Ancient Greece
Greek Civilization
• Many consider as foundation
of Western Civilization
• Powerful influence on Roman
Empire & European Culture
• Influenced language, politics,
history, educational,
philosophy, medicine, drama,
art and architecture of the
modern world
• Shared common traditions &
language
• Biases of Greek Writers
– Arrogant, Athenian & Male
The Mediterranean World
The Greek World
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Mountainous terrain
Many islands
Asia Minor (Ionia)
No city-state could rule all
• Each very independent
• Colonies spread
throughout
Mediterranean
• Common Hellenic Culture
Greece Chronology
Mycenaean Civilization
2000-1100 BC
“Dark Ages”
1100-900 BC
Geometric Period
900-700
BC
Archaic Period
700-480
BC
Classical Period
480-323
BC
Hellenistic Period
323- 31
BC
Roman Period in Greece
31 BC – 323 AD
Byzantine Period in Greece
323 – 1453 AD
Mycenaean Civilization
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Bronze Age Greece
Indo-European Greek Speakers
Settled around 2000 BC
Wealthy, hierarchal society
– Powerful kings
– Agamemnon of Mycenae
• Trade throughout
Mediterranean
• Very warlike
• Writing system – Linear B
– Adopted from Minoans
Greek Alphabet
• Used to write the Greek
language since about the 9th
century BC
• First to use separate symbols
for each vowel and
consonant
• Modification of the
Phoenician alphabet
• Gave rise to Latin alphabet
Greek Ideal – The Hero
• Arete – highest virtue
– Manliness, courage &
excellence
– Man of action
– Pursuit of life of glory
– Seize power & glory for
oneself
• Images and depictions found
everywhere in Greek art,
literature and mythology
– Herakles, Theseus, Odysseus
The Trojan War – c. 1250 BC
Homer’s poem The Iliad
Historical memory
Political & economic competition in
the Aegean Sea
Stories believed to be authentic
history by Greeks
Part of common Greek heritage &
identity
Tremendous impact on Greek
culture
Personalities in literature, art &
philosophy
Discovery of Troy
Heinrich Schliemann - 1871
Homer
• Legendary early Greek poet
• Credited with the composition of the
Iliad and the Odyssey
• Assumed 8th century BC - Ionia
• Debate: Real person or name given to
one or more oral poets who sang
traditional epic material
• Name means “hostage”
• Homeric poems are the product of an
oral tradition
• Iliad and Odyssey underwent
standardization and refinement out of
older material beginning in the 8th
century BC
– Production of a canonical written
text.
“Dark Ages” 1100-900 BC
• Fall of Mycenaean Civilization
• General disruption throughout
Mediterranean
• Invaders from north – Dorian Greeks
• Cities abandoned
• No writing from time
Geometric Period 900-700 B.C.
• Greek polis "city-state" develops
– Athens, Corinth, and Sparta
– Expansion into Ionia
• Artistic output - painted pottery
• Rise of trade
– Olive oil, wine, pottery
• Colonies established in Italy,
Sicily & elsewhere
• Development of Greek writing
– Greek alphabet adapted from
Phoenician
• Homer – Iliad & Odyssey
– Become widely circulated
Polis (Poleis)
• Independent City-State
• Intense loyalty of citizens
• Develop autonomous traditions
– Own form of government
– Artistic styles
– Founding myths
• Acropolis – fortified high ground
• Agora – marketplace
• Temple
The Archaic Period 700-480 BC
• Individual city-states and their
colonies prosper
• Development of centers of
political, religious, philosophic
and artistic achievement
• Many cities ruled by “tyrants”
– strong-willed men who rule,
not by constitutional authority,
but by popular support
• Monumental sculpture, stone
temple architecture, & civic
building programs
Olympics
• Share common culture
• Founded in 776 BC at Olympia
in southern Greece
• Pan-Hellenic contests every
four years
• Opportunity to display heroic
qualities & civic pride
• Contests- running, chariot
racing, boxing, wrestling
• Laurel wreath to the victor
• As many as 40,000 gather at
games from throughout Greece
Greek Colonies
• Population grew beyond the capacity of its limited
arable land
• About 750 BC began 250 years of expansion
• Independent city-states found colonies
– Colonies not politically controlled by founding cities
– Often retained religious and commercial links
• Aegean coast of Asia Minor colonized first
– Albania, Sicily,southern Italy,south coast of France,
Corsica, northeastern Spain
– Colonies were founded in Egypt, Libya and the Ukraine
• Polis became the basic unit of government
– All aspects of Greek culture continued
Greek Colonies
Warfare
City-States constantly at war with each other
Hoplites
• Army of infantrymen
• Citizen soldiers for Polis
• Supplied own weapons – 60-70 pounds
• Fought in phalanx - impenetrable
• Surrounded by family & friends
Strict rules of warfare - honor
• War defined as challenge between two armies
• Quick decisive battles
