PEP HUM EXAM 1

mycenaean

The Mycenaeans are the first Greeks, in other words, they were the first people to speak the Greek language. The Mycenaean civilization thrived between 1650-1200 BC. The Mycenaeans were influenced by the earlier Minoan civilization, located on the island of Crete. Architecture, art and religious practices were assimilated and adapted to better express the perhaps more militaristic and austere Mycenaean culture.

pre-socrates

The Pre-Socratic period of the Ancient era of philosophy refers to Greek philosophers active before Socrates, or contemporaries of Socrates who expounded on earlier knowledge.

cleisthenes

(active 6th century B.C.) was an Athenian political leader and constitutional reformer. The first avowed democratic leader, he introduced important changes into the Athenian constitution. imposed democratic reform. Perhaps his most important innovation was the basing of individual political responsibility on citizenship of a place rather than on membership in a clan.

classical period

480-323 BC

classical athens (golden age), c. 480-404 BCE

A period of great peace, prosperity, and happiness. Athens in the time from 480 BC-404 BC. This was a period of Athenian political hegemony, economic growth and cultural flourishing formerly known as the Golden Age of Athens with the later part The Age of Pericles.

alexander the great

A ruler of Greece in the fourth century b.c. As a general, he conquered most of the ancient world, extending the civilization of Greece east to India. (356-323 BCE). Aristotle taught Alexander philosophy, government, politics, poetry, drama, and the sciences.

socrates

Greek philosopher. As represented in the writings of his disciple Plato, he engaged in dialogue with others in an attempt to define ethical concepts by exposing and dispelling error. (469-399 bc).

persian wars, 499-480 BCE

The wars fought between Greece and Persia in the 5th century bc, in which the Persians sought to extend their territory over the Greek world. showing the Greeks that the Persians could be beaten. It also highlighted the superiority of the more heavily armoured Greek hoplites, and showed their potential when used wisely.

bronze age

ends 1200 BCE. creation of bronze weaponry

hubris

extreme pride and arrogance shown by a character that ultimately brings about his downfall. Hubris is a typical flaw in the personality of a character who enjoys a powerful position; as a result of which, he overestimates his capabilities to such an extent that he loses contact with reality.

peloponnesian war, 431-404 BCE

(431-404 BC) was an ancient Greek war fought by Athens and its empire against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. Sparta wins the battle of Tanagra during the 1st Peloponnesian War with Athens. The Athenians move the treasury of the Delian League from Delos to Athens. Sparta declares that Athens has broken the Thirty Year Peace and prepares for war. Athens and Sparta.

hellenistic kingdoms

After Alexander the Great's invasion of the Persian Empire in 330 BC and its disintegration shortly after, the Hellenistic kingdoms were established throughout south-west Asia (Seleucid Empire, Kingdom of Pergamon), north-east Africa (Ptolemaic Kingdom) and South Asia (Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, Indo-Greek Kingdom). kingdoms divided by alexander's generals who then ruled

democracy

Athenian democracy developed around the fifth century B.C. in the Greek city-state (known as a polis) of Athens. Only free, adult men enjoyed the rights and responsibility of citizenship. Only about 20 percent of the population of Athens were citizens. Women were not citizens and therefore could not vote or have any say in the political process.

pericles

Athenian statesman whose leadership contributed to Athens' political and cultural supremacy in Greece; he ordered the construction of the Parthenon (died in 429 BC). Pericles' three goals for Athens were to strengthen the democracy, to consolidate the empire and make it more beautiful and to protect the people. In order to do this he created an assembly called the Ecclesia, which helped give governmental power to the poor.

athens

Athens was the intellectual center of Greece. It was one of the first city-states of its time, and is still world renowned as one of the most famous cities in the world. It was named after Athena, the goddess of wisdom and the city's patron. Athenian democracy.

pythagoras

Considered a mathematician, but foremost a philosopher, Pythagoras was a very important figure in mathematics, astronomy, musical theory, and in the world's history. a2+b2=c2

sparta

During the 5th century BC Sparta was very powerful. This was due to her army, which was feared by other Greeks. Sparta focused on producing good soldiers and all Spartan male citizens were part of the army.

olympic games

From 776 BC the Olympic Games, became more important in the ancient Greece reaching the height of their fame in the 5th and 6th century BC. The Olympics also had religious significance since there were dedicated to Zeus, whose huge statue was standing in Olympia. People from all over the Greek world came to watch and take part. Greek unity.

philosophy

In Greece, Thales and Pythagoras tried to impose order on the universe's chaos through the patterns of mathematics and music. But the three great philosophers who really made ancient Greek philosophy famous lived a little later: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. arose in the 6th century BCE and continued throughout the Hellenistic period and the period in which Ancient Greece was part of the Roman Empire. It dealt with a wide variety of subjects, including political philosophy, ethics, metaphysics, ontology, logic, biology, rhetoric, and aesthetics.

herodotus

Known as 'the Father of History'. He was the first historian to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent, and arrange them in a well-constructed and vivid narrative. Sometime around the year 425 B.C.

