Western Civ Test 1

Linear B

Earliest from of Greek writing Deciphered in the early 1950s A syllabic writing system (not an alphabet) composed of 90 syllable signs and an indeterminate number of pictorial signs Most of clay tablets written in Linear B document economic transactions; a few detail military activities

First civilizations

First cities grew out of Neolithic villages around 3000 BC Mesopotamia (Tigris & Euphrates) Egypt (Nile) Indus Valley (Indus) China (Huange He - Yellow River)

Journey of Abraham

Hebrews originated with Abraham in Mesopotamia and migrated to Canaan Abraham born c. 1960-1996 BC, left Ur at age 70, left Haran at 75, and arrived in Canaan around 1800 BC.

Largest Neolithic villages

Large Neolithic villages such as Catal Huyuk in Anatolia (Turkey), Jarmo in eastern Iraq, and Jericho in Palestine were formed as early as 8,000 BC By 8,000 BC, Jericho was 430,000 square feet, surrounded by a wall six feet, six inches at the base and up to twenty feet high, and had a population of 2,000 or more In Jericho, dead were buried underneath the floors while skulls were covered with plaster, decorated - shells and paints were used to reconstruct facial features

Phoenicians

Nora Stone Found near the ancient Phoenician settlement of Nora, modern Pula in Sardinia, this eighth-century B.C.E. slab bears a Phoenician inscription

Egyptian religion

Opening of the mouth ritual - allowed the spirit of the deceased to see, speak, hear, breathe and to receive offerings of food and drink Anubis, the jackal-headed god, was the protector of the dead and led the deceased to the hall of judgment

Egyptian gods

Set - murdered his brother Osiris and usurped the throne. Eventually defeated by Osiris' son Horus. God of darkness, chaos, and confusion Ra, the supreme sun god. Depicted with the head of a hawk, wearing a solar disk with sacred serpent Isis - wife of Osiris and mother of Horus. Associated with funeral rites, seen as giver of life and protector of kings Osiris - brought civilization to Egypt and regarded as the first king of Egypt. Murdered by his brother Set, restored (almost) by Isis, after which he served as god of the underworld Thoth - god of writing, magic, and wisdom. Keeps the record of the life of each deceased soul and records the outcome of the weighing of the soul against the feather of Ma'at. Ma'at - goddess of truth and justice, ultimate judge in the afterlife. Heart of the deceased was weighed against her feather. If heart was heavier, that soul was devoured by the god Ammut. Here, Ma'at is pictured with Ptah, who is associated with the "opening of the mouth" ceremony for the dead pharaoh

Step-pyramid of Saqqara

Step-pyramid of mastabas built upon mastabas 204 feet high Surrounded by a complex of temple, courtyards, shrines, and houses for the priests covering 40 acres Complex surrounded by a wall 30 feet high and a wide trench Grave robbers stole all but part of the foot of Djoser's mummy and a few valuables overlooked by the thieves

Invasion and empire

Sumer's location and wealth led to invasions by nomads and strong rulers •Sumer 3000-2334 BCE •Akkadian 2340-2193 BCE •Neo-Sumerian 2125-2004 BCE •Old Babylonian 2025-1594 BCE •Old Assyrian 1600-1100 BCE •Hittite 1600-1200 BCE •Neo-Assyrian/Babylonian 1000-539 BCE •Persia 559-334 BCE

Ziggurats

The ziggurat was the central feature of each city-state, honoring that city-state's individual god or goddess Built with a core of mud brick with baked brick covering the exterior Stepped pyramid structures with a temple or shrine on top

Catal Huyuk

first discovered in 1958 Dates back to 7500 BC Housing only - no signs of public buildings or division of labor Held average population of 5000-8000 Tightly packed together with no streets; access through roofs and ladders Roof openings served as ventilation Buried their dead beneath the floors

Mesopotamian civilization

•"Land between the rivers" (Tigris and Euphrates) •Fertile Crescent •Spread over modern-day Iraq, parts of Syria, Kuwait, Turkey, etc. •The first Sumerian cities emerged in southern Mesopotamia around 3200 B.C.

Main periods of Egyptian civilization - Predynastic Period

•(5000 - 3100 BC) •Neolithic communities •Two separate kingdoms established around 3400 BC - the Red Land to the north and the White Land in the south

Division of Israel into 2 kingdoms

•10 northern tribes refused to acknowledge Solomon's son Rehoboam as king, revolted to form the kingdom of Israel with their capital at Samaria •Judah in the south retains capital at Jerusalem •Israel falls to the Assyrians in 722 BC •Sargon II's inscriptions record that he deported 27,290 Israelites from their homeland and re-settled them to regions throughout the empire

Great Ziggurat of Ur

•210 feet long, 150 feet wide, and over 100 feet high •Built by King Ur-Nammu and his son Shulgi in 21st century BC •Honored the moon god Nanna, the patron deity of Ur

Evolution of the City-State

•750 B.C.-323 B.C. (death of Alexander) - Greek society made up of independent city-states •Early city-states were based on tribal bonds •Greece's mountains, bays, and island, served as natural barriers to political unity of all these independent city-states •The scale of each city-state (polis) was small •Most had fewer than 5,000 male citizens •Athens (the largest polis) had 35,000-40,000 male citizens (out of a total population of 350,000 men, women, children, resident aliens, and slaves) •The polis gave a sense of belonging to citizens, particularly given close (often blood) connections between them •Engaged in athletic contests and religious rituals as well as political decision-making •By the 5th century BC, the mature polis was seen by Greeks as the only avenue to the good life •Had evolved into a secular-rational institution where the community governed itself rather than relying on the desires of gods, kings, or priests •Stark contrast with Near Eastern theocracies dominated by gods, priests, and religion •This idea of law rooted in the rational decision-making of the community is one of Greece's great contributions to political thought

Polykleitos

•A contemporary of Phidias, concentrated on bronze sculptures •Wrote a book (the Canon) discussing the mathematical proportions for parts of the human body and how to counterbalance between relaxed and tense body parts •Statue representing his perfect sculpture has been lost, but we have marble copies of it from Roman times •Also created a huge gold and ivory cult statue of the goddess Hera for the city of Argos

Pisistratus the Tyrant (c.605-527 BC)

•A distant relative of Solon, Pisistratus gained fame by seizing a foreign harbor in a war with the city of Megara around 565 •Seized power and forced opponents into exile •Removed from power and exiled twice during his reign but regained power both times •Gained popular support by building conduits to increase the city's water supply and by seizing land from aristocrats and turning it over to peasants •Promoted cultural life, arts, architecture, festivals and made these available to commoners as well as the aristocracy •Also instituted religious reforms, including promotion of Athena as the main deity of Athens •Was a liberal and generally popular tyrant •Aristotle wrote that "his administration was temperate...and more like constitutional government than a tyranny"

Sargon the Great

•A great administrator, Sargon appointed governors and administrators across 65 cities in his empire •Built road, improved irrigation, increase trade (with lands as far away as India) •Standardized weights and measures for trade, created a system of taxation that was fair to all social classes, embarked on numerous building projects •Maintained a full-time standing army •Put down any and all Sumerian uprisings

Xerxes' soldiers flogging the sea

•A storm destroyed the first attempt at building the bridge across the Hellespont, leading the furious god-king Xerxes to have the water whipped 300 times and to have shackles dropped into it as a mark of enslavement •According to Herodotus, Xerxes ordered his men to pronounce the following as they punished the water: "Sour water, the lord inflicts this justice here, for you have done him wrong without his ever having hurt you once. Indeed King Xerxes will go over you. Your feelings do not matter. It's right for no one on the earth to sacrifice to you. You are a muddy, salty stream."

Battle of Plataea (479 BC)

•After Salamis, Xerxes had returned home and the Persian fleet had retreated to the east Aegean, but the Persian land forces remained, eventually establishing a base in Plataea, near the city of Thebes (a Persian ally) •According to Herodotus, there were 350,000 Persians against 108,200 Greeks (modern estimates are around 110,000 Persians and 40,000 Greeks) •As at Marathon, the superior weapons and armor of the Greek hoplites would prove superior to the Persian archers and cavalry •Persians retreat after their leader is killed; Greeks rout Persian camp and sack the city of Thebes

Cultural Changes in the transition from villages to cities

•Agricultural innovation Man could grow food and settle in one place Food surplus allowed some to work in nonagricultural occupations More complex and larger cities could be formed and depend on the inhabitants of adjacent villages to produce food for them •Diversification of labor Merchants, craftsmen, bureaucrats, priests, scribes Emergence of central government Issued laws Provided for the defenses of the city Levied taxes and appointed tax collectors •Social stratification Those with more wealth and property attained a higher social status. •More complex religions Explained the workings of nature Helped ease the fear of death Justified rules of morality United the people under rulers

Sargon the Great

•Akkadian ruler Sargon I conquered Sumer and built the first empire in world history •Reigned 2334 - 2279 BC •Birth story similar to that of Moses, including being set adrift in a basket on the Euphrates River and taken in by the gardener for the king of Kish •Was a Semite, not a Sumerian •Father of poet-priestess Enheduanna (first author known by name); she lived 2285-2250 BC •Name was famous throughout antiquity but lost to the modern world until 1870, when Legend of Sargon was discovered in Nineveh and published •Rather than conquer in the name of a home city, Sargon built a city for himself called Akkad

Legacy of Alexander the Great

•Alexander's conquests brought East and West closer together •Encouraged (in some cases demanded) intermarriage of troops with Eastern women •Alexander married eastern women himself and came to carry himself as more of a Persian than a Macedonian •Recruited and promoted many Persians into his army •Spread Greek culture throughout eastern regions and promoted trade throughout his kingdom (which covered some 3000 miles, from Greece to India) •Did not seek to take away the culture or religions of conquered peoples, only demanding political subjugation •Founded many cities (often named after himself) along prominent trade routes, installing Greek citizens in those cities alongside native peoples •Kingdom used a common currency and a common language (Greek) •Hellenic art, drama, philosophy, architecture, literature, and language was diffused throughout the Near East.

