The Greek City States

Greek Dark Age:

Created by the gradual destabilization in Crete and the rest of the Greek world. Period of tyranny, where greek culture from the Mycanean age dwindeled

Oligarchy

Many royal families share rule, rule by aristocracy

Tyranny:

Use of absolute power in which the government is run by one king.

Helots:

Unfree workers of Sparta who were the captives of Sparta’s frequent local wars. They were responsible for physical labor.

Law Code of Draco:

Famous, and very harsh, law code of Greek city state written by Athenian lawgiver, Draco. Called for serious punishment of death even for petty crimes.

Solomon

An Athenian statesmen, he reformed the harsh laws of Draco to make them more humane, allowing more democratic participation.

Peisistratus

Athenian tyrant, who allowed literature and culture to start to flourish in Athens. Known for using mass media as a source of propaganda.

Cleisthenes

Statesmen considered to be the founder of Athenian democracy. He organized new fighting units, festivals and reorganized traditional structures giving ordinary Athenians power.

Dionysia

Home of ancient dramatic festival which first produced tragedy, comedy, and satire drama. It was held in Atehns in honor of Dionysus, god of wine.

Democracy

Included paid juries, gave women the power to vote (still held little power though)

Polis

Independent city states of ancient Greece.

Persian Wars

Series of wars fought by Greek states and Persia. Although the Persian empire was at the peak of its strength, the collective strengths of Greek, and their Navy, allowed them to win at Salamis.

Battle of Salamis

Great naval battle between the Greeks and the Persians fought between Salamis and Greek mainland; was one of the last of the Persian Wars as Athenians defeated Persians and their commander Xerxes.

Battle at Plataea

Location of the final battle of the Persian wars; located near Thebes.

Battle of Marathon

Retaliation against rebel cities of Greek which took blace on the plain of Marathn, 25 miles from Athens. The Greek army defeated the Persians who had an army twice their size.

Pheidippides

Swift runner who was sent to bring news of victory at the Battle of Marathon to Atens; he died upon completeion of the 26-mile run.

Delian League

Confederacy of ancient Greek city states, founded during the Persian wars, under the leadership of Athens, with its headquarters at Delos

Pericles

Leading proponent of Athenian democracy, encouraged the formation of the alliance of the Delian Leagus. In a bold move, he moved the funds from Delos to Athens to rebuild Athens damage done by the Persians. This move eventually lead to the Peloponnesian Wars. “History of the Peloponnesian War”

Peloponnesian war

Fought between the two leading city-states in ancient Greece, Athens and Sparta who each had their own allies, and the defeat of Athens and its maritime military forces.

Thucydides

Historian and participant of the Peloponnesian war; he recorded the events of the war and provided insight to its moral and political consequences.

Near massacre at Mytilene

Chief city of the island state of Lesbos. Athenians almost executed all their men but the decided to just kill chief leaders.

Euripides

One of three great tragic poets in ancient Greece, and also the youngest. His plays did not become popular until long after he died. He is the author of the “Bacchae”

Bacchae

Greek tragedy written by Euripides. In the play, Dionysus, the protagonist arrives in Thebes to demonstrate his divinity and punish the family of Cadmus. The king of Thebes, Pentheus, is a violent opponent of Dionysian worship and rites.

Dionysus

Son of Zeus, daughter of Semele, grandson of Cadmus. God of win and of an orgiastic religion celebrating the power and fertility of nature. Also called Bacchus. His numerous forms confirm Euripides logic of duality.

The Stranger

Dionysus’ human form.

Pentheus

Guardian of social order. King of Thebes, grandson of Cadmus, son of Agaue, and the first cousin of Dionysus. He is the foil to Dionysus. He wants as much control over Thebes as possible and therefore hates the worship of Dionysus. His ideas of law and rational civic order conflict with Dionysus’ vision of joyful divine authority. He disagrees with women roaming freely as they do in Dionysus and sees that as a threat to social order.

Maenad
A woman member of the orgiastic cult of Dionysus.

Agaue

A maenad, mother of Pentheus

Cadmus

Father of Agaue, grandfather of Pentheus and Dionysus , he is the only one in the family to declare allegiance to Dionysus.

Theme in Bacchae:

The Balance between Control and Freedom in a Healthy Society or Mind
message: denying society freedom/irrationality will tear it apart.

The story of Pentheus and Thebes demonstrates the necessity of self-control, moderation, and wisdom in avoiding the twin extremes of the tyranny of order and the murderous frenzy of collective passion.

