english ch 3+4, iliad, odyssey

cycladic culture

an island chain, circled around birthplace of two Greek deities (Apollo + Artemis)

• has some statues that perhaps the later Greeks used as inspiration

the minoans

civilization that lived on the island of crete, most famous for their construction of a huge temple/palace complex (called Labyrinth/Knossos Palace) that became the home of the half man half bull minotaur in Greek mythology (King Minos x his wife)

• no military, but a powerful navy

the mycenaeans

• the last great pre-hellenic civilization that built their culture on the Greek mainland, conquered Crete, absorbed the Minoan culture

• warlike people who fought in the Trojan war

• male dominated society that loved honor + courage

• if you died on the battlefield, you would get eternal fame and glory

two groups of philosophers

ionians and pythagoreans

ionians

philosophers that believed that reality was changeable--anything that changes is real

examples of ionian philosophers

thales - believed water is basic element of the universe, anaximander - believed specific things emerge from the Boundless/The Infinite, Herakleitos - logos ("logic"/"word") guides the process of change

pythagoreans (eleatics)

philosophers that believed that anything that is permanent and unchanging is real

examples of pythagorean philosophers

pythagoras - believed everything consists of number/mathematical relationships bc they never change, aesara of lucania - believed harmonia in the home is for women and harmonia in the public is for men

harmonia

harmony

moira

"pattern of one's life" or "portion of one's life" (how it is going to go according to the Fates)

Aretē

can mean a lot of things but best translation is "technical excellence" (an emphasis on what a person can achieve through hard work)

tyrant

at first was a king, most of them were harsh rulers so now it has a negative connotation

cosmos

universe

ananke

"what has to be" what the Fates have decided

evolution of Greek Democracy

Tyranny → Oligarchy → Democracy

three important factors that contribute to the rise of Greece

ready access to the sea (trade/travel/fishing), temperature maritime climate (ppl didn't have to worry about protecting themselves from weather), sufficinet agricultural resources (esp on the Aegean islands)(provided steady food supply)

3 ancient Aegean civilizations

cycladic, minoan, and mycenaeans

inhabitants of ancient Greece called ____

Hellenes

most important city-states

Athens and Sparta

good and bad things about Greek mainland

good - mountainous, good for defense

bad - poor for communication, unity, and farming (causing economy to be bad)

age of heroes

a mythical period that emphasizes the magnificent feast of ordinary people - age of "godlike men" - most of these feats are associated with the Trojan War

Greek religion lacks the following

sacred text, priestly class, single/central figure to follow, strict rules, central worship location,

homer writes

Iliad and Odyssey

hesiod writes

theogony and works & days

the closest things that the Hellenes had to sacred texts were the

Homeric epics, the Iliad, and the Odyssey

homeric ideal

the expressed desire to live life to the fullest limits of conception- each person needs to push him or herself as far as possible in as many different ways as possible- if you can dream it, you should try to do it

in the Iliad, ___ is the best example of the homeric ideal because ____

in the Iliad, Achilles is the best example of the homeric ideal because he has accomplished as much as possible and ensured that he goes down in a blaze of glory

two unwritten messages in the odyssey

1. people should seek to experience as much as possible in life

2. fighting to gain things in this life may be more fulfilling than fighting to die and achieve eternal glory after death

the overarching theme in the odyssey

life is paramount (more important than anything else)

The Homeric Ideal of living life to the fullest and accomplishing as much as possible eventually leads to

arete

Ancient Greeks Humanism

freedom of thought about human affairs and room to experiment with human passions

is ancient greek humanism compatible with the idea of arete?

yes, because a person can attempt to achieve excellence in whatever field they wish

positives of constructing city-states

organization and community, laws, protection, independence

three systems of government

tyranny, oligarchy, democracy

four athenian political reformers

draco, solon, pisistratus, cleisthenes

tyranny

one person with absolute power

oligarchy

"the rule of few" small group of people having control of the country or organization

democracy

government of the people, the whole population is in charge

some problems with tyranny

needs consent from citizen and common man has it the worst

problems with oligarchy

not everyones' voice is heard

problems with democracy

too many different viewpoints, possible poor decision-making

_ is the first city-state that developed into a fully functional democracy

athens

draco

published the first greek code of laws, which created a standard of justice and people were aware of their rights

solon

creates a council of 400, allowed members of lower class to serve as jurors, established a manufacturing economy (lighter coins), freed all debt slaves, and made it so that all reofrms must stay in effect for 10 years

pisistratos

broke up large farming estates and imported poets and musicians+artists

cleisthenes

created 10 new tribes with membership based on place of residence and replaced solons council of 400 with a council of 500 (introducing democracy)

who were excluded from athenian democracy?

women, slaves, immigrants

persian wars

when Persian empire attempted to invade and conquer greece and were twice defeated (once at land and once at sea) which gave the Hellenes confidence that their way of life was favored by the gods and Persians enter into a period of decline leading to their destruction

herodotus

"father of history" chronicler of the persian wars

women in ancient greece

helen of sparta/troy (wife of king meelaus of sparta and runs off with trojan prince, paris), clytemnestra - wife of king agamemnon (kills him), penelope (odysseus' faithful wife)

"spartan"

unadorned, plain

differneces between athens and sparta

1. athens located on the sea so they traveled and traded a lot while sparta located on land so they didn't travel as far into the world

2. athens develops democracy for all (except women and slaves) while sparta remains an oligarchy

3. art, philosophy, and language flourish in athens while Sparta remains "spartan"