Eratosthenes (c. 275 - 194 BC)

•Alexandrian geographer, astronomer, and poet •Friend of Archimedes •One of the greatest of ancient geographers •Divided Earth into climatic zones •Said the oceans are all joined •Accurately measured the circumference of the Earth (inspired by reading about a solstice, where the sun left no shadow at noon in Syene but did in Alexandria, by which he concluded that the earth had to be circular) •Inaccuracy of measurement due mainly to the lack of a precise knowledge of the distance between the two cities, not due to his calculations

Euclid (fl. 300 BC)

•Alexandrian mathematician known as the Father of Geometry •His work The Elements was a comprehensive collection of all mathematics known at his time - not just geometry •Contained 465 theorems and proof, based on reason and logic

Callimachus (c. 305 - 240 BC)

•Alexandrian scholar-poet •Felt that the epics of Homer and the plays of the Greek tragedians could never be equaled, so he urged poets to write short, fine poems rather than epic poetry •Published numerous writings, but only some 6 hymns and 60 epigrams survive •Wrote a bibliographical catalogue of the works housed in the Library of Alexandria •Only Homer is quoted more among the poets of late antiquity

Thucydides (c. 460 - c. 400 BC)

•An Athenian general who wrote History of the Peloponnesian War as the war was being fought •His history of the war was never finished, ending mid-sentence in 411 •Intended his history of the war to be a work for all time, with the implication that Herodotus' writing was largely to entertain the public •As general, his failure to defend the city of Amphipolis resulted in him being exiled from Athens for 20 years •Used this time to travel and develop contacts on the Peloponnesian side •Wrote in a style that was intended to be read, not recited orally •Thucydides' political histories were rooted in the context of the Peloponnesian War, emphasizing the motives of statesmen and acts of government •Applied rationalist empiricism to political history - strove for factual accuracy and objective presentation of information •Intended his history to enlighten future ages to prevent such conflicts as Athens vs. Sparta •No place for myth or legend in his history - he was rational and not poetic •Sought to teach future generations, not entertain readers •Thucydides looked for social and human, not divine, forces behind events •Denies the gods a role in human affairs •Warned against the dangers of extremism, war, and demagoguery •Considered Athens' attack on Syracuse as a terrible political blunder •Articulates the theory of balance of power using Peloponnesian War as an example •Argued that the war was caused by Athens' sudden rise to power and Sparta's fear that this would upset the balance of power among the Greek city-states

Legacy of the Ancient Hebrews

•Ancient Hebrews' interest in the individual helped lay the foundation for Western thought •The Jewish Bible has played a pivotal role as a cornerstone of Western civilization •Christianity emerged from Judaism, and the two share many links: •Monotheism •Moral autonomy •Prophetic values •Hebrew Scriptures as the word of God •Historical Jesus' Jewish background •The Judeo-Christian tradition is an essential component of western civilization •Hebrew vision of a future messianic age is at the root of the western idea of progress

Athens

•Aristocrats usurped power from hereditary kings in Athens in 8th century, eventually bringing the city to the brink of civil war •Rising tension between the land-holding aristocrats and the new class of merchants, who had no say in government •Peasants were also unhappy as more of them lost property, land, and their freedom after borrowing from aristocrats •In 621, Draco codified the laws, but they remained quite severe and provided little relief for peasants' economic problems •Draco's code punished even trivial crimes with death, would be repealed by Solon •On why his laws were so harsh, Draco reportedly said "Small ones deserve that (i.e. death), and I have no higher for the greater crimes."

Critique of Plato's Forms

•Aristotle renewed confidence in sense perception, attaching more meaning to the material world than to Plato's higher plane of existence •Retained Plato's universal principles, but based them in human/material experience •Critiqued Plato by saying one shouldn't escape to another world to comprehend reality •To him, Plato undervalued the world of facts, objects, and sense perception •Believed the best way to understand universal principles was to base your study on the material world around you •For Aristotle, Forms existed in things themselves, not in a higher/outside world •Where Plato preferred mathematics and metaphysics (intangibles), Aristotle favored empirical (tangible) sciences •Stressed the importance of empirical sciences such as physics, biology, zoology, botany, and other disciplines based on observation, investigation, and the recording of data •Argued that forms are intrinsic to objects and cannot exist apart from them

Aristotle's Political Thought

•Aristotle's Politics complements his Ethics •Said the ability to lead a good life depended upon being part of a political community, the polis •Typically Greek idea that only a community that develops free and equal citizens makes it possible for men to fulfill their human potential and live a rational and moral life •While Alexander the Great was building an empire that would unite Greece and Persia, Aristotle was defending the traditional Greek system of independent city-states •Unlike Plato, who said women and men should have an equal right to become philosopher-rulers, Aristotle's politics excluded women completely •Agreed with Plato that politics could be rationally understood and intelligently directed •Did not aim for utopia; stressed a commonsense, practical attitude toward establishing the most effective type of government for most men in normal circumstances •Placed the good of the community above the good of the individual •Put his trust in the rule of law rather than in individuals •Individuals are subject to unruly passions •Felt laws should only be altered with great caution, or else some men feel less compelled to obey them •Felt the state must maintain obedience to all laws, even the smallest, in order to hold off the dangers of tyranny and revolution •Felt that those of the middle class made the best citizens •The rich are unwilling to submit to authority •The poor are too degraded to command and need to be ruled by an authority

Hittites

•Around 1400, expanded empire across Asia Minor, into Syria and across the Euphrates River: •Move into Syria brought Hittites into conflict with Egypt, who also had an interest in that area •Conflict with Egypt culminated in the Battle of Kadesh in 1274 •Around 1259, both empires signed a peace treaty and mutual defense pact, probably in response to the growing power of Assyria to the east •Catastrophe came around 1200 BC: •Capital was abandoned and, at some later point, invaded and burned to the ground •Collapse was part of a large and mysterious Bronze Age collapse across the whole region, probably due to some mixture of drought, earthquakes, invasions, and internal rebellions

Ionian Revolt

•Around 500, a movement to oust all tyrants from the city-states of Ionia began to grow, led primarily by Aristagoras of Miletus •Aristagoras was a tyrant himself who wanted control of the city-state of Naxos but failed to get the necessary support of surrounding cities •His call for rebellion led cities in the region to oust their Persian rulers •Aristagoras, fearing Persian retaliation, sought assistance from Sparta, who refused, and Athens, who sent a couple of dozen ships •In 498, the newly formed Ionian League attacked and burned down the city of Sardis, capital of the Persian satrapy of Lydia •Retreating to Ephesus, the Ionians were defeated by a force of Persians •More conflicts ensued, with the Ionian Revolt being dealt a killing blow by the Persians conquering and sacking Miletus in 494

Recovery & transition into the Greek Archaic Period (800 BC)

•Around 800 BC, things turned around •Population rapidly increased •Writing was reintroduced (with a Greek alphabet now based on the more efficient Phoenician script) •Overseas trade expanded once more •Introduction of new political institutions (the early poleis) •Newly established colonies between 800 and 550 BC were independent, self-governing city-states •As trade and urbanization increased, a new merchant class began to emerge

The Greek 4th Century: Retrospective

•As Greek city-states continued to fight each other, the Macedonian "barbarians" in the north were gathering power •Phillip II (382-336 BC) became king of Macedonia in 359 •Was held as a hostage in Thebes from 368-365, where he learned military techniques and witnessed the weaknesses of the warring Greek states •Took a backward and military weak country and quickly turned it into a first-rate military power •Increased the size of the army and turned them into professional soldiers •Changed principal weaponry from hoplite spear to the sarissa, a 18- to 20-foot pike that allowed his men to get the first strike in armed conflicts •Began to gradually extend his power over the Greek city-states •In Athens, the orator Demosthenes urged the Greeks to unite against the Macedonian threat for 10 years, without success •Forces of Philip II met and defeated a combined force of Athenians and Thebans at the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC •Greek city-states continued to exist, but they were no longer independent •Peloponnesian War and Macedonian domination marked the end of the era of small, self-sufficient city-states

Philip II of Macedon (382-336 B.C.)

•Assumed the throne of Macedon at age 23 in 359 BC, following a round of family assassinations •Used treachery, secret (and often very temporary) treaties, speed, and dishonesty to gain control over most of the Greek world •Took seven wives, including Olympias of Epirus - thus, her son Alexander was only half Macedonian •To provide a fully Macedonian heir, Philip II married his niece •Alexander, already at odds with his father, was exiled following an incident at the wedding party •A year later, Philip was killed at the theatre by his bodyguard Pausanias (conspiracy?) •Alexander assumed the throne, and Olympias had Philip's new wife and son killed •Tomb of Philip II was discovered in the town of Vergina in northern Greece in 1977

Late Period to Alexander's Conquest (664-332 BC)

•Assyrian control of Egypt lasted two centuries •Fell under the control of the Persian Empire in 525 BC Alexander the Great conquers Persia and Egypt in 332 BC •Ptolemies rule Egypt until 31 BC, when Cleopatra VII surrenders Egypt to the Roman armies of Octavian •In 7th century AD, Egypt is conquered by Islamic Arabs

Socrates (c. 470 - 399 BC)

•Athenian Socrates lived at peak of Athenian culture and democracy •Like the Sophists, Socrates pursued knowledge of individual and society •Attacked the relativism of the Sophists, believing that men should behave according to universal values •Said Sophists did not answer the questions that truly matter, such as the meaning of life or how a man should live his life - said Sophists taught men to succeed in politics but not how to live •Claimed Sophists attacked the old system of beliefs but did not offer a satisfactory replacement for it •Socrates was principally concerned with the perfection of individual human character •Felt moral values were not learned or dictated by religion, but had to be discovered by regulating one's life according to objective standards and through rigorous rational reflection •True education meant the shaping of character according to objective values and the application of reason •Believed that reason was the only proper guide to understanding good and evil •Needed to reject all traditional authority, dogma, superstition, and myth and base one's conduct on convictions that can be rationally defended •People who develop truly questioning minds cannot be swayed by eloquent arguments •For him, philosophy was a way of life that allowed a man to acquire the wisdom needed to achieve virtue •His fundamental premise was that wrong thinking creates wrongdoing •In the wake of the Peloponnesian War, Socrates made enemies, as some men saw him as a subversive who was corrupting the youth of Athens. Also, some of those who had been involved in Athens' short-lived oligarchy of 411 and the Thirty Tyrants in 403 had been associates of Socrates •Was arrested and convicted by an Athenian court •Chose to drink poison rather than escape •Wrote nothing about his own philosophy - we know of his teaching thanks to the writings of his student, Plato, and a few others

Solon the Reformer (640-559 BC)

•Athenian statesman, lawyer, and poet •Elected chief executive, tried to come up with rational solutions to Athens' social problems •A nobleman himself, Solon blamed the greed of wealthy landowners for Athens' problems •Undermined hereditary aristocracy and began the transformation of Athens into a democracy by: •Canceling debts and freeing Athenians who had been enslaved by their debts •Refusing to confiscate and redistribute the land of nobles •Permitting all classes of free men (including the poor) to sit in the Assembly •Opening highest offices to wealthy commoners who were previously excluded by birth •Also initiated economic reforms and encouraged industrial expansion •Transformed Athens into a great commercial center •Did, however, ultimately fail to resolve disputes between aristocratic clans or to greatly relive the discontent of the poor •"Rule, after you have first learnt to submit to rule.""Advise not what is most agreeable, but what is best.""Make reason your guide."