athenian acropolis

Most city-states in ancient Greece had at their centre a rocky mound or hill where they built their important temples and where the people could retreat to if under attack. The most famous acropolis is the one in Athens. Its primary purpose was to provide sacred grounds dedicated to Athena, the city's matron deity.

grave stela of hegeso, attributed to kallimachos, c. 410 BCE, marble and paint, found in the Kerameikos cemetery

One of the best surviving examples of Attic grave stelae. From around 450, Athenian funerary monuments increasingly depicted women, as their civic importance increased.

pericle's funeral speech, in Thucydides' peloponesian wars, c. 410 BCE

Pericles' Funeral Oration is a famous speech from Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War. The speech was delivered by Pericles, an eminent Athenian politician, at the end of the first year of the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC) as a part of the annual public funeral for the war dead.

agora

The agora was one of the most important places in Ancient Athens. Not only was it the marketplace, but it served as the central location for the people of Athens to share news and discuss politics. "gathering place" or "assembly". The agora was the center of athletic, artistic, spiritual and political life of the city.

empirical method

The central theme in scientific method is that all evidence must be empirical which means it is based on evidence. In scientific method the word "empirical" refers to the use of working hypothesis that can be tested using observation and experiment. knowledge or source of knowledge acquired by means of the senses, particularly by observation and experimentation.

citizen's assembly (ekklesia)

The ekklesia in Athens convened on a hill called the Pnyx. The ekklesia was the principal assembly of the democracy of ancient Athens during 480-404 BCE. It was the popular assembly, open to all male citizens with 2 years of military service.

hesiod, theogony, 8th c.

a didactic or instructional poem describing the origins of the cosmos and the complicated and interconnected genealogies of the gods of the ancient Greeks, as well as some of the stories around them

dionysia

a large festival in ancient Athens in honor of the god Dionysus, the central events of which were the theatrical performances of dramatic tragedies and, from 487 BC, comedies.

sophists

a paid teacher of philosophy and rhetoric in ancient Greece, associated in popular thought with moral skepticism and specious reasoning. 30 Sophists properly so called, of whom the most important were Protagoras, Gorgias, Antiphon, Prodicus, and Thrasymachus. Plato protested strongly that Socrates was in no sense a Sophist—he took no fees, and his devotion to the truth was beyond question.

nicomachean ethics

a philosophical inquiry into the nature of the good life for a human being. Aristotle begins the work by positing that there exists some ultimate good toward which, in the final analysis, all human actions ultimately aim. Nicomachean Ethics, the Greek philosopher Aristotle (d. 322 BC) tries to discover what is 'the supreme good for man', that is, what is the best way to lead our life and to give it meaning.

tragedy

a popular and influential form of drama performed in theatres across ancient Greece from the late 6th century BCE. the main character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw, moral weakness, or inability to cope with unfavorable circumstances.

plato

a student of Socrates and later became the teacher of Aristotle. one of the most important figures of the Ancient Greek world and the entire history of Western thought. In his written dialogues he conveyed and expanded on the ideas and techniques of his teacher Socrates.justice is a 'human virtue' that makes a person self-consistent and good.

sophocles' antigone

a tragedy written by Sophocles in the year 441 BCE and is a play about the aftermath of a civil war in which the two sons of Oedipus, Eteocles and Polyneices, kill each other, where the new king and their successor, Creon, tries to punish Polyneices for his disloyalty by not burying him properly. Antigone and Ismene are the sisters of the dead Polyneices and Eteocles. In the opening of the play, Antigone brings Ismene outside the palace gates late at night for a secret meeting: Antigone wants to bury Polyneices' body, in defiance of Creon's edict.

persian empire

attempted to conquer Greece several times in the fifth century b.c. but were defeated in the Battle of Marathon and in several other land and sea battles. The Persian Empire spanned from Egypt in the west to Turkey in the north, and through Mesopotamia to the Indus River in the east.

dark age

c. 1200-700 BCE

delian league

an alliance of Greek city-states led by Athens and formed in 478 BCE to liberate eastern Greek cities from Persian rule and as a defence to possible revenge attacks from Persia. The confederation of Greek city-states under the leadership of Athens. The treasury of the Delian League is kept on Delos until its removal to Athens.

stoics/ stoicism

an ancient Greek school of philosophy founded at Athens by Zeno of Citium. The school taught that virtue, the highest good, is based on knowledge, and that the wise live in harmony with the divine Reason (also identified with Fate and Providence) that governs nature, and are indifferent to the vicissitudes of fortune and to pleasure and pain.

contrapposto

an asymmetrical arrangement of the human figure in which the line of the arms and shoulders contrasts with while balancing those of the hips and legs

homer, the iliad, 8th c.

