Ancient Greek Midterm

πόλις (Essence)

A Greek word pronounced Polis that means city or city-state, which is a state the size of a city with its own government and people.

πόλις Chronology & Context

The concept was created during the Archaic Period, 800-500 BC, after the fall of the Mycenaean Empire. The empire dissolved into several independent city-states, each with its own form of government, beliefs, and economy. 

πόλις Significance

When the Mycenaean Empire collapsed suddenly, it left many cities in its wake, like Athens, Sparta, Thebes, and Corinth. Each of these cities became an independent and autonomous state that is a city. Alongside several other cities that did the same, many of them had different political systems, whether that be a Dictatorship, Democracy, or an oligarchy. The city-states did not unify to become a new empire, but instead, as their populations grew, they started to colonize to spread their influence and territory 

πόλις Relevance

Compared to modern day, where we have huge countries like ours with 50 states, it's baffling to think of a single city with the autonomy of a country or state, and even though it was thousands of years ago, they still have some influence on modern people

Nestor’s Cup Essence 

A small cup for drinking wine discovered in modern-day Italy that has ancient Greek writing inscribed on it, referencing myth, showing the mix between social life and telling myths.

Nestor’s Cup Chronology and Context

It dates back to the 8th century, around 720 BC,  in a colonial grave at Pithekoussai, which is an island in modern-day Italy

Nestor’s Cup Significance

The lettering and inscriptions on the cup itself help us imagine the culture around drinking and socializing around that time, as well as the writing referencing the Greek goddess Aphrodite, as well as the Greek hero Nestor of Pylos, shows us that mythology and epics were prevalent in social gatherings, with many gatherings consisting of drinking wine, socilizing, and reciting tales of the gods or heros. 

The letters on the cup is one of the first instences of the greek alphabet being used instead of linear B which shows a change in literacy in Ancient Greece

Nestor’s Cup Relevance

It's evidence that shows, though many things change throughout history 

One constant remains the same, which is how people love to socialize, and the most common way of doing so is by gathering together with alcohol while sharing tales, food, and drinks. It is seen throughout all cultures in both modern-day and ancient times.

 Sparta Essence

One of the major City-states in ancient Greece, Sparta became renowned for its strong military might as well as its beliefs, which made it a freer place for women compared to other city-states during this time

 Sparta Chronology and Context

It was founded in the Archaic Period (800-500 BC) along with other city-states, during this time period. It was located in the southeastern part of modern-day Greece.

 Sparta Significance

Sparta was created on the idea of having undefeatable warriors. Due to this, they would kill off any children with physical disabilities since they weren't fit for battle, though not all the men in Sparta were in their army; many of the civilians had gear they bought in their house, so when the time came, they could gear up and fight for their state. They believed their discipline and courage were gifts from god and trained their young to protect and fight for the city. Their economy was built on slave labor and agriculture, and they conquered other towns to get slaves. The Spartans were regarded as some of the best fighters and created many battle strategies, such as the phalanx formation, to make them successful in battle. During the Persian War, Sparta was the leading force in the war due to its immense strength and unity, and it became a powerhouse of ancient times.

 Sparta Relevance

Tales of warriors in Sparta were spread throughout the ancient world, and the Spartans were seen as such an incredible fighting force that, still to this day, we know of them and we revere them or their bravery and strength in our media.

βάρβαρος Essence

An ancient Greek word that roughly translates to barbaros or barbarian, used for mocking how foreigners sounded to them and used to depict foreigners as lesser than. 

βάρβαρος Chronology and Context

The word first appeared during the archaic period, as many ancient Greek city-states began to spread through colonization 

βάρβαρος Significance

It shows a thought of that time, where they viewed people who weren’t from ancient Greece as barbaric, uncivilized, and different, or didn't follow Greek customs.

Created this harmful worldview for this time period that all people outside of Greece are unintelligent and destructive.

βάρβαρος Relevance

It is a word we still use today in our media, such as our movies, games, and entertainment. It means Barbarian, which we typically depict as a person who speaks gibberish, is brutish, and only cares for violence, just as the ancient Greeks used to word to depict others in that same way.

Ostraca Essence

Clay shards of pottery inscribed with the name of the person the people were voting to banish for 10 years.

Ostraca Chronology and Context 

Used in early Athens for voting to banish them from the city, shards date back to around 470 BC

Ostraca Significance

Shows us an early example of democracy within Athenian society. Ostraca shards can give us an idea of how they voted. In Athens, the practice of voting to banish people using ostraca gives us the modern-day word of ostracization.

Ostraca Relevance

It shows us how early civilizations used democracy during their time, which is a system of government that is used all around the world today.