Battle of Marathon

•Athenians send a runner to Sparta asking for assistance, but Sparta insists on waiting until the moon is full (due to a religious law) to join the battle •Seemingly hopelessly outnumbered, the Athenians decide to attack the Persian forces on their own •Athenian army of 9,000 hoplites and 1,000 Plateans was led by the general Miltiades •Hoplites were citizen-soldiers of Athens armed with spears and shields •Plateans (from city located south of Thebes) were only other Greek allies to join the Athenians at Marathon •Topography of Marathon aided the Athenians •Bulky Persian forces struggled to establish a foothold, found their onslaught of arrows having little effect on Athenian armor •Persians could not march in formation •Miltiades divided Athenian troops into three groups. When center pretended to retreat, the Persian forces swept in; then the other Greek forces attacked from the sides •According to tradition, 6400 died on the Persian side, while the Athenians lost only 192. •Huge victory for the Greeks •Showed that the Persians were not invincible •Showed the superiority of the heavy armor and weaponry of the Greek hoplites •Courier hurries back to Athens to announce the news of the victory, then collapses and dies •While celebrating their great victory at Marathon, the Greeks knew the Persians would be back - and in greater numbers •Discovery of rich silver mines outside Athens led to the development of newer and faster ships called triremes, so a new fleet of triremes was in place by the time Persia would return •Back in Persia, Darius began raising another huge army, fully intending to invade Greece again •Plans delayed by revolt in Egypt Darius then dies and is succeeded by his son Xerxes I

The Mature Athenian Democracy

•Athens established a direct democracy in which citizens (not representatives) made the laws •The Assembly was open to all adult male citizens •The Assembly met about 40 times each year •Citizens debated and voted on key issues, declared war and signed treaties, and spent public funds •Developed the concept of isonomy - equality of political rights for citizens of the polis •Right to vote •Right to speak before and submit motions to the Assembly •Right to hold the highest public positions •Right to equal treatment under the law •Council of Five Hundred managed ports, military installations and state properties, and it prepared the agendas for the Assembly •Members chosen by lot •No one could serve more than twice •350 magistrates were chosen by lot to oversee civic administration, policing, street repair, market inspection, etc. •10 generals to lead the military were chosen by the Assembly •The introduction of pay for government officials marked a democratic advance: •Allowed the average person to leave work for a year in order to serve •Allowed Athens to become a government of ordinary citizens •Concern for the good of the community was expected to outweigh personal aspirations •Predictably, aristocrats tended to dominate the Assembly, although that dominance would eventually be challenged by the wealthy class of tradesmen

Alexander the Great (356 - 323 BC)

•Became king of Macedon upon the death of Philip II in 336 •Birth had been accompanied by signs and wonders, including a bright star in the sky over Macedonia and the destruction of the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus •Whereas his father had planned to force the Persians out of Asia Minor militarily, Alexander soon looked to conquer Persia completely •In his first 15 months, though, Alexander had to quash dissent and rebellions in Greece •Marched his army into various Greek cities, demanding submission •Sacked the city of Thebes in 334 (taking his army 240 miles in two weeks), after which Athens and other city-states pledged their allegiance to Macedonia

Old Kingdom (2686-2181 BC)

•Began with Third Dynasty of Pharaohs and is associated with pyramid-building •Around 2630, King Djoser oversaw the building of the Step-Pyramid at Saqqara •Three pyramids of Giza supposedly built for/by Khufu (Cheops) (2589-2566 BC) and his successors Khafra (2558-2532 BC) and Menkaura (2532-2503 BC).

Theories of civilization - religious theory

•Beliefs and values regulate interaction between people and their environment

Sappho (c. 620 - 570) of Lesbos

•Called the Tenth Muse by Plato, praised by Horace, Ovid, and later poets •Only fragments survive of the nine volumes of lyrical poetry that we know she wrote •Invented or refined the meter of her day, using what is now called Sapphic meter •Poetry was written to be sung to the accompaniment of a lyre •Poetry expressed romantic love interests in both men and women •May have established a school on Lesbos for young girls Appeared on coinage and had a statue in Syracuse

Third Intermediate Period (1085-664 BC)

•Centralized government gave way to more and more local rule across Egypt •23rd and 24th Dynasties left little documentation •Nubian pharaohs of 25th Dynasty clashed with Assyrian Empire and lost

Basic features of early civilizations

•Cities •Well-organized central governments •Complex religions •Job specialization •Social classes •Arts and architecture •Public works •Writing

Theories of civilization - circumscription theory

•Civilization develops where populations are circumscribed by environmental barriers or other societies •Depends on three factors: 1) Environmental limitations; 2) Population pressure; and 3) Warfare •Survival of the fittest in a competition between social groups

Code of Hammurabi

•Code made up of 282 rules and punishments •Code reveals: •Gender divisions - men as heads of households, with women and children subservient to them •Centrality of class distinctions - different punishments for different classes of citizens and for men and women •Importance of trade •Dictated how much certain types of workers should be paid (such as surgeons, barbers, and veterinarians) •Placed the burden of proof on the accuser, not the defendant •Death penalty for anyone found to be committing perjury •Hammurabi's laws are believed to have influenced the laws found in the Hebrew Bible

Menander (c. 342 - 291 BC)

•Comedic playwright who depicted life in Athens •Reflected Athenians' disregard for politics and public affairs •Wrote about stock characters and expressed a humanitarian concern for all peoples •Depicted people and their problems realistically •Wrote over 100 comedic plays, but only one survives intact (with large portions of several others)

Phoenicians

•Composed of independent city-states along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea stretching through modern-day Syria, Lebanon, and northern Israel •Firmly established by 2750 BC, thrived between 1500 and 332 BC •Maritime explorers and great sea traders •Highly regarded for their skill in ship-building, glass-making, the production of dyes, and an impressive level of skill in the manufacture of luxury and common goods •Referred to by the Greeks as the "purple people" because dyes stained the skin of workers •Phoenicians devised the first known alphabet •Phoenician alphabet is the basis of most western languages known today •Played crucial role in spreading Near Eastern culture to the western Mediterranean •Major cities were conquered by Alexander the Great in 332 BC

Aeschylus (525 - 456 BC)

•Considered the Father of Tragedy •Expanded number of characters in plays to allow for interaction (and conflict) between them •Wrote over 80 plays, only 7 of which survive •Most famous for "The Oresteia" trilogy (Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and The Furies) •First to use wheeled platforms to change scenery and a crane device to lift actors; noted for extravagant costume designs •Fought in the battles of Marathon and Salamis •Competed regularly in the Great Dionysia (part of the festival of Dionysus) •Dramatists would produce three tragedies and one satyr play •Largely unchallenged (with 13 victories) until Sophocles emerged •Left Athens for Sicily around 459 •One story says he was killed when an eagle dropped a tortoise on his bald head •Urged adherence to traditional religious beliefs and moral values •Warned of the danger of hubris, or human arrogance •In The Persians, Xerxes and all of Persia are made to pay for Xerxes' hubris •Also focused on consequence of sin against the divine order •Said that suffering is a source of knowledge and wisdom •Dealt primarily with the theme of the individual in conflict with the moral universe

Protagoras (c. 485 - 415 BC) of Abdera

•Considered the greatest of the Sophists and was the first to promote the idea of relativism or subjectivism - that the interpretation of reality is relative to individual experience, judgment, and interpretation •Most of what we know of Protagoras comes from two of Plato's dialogues, which present Protagoras in a negative light •Known primarily for three claims: •"Man is the measure of all things" •He could make a weak argument appear strong and vice versa •That one could not tell whether the gods existed or not •Was accused of impiety at age 70 and chose to leave Athens (dying at sea)

Sumerian urban civilization

•Cuneiform writing •Brick houses, palaces, and temples •Bronze tools and weapons •Irrigation works •Trade with other peoples and an early form of money •Religious & political institutions and schools •Religious & secular literature and varied art forms •Codes of law, medicinal drugs, and a lunar calendar

Pre-Hellenic Bronze Age Civilizations

•Cycladic, Minoan, and Mycenaean civilizations preceded Hellenic Greece

Cynicism

•Cynics were extreme individualists who rebelled against all established values and conventions, recognizing no restraints in how they lived their lives •Regarded laws, public opinion, private property, employment, and even family as hindrances to living a free life •Had no loyalty to family, city, or kingdom •Ridiculed religion, literature, and philosophy •Renounced all personal possessions and showed no respect for authority •Wandered shoeless and ill-clothed from place to place •Practiced a fearless form of free speech, were all about asceticism, nonconformity •The very name Cynic comes from the Greek word for dog •Diogenes liked to perform bodily functions in public, supposedly showed no respect when meeting Alexander the Great, broke one of his only possessions - a cup - after seeing a child drink with his hands, and basically lived in a barrel

King David

•David united the tribes and was an extremely popular leader •Succeeded in driving the Philistines out of Israel •Defeated other surrounding nations - Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, Arameans

Akhenaten

•Debate over why Akhenaten made this radical change •Some say it was a move to lessen the political power of the priests •The written record suggests his monotheistic belief was genuine •Ignores foreign policy and requests for help from subject nations dealing with Hittite aggression Nefertiti disappears toward the end of his reign, after giving birth to six daughters •Akhenaten's son (by a lesser wife named Kiya) goes on to reject Akhenaten's monotheism, restore the old religion, reopen the old temples, abandon Amarna and move capital back to Thebes, seek to erase all memory of his father, and change his name from Tutankhaten to Tutankhamun •A later pharaoh razed Amarna to the ground, and later Egyptian historians would refer to Akhenaten only as "the heretic king"

Hittites

•Developed a substantial iron industry for tools and weapons, as well as ritual •Great Temple at Hattusa was religious center of the empire •King served as high priest •Religion was polytheistic and willing to incorporate new gods of conquered peoples •Much of success was due to their well-trained army and horse-drawn chariots •Chariots made up of driver and a bowman pulled by two horses •Charioteer-bowmen were far more proficient at archery than standard archers, given that they had to fire from moving chariots •Later developed chariots carrying three men, one of whom used a shield to protect the others from projectiles •Battle of Kadesh, fought against the Egyptians, is believed to be the largest chariot encounter in history, involving up to 5000-6000 chariots in total

Xenophanes (c. 570-c. 478 B.C.) of Colophon

•Disagreed with the idea that there were many gods, and that they tended to behave a lot like humans did - said this came from human tendency to anthropomorphize deities •Claimed there was only one God and that he shared no qualities with human beings •Was transcendent, uncreated, and invisible •Endorsed a critical rationality toward religious claims, rejecting traditionally held beliefs about the gods •Believed that humans can only approach truth - only the one God knows the truth

Neolithic Revolution (8000 - 4000 BC)