• Exchange of dead after battle
• Winner annexes land
Sparta
Militaristic state – totalitarian
• Opposite of Athens
• Ruthless expansionists
• Conquered all surrounding areas
Practiced selective breeding
Brought up from birth to be soldiers
• Lives structured around discipline and
war
• Barracks center of life for men
• Few possessions except for weapons
• Spartans were forbidden non-military
pursuits and occupations
• Wealth derived from property
Periokoi – conquered peoples of region
• Worked as traders, craftsmen, & artists
Helots – serfs worked the land
• Required to pay half of output to owner
The Persian Wars 490 – 480 BC
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Invasion of mainland Greece by the Persians in 490 BC – Darius I
Battle of Marathon – Victory led by Athens
480 BC - Xerxes I sent more powerful force by land
Battle of Thermopylae
– Delayed by Spartans
• Athens captured & burned
• Battle of Salamis
– Athenian leader Themistocles
– Persians defeated by Athens navy
• Persian army defeated at Plataea
Classical Period 480-323 BC
• Period of greatest cultural
achievement
– Literature, drama, philosophy & arts
flourish throughout the Greek world
• Period of wealth & power for
Athens – naval power
– Trireme
• Statesmen Pericles leads Athens to
glory
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Empire through Delian League
Democratic reforms
Great building program
Parthenon & Acropolis rebuilt
Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC)
War between Athens and Sparta & their
allies
Lasted 27 years
Very destructive & brutal
Chronicled by Thucydides
Cause - resentment of Sparta and its
allies at the dominance of Athens
over Greek affairs
Athens naval power
Sparta land power
War of attrition
Athens retreated behind long walls
Sparta ravages country-side
Both side win battles
Athens defeated by Sparta in 404 BC
Term of defeat - Athens lost her city
walls, her fleet, and all of her
overseas possessions
Greek Religion
• Tolerance for religious diversity
– No "dogma" or "theology" in the
Greek tradition
– No single truth or code
– Produced no sacred, written text
like the Bible or the Qur’an
• Different cities worshipped different
deities
– Many cult centers
• No single true way to live in dealing
with the gods
• Individuals had a great deal of
autonomy in dealing with the gods
• Unclear lines between divinity and
humanity
• Religious ideas continued to develop
over this time
Greek Religion
• Virtues fostered by Greek religion
were chiefly respect for the gods
– Seek to understand their will
• Temples were home of the diety
– Cult image revered
• Variety of rituals and local festivals
– Must be performed correctly
• Most widespread public act of
worship was sacrifice
– Grain or animal offered
• Votive gifts were offered to the gods
by worshippers
– Temples become treasurers
Greek Mythology
• Mythology formed a central reference point in
Greek society
– Interwoven with ritual and other aspects of
social existence
• Stories about the origins and actions of Greek
divinities varied widely
– Depended on where the tale appeared
– comedy, tragedy or epic poem
• Greek gods resembled human beings in their
form and in their emotions
– Lived in a society that resembled human society
in its levels of authority and power
– Crucial difference existed between gods and
human beings: Humans died, and gods were
immortal
• Heroes also played an important role
– Stories about them conveyed serious themes
– Felt connected to human heroes from the past
Purposes of Greek Myths
1. Explained the world
• Lent structure and order to the
world
• Origin of current state of things
– Pandora released diseases & miseries
upon world
– Origin of rituals - Prometheus outwits
Zeus in first sacrifice
2. Exploration of human emotions and
moral behavior
• Examining contradictions and
ambiguities
• Explore social questions by placing
them, in extreme and exaggerated
form
Purposes of Greek Myths
3. Provided authority and legitimacy
• Myths were regarded as history
rather than allegory
• Gave authority to a claim, an action,
or a relationship
• City-states and aristocratic families
often traced their ancestry back to
the heroes or gods
• Validation of the identity and culture
of individual communities
4. Provided entertainment
• Public performances of drama were
hugely popular
Delphi
• Dates to 1400 BC – one of oldest
sites in Greece
• Phythia - Oracle of Apollo
– Gave advice on decisions from
personal problems to fates of cities
– Visitors required to pay a fee based
on the importance of the question
– Inquire on what course of action
should be taken
– Obscure answers very difficult to
interpret
• Sacred spring at site
• Hugely popular appeal for its
beauty
– became extremely rich
Athenian Democracy
• “Democracy” - “rule by the
people”
Solon – reformer
– start of 6th cen.