an epic poem which recounts some of the significant events of the final weeks of the Trojan War and the Greek siege of the city of Troy. Mortality is the dominant theme in the stories of ancient Greek heroes. STORY: Hector kills Achilles' close friend, Patroclus, prompting Achilles to resume fighting. The Greeks drive the Trojans back to their citadel. Achilles kills Hector. He abuses the corpse but, in the final pages of the poem, returns it to Priam for funeral honors.

polyclitus/polykleitos, doryphoros, classical greek, roman copy after the greek original bronze, c. 450-440 BCE

ancient Greek sculptor in bronze of the 5th century BCE. Canon of Polykleitos, hereafter referred to as the Canon, was a treatise on creating and proportioning sculpture. sought to capture the ideal proportions of the human figure in his statues and developed a set of aesthetic principles governing these proportions that was known as the Canon or 'Rule.' doryphoros depicting a solidly-built, well-muscled standing athlete, originally bearing a spear balanced on his left shoulder.

ptolemaic egypt

ancient dynasty of Macedonian kings who ruled Egypt from 323 BC to 30 BC; founded by Ptolemy I and ended with Cleopatra. founded in 305 BC by Ptolemy I Soter, who declared himself Pharaoh of Egypt and created a powerful Hellenistic dynasty that ruled an area stretching from southern Syria to Cyrene and south to Nubia.

archaic period

c. 750-480 BC

minoans

civilization emerged around 2000-1400 BC. It was located on the island of Crete, which is now a part of Greece. The Minoans were famous for the magnificent palaces they built

hellenistic period (323-30 BC)

covers the period of ancient Greek (Hellenic) history and Mediterranean history between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire as signified by the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the subsequent conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt the following year.

plato's crito

dialogue by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato. It depicts a conversation between Socrates and his wealthy friend Crito regarding justice, injustice, and the appropriate response to injustice. goal was to encourage people to think about justice vs. injustice in society.

Polis (plural poleis)

greek city-state

catharsis

he process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions. the purification and purgation of emotions—especially pity and fear—through art or any extreme change in emotion that results in renewal and restoration.

hagesandros, polydoros and athanadoros of rhodes, laocoon and his sons, hellenistic greece, 2nd-1st c. ice, or marble copy of an original 1st c. CE

he son of Acoetes, is a figure in Greek and Roman mythology and the Epic Cycle. He was a Trojan priest who was attacked, with his two sons, by giant serpents sent by the gods. described in Virgil's Aeneid

plato's allegory of the cave

likens people untutored in the Theory of Forms to prisoners chained in a cave, unable to turn their heads. All they can see is the wall of the cave. Behind them burns a fire. Between the fire and the prisoners there is a parapet, along which puppeteers can walk. theory put forward by Plato, concerning human perception. Plato claimed that knowledge gained through the senses is no more than opinion and that, in order to have real knowledge, we must gain it through philosophical reasoning.

cleopatra

lived for some time in Rome with Julius Caesar. For several years after Caesar was assassinated, she lived in Egypt with the Roman politician Mark Antony.

hoplite

most common type of heavily armed foot-soldier in ancient Greece from the 7th to 4th centuries BCE, and most ordinary citizens of Greek city-states with sufficient means were expected to equip and make themselves available for the role when necessary.

chorus

n the context of Ancient Greek tragedy, comedy, and satyr plays, is a homogeneous, non-individualised group of performers, who comment with a collective voice on the dramatic action. described and commented upon the main action of a play with song, dance, and recitation.

praxiteles, aphrodite of knidos, high classical greece, roman copy of an original greek bronze of c. 350 BCE, marble

of Athens, the son of Cephisodotus the Elder, was the most renowned of the Attic sculptors of the 4th century BC. He was the first to sculpt the nude female form in a life-size statue.

council of 500 (boule)

represented the full-time government of Athens. It consisted of 500 citizens, 50 from each of the ten tribes, who served for one year. The Council could issue decrees on its own, regarding certain matters, but its main function was to prepare the agenda for meetings of the Assembly.

ethics

systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct.

golden mean

the ideal moderate position between two extremes.

new york kouros, archaic greece, c. 600 BCE

the modern term given to free-standing ancient Greek sculptures which first appear in the Archaic period in Greece and represent nude male youths. Used in Archaic Greece as both a dedication to the gods in sanctuaries and as a grave monument.

hellas, hellenism

the national character or culture of Greece, especially ancient Greece. "to speak Greek or identify with the Greeks."

12 olympians

the twelve as most commonly portrayed in art and poetry were Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Hermes and either Hestia, or Dionysus

panathenaea (relates to the panathenaic procession)

thens' most important festival and one of the grandest in the entire Greek world. celebrated every June in honour of the goddess Athena. The procession to the Parthenon was more important than the games themselves. During the Great Panathenaia, a special robe (the peplos) was made by the women of Athens for the statue of Athena.

aristotle

virtues, according to Aristotle, are habits and that the good life is a life of mindless routine. wrote on logic, nature, psychology, ethics, politics, and art. (384-322 B.C.) made significant and lasting contributions to nearly every aspect of human knowledge, from logic to biology to ethics and aesthetics.