Duality:

One of the principal moral messages of the play extols the importance of maintaining fundamental balances in one’s social and natural life.

Hesoid

Greek poet, who write Works and Days, account of ancient rural life and Theogoyn, a description of the gods and the beginning of the world.

Homeric Hymns

Collection of 34 greek poems, all addressed to gods. Ascribed to Homer, but authorship is mostly unknown. Public and Civic.

Pindar

Greek lyric poet known especially for his odes. Choral Lyric. Public and Civic

Monodic Lyric

A type of lyric poetry which focuses on the individual. Sappho.

Dionysian Festival

Purpose was the entertain and teach behavior. Consisted of three tragedies and a satyr which was intended to being back the celebratory nature of the festival. Only one Satyr has survived, Cyclops.

The tragedy represented the forced hard choice and the consequences that follow from choice, it questioned man’s suffering.

Aeschylus

First great tragic dramatist of Greece. He is said to have introduced the second actor to Greek drama which allowed for increased plot and dialogue. His plays focused on the conflicting concerns of political leaders for their people and for themselves.

Sophocles

Second of the three great tragic dramatists of Greece. Known for Oedipus the king and Antigone.

Euripides

His drama represented the change in the theater to not idealize characters. He is the least like the other two dramatists.

Aristophanes

Comedy playwright who poked fun at life, foreign politic and politics. His play “Clouds” which mocks Socrates is his most controversial.

Mimesis

Theatrical principle, literally meaning “imitation”. Imitation of “men acting”..

Aristotle’s Poetics

Asks, is the plot unified, how is it constructed, can stuff be left out? exode= final chorus/catastrophe

Hamartia

Tragic error, mistaken judgement or action

Katharsis

Purging of emotions

Six parts of Tragedy and Bacchae

Fable or plot, Characters, Diction, Thought, Spectacle (least important), Melody (greatest of accessories).

Mythos

The construction of the events, plot

Tragedy

Gave formal expression to the most awful kinds of human experience- disaster and death

Comedy

Provoked laughter, probably originated for celebrating agriculture fertility, they often involved satires and parodies of sexual union/erotic play.

Classical Art--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Neo-classicism

Imitation of greek and Roman form in modern and contemporary art simply because it is beautiful

Vitruvius pollo

Wrote the Ten Books on Architecture. Defined a canon in which parts of building imitated proportions of the human body. Human being=proportiooon of the universe as seen in Da Vinci’s Proportional Study of a Man in the Manner of Vitruvius

Polycleitus

Eminent Golden Age Greek sculpture who sculpted Dolyphorus (spear-bearer)

Greek art is realistic, faithful to nature…but it refines nature for idealization, the effort to achieve perfection that surpasses nature.

Humanism because it observes fundamental laws derived from the human physique and because it focuses on the actions of human beings.

Polycleitus Doryphorus (Spear-Bearer) employs the canon of Vitruvius – naked man, empty hand (where the spear was)

Da Vinci Proportional Study of a Man in the Manner of Vitruvius

Krater wide 2 handled bowl used to mix water and wine. Ex of geometric patterns according to shape of vessel.

(three headed fourteen legged animal on front)

Exekias black amphora (2 handled jar with narrow neck used to carry wine). Shows Ajax and Achilles throwing dice.

Epicetus kylix (drinking cup) of the flute player and dancer

Dipylon Master kouros (male youth) from Sounion rigid pose, arms close to side body weight distributed = on both feet

Braids, no eyes, arms cemented to side. No smile.

Calf-Bearer Holding a calf, eyes holed out.

Kroisos from Anavyssos small smile, braids,

Kritious Boy missing arms and shin of left leg, and arms. Body shifts to greater weight on left leg (contraposto)

Myron Discobolus (Discus Thrower) captures the moment before the action

Kore from Chios female, looks moldy, smiling.

Praxiteles Aphrodite of Knidos represents ideal female form, tall poised small breasts broad hips. Attached to post by hip, robe over vase looking thing, short hair

Ictinus and Kallicrates located in the Parthenon (chief temple of goddess Athena) built at acropolis, Athens post and lintel sunny bright

Kallicrates Temple of Athena, Nike, Acropolis, Athens … dark grey back ground

Lapith Overcoming a Centaur Located at the Parthenon, Athens… no heads on Centaur or Lapith

Three Goddesses: Hestia, Aphrodite, and Dione one women leaning on another…one kind of separate. No arms or heads.