• Sought to limit oppression of
poorest Athenians
• Abolished debt and debt slavery
• Ended aristocracy’s monopoly on
public affairs
• Gave all citizens right to appeal
decisions of judicial officials
Athenian Democracy
• 508 BC – revolt against oppression of
tyrant by ordinary people
• Cleisthenes called from exile & asked to
build government
• Established world’s first democracy
– Gave citizens say in government
– Designated citizen’s assembly
– Assembly to meet every nine days
– Instituted simple vote – yes or no
– Organized citizens into ten tribes
– Created new Council of 500
• People to decide on all issues
– Ordinary Greeks could be heroes in
politics
Athenian Democracy
• Reforms of Ephialtes – 462 – 461 BC
– Curbed power of Areopagus – ancient aristocratic council (exArchons)
– transferred powers to Court, Council of 500 & Assembly
• Archonship – Highest office
– Extended to more citizens
– 9 appointed each year
• Council of 500 – chosen by lot from all citizens over 30 years old
– Sets agenda for Assembly
– 50 from each tribal unit
• Assembly – Ecclesia – all adult male citizens
– Votes on legislature presented by Council
• People’s Court of Appeal
– Selected by lot
Athenian Democracy
Ostracism
• Once a year - vote to expel one person who was seen as
threat
• Themisticles - regarded as having gained too much power
after war with Persia
Citizenship
• Males only
• Required land ownership
– Large number of small farmers – each had a limited voice
in public affairs
• Not extended to foreigners, women or slaves
• Hoplites – citizen soldiers
– Required to serve in military
Judicial System in Athens
• Communities established system of impartial judges to keep
vendettas from developing
– Armed men ready to defend their honor
– Trivial quarrels turn violent & lead to more blood
– Third parties need to resolve disputes to stop cycle
• By early 6th cen. BC – citizens chosen by lot & sworn to
render impartial verdicts
• Jurors sat in panels of 500, 1000, 1500, even 6,000 once
– Called dikastai or judges
– Collective opinion was final
– Jurors sworn en masse once a year
• Jurors voted after listening to both prosecution & defense
– Simple majority determined verdict – tie to the defendant
Judicial System in Athens
More formal system enacted in early 4th cen. BC
• Eligibility requirements – male, at least 30, free of public debt
• Jury divided into sections and given identification tags
• Jurors swore oath
Efforts to prevent corruption in courts
• Random selection based on name tags
• Elaborate precautions to safeguard fairness
• Assigned seating
• Even representation of tribes
Trials could last no longer than a day
• Water clock monitored length of time prosecution, defense, witnesses and
accused could speak
• Jurors voted with disks either for acquittal or conviction at end of day
• No deliberation among jurors
Women in Greek Society
Society dominated by men
• Few opportunities outside home
• Wife's duty to bear legitimate children
and manage the household
• Expected to remain inside her home
except for rare occasions
• Athenian philosophers believed that
women had strong emotions and weak
minds
• Had to be protected from themselves
– Pandora
• Could not own property
Guardianship system
• Kyrios (guardian) - either her closest
male birth-relative or her husband
• Controlled everything about her life
Women in Greek Society
Marriage
• Management & preservation of
property
• Production of children as future caregivers & heirs
• Arranged by families based on dowry
– Unveiling of the bride at wedding
• Men around age 30
• Girls around age 14-15
– Want to ensure virginity
• Unlikely to produce deep love
• Husbands could pursue relationships
outside of home
• Wives expected to remain completely
faithful
Women in Greek Society
Religion - only way of influencing public affairs
by wives of citizens
• Could attend festivals of specific cults that
were open to woman - Maenids
• Important priestesses & goddess cults
• Priestess of Athena & Oracle of Delphi could
influence public affairs
Courtesans - hetaera
• Most privileged women - very accepted