•Discovered farming and invented the plow and polished stone tools •Domesticated animals •Reliable source of meat, milk, and wool •Could be used for work or transportation •Shift from nomadic lifestyle to permanent agricultural settlements and the establishment of villages, rapid population growth •Food surplus allowed some individuals to concentrate on making tools and crafts, led to the formation of trading settlements •Basket-weaving, pottery, etc. Trade established across increasingly long distances. •Beginning of private property meant the wealthy became village leaders and achieved higher social status •More complex religion, with priests growing in wealth and power thanks to offerings to the gods •Freedom of hunter-gatherer lifestyle replaced by the daily routine of toil and obedience to a ruling elite

Classical Greek Drama

•Drama represented the highest point of Greek poetry •Like the poets, dramatists also expressed the rise of the individual and brought the inner life of the individual - from weaknesses and failings to triumphs - into focus •Dramas originated in religious festivals honoring Dionysus •The first actor was Thespis, who stepped out of the Greek chorus and engaged it in dialogue •A new awareness of the individual quickly emerged in drama •Aeschylus introduces a second actor, Sophocles a third, making complex dialogue possible •Actors wore masks, so one actor could play multiple parts •Dramatists could depict the clash and interplay of human will and passion •By mid-fifth-century B.C., tragedies were performed at civic festivals in open-air theaters •Male chorus sang and danced in the orchestra •Greek spectators felt intensely involved in the lives portrayed •Character conflict parallels Socratic dialectics, interaction of active subjects responsible for their own behavior and decisions •Like natural philosophers, Greek dramatists see inner logic in the universe (Fate or Destiny) •Characters were punished for bad decisions •Tragic heroes tried to understand their positions, explain their actions, and analyze their feelings - not just passive victims of fate •Dramas compelled those in the audience to think •Individual human choice can lead either to greatness or disaster: courage is key

The Hellenistic Legacy

•During the period in between the death of Alexander the Great and the formation of the Roman Empire, Greek civilization spread both eastward as far as India and westward to Rome •A new cosmopolitanism emerged, along with increased interest in other ethnic groups •Both philosophy and the arts reflected these new concerns •Rome would inherit the universalist tendencies of Hellenistic Greece and embody them in its law, institutions, and art •Christianity would resonate with Stoic ideas of human equality, the notion of individuals' natural rights, an the concept of a world-society

Queen Hatshepsut

•Earlier scholars saw her as a power-hungry woman who seized power •More recent scholars have suggested that she may have claimed power due to some crisis, doing so to save the throne for Thutmose III •Many images depict her with a beard and large muscles •Toward the end of his 30-year reign, Thutmose III ordered that all evidence of Hatshepsut's reign be eradicated (probably in order to help legitimize the right of his son to succeed him) •Rediscovered when scholars were able to decipher hieroglyphics at the magnificent temple of Deir el-Bahri which she had built

Theories of civilization - Hydraulic theory

•Effort to build and control an irrigation system required a degree of social organization that eventually led to civilization. •Stressed the role of irrigation in social development •Areas where agriculture was dependent on irrigation and flood control •Forced labor for irrigation projects required substantial, centralized government control, giving rise to absolutist managerial states •Karl A. Wittfogel listed Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, and China as hydraulic civilizations

New Kingdom (1570-1085 BC)

•Egypt once again reunited under Ahmose I, first king of the 18th Dynasty •Powerful and ambitious pharaohs created a large empire that spread Egyptian influence and ideas throughout the eastern Mediterranean and other parts of Africa •Regained control over Nubia, began military campaigns in Palestine, and clashed with Mitannians, Hittites, and other powers in the region •Ruled by powerful kings and known for notable royal women such as Queen Hatshepsut (1503-1482), Nefertiti, and others •Reigns of Akhenaton, Tutankhamen, and the Ramses line •Toward end of the New Kingdom, wealth declined, Egypt lost its provinces in Palestine and Syria, and Libyans and other invaders accelerated the decline

Middle Kingdom (2040-1786 BC)

•Egyptian power flourished throughout stable 12th Dynasty •Threw out the Bedouins and colonized Nubia •Came into contact with other kingdoms through trade and warfare •Established trade relations with Syria, Palestine, Crete, and other countries •Built more pyramids, along with military fortresses and mining quarries •Middle Kingdom and 12th Dynasty ended with Queen Sobekneferu (1789-1786 B.C.), who was the first confirmed female ruler of Egypt

Evolution of the City-State

•Emergence of rational attitudes stood alongside continued religious beliefs •Greek leaders and commanders would still often consult oracles for guidance •Greeks continued to show respect for their gods, especially the gods of their particular polis •Growing rationalism eventually began to eclipse the religious-mythical tradition, however •Traditional religious beliefs were either made to comply more with the demands of reason or they were neglected •At the height of Athenian democracy, religion had become more ceremonial •People came to rely more on human reason than divine guidance •Greeks began to embrace the idea more and more that community problems require human solutions because those problems are caused by human beings •For the Greeks, law became something achieved through rational thought rather than divine edict •Obeyed and respected the law because it expressed the will and needs of the community, not out of fear of making some god mad at them •Greatly valued free citizenship and hated the idea of an absolute king or ruler

Epic of Gilgamesh

•Epic poem that predates Homer by 1500 years •Most complete version was that of Babylonian writer Shin-Leqi-Unninni (~1300-1000 BC), but his account was based on much older versions •Gilgamesh was 5th king of Uruk, reigning in the 26th century BC, reportedly for 126 years according to the Sumerian King List •Epic describes Gilgamesh's friendship with Enkidu, encounters with gods/goddesses and monsters, and quest for immortality •First tablets were discovered in 1849 at Nineveh, in the ruins of the library of Ashurbanipal •Contains an account of a Great Flood told by Utnapishtim, who was secretly warned by Ea and survived by building an ark •First seen as a corroboration of Biblical events •Actually pre-dates the Bible by centuries

First Peloponnesian War

•First Peloponnesian War begins in 460 BC •Several triggers, including Sparta's concern over Athens' increasing growth and power •First real trigger was Spartan snubbing of Athenian help in dealing with a Helot revolt in 464 •In response to insult, Athens makes an alliance with Argos, Sparta's longtime traditional enemy, and Megara, a former ally of Sparta's who was then fighting Corinth, a major ally of Sparta's •In 460, Athens goes to war with Corinth and several other Peloponnesian city-states •Sparta does not become officially involved until 457, when it wins the battle of Tanagra

Theories of civilization - action theory

•Focuses on the actions of strong leaders who play a role in social change

Greek Dark Ages (1200-800 BC)

•Following the collapse of the Mycenaean civilization around 1200 BC •All Minoan and Mycenean regional centres were destroyed and/or abandoned •Linear B script and all writing was lost •All centralized government and bureaucracy disappeared •Extensive trading ceased •Art reverted to primitive forms •Population decreased dramatically •People settled in more remote and easily defensible areas •Dorian invaders now seen as more incidental than consequential in the decline •This "Dark Age" was characterized by migrations, warfare, poverty, isolation, collapse of infrastructure

Stoicism

•Founded by Zeno of Citium (c. 336 - 265 BC), who also opened a school in Athens • •Turned to philosophy following a shipwreck at age 22 • •Stoicism taught that the world was one big society, a world-state (an answer for alienation) • •Stressed the importance of inner strength to deal with life's misfortunes (path to individual happiness) • •Teaching was based on the idea that the universe is ordered by a principle of divine reason (the Logos) •The Logos existed in every soul and was discoverable through reason •Since reason was common to all, all humans were essentially brothers deserving of respect •One natural law applied to all •Stoic beliefs, in summary: •All humans are members of one big family by their very nature •Each person - from ruler to slave - is significant •Differences in rank and racial distinctions are meaningless •Human law should not conflict with natural law •Stoic idea of natural law was an early precursor of the modern principle of inalienable rights •Stoics believed that one should court reason and recognize that all things are temporary and without lasting value •If man simply pursues pleasure, he is no better than an animal •Ultimate goal was to achieve a state of enlightened apathy free of enslavement to one's passions - self-awareness

Ur-Nammu

•Founder of the Third Dynasty of Ur •Reigned 2047-2030 BC •Credited as the builder of the Great Ziggurat of Ur •Composed the first complete law code in the world - The Code of Ur-Nammu (although some say the laws were actually introduced by his son and successor Shulgi) •Code made up of 40 paragraphs listing crimes and punishments •Punishments were predominantly monetary in nature •Harsh penalties were deemed unnecessary because people were supposed to know how to behave toward one another •Much different from Hammurabi's laws 300 years later

Thales (624-548 B.C.) of Miletus

•Generally considered to be the first philosopher in western history •Contemporary of Solon of Athens •Concerned with the order of nature: •Had the revolutionary idea of explaining the origins of nature without reference to the gods •Thought that water was the basic element (explained earthquakes as the rocking of earth by waves underneath the ground) •First to predict an eclipse of the sun (probably predicting the year in which it would occur), basing his prediction on the principle of the regular motions of the heavens •Reportedly once fell into a well while looking at the stars

Assyria

•Greatest of the Mesopotamian empires due to its size and the extent of its bureaucratic and military sophistication •Around 1250 BC, Assyrians started using war chariots and iron weapons (far superior to bronze weapons), eventually becoming the most powerful military force of their time •Excelled in siege warfare and battlefield tactics •From 900 to 600 BC, Assyrians expanded, conquered and ruled the Middle East, including Mesopotamia, Egypt, the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, and parts of today's Turkey, Iran and Iraq •Assyrians kings were absolute rulers but were supported by nobles Administered territories by: •Improving roads •Establishing messenger services •Engaging in large-scale irrigation projects •Deportation policy •Felt best way to prevent uprisings in conquered lands was to remove large segments of the population and replace them with Assyrians •Deportees were carefully chosen and sent to regions where they could put their talents to use •Remaining populace were considered Assyrians •Were interested in acquiring the knowledge and cultures of conquered peoples -- scribes, for example, were sent to urban centers to help catalog written works housed there

Aristarchus of Samos (310 - 230 BC)

•Greek astronomer and mathematician who was the first to present a heliocentric view of the universe, 1800 years before Copernicus •Said the sun was at the center of the universe •Argued that the planets revolved around the sun •Claimed that the stars were located a great distance from the earth •Ideas were not accepted, as the traditional notion of a sun-centered universe persisted

Hesiod

•Greek poet who lived sometime between 750 and 650 BC, probably shortly after Homer •"Father of Greek didactic poetry" (instructive and moralizing poetry) •Two surviving complete works: •Theogony, relating the lineage and myths of the gods all the way back to creation •Works and Days, a description of peasant life •Two major themes in Hesiod's work: •All men should be just and fair •Success depends on hard work

