The Rise of the Greek World

1. The Rise of the Greek World 3 February 2010

2. The Age of Warfare Persia Athens versus Sparta The Greek Golden Age Development out of stability Citizenship Arts The Transition from polis to monarchy The end of the Golden Age and the rise of Hellenism Lecture Outline • The Age of Calamities • Decline of Mycenae • The Greek Dark Ages • Trade and Recovery • Rise of a Social Elite • The Greek Archaic Age • Rebuilding after the Dark Ages • The Polis • Sparta • Athens

3. The Minoans and the Mycenaeans(~1650-1100 B.C.E) • The island of Crete center of Minoan culture • Mycenae • 1450 B.C.E. Mycenaeansattacked Crete to secure trade power • The end of Mycenaean Greece called the “Dark Age” of Greece

4. The Age of Calamities, 1200-1000 B.C.E. • Decline of Mycenaeans and Minoans • The Sea Peoples • Internal conflicts • Natural disasters • What progress is lost?

5. Crisis and the End of the Bronze Age (1200-1000 B.C.E). • Imperial regions wiped out in upset of political equilibrium, • Egyptian and Hittite inscriptions suggest: • Foreign invaders toppled the Hittites • broke trade routes • created wide refugee crises • Philistines from the north attacked Canaanites and Hebrews • Minoan civilization disappeared • Mycenaean centers collapsed • Egyptian imperial expanse collapsed • The Result… • The Dark Ages– when most traces of important markers of progress disappeared

6. The Rise of the Greek World • During this “Dark Age” period • The former Mesopotamian city-states built new empires • Archaic Greek city-states established various types of participatory governments

7. Hellas: The Land • Fragmented series of islands linking the Greek peninsula with Asia Minor helped developed the city-state system

8. The Greek Dark Ages, 1000-750 B.C.E. • Trade and Recovery • Contact with eastern Mediterranean fosters Greek recovery • 800 B.C.E. Recovery of written language • Rise of literature and the arts • Homer • Return of animals and people to their art

9. The Archaic Age, 750-500 B.C.E. • The redevelopment of Greece leads to the “Archaic Age” defined by • The creation of the polis • Trade and colonization • Rise of religion • Different levels of citizenship • Wealth • Slavery • Gender

10. The Polis • city-state • By the close of the “Dark Ages” the city-state was the common social entity • The most important city-states were Sparta and Athens • main focal points were acropolis and the agora • The polis could be governed as a monarchy, an aristocracy, an oligarchy, a democracy or tyranny • Citizenship in the polis was very exclusive

11. The Archaic Age (800-500 B.C.E): The Growth of Sparta • Sparta, a military society, conquered much of greater Greece • Sparta developed into a city-state • All male Spartan citizens were given equal rights • Family life was sacrificed to the polis • militaristic • dedication to the state • adherence to a strict code of moral conduct Hoplite Phalanx formation

12. The Archaic Age (800-500 B.C.E): Athens • Athens shifted from an aristocracy into a democracy • The deme was the basic unit of Athenian democracy • Legislation by two bodies, the bouleand the ecclesia

13. The Assembly & the Council • Ecclesia: • made executive pronouncements (decrees, such as deciding to go to war or granting citizenship to a foreigner) • it elected some officials • it legislated • it tried political crimes • Boule: • served as an executive committee for the assembly • coordinated the activities of the various boards and magistrates that carried out the administrative functions of Athens • was responsible for a great portion of the administration of the state

14. An Age of Warfare • 499-479 B.C.E 499-490 successful rebellion against the Persian Empire; 478 B.C.E. saw the formation of the Delian League (spearheaded by Athens) • The Delian League makes Athens the major naval force • Military success • Secures Greece from the Persians • Makes Athens very prosperous

15. The Greek Golden Age (500-338 B.C.E.) • Prosperity and stability in Athens fosters the development of Classical Greece • Radical Democracy • Focus on architecture and arts • Intellectual development, Socratic Method

16. The Greek World • Classical Age, 500-338 B.C.E. • 499-497: Rebellion against Persian Empire • 478: Formation of Delian League • 431-404: Peloponnesian War • Hellenistic Age, 338-146 B.C.E.

17. From Polis to Monarchy (404-323 B.C.E.) • The Peloponnesian War, 431-404 B.C.E. weakens the region • Sparta fails to create a Greek empire • Philip II, king of Macedonia, conquers Greece • Philip’s son, Alexander the Great, carried out this plan • His early death in 323 B.C.E. led to more political chaos

18. The Spread of Hellenism (323 B.C.E. - 30 B.C.E) • The Hellenistic period is marked by the deaths of Alexander and Cleopatra VII, • period politically defined by the emergence of Greek successor kings to Alexander’s empire • Economic expansion and success fueled a “uniform” Greek culture, drawing the Mediterranean world much closer together • Philosophy and scientific advances also mark this period.

19. Alexander’s Legacy • As a Macedonian, he considered himself ethnically Greek • Secures the alliances formed by Philip II • Conquers Persia • Spreads Greek culture through his method of control • Travels farther east than Greeks • Aids development of science and knowledge Bust of Alexander

20. Alexander’s Campaigns

21. Hellenistic Kingdoms, 240 B.C.E.

22. The Parthenon • Symbol for Athens • Divine blessing • Wealth • Power What the statue of Athena may have looked like. Floor plan

23. Hellenistic Religion • Greek Polytheism • Civic Cults • “Our Ancestors handed down to us the most powerful and prosperous community in Greece by performing the prescribed sacrifices. It is therefore proper for us to offer the same sacrifices as they, if only for the sake of the success which has resulted from those rites.”—Lysias • Hero Cults • Mystery Cults Statue of Demeter, ca. 350 B.C.E. Goddess of grain and fertility

24. Education & Philosophy • Education determined by social standing • Philosophers Archaic idea of “rationalism” • Reason and logic over myth • Sophists encourage intellectual development • Protagoras: “The human being is the measure of all things, of the things that are that they are, and of things that are not that they are not.”

25. Socrates • 469-399 B.C.E. • Constant questioning • Influence on the young people of Athens • Just behavior/good over evil • Threat to Athenian tradition • Scapegoat

26. Plato • 427-347 B.C.E. • Socrates student • Academy, 386 B.C.E. • Metaphysics and Forms • The Cave • Republic • dualism

27. Aristotle • 384-322 B.C.E. • Tutor to Alexander the Great • Lyceum, 355 B.C.E. • Observation and experience over Forms • Scientific investigation • Self-control/”Golden Mean” • Relevant ethical systems

28. Later Philosophies • Epicureanism • Isolation • Pursuit of pleasure • Stoicism • Fate • Purposeful action • Skepticism • Impossibility of secure knowledge • Appearances versus judgment • Cynicism • Cynic “like a dog” • Natural = good Epicurus

29. Arts • Theatre • Greek Tragedies • Greek Comedies • Innovations in sculpture Praxiteles’ Statue of Aphrodite, 4th C. B.C.E.

30. Archaic Classical Hellenistic Kouros, ca. 530 B.C.E. Victorious Athlete Celtic Warrior, 3rd C. B.C.E.

31. History Herodotus of Halicarnassus • Herodotus of Halicarnassus (c. 485-425 B.C.E.) • Thucydides of Athens (c. 455-399 B.C.E.) Thucydides of Athens