died from excessive drinking at babylon (june 323

  • literally the end of an era

  • end of classical, beginning of hellenistic

zeno of elea

• early 5th century

• series of paradoxes used to disprove pythagorean views

olympic games

• first olympiad occurred 776 bc

• only one event (footrace)

• only greek men could compete but anyone could watch

• cultural unity

• heavy events

  • wrestling, boxing, pankration

• occurred every four years in the summer

magna graecia

• southern italy + sicily

• most popular place to colonize from 8th to 5th century

thermopylae

• 480 bc

• three day battle

• pass of thermopylae (very narrow)

• xerxes meant to have a coordinated land-sea attack

  • the naval part was a disaster

  • a greek informant told xerxes of a path above the mountain, allowing his land attack to arrive quickly

  • greeks surrounded and walls breached

    • other greeks fled, but leonidas and the 300 spartans stayed and fought (either spartan king dies or sparta dies)

salamis

• 480 bc

• naval battle

  • themistocles vs xerxes

• decisive victory for the greeks

• turning point in the war, when it became a stalemate

pericles

• died during plague of athens (430)

• didn’t want to conflict with spartans in north attica

  • ordered a retreat behind the walls

• athenian statesman during peloponnesian war and brilliant orator

• extended his influence, but never abused his power

sophocles

• 496 - 406 bc

• 193 plays, 7 survived

• won contest 24 times

• oedipus rex

  • can’t escape fate

• antigone

  • trapped by her own conscience

• focus on community ⇾ focus on individual

• earlier archaic world

thucydides

• 460 - 399 bc

• detailed plague and war

• societal breakdown

• no interest in society or culture

  • no illusions of human behavior

• causes of war

  • complaints and disputes: corinth, aegina, and megara complained abt athenian influences

  • truest allegation: athenian growth during inter-war period + spartan fear

peace of nicias

• 421 - 413 bc

• named after an athenian general

• not a true peace, more of a cold war

• alcibiades and the sicilian expedition (415 - 413)

  • absolute disaster

lycurgus

• 8th century

• came back from oracle with the great rhetra

• foundation of the spartan constitution

• council of elders

• contested existence

  • all info abt him comes from the life of lycurgus by plutarch

• myth of sparta

oedipus

• bound to his fate

• first preformed around 429 bc

delian league

• 478 bc

• in the beginning, ionian cities would rather be lead by athens rather than sparta

  • soon becomes an athenian empire

• stated goal: revenge on persia

• named after the island of delos

plato

• 428 - 347 bc

• star pupil of socrates

• left athens after socrates' execution

  • apology of socrates

• started an academy

• doctrine of forms

  • the physical world is not as real or true as timeless, absolute, unchangeable ideas

• allegory of the cave

  • also a metaphor for the life and death of socrates

ionian revolt

• 499 - 494 bc

• campaign to capture sardis

• burned the temple of cybele at sardis (498)

• ended with the garrison pushing ionians out

• uprisings in the ionian cities against persian rulers

oracle of apollo at delphi

• where apollo killed the python

• sanctuary was believed to be the center of the world

• messages of apollo relayed and interpreted by a priestess, the pythia

• variety of questions brought forth

  • answers needed interpretation

• consulted for colonization, and any other big political decision

• dates back to 1400 bc