Hellenistic Science

•Greek scientific achievement peaks during the Hellenistic Age •Alexander the Great brought surveyors, engineers, scientists, and historians. to Asia Minor with him to collect knowledge •Hellenistic scientists attempted a rational analysis of nature, conducting experiments, organizing knowledge, etc. •While the Library of Alexandria and the museum attached to it attracted leading scholars and became a research institution, the schools of Athens continued to draw students as well •Alexandrian doctors improved medical skills via observation and experiment •Greatly increased the knowledge of anatomy by dissecting cadavers •Knowledge of mathematics and astronomy also greatly increased during this time

Mycenaean Civilization (2000 - 1200 BC)

•Greek-speaking immigrants who moved southward into the region of the Greek mainland around 2000 BC (essentially, these were the first Greeks) •Flourished between 1600 and 1200 BC •Borrowed heavily from Minoan culture in terms of art, architecture, trade, etc. •Unlike the Minoans, the Mycenaeans were a warlike people •Cities were heavily fortified •Hunting and war were common themes reflected in their artwork •Named for the city of Mycenae, the first site excavated by Heinrich Schliemann after he had discovery Troy •According to Homer, the Mycenaean civilization was dedicated to King Agamemnon, who led the Greeks in the Trojan War •According to Greek mythology, the city was founded by Zeus' son Perseus, who had Cyclopes build the walls with giant stone blocks •Invaded and conquered Knossos, the Minoan capital, around 1375 BC •Used a writing system called Linear B, which has been translated •Civilization rapidly collapsed between 1200 and 1100 •Reasons for disappearance vary: •Internal conflicts •Foreign invasion Part of larger Bronze Age collapse

Two principal sources of the Western tradition

•Hebrew conception of ethical monotheism and human dignity •Ancient Greek rational thought: •The Greeks conceived of nature as following rules, not whims of the gods •They saw human beings as rational thinkers, needing freedom, and having individual worth •Attention to humans rather than gods breaks with Near Eastern mythmaking

The Covenant and the Law

•Hebrew law incorporates elements from Near Eastern law and oral traditions but shows greater ethical awareness and a more human spirit: •People are more important than property •Mercy toward the oppressed •Rejection of the idea of differential legal treatment for the wealthy and the poor •Hebrew law regulates all aspects of daily life, including patriarchal family •Women were subordinated to men, but they were also given respect in their given social positions

God: One, Sovereign, Transcendent, Good

•Hebrew view of the one God marked a clear break with Near Eastern religious thought •Whereas other Near Eastern peoples worshipped many gods, the Hebrews saw Yahweh as: •Fully sovereign •Eternal, omnipotent, the source of all creation •Possessing a supreme will •Transcendent - above nature rather than a part of nature •Emphasis in ancient Jewish thought was of orderly intervention of God in the world •Hebrews demythicized nature in a revolutionary way, but they did not view the world as a system governed by natural law •Hebrews' removal of the gods from nature was a precursor to scientific thought

3 Stages of Greek Civilization

•Hellenic Age (800 - 323 BC), ending with the death of Alexander the Great •Hellenistic Age (323 - 30 BC), ending with the last Hellenistic state (Egypt) falling to Rome •Greco-Roman Age (30 BC - 5th century AD), ending with the collapse of the western half of the Roman Empire •The Hellenic emphasis on the polis (city-state) was transformed during the Hellenistic Age, as the city-states saw their power and influence eclipsed by kingdoms and empires •Cities were no longer independent and self-sufficient, especially in terms of foreign affairs •The insularity of Greek city-states was also greatly diminished, as Alexander's conquests of lands as far east as India mixed different cultures throughout the kingdom •The Greeks who once defined themselves by the city they lived in now had to understand themselves in relation to a much larger world •Public and private lives became separate entities, with private affairs becoming more important than public service •Universal principles of truth (like Plato's Forms) were rejected in favor of individual traits

Consequences of Peloponnesian War

•Hellenic society was shattered in the aftermath of the war •Greek politics would devolve into a conflict between oligarchs and democrats •Oligarchs (aristocrats) wanted to consolidate power in their own hands •Democrats wanted to preserve the political rights of all citizens, including the poor •Both sides sought to dominate the Assembly and manipulate the courts •Athens never really recovered from the death of Pericles •Assembly sometimes made rash, foolish decisions (such as the invasion of Syracuse) •Oligarchs seized power in Athens in 411 •The Four Hundred wielded power, restricting citizenship to just 4000 men •After democracy was restored temporarily, oligarchs regained control after Athens was defeated in the Peloponnesian War •Ruling council of Thirty Tyrants held power, trampling the rights of Athenian citizens, seizing property, and condemning many to death •Democrats actually regain control a year later, in 403 •Socrates executed in 399

Cosmopolitanism

•Hellenistic society was characterized by the mingling and exchange of cultures •Greek, Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Hebrew, and Persian cultures interacted •Seleucids in the east typically founded cities patterned on Greek city-states, with popular assemblies and councils •Kingdom was a monarchy, but the kings rarely intervened in cities' internal affairs •Thousands of Greeks settled in these eastern cities •Rulers in the east brought Greek books, statutes, paintings, etc. to their new lands •Greek became the common language of both government and culture, with non-Greeks adopting many of the new Greek ways •Hellenistic cities engaged in larger-scale economic activities that the Hellenic city-states •Greece and the Near East were integrated into a market economy •Wealth and power, not the civic duties of citizenship, became the social ideals •Alexandria, founded by Alexander beside one of the mouths of the Nile River, became the greatest and most representative of all Hellenistic cities •Quickly became a hub of commerce and culture •Had 300,000 residents with 50 years of its founding •By the time of Christ, the city inhabitants numbered about a million, with a mix of Macedonians, Greeks, Romans, Jews, Syrians, Ethiopians, and Arabs •In terms of culture, the city included the famous Library of Alexandria and boasted numerous artists, poets, philosophers, scientists, etc. •Hellenistic cosmopolitanism brought •The increased movement of peoples •The adoption of common currency standards •Expansion of trade •Diverse armies with soldiers recruited from different lands •Greek influence on the Hebrews, as the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek (the Septuagint) and a significant number of cosmopolitan Jews sent their children to Greek schools and adopted Greek ways •Outside the cities, however, Hellenization did not take deep root •Rural areas, especially in the Near East, did not absorb Greek influence, largely choosing to retain their traditional cultures and customs

Hellenistic Philosophy

•Hellenistic thinkers preserved the rational tradition of Greek philosophy •Saw the universe as being governed by natural laws that could be discerned using reason •Focused on the definition and achievement of the good life, one grounded in human conduct and not the aid of the gods •For Hellenistic philosophers, though, the issue was the individual in the cosmopolitan world, not the individual in the city-state •Had to deal with people's feeling of alienation in a world that is much larger than the local polis •Hellenistic philosophers were moralists, not theorists •Less concerned with the nature of the world and with politics •Concentrated on providing the individual with practical guidelines for achieving happiness in a hostile and competitive world •Hellenistic philosophy reflected the general anxiety pervading their society •Hellenistic philosophers' attempt to deal with alienation in society indicates that Greek society was undergoing a spiritual transformation •The gravitation toward the new quasi-religion of Hellenistic philosophy in order to relieve despair would gather crucial momentum, setting the stage for the later proliferation of Christianity •The Hellenistic world would give rise to four principal schools of philosophy •Epicureanism •Stoicism •Skepticism Cynicism

Significance of Greek victory over Persia

•Herodotus painted the Persian Wars as a conflict between Greek freedom and Asian despotism •The victory preserved the cultural and political vitality of Greek civilization •Ushered in a golden age of Athenian democracy - and imperialism •150+ city-states organize a confederation called the Delian League in 498 BC to protect against further incursions by the Persians •Athens assumes leadership of the Delian League and does succeed at driving Persians as well as pirates out of the Aegean Sea •Athens also manipulated the league for its own economic advantage, exploiting its "allies" •Felt that their power gave them the right to dominate other city-states and justified their dominance by saying that the other city-states benefitted from Athens' protection •Athenian domination angered other members of the Delian League

Hittites

•Hittites ruled Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), raided Babylon, and challenged Egypt and Assyria •Old Kingdom (1700-1500 BC) •New Kingdom (1400-1200 BC) •Apart from references to the Hittites in the Bible, little was known of this kingdom until late 19th century excavations of the Hittite capital of Hattusa in modern-day Bogazkale, Turkey) •Writings discovered in 1884; by 1912, had found 10,000 clay tablets from the royal archives •Writing was deciphered pretty quickly •Borrowed features of Mesopotamian civilization, including: •Cuneiform •Legal principles •Literary and art forms •Religion, blended with Indo-European beliefs

Theories of civilization - social surplus theory

•Improved agricultural technology leads to increasing production which leads to development of cities •Surplus of food used for public good, which leads to an elite class in control of those resources

Military Campaigns of Alexander the Great

•In 334 BC, Alexander took an army of 35,000 - 37,000 men (Macedonian and Greek) into Asia Minor •That winter of 334 - 333, he conquered western Asia Minor •Met Darius' forces at the Battle of Issus •After a decisive victory, Darius fled, leaving his family behind •Marched south into Syria and Phoenicia •When Darius sent a letter offering peace, Alexander demanded unconditional surrender to himself as lord of Asia •Darius later offered a huge ransom of 10,000 talents for his family and Persia's ceding of all lands west of the Euphrates River •Besieged and eventually sacked the island city of Tyre in 332 •Conquered Egypt with no resistance (liberating it from Persian rule) in 331, establishing the city of Alexandria •Was declared the son of Zeus-Ammon •Conquest of Egypt gives Alexander control over the entire eastern Mediterranean coast •Moved into Mesopotamia, clashing once again with Darius' army on the plain of Gaugamela, between Nineveh and Arbela •Alexander pursues Darius for 35 miles, but Darius manages to escape eventually after the Persian defeat •Alexander now proclaims himself "King of Asia" •Marched to Persepolis and burned down the palace of Xerxes as a symbolic act of revenge for Xerxes' destruction of the Acropolis •When Darius is assassinated by one of his generals, Alexander orders his body sent for proper burial in the royal tombs at Persepolis •Macedonian troops become more and more uncomfortable with Alexander's demand to be treated as a god and his adoption of Persian customs •Assassination plots are hatched, but conspirators were always identified and executed Even old friends were killed or imprisoned by Alexander for questioning his actions and decisions - a drunken Alexander killed one old friend with a javelin •In 327, Alexander leads his army into northern India •His last great military victory comes at the Battle of the Hydaspes River in 326 •Respect for his opponent, King Porus, leads Alexander to install the defeated Porus as ruler of a region even larger than he initially controlled •Alexander names the newly created city of Bucephala after his horse Bucephalus, who was killed in the battle •Alexander wants to move deeper into India, but his troops mutiny and refuse to go on •Alexander reluctantly gives in and turns back •In all, campaign traversed over 10,000 miles •In June 323, Alexander would die in Babylon at age 32, following ten days of high fever