• Could attend male parties – symposium
• Often of foreign origin
Sparta - Women were more independent than
in other Greek societies
Sappho- Poetress from Lesbos
• 7th cen. BC
• Aristocratic background
• Island of Lesbos
– Reputation for excessive
sexual behavior
– Came to denote female
homosexuality
• Taught circle of girls
• Wrote love poetry to
women
• Writes of love lost
Homosexuality
• Men expected to spend most of time with other
men because of defined roles
– Bisexuality accepted
• Men expected to have successful heterosexual
lives
– Excessiveness & effeminacy discouraged
• Homosexual relationships mainly Pederastic –
boy & older man
– Encouraged, ritualized & facilitated by gathering
places like the gymnasium
– Relationship last from age 12 to 20
– Arranged by male friends
– Generally with one mentor
– About initiation and domination
– Mature into life-long useful friendships
• Adult male relationships rare
– Seen as rebellion against society
• Gods have homosexual relations
– Apollo has 19 males lovers
– Zeus & Ganymede
Slavery
Property of their masters rather than citizens of Greece
Major role in ancient Greek civilization
– domestic servants
– factory workers
– shopkeepers
– mineworkers
– farm workers
– ship's crewmembers
– police force
– clerks at the treasury office
Different ways to become a slave
– born into slavery
– taken prisoner in war
– sell family member
Treated differently depending upon what their purpose was
History
Herodotus of Halicarnassus - 480-429 BC
• World's first true historian – Chronicled Persian War
• Insatiable curiosity – Traveled throughout the world
interviewing people about current & recent events
• Attached great importance to truthfulness
• Blended oral and written styles in his history
• Showed curiosity, consideration and respect for other cultures
• Contains ethnographic descriptions of peoples, fairy tales,
gossip & legends
Thucydides – 460-395 BC, former Athenian general
• “History of the Peloponnesian War”
• Offers an in-depth analysis of the mechanisms of war
• Tries to remain objective, but can’t hide personal judgment
Xenophon - 430-354 BC, Athenian historian
• Takes up where Thucydides left off
• Lacks objectivity and veracity often in question
Philosophers
Thales of Miletus (6th cen. BC)
• Provide give rational explanations for physical phenomena
• Idea to look for deeper causes was the true beginning of philosophy
and science
Socrates
• Leader in revolution in thinking
• Spent life questioning assumptions
• Rejected conventional wisdom
• Examine all issues rationally through dialogue
• Search for universal truths
• Use reason and logic to study people
• Group of youthful followers – Plato, Xenophon
• Tired & executed (d. 399 BC)
– Charged with undermining youth and corrupting public morals
• Becomes great hero after death
Philosophers
Plato (427–347 BC)
• Writer of philosophical dialogues - Socrates' point of view
• Founder of the Academy in Athens
• Lectured on politics, ethics, metaphysics, & epistemology
• Themes in dialogues:
– best possible form of government
– role of heredity & the environment on human intelligence & personality
– distinction between knowledge and true belief
Aristotle (384 BC –322 BC)
• Student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great
• Wrote books on physics, poetry, zoology, logic,
politics, government and biology
• One of the few figures in history who studied
every subject possible at the time
rhetoric,
almost
Medicine
• Greek physcians first to separate medicine from supernatural
• Diseases have natural causes which can be known
• First known medical school opened in Cnido in 700 BC
– Practice of observing patients first established
– Alcmaeon, author of the first anatomical work
Hippocrates, c.460-377 BC
– Father of modern medicine
• Established his own medical school at Cos
• Emphasized four main aspects of medical care:
– observation, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment
• Hippocratic Corpus contains the core medical texts of school
• Hippocratic Oath implies that a group of professional physicians are
bound by a strict ethical code.