A Group of Young Horsemen

East frieze of the Parthenon two dudes and a women, dudes are talking, womens looking away.

Hold pendant disk with the head of Athena from Kul Oba

Classicism- Relating to Greek and Rome and focusing on clarity, harmony, proportion, balance and simplicity

Classical – good and permanent

Philosophy:

System of thought which moves away from myth to reason.

Metaphysics

The branch of philosophy that examines what is real, or the nature of reality

Ethics

The branch of philosophy which attempts to answer the question of how could I live?

Two questions created from the distaste for chaos:

What is the unifying principle of the world, and how does the One (unity/reality) relate to the Many (diversity/appearance)

Pre-Socratic Approach

Distaste for chaos, search for unifying principle which explains how everything hangs together

Monists (naturalist)

Those who believe the world is only one essential thing or substance, and that somehow accounts for all that we experience.

Tales- water Anaximander- boundless stuff Aniximenes- air Heraclitus- change

Parmenides

Begins with reasons which he takes to be self evident. 1)world is one thing (monism) unchangeable 2) what is, is 3)what is not, is not

all is One and One is uncreated, indestructible, eternal and unchangeable.

Pluralists

two levels of reality, what we can see and what we can’t

Those who believe that the world is made of two or more things/substances, and interplay between then accounts for everything we experience.

Empedocles-things change, through love and strife Pythagoreans-unlimited/limit:number

Socrates

“The Apology” the unexamined life is not worth living…the search for wisdom is the activity around which a good life must be centered.

Questioned politicians. His lifetime consisted of searching for wisdom and was a god fly for polis.

He was tried an put to death for aggravating powerful people.

Brought to trial and accused of impiety, corrupting youth and of being a sophist

Plato argues that he isn’t an atheist, that he recognizes Apollo and that gods do exist Oracle of Delphi (temple where a priestess delivered messages from Apollo to those who sought advice. Real reason for trial: he’s a threat to social order (for people who just left a war)

Sophists

Emphasize philosophy through rhetoric, argue anything for $.

Plato

Aristocrat. Believed that the world is dual (appearance and reality). Forms is the unifying concept. Forms are nonphysical, nonspatial, and non temporal. Nothing about them is perceivable.

Theory of Forms everything we see has an underlying principle behind it that we cant perceive directly. (accounts for difference), we are copies of the ideal . binaries (yin yang, beautiful ugly) are not necessary as in the Tao.

The Myth of the Cave- how philosophers can perceive the ideals/ get the knowledge.

me

Wisdom with gods, courage facing adversity, temperance self mastery, justice, proper task

Good life is when the self is in harmony. Virtues were democratic.

The Academy. Idealist who contemplates eternal forms and make yourself like that.

Aristotle

“The Philosopher” tutored Alex the great, relied on science.

Exhibit virtues in moderation so you fulfill but don’t foil.

The Golden Mean- Not too much and not too little

Scientific method.

The Lyceum, place of learning. centre of study and research in both science and philosophy

Aristotle Vs. Plato

Both agree that form is the casual agent of reality (anything real must have form)

p- form is separate from and more real than the things we see

a- form is the things we see and they are fully real

a- materialist –physical matter is the only reality

p-idealist – ideas contemplate enternal forms and make yourself like that

Form and Matter

Form is what it is, and matter is what it is made of.

4 causes: material? Action behind? Purpose? Form to accomplish purpose?

Epicurus:

Greek philosopher who founded his influential school of Epicureanism in Athens, and a utopian community called “The Garden”

Pleasure is the way to judge virtue, pleasure means we’re doing it right.

Greatest pleasure=not wanting pleasure, so that you wont be disappointed) , there is a point when every pleasure stops being pleasurable, … make sure what you’re still feeling is pleasurable. Kinetic pleasures and eternal/essential pleasures (wisdom love)

Epicurus Maxims summary of his ethical theory.

Marcus Areleus

An emperor, virtues lies in making the best of the hand you’re dealt

Epictetus

Pyrro

Founder of skepticism. Commit to no judgment, question everything

Diogenes

Greek philosopher and a founder of cynicism who advocated self control and the pursuit of virtue through simple living (someone who resisted all outside influence) similar to anarchy…do that which is according to your nature. He walked the streets of Athens searching for an honest man,

Antisthenes

“I would rather go mad then enjoy myself” a founder of cynicism

Zeno of Citium

Founder of stoicism

Stoicism

Refuse to be disturbed by anything outside yourself, nothing that you cant have control of should bother you (for example, life after death)