Second Peloponnesian War

•In 415, an overconfident and imperialistic Athens, spurred on by Alcibiades, sends an expedition to Sicily to defend a distant ally against attack Syracuse •Alcibiades and others had visions of conquering all of Sicily •Alcibiades is accused of religious crimes and flees to Sparta, where he convinces the Spartans that Athenians plan to conquer all of Italian peninsula and use newly acquired resources to conquer the Peloponnese •In Sicily, the general Nicias delays attack on Syracuse, giving them time to appeal to Sparta for help •Spartan forces help Syracuse forces defeat the Athenians •Athens and allies lose 50,000 men and 200 ships •Persia and Sparta now form an alliance, with Persia offering up the money to build a naval fleet in return for Sparta's acknowledgement of Persia's control of Asia Minor •In 405, Athenian fleet is surprised and destroyed by the Spartans in the Hellespont

Second Peloponnesian War

•In 431, Thebes, an ally of Sparta, suddenly attacks Plataea, an ally of Athens, marking the beginning of the Second Peloponnesian War •Peloponnesian army, led by King Archidamos of Sparta invaded Attica, eventually laying siege to Athens •Plague wipes out one-third of Athens' population, including an ousted Pericles, in 429 •The first stage of the war results in stalemate between the sea power of Athens and the land power of Sparta •Peace of Nicias signed in 421, essentially returning both sides to the status quo

Second Persian invasion of Greece

•In 480 BC, Xerxes sends a large force of land soldiers (estimates of 60,000 to 300,000 soldiers) and 500-1200 ships •In order to cross the mile or so of water dividing Asia Minor from Europe, lashed boats together to build a pontoon bridge across the Hellespont •Again, the topography of Greece would create problems for the foot soldiers and the naval ships •Northern Greece is rugged, rocky terrain

First Persian Invasion of Greece

•In 492, Persia tightens its grip over the regions of Thrace and Macedonia, taking away the significant degree of autonomy they had enjoyed up to that point •Darius then sent ambassadors to all other city-states, demanding full submission to Persian rule •All but two Greek city-states agree to Darius' demands •Sparta and Athens execute the ambassadors and agree to form an alliance to defend Greece against Persian aggression •Darius has some inside knowledge of Athens as Hippias, son of Pisistratus, came to live in Persia after being exiled from Athens as king •In 490, Darius sends some 90,000 - 100,000 Persian forces •Forces took the city of Eretria on the island of Euboea, then set sail for Attica, intending to invade Athens •Forces landed at Marathon, about 26 miles from Athens Met by Athenian forces of 10,000 - 20,000

Babylonian Captivity

•In 597, Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar took control of Judah, appointing a new king of Judah (Zedekiah) and deporting some 100,000 Jews to the capital of Babylon (beginning of the Babylonian Captivity or Exile) •Zedekiah foolishly revolts against Babylon, which leads Nebuchadnezzar to fully conquer Judah, destroying Solomon's temple, punishing Zedekiah severely, and deporting the remaining prominent Jerusalem citizens •With the destruction of Jerusalem and what was left of David's kingdom, this marked the darkest moment in ancient Hebrew history •Prophets would call this punishment for violating God's laws •Some Hebrews do not assimilate in Babylon, continuing to worship Yahweh and follow the Law of Moses •Priests put together the Torah by codifying laws/practices to prevent erosion of the faith

Greek religion

•In the Dark Age, Greek religion mixed past beliefs and cults, with gods and goddesses inherited from their Mycenaean past and even prior periods •No prophets •No works of scripture •Over time, Homer's epics and Hesiod's Theogony (poetry) help form the basis for the Olympian religion in Greece •The gods were said to live on Mount Olympus in northern Greece •Pantheistic faith - each city retained its own local gods and rituals in addition to recognizing the Olympian gods •Characteristics of the early stage of Greek religion: •People tried to live in accordance with the wishes of the gods, using prayer, offerings, ritual purifications, seeking of oracles •No official creed and no priests to lead ceremonies •Practice of religion was more social than spiritual •Some Greeks took part in the worship practices of mystic cults •Worshippers of Dionysus, god of wine and fertility, danced and prayed •The Eleusinian cult, purified and rebirthed members for happy life after death •Orphic cult (popular in the sixth century B.C.) taught liberation of the soul after death •Over time, this traditional religion was challenged and undermined by a new spirit of rationality

Ionian School of Philosophy

•Ionian philosophers are called cosmologists due to their interest in the principles of the universe •Cosmologists held that some single, eternal substance gave rise to all phenomena •Ionian philosophers are called "matter philosophers" due to this concept •Ionian School refers to group of philosophers active in and around Miletus on the Ionian coast of Asia Minor during the sixth century BC •Considered to be the earliest of the Greek philosophers •Sought a rational explanation for the origins of the world and of natural phenomena •General features of Ionian philosophy •Designation of a ruling element (air, fire, water, earth) as the basic substance of everything •Preoccupation with the cyclic changes in nature (night/day, summer/winter, etc.) •Rejection of mythological/religious explanations for natural phenomena •Seeing cyclical changes as changes in element dominance (e.g., light recedes at night, allowing darkness to become dominant)

Greece and Persia

•Ionian, Dorian, and Aeolian Greeks had moved into Asia Minor, coming into conflict with the Persian empire •Ionia came under the authority of Persia around 550 BC, with Persian rulers installing tyrants in each city to control the troublesome Ionians •In Persia, Darius had come into power following the reigns of Cyrus the Great and his son Cambyses, consolidating the power of the empire •In 499 BC, the Ionians would revolt against Persian rule, setting in motion a series of events that would eventually bring Persia and Athens into direct conflict

Archaic (Early Dynastic) Period (3100 - 2686 BC)

•King Menes (Narmer) conquers the Red Land and unifies the country, establishing his capital at White Walls (Memphis) •Develop the ideology of kingship •Earliest use of hieroglyphic writing •Menes founded the First Dynasty of Egypt

Assyria

•King Tukulti-Ninurta I defeated the Hittites in 1245 •Tukulti-Ninurta also sacked Babylon, going so far as to plunder its sacred temples •People turned against him because Assyria worshipped many of the same gods as Babylon did, and the king was assassinated in his palace •Kingdom survived the Bronze Age collapse and began to expand by 1100 •Late (Neo-Assyrian) Empire would developed a reputation for ruthlessness and cruelty as it dominated the Middle East between 900 and 600 BC •Occupies Babylon in 729 •Conquers Israel in 722 and Egypt in 671

Assyria

•Kingdom begins to fall apart after the death of King Ashurbanipal II in 627 BC •Nineveh, Ashur, and other cities sacked and burned by Babylonian, Persian, and Mede forces •Ashurbanipal's library at Nineveh would, ironically, be preserved by flaming walls falling on the building and baking hard and burying the clay tablets housed there •Nineveh was soon covered by sands and lay undiscovered for over 2000 years

Mitanni

•Kingdom of Mitanni thrived between 1500 and 1240 BC •Stretched from present-day northern Iraq, down through Syria and into Turkey •Eventually defeated by the Hittites and finally conquered by the Assyrians

Cleisthenes the Democrat (565-508 BC)

•Known as "the father of Athenian democracy" •Assumed the leadership of Athens soon after the reign of Pisistratus' sons had ended •Created new system to make democracy the permanent form of government by: •Engineering a redistricting of the city that overturned the traditional jockeying for position of aristocrats and replaced loyalty to clan with loyalty to the city as a whole •Introduced the practice of ostracism to safeguard Athens against tyranny •Secured democratic principles in the Assembly

Democritus (c. 460-370 B.C.)

•Known as the "laughing philosopher" to his contemporaries because of his emphasis on the value of cheerfulness •First thinker to propose an atomic universe •Along with his teacher Leucippus, argued that the world is composed of tiny particles called "atomos" •Held that the combination of atoms explained all changes in nature •Model of universe had two realities: empty space and an infinite number of atoms •Posited that the Milky Way represented the light of stars and that the universe might be a multi-verse with other life-sustaining planets

Heraclitus (flourished c. 500 BC) of Ephesus

•Known by his contemporaries as the "dark philosopher" because his teachings were so difficult to understand and as "the weeping philosopher" because of his pessimistic view of human nature •Criticized the common nature of life, felt that only philosophers were truly awake and fully alive •Seemed to hold other philosophers of his age in contempt •Taught that things are constantly changing (universal flux), that opposites coincide (unity of opposites), and that fire is the basic material of the world •Logical contradiction built into his thought •Everything is constantly changing •Opposites are identical •Everything is and is not the same

Polybius (c. 200 - 118 BC)

•Leading historian of the Hellenistic Age •Wrote a history explaining Rome's progression to world empire •Original purpose was to narrate the events of the 53 years during which Rome had conquered the known world •Events in his Histories ultimately spanned 188 years, from 264-146 BC •His writing style turned off some contemporaries (one said he was among those who "have left behind them compositions which no one endures to read to the end") •Only the first five of his 40-volume history survived intact

Hellenistic Art

•Like Hellenistic philosophy, Hellenistic art demonstrated a new awareness of the individual •While Hellenic sculpture aimed at ideal beauty, Hellenistic sculpture focused on realism •Main focus of art was on portraying ordinary people as they really were, often in scenes of normal daily life •Often, the subject's face was given an expression that elicited an emotional response •Some subjects were depicted asleep, drunk, etc. •Portraiture - displaying the imperfections of subjects - became popular

Aristotle's Ethics

•Like Socrates and Plato, Aristotle believed in ethics based on reason (Ethics) •The "good life" was the examined life of moderation and reason •"Nothing in excess" is the key to his ethics - man cannot ignore his passions but must control them with reason •Did not set impossible standards for behavior - not all men have the time or intelligence to become a philosopher, but all can experience a good life by applying reason to human affairs

Homer

•Lived during the 8th century BC, just after the Dark Age •Credited with composing the early Greek epics The Iliad and the Odyssey •Exerted a huge influence on Greek character, religion, culture, and literature •Dealt with feelings and thought as well as heroic actions •Emotionally complex characters •Scholars now see Homer's works as representing the culmination of oral traditions dating back to the Mycenaean period

Cycladic Civilization (3000 - 1200 BC) :

•Located in the Cyclades, a group of 200+ islands in the southern Aegean Sea lying between the Greek mainland and Turkey •Split into three periods •Early Period (3000-2000 BC) •Middle Period (2000 - 1500 BC) •Late Period (1500-1200 BC) •Traded with regions in Asia Minor, Europe, North Africa, and Crete •Middle and Late Periods showed heavy influence of Minoan and Mycenaean cultures •Cycladic islands were most known for their white marble and the figurines the people made from that material •Purpose of the figurines is unknown, but they do seem to have been regularly used in funerary practices of both men and women •About 1500 figurines have been found, dating back to the Early Bronze Age (2800-2300 BC)