Asclepius - God of healing
• Asclepieion – Healing sanctuaries all over Greek world
Theater
• Theater in every major Greek city
• Home of popular entertainment
• Drama starts during Athens age of tyrants
– Encourage Athenian patriotism
– Contest for reciting famous stories at Pan-Athenaic festival
First theatrical productions - Athens Dionysus festival
– Athens Theater of Dionysus built about 500 BC
– Initially a single actor accompanied by a chorus of singers
– All wore masks – allowed actors to play multiple roles
– All male cast – played female roles
• 472 BC – oldest play “The Persians” by Aeschylus
• Aeschylus – added second actor
• Sophocles – added third actor
• Plays sponsored by wealthy patrons
• Very noisy audiences
Theater
Tragedy
• stories of great men falling from heights
• Athenians invented an art form that
confronts unpleasant truths head-on
• Played out such deadly myths as the
Trojan
War, murder among families, and Oedipus
• Tragedies concerned with social and political problems –
raise important civic questions:
– What makes a good leader?
– Should citizens resist illegitimate authority?
– How can a society develop fair laws and administer justice
equitably?
– How should society treat women, slaves, and immigrants?
– What can we learn from the excesses and failures of others?
Comedy – look at the lighter side of life
Pottery
• The Vase - great artistic legacy
• Pottery made for everyday use,
not for display - drinking & storage
• Freshness & naturalness to art
• Potters not a respected profession
– factories in Athens prostitute
district
– tried to outdo each other
other
• Corinth & Athens dominate trade
– Pottery exported all over the
Greek world
– Many mass-produced & low
quality
• Greek pottery frequently signed
Pottery
Pottery Types:
– amphorae
– kraters (bowls for mixing wine & water)
– hydria (water jars)
– Kylix – wine cup
– libation bowls, jugs
Historical styles
• Protogeometric from about 1050 BC
• Geometric from about 900 BC
– decorated with abstract designs
• Black Figure from tearly 7th century BC
– red and white details and incising for
outlines and details
• Red Figure from about 530 BC
– pots being painted black & the figures
painted in red
Sculpture
• Marble & Bronze
• Human form the most important
subject for artistic endeavour
– Gods in human form
– No distinction between the sacred
& secular in art
• Immensely influential on Western art
– Renaissance
– Classical revival
• Little has survived, mostly in Roman
copies
• Sculpture not merely for artistic
display
– Public memorials, temples, grave
markers, decorative friezes
Sculpture
Archaic Period
• Most important sculptural form was the
kouros
• Standing male nude
• Very stiff in posture
Classical Period
• Revolution in statuary
• Poses more naturalistic
• Technical skill greatly increases
• 500 BC - statues began to depict real
people
• Funeral statuary - highly personal family
groups
• Know names of individual sculptors
– Phidias (Parthenon), Praxiteles
Architecture
Doric order
• Western Greece
• Simplest, with plain,
round capitals
Ionic order
• Eastern Greece
• Slender, fluted pillars
• Two opposed volutes
(scrolls) on capital
Corinthian order
• Most ornate of the Greek orders
• Slender fluted column
• Capital carved with two rows of
leaves and four scrolls
• Designed by Callimachus 5th cen BC
Architecture
Parthenon
• Greek for "Virgin Temple"
• Athens’ Acropolis
• Extraordinarily expensive
– Represent grandeur
– Paid for by tribute from
Delian
League
• 20,000 tons of marble
• Architects and sculptors from all over
Greece
• Phidias – designer
• 15 years to complete
• 40 foot high statue of Athena
• 500 foot long frieze – celebration
of
Athenian values
– Elgin Marbles in British Museum