Classical Civilizations

  • Greece

    • Doesnt technially exist. it is a bunch of diffreent city states with their own government and rulers

    • Minoans was one of the first city states on the insland of cretes

      • Traders of olive oil wine metalware pottery etc

      • They had a alphabet-LinearA?

      • Business emerging with Myceceneaen cities on the mainland

    • The early Greek cities were highly sophisticated

      • They had plumbing

      • But collapsed by 1200 BCE

  • Minoans and Mycenaean

    • 80 percent of Linear A is used in Linear B but you cant decpher linear a while using Linear B

      • written languages are very similar

        • used for administrative and religous purposes many tablets are inventories for gods

      • Minoan writing is linear be mycean is linear b

        • Used for palace administration

    • After their fall there was a break before another great empire came in

      • The new ones hwo came to dominate were Sparta Athens Corinth Thebes

      • These city states share a common writing system and a culture

  • They learned phonecian language (classical greece) From the east mediterraian

    • It was easy to learn

  • Commo culture

    • They worshipped multiple gods(polytheism)

    • A lot were animals(animism)

    • Zeus(law order fate) Demeter(harvest) Apollo (sun god) Poseidon(sea)

    • Also had gods that represented apsects of human morality and society

    • Had a god of wwar and a goddess of industry

    • used gods to work through their moral and agricultural problems

  • Greek Theater

    • Came out of religion(they used ritual masks were thought to be used on stage)

    • the plays were eventually pushed into genre wekk beyond simple worship of divine beings

    • Greek chorus: actors speaking in unison

    • Greek chorus gives commentary to help you understand moral message of the play and to entertain

  • Moral messages

    • Example is in the play Orestes (learn that story)

    • Play is telling you that orestes should be pitied

    • It is a vritique on how human claim to be driven by gods

    • Athena finds him innocent

    • Another example

      • sophocles, Antiqone(learn this story)

  • These plays explore moral philosophy on stage

    • Socrates ethical beliefs on the basis of secluar rationality

    • Platos academy (more plato in another class)

    • Aristotle classification of animals (cataloging the natural world

    • All of this help start the deveolopement of mathematics

    • Geometry: Pythagoras of Samos and Euclid (theorems)

    • Astronomy:Ptolemy and & archimeds

  • Greek engineering

    • Applying their new ideas to the world

    • Wants to dig hole from one side of the mountain to the other side for water

      • Doea it using math

      • Mapped the mountain in 3-d

      • And he calculated how far he will how to dig from each side

  • Greek architecture

    • Known for their columns

  • civilization based on trade

  • Hellenism is greek thoughts practices and beliefs

  • Ziggurats are in ancient mesapotamia