Minoan Civilization (2600 - 1250 BC)

•Located on the island of Crete, the Minoan Civilization was the first advanced civilization in Europe •Flourished between 1700 and 1450 BC, dominating the Aegean region •A generally peaceful civilization known for its unique art and architecture •Pioneered a model of economic rather than military dominance •Ruins first discovered by Sir Arthur Evans at Knossos in 1900 •By 1905, had discovered extensive ruins confirming ancient accounts of a Cretan civilization and indicating the possible site of the legendary palace and labyrinth of King Minos •Four central locations: •Knossos •Phaistos •Malia Zakros •Each palace location seemingly had control over the local area until 1700 BC, when power on the island seemed to be centralized in Knossos •First palaces built around 2000 BC, rebuilt around 1700 following destructive earthquakes and fires •The rebuilt palaces were destroyed around 1450 BC (fire, earthquake, or possibly invasion) •Conquered by invading Mycenaeans around 1375, and most Minoan sites were completely abandoned by 1200 •Art centered around religion, with common symbols such as: •The snake goddess Knossos •Bulls •Double-headed axes •Used a Base 10 counting system •Used a Cretan Hieroglyphic writing system from 2000-1700, after which time they adopted a writing style we call Linear A •Neither writing style has been deciphered •Written records seem to consist of predominantly administrative clay tablets

Queen Hatshepsut

•Married Thutmose II at age 12, served as regent for her infant stepson Thustmose III after husband's death •Assumed full powers of the pharaoh, becoming co-ruler of Egypt around 1473 BC Demanded that she be depicted as a male in many images and sculptures •Unknown to scholars until 19th century •Only the 3rd woman to become pharaoh in 3000 years and the first to attain the full power of the position Ruled in the New Kingdom

Göbekli Tepe

•Massive, ancient temple site "rediscovered" in 1994 in southeastern Turkey •More than 200 huge stone pillars of up to 16 feet, weighing 7-10 tons each, arranged in some 20 circles •Believed to be the world's oldest religious site, where hunter-gatherer groups may have met to worship, feast, etc. •More than 12,000 years old •Pre-dates the invention of agriculture or pottery •Pre-dates the first "cities" by 7,000 years •Pre-dates Jericho by 2,000 years •Contradicts the idea that agriculture led to civilization Number of workers may have spurred on the development of agriculture

Archimedes of Syracuse (287 - 212 BC)

•Mathematician, physicist, inventor •Established general principles of hydrostatics (pressure and equilibrium of liquids) •Did not discover the lever but did reason out how a lever worked •Invented many war engines and weapons for the defense of Syracuse, including a Death Ray using a system of mirrors

Parmenides (c. 515 - 450 BC) of Elea

•Native of Greek southern Italy, student of Xenophanes of Colophon, founder of the Eleatic School of philosophy •Considered the Father of Metaphysics for his attempts to inquire into the nature of existence itself •Considered the founder of formal logic by applying mathematical thinking to philosophy •Taught a strictly Monistic view of reality •Argued that reality is eternal and unchanging •All of the sensible world is of one basic substance and being, un-created and indestructible •Cosmos cannot be known through experience but only through mind/reason

Paleolithic Age (Old Stone Age)

•Paleolithic Age (Old Stone Age) - 2.6 million to 10,000 BC •Hunter-gatherers •Used primitive, chipped stone tools •Domesticated use of fire around 500,000 BC •Took shelter in caves and tent like structures made of branches •No permanent settlements - moved when food supply ran short •Homo sapiens emerged ~190,000 years ago in East Africa •Developed spoken language •Migrated into Europe and Asia some 40,000 years ago

Age of Pericles

•Pericles was a descendant of Cleisthenes, lived from 495 - 429 BC •Prominent statesman, orator, and general •During his life, and in part due to his influence and promotion, Athens reached its peak in politics, drama, sculpture, architecture, and thought •Introduced the idea of payment for public office •Began the rebuilding of the Parthenon and the Acropolis structures that the Persians had destroyed (misusing the funds of the Delian League to do so) •Led Athens through the first Peloponnesian War and first two years of the Second Peloponnesian War, before dying of the plague in 429 •Playwrights: •Aeschylus (c.525-c.456) •Sophocles (c.496-c.406) •Euripides (c.484-407) •Aristophanes (c.460-c.380) •The historian Herodotus (c.480-c.429) •Medical doctor Hippocrates (460-c.370) •Philosophers: •Protagoras (c.485-c.415) •Anaxagoras (c.500-c.415) Socrates (c.470-399)

After the Babylonian Exile

•Persians conquer Babylon around 537 BC, and Persian King Cyrus allows exiles to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple: •Most of the exiles in Babylon chose to stay there, so those who did return to Judah and Jerusalem had to work hard to rebuild •In 515, the Jews formally dedicate the second temple at Jerusalem •Jewish life is reinvigorated under Nehemiah and Ezra in the 5th century •In 332, Alexander the Great conquered Persia, and Jerusalem submitted to his authority •Greeks would not assert power over Judah until later, leading to the revolt of the Maccabees in 164 BC •In 64 BC, Jerusalem fell to the Romans and the Kingdom of Judah became a province of the Roman Empire (Judea) •In 66 AD, the Judeans revolted against Rome - revolution was crushed and the second temple destroyed in 70 AD

Battle of Thermopylae (480 BC)

•Persians had to pass through the mountain pass at Thermopylae, and this is where the Greeks decided to make their stand •Pass was a gap 15 meters wide with a sheer cliff on the left and the sea on the right •Some 7000 Greeks from various cities stood in the Persians' way, led by Leonidas of Sparta •Greeks held the pass until the third day, when a traitor showed Xerxes' army an alternate path that allowed them to encircle the Greek forces; 300 Spartans stayed to fight while the rest of the Greek forces retreated

Akhenaten

•Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of the New Kingdom, reigning from 1353-1336 BC •Reigned first five years as Amenhotep IV, following religious traditions •Around 1348, suddenly rejected the traditional cult of Amun and the long-worshipped pantheon of gods, declaring Aten, represented by the sun-disk, as the sole god of Egypt •Built a city called Akhetaten, better known as Tell el-Amarna or just Amarna, and made that his capital, moving the royal family and court out of Thebes •First monotheist in recorded history •Priesthood of the cult of Amun had grown rich and powerful in the years leading up to his reign, and they lost all of that when Amenhotep IV, now calling himself Akhenaten ("living spirit of Aten"), outlawed the old Egyptian religion and closed all of the old temples •Akhenaten was now the sole mediator between the people and their god

Phidias

•Phidias served as the chief architect and good friend of Pericles in Athens from 460-429 BC •None of his colossal statues survive •Phidias' monument to Athena stood on the Acropolis •Was completed in 438 BC •Made of gold and ivory and stood some 36 feet in height •Statue of Zeus at Olympia was completed in 430 BC, was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World •Statue was 39 feet tall and filled the height of the temple

Dilemma of Greek Politics

•Philip's conquest of Greece showed the key weakness of Greek politics •Hellenic civilization was unable to fashion any other political framework than the city-state •Unallied city-states were no match for the Macedonian military machine •Greeks had been unable to fulfill the clear need for some form of Pan-Hellenic federation •Waning sense of civic responsibility among citizens •Following the Peloponnesian Wars, Athenians exhibited a permanent change in attitude, pursuing personal agendas over community loyalty •Factional strife aggravated by economic discontent undermined citizenship •Hired mercenaries had been used to fight the Macedonians rather than citizen-soldiers (as in the Age of Pericles) •Greek political life showed the best and worst features of freedom •Pericles had boasted of its active citizens, reason, and government by law •Thucydides lamented its degeneration into self-interest, factionalism, demagoguery, and civil war •Greek democracy, out of excessive pride, overreached itself (as in the decision to invade Sicily) •Greek politics revealed the capabilities and limitations of reason: •The removal of the gods from law established a rational form of government •It also diminished respect for the law as a purely human contrivance •Greek history represents the difficulty of creating and maintaining a rational society

Transition from Hellenic to Hellenistic World

•Philosophers struggled with problems of alienation and community as the Greek world changed •The good life no longer revolved around service to the city-state, and the security of the city-state had also been lost •Many now felt alienated and withdrew into themselves, seeking freedom from emotional stress and looking for meaning in life •Parochialism gave way to universalism and cosmopolitanism with the fusion of so many different cultures •Philosophers began to look at the entire civilized world as one community, but many individuals still yearned to discover a new form of community they felt they belonged in

Epicureanism

•Philosophy started by Epicurus (341-270 BC), who founded a school in Athens •Taught the value of passivity and withdrawal from public life •Citizenship had nothing to do with happiness •Thought men should avoid politics, the pursuit of wealth and fame, and just try to live justly •Rejected the idea of an afterlife and saw man's fear of eternal punishment as a primary cause of anxiety •Thought men should live without considering the gods because the gods have no impact on human lives •Taught that happiness was achieved in being free of pain and suffering as well as worry and anxiety •Rejected unbridled hedonism, stressed the importance of moderation •Said enjoying the company of friends was essential in order to enjoy the good life •To Epicurus, pleasure was leading a life of restful contemplation, eating and drinking in moderation, living without worry or anxiety •Welcomed all - men and women, Greek and non-Greek, etc. - to his philosophy •"Pleasure is the principle and end to a happy life." •"Live unknown." •Wrote over 37 volumes, but only fragments of his writing survived •Four fundamental truths of Epicureanism •There are no divine being that can threaten us •There is no afterlife •What we actually need is easy to obtain •What makes us suffer is easy to endure