Thermopylae Essence

During the Persian war, the Persians attempted to gain access to Greece through a mountain pass known as Thermopylae. Awaiting them was a heavily outnumbered force of 300 Spartans, and the battle became known as one of the most legendary final stands.

Thermopylae Chronology and Context

Thermopylae means Hot Gates. It was a Narrow mountain pass in central Greece where the battle took place in 480 BC it was a very narrow path; one side was water other side was a cliff. The defending forces did very well for the first 2 days.

Thermopylae Significance

It became one of the most famous examples of bravery since the Spartans, after hearing they were surrounded by Persian forces, told their allies to escape while the Spartans and their King Leonidas chose to fight till they died. It was Xerxes, the Persian king's second attempt to invade Greece, and since he won the Battle of Thermopylae, he was able to enter Greece and destroy and ransack many City-states that didn’t surrender to him. It wasn't till later, when the Greeks destroyed the majority of his navy, did he retreated into Asia with many people in his army dying of sickness and starvation in the process, which led to the end of the Persian war when the Greeks destroyed the majority of Xerxes' forces.

Thermopylae Relevance

The Battle of Thermopylae was revered in ancient times as it showed the Spartans' power, bravery, and strength against many enemies, even though they had so few. The tales of the battle of Thermopylae continue to spread to this day, such as in the movie 300 and other shows and books, which show how, even thousands of years later, the Spartans are still respected and looked up to for their bravery.

κάθαρσις Essence

Its a word that means to cleanse or purify the audience of a play after they experience the show and the feeling of pity or fear that come with it.

κάθαρσις Chronology and Context

The term was coined by Aristotle in his Poetics. He was a 4th century philosopher who likely wrote his Poetics while he was in Athens studying and teaching

κάθαρσις Significance

It shows the widespread importance of watching plays in ancient Greek culture, and the viewers of the play must experience several emotions while watching the play for Aristotle to coin such a term. It also shows us that for the ancient Greeks plays werent just ment to be entertaining, but they were ment to be an experience where people would reflect on their life, human suffering, and problems everyone has experienced or seen. It shows us that the people from ancient Greece didnt only view plays and tell stories for pleasure but they did it as a form of self expression, reflection, and education 

κάθαρσις Relevance

Theater still is and has always been a large part of of several cultures but more recently its only been used as entertainment, which is a trend started in the victorian era when people would watch plays as a form of escapism from their life, which greatly influenced modern culture to make the majority of plays about entertaining the watcher instead of making the viewer learn and ask questions to themselves.

Parthenon Essence

The Parthenon was a giant temple built to honor Athena that was also used as a treasury for the Delian League

Parthenon Chronology and Context

It was built in the city of Athens in the 5th century (Construction 447-432 BC) after the Persian war

Parthenon Significance

It was built to show their might and power, and influence after the war, as well as to have a safe space for offerings to their gods and to be used as a treasury that will honor the gods. On the temple itself, there are pediments on the east and west side, which are sculptures that depict scenes from Greek mythology. The east pediment showed the birth of Athena from Zeus's head, while the west pediment depicted her contest with Poseidon for the patronage of Athens. There are also 92 metrops which are depictions of two figures from legendary battles, for example, on the east it shows the battle between the Olympian gods and the Giants, on the west is shows a fight between the Athenians and the Amazons, while on the north it shows the sack of Troy and the south depicts a fight against the centaurs by the Thessalonians. The architecture used then the Parthenon shows how much Greek mythology was intwined with their culture and since it was in the central part of the city, it shows they often interacted with it. The size of it also shows that the Athenians must have been powerful and wealthy during this time period to build such an intricate temple during this time.

Parthenon Relevance

In many empires and cultures throughout history you see civilizations build massive monuments for their god or for themselves as a show of power and wealth to place them above other neighboring civilizations, a more recent example is the taj mahal or the great pyramids which were built not only as a resting place but as a show of power and greatness. It is a trend seen in the majority of civilizations and still seen to this day in modern monuments.

Athens Essence

One of the most powerful city-states during the Classical period, famous for its powerful army, large population, and several shrines with intricate designs to pray to the gods, as well as large festivals where plays are held, some of which survived to this day 

Athens Chronology and Context

Found in the southeastern part of Greece, it has been inhabited since the Mycenaean empire, but became Athens after its collapse. The classical ages, which happened after the Persian war, became known as the golden age of Athens during 470-323 BC

Athens Significance

During the classical period, Athens became known for being one of the most powerful city-states in ancient Greece, and it formed the Delian League along with other city-states for the sole purpose of having a treasury fund to defend the league against future invasions by the Persians

Athens Relevance

It shows that throughout history, on both a small and large scale, people have banded together to protect themselves. Whether that be a small group of people in a fight or large countries or city-states in NATO and the Delian League