Plato's Just State

•Plato applied rational Greek philosophy to politics, created a rational model of the state •Where Socrates took on the problem caused by Sophists (the undermining of traditional values) by arguing for the spiritual transformation of the individual, Plato focused on the community •To live an ethical life, individuals need to live in a just and rational state •Plato's politics were shaped by his experience and his disillusionment with Athens •Served in the Peloponnesian War and lived through the political turmoil that followed •Shifts between oligarchy and democracy •Trial and execution of Socrates •Corruption that now ran through Athenian politics •Thought that Athens needed moral and political reform based on Socrates' philosophy •In The Republic, Plato devised the ideal state based on rational standards that he believed would save Athens •Just state must be founded not on tradition or on might, but on absolute moral norms •The state must be aimed at the moral improvement of its citizens •The just state required leaders of wisdom and virtue •Criticism of Athenian democracy was central to Plato's political theory •Thought it was foolish to think that common men were cut out to lead or to make informed decisions on economics, foreign policy, etc. •Pointed out the dangers of demagogues usurping power - men could gain followings based only on their charisma, good looks, wealth, etc., or someone gains power by promising to plunder the rich and becomes a tyrant •Thought that democracy could degenerate into anarchy, as liberty often leads to license •Believed Athens could only be governed properly by philosopher-kings •Government and education should only be entrusted by those trained and experienced in solving problems with reason and wisdom - philosophers •Plato's proposed organization of the state corresponded to his idea of the soul/nature •Believed the soul has three major capacities •Reason (the pursuit of knowledge) •Spiritedness (courage, ambition) •Desire (for food, sex, possessions, etc.) •In the well-governed soul, spiritedness and desire are guided by reason and knowledge •Divided people into three major groups •Those inclined to philosophy (should be rulers) •Those inclined to courage (should be soldiers) •Those driven by desire (everyone else - farmers, artisans, etc.) •Also believed that all men and women should be educated equally and have equal access to all occupations, including philosopher-ruler •Plato's just state rested on primacy of intellect and social harmony, the recognition of inequalities and diversity, and from individuals doing what they do best and what they are suited to do •Properly trained philosophers would not pursue wealth or power when the time came for them to rule •Contradicts radical Sophists' claim that justice was the right of the strong, or doing what one desires •Philosophers would be absolute rulers •Common people would have no say in how the state was run •Repudiates principles of a free community •Right to participate in government •Equality before the law •Checks on leaders' power •Freedom of thought •People were to be told "noble lies" by philosopher-rulers to keep them obedient •Purpose of The Republic was to warn Athenians of looming degeneration, need for reform via joining of truth and justice, power and wisdom

Plato's Theory of Forms

•Plato postulated the existence of higher world of reality, independent of experience •This higher realm was the realm of Ideas, or Forms •Forms are unchanging, eternal, absolute, universal standards of beauty, goodness, justice, truth •Truth resides in the world of Forms •The world we see is a faulty representation of this real world (Allegory of the Cave) - unstable, imperfect, transitory, etc. •The good life is achieved by living in accordance with the perfect standards - using reason rather than the senses •Just as the perfect square cannot be drawn by an individual, we can only hope to come as close as possible to understanding ideas such as beauty, justice, goodness, etc. •In opposition to the Sophists, Plato maintained that objective and eternal standards do exist •Plato's two-world philosophy, with its higher realm of perfect Forms, and his belief in the soul's immortality, had a significant influence on Christian, Jewish, and Muslim thought

Egyptian religion - polytheism

•Polytheism (worship of many gods) took many forms •We know of at least 1500 named Egyptian gods and goddesses •Most represented an aspect of nature or the world (Ra was the sun god, for example) •Most were benevolent, but some were ambivalent or even malevolent •Many were seen as taking the form of a combination of man and animal

Gorgias (c. 487-376 B.C.)

•Primary figure, along with Protagoras, in the first generation of Sophists •Concentrated on rhetoric and oratory, which can be used to persuade others on any course of action •Attacked the idea that thought alone can be used to establish true knowledge •In terms of existence, argued that it is just as easy to show that being is unchanging and timeless as it is to show that being has no existence at all •Plato decried Gorgias as a "mere Sophist" who entertains his audience with eloquent words while believing it is unnecessary to learn the truth about what he is talking about

Anaximenes (d.528 BC) of Miletus

•Probably a student of Anaximander's •Believed that air is the source of all things, with its form depending on its density •When air is thinned, it becomes fire •When air is condensed, it becomes wind, then cloud •When air is greatly condensed, it becomes earth, then stone •Compared "divine air" sustaining the universe with the "air" (soul) that animates people •Described a rainbow as an effect of the sun's rays on compacted air (rather than the goddess Iris)

Pre-Socratic Contributions to Scientific Thought

•Provided natural explanations for physical phenomena (Ionians) •Posited a mathematical order of nature (Pythagoreans) •Stressed the importance of proving ideas through the use of logic (Parmenides) •Posited the mechanical structure of the universe (Democritus) •Gave nature a rational, rather than an unquestioned mythical, foundation and established the importance of grounding theories in evidence that can be logically defended (critical analysis) •Went beyond observation and the collection of data to think about things theoretically and to search for mathematical laws underlying natural processes •Influenced the establishment of mathematical and medical systems of investigation that excluded supernatural explanations •The physician Hippocrates (c. 460-377 B.C.) said that disease "had a natural cause, and its supposed divine origin is due to men's inexperience, and to their wonder at its peculiar character" •Essentially, the early Greek philosophers created the tools of reason

Euripides (c. 480 - 406 BC)

•Rationalist spirit of Greek philosophy permeates Euripides' tragedies •Critical spirit (like the Sophists) brought to human life and conventions •Focuses on gods, women's conflicts, horrors of war, passion, and suffering •Emphasized humanitarian concerns of his day •Expressed hostility to the Peloponnesian War •Depicted warriors as brutes rather than heroes, decried the savagery of Athens' sacking of the city of Melos •In Medea, analyzes the power of consuming passion vs. reason •18 of his 85 plays survive intact •Known for being the most socially critical of Greek tragedians •Often featured strong female characters and intelligent slaves •Satirized many of the heroes of Greek mythology •Less decorated than Aeschylus and Sophocles •First competed in the City Dionysia in 455, coming in third (reportedly refused to cater to the fancies of the judges) •Did not win first prize until 441 •Won only five first prizes in his career •Plays were often considered too controversial and too non-traditional for Greek audiences of his time •Reportedly left Athens, embittered over his defeats in competitions, for Macedonia in 408, dying a couple of years later •Added new elements of intrigue and comedy to his tragedies •Spiced things up with some thoroughly immoral characters •Credited as the creator of the love drama •Frequently denounced as a blasphemer and misogynist and considered an inferior dramatist to his predecessors •More popular with audiences than with critics of his time •Aristophanes said he made tragedy more democratic •Most recognized play is Medeia, where Jason abandons his wife Medeia for another woman, and Medeia exacts her revenge by killing her children

Aristophanes (c. 446 - c. 386 BC)

•Regarded as the Father of Comedy •11 of his 40 plays survive intact, the only surviving examples of Greek Old Comedy •Recreates life in ancient Athens more realistically than any other author of the time, although his biting satire and ridicule of famous Athenians came close to slander •Admired ancient values and was infuriated by corruption, which he blamed on the Sophists •Used humor as social criticism •Targets included literary men like Euripides, politicians (especially corrupt ones like Cleon, the militant successor to Pericles), and philosophers (like Socrates) •Something of a conservative who did not care for radical new influences in Athenian society •Angered some political authorities with his caricatures of them. Cleon tried to prosecute him for slander but was unable to do so legally •Despite Aristophanes' ridicule of Socrates in The Clouds, Plato painted a genial picture of the comedian in his dialogue Symposium •Lysistrata (written soon after Athens' catastrophic expedition to Sicily) is an antiwar comedy in which the women of Greece decide to withhold sex from their husbands until they end the Peloponnesian War •The Frogs features a debate in Hades between Aeschylus and Euripides over which one is the better poet

Herodotus (c. 484 - c. 424 BC)

•Regarded as the Father of History •Has also been called The Father of Lies by Plutarch and other critics •Some questionable things have proven to be the result of mistranslation •Obviously some of his information and conclusions were inaccurate •Herodotus also had a penchant for storytelling and may have exaggerated at times •Wrote a famous and influential history of the Persian Wars called The Histories •Focused on contrast between Near Eastern despotism and Greek freedom •Emphasis on despotic rule in the east in contrast to Greek city-states •Also emphasized punishment for hubris (Xerxes calls down his own punishment) •Born in Halicarnassus, a Greek city then under Persian rule in Asia Minor •Traveled widely and collected stories and information on his journeys •First to make an organic, systematic study of the past or who tried to explain historical events in terms of cause and effect •Explained the why and how of the Persian war, not just a story of what happened •Remains a primary source for reliable information on the ancient world •5 things make Herodotus rise above the level of storyteller to historian •He recognized that there was value in studying the past •He asked questions rather than merely repeating legends - analyzed what happened and looked for cause and effect •Held a cautious and critical attitude toward his sources •Examined both critically and disinterestedly the histories of both the Greeks and the Persians •He removed the gods from historical roles (although he did retain a belief in oracles, omens, and the significance of dreams)

Pindar (c. 518 - c. 438 BC)

•Regarded as the greatest lyric poet of ancient Greece •Nearly one-quarter of his works survive in complete form, whereas the poetry of most Greek poets was almost entirely lost •17 volumes of his poetry were known in antiquity •Wrote many choral works for religious celebrations and to honor victors in athletic events (Olympic and other major games) •Expressed aristocratic view of excellence •Man must demonstrate worth by striving for excellence

Ashurbanipal

•Reigned 668-627 BC •Achieved greatest territorial expansion of Assyrian Empire •Known for his cruelty toward defeated foes: •Forced one defeated king to live, with a dog chain through his jaw, in a kennel after his capture •Also a well-educated scholar best known for his library in Nineveh: •Boasted of being able to read Sumerian as well as Assyrian writing and of stones written before the Flood •Library held over 30,000 clay tablets, assembled from all over the Assyrian Empire •Discover of the library in 1850 is one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time

Egyptian religion

•Religious beliefs formed the foundation of Egyptian civilization - art, medicine, astronomy, literature, government, etc. •Pyramids traditionally seen as tombs for the pharaohs •Mummification and elaborate death rituals were performed to help guide the dead pharaoh in his journey to the afterlife •Pharaoh seen as both a god and a man •Controlled the floodwaters of the Nile •Kept irrigation works in order •Maintained justice in the land •Expressed the will of the gods •Continued to help his living subjects after his death •Magical phrases pervaded medicine •Developed advanced mathematics and astronomical knowledge •Monuments oriented to the stars •Astrology/astronomy used to select the best time for rites and sacrifices •Earliest literature was entirely religious •Ethical treatises, like the Book of Instruction, encouraged social behavior based on religious ideas

Pythagoras (c.571- c.497 BC)

•Reportedly a student of Anaximander's, emigrated from Ionia to southern Italy •Most famous today for his Pythagorean Theorem •Discovered that intervals in the musical scale can be expressed mathematically •Posited that the universe was also structured in mathematical harmony •He and his followers shift emphasis from matter to form, from sense perception to the logic of mathematics •Pythagoreans were also religious mystics who believed in immortality and the transmigration of the soul (i.e., reincarnation)

Limitations of Athenian Democracy

•Resident aliens were barred from citizenship •Slaves (1/4 of population) had no freedoms •Greeks believed that slavery was necessary if free citizens were to have the time to perform their civic duties •Women had no political and few legal rights •Men believed that women, by their nature, were incapable of dealing with finances or other important matters Ancient critics attacked Athenian democracy as mob rule by amateurs

Tutankhamun (King Tut)

•Ruled 1336-1327 BC, died at the age of 18 or 19 •Only Egyptian pharaoh whose tomb was discovered undisturbed

Appolonius of Rhodes (born 295 BC)

•Scholar, poet, and director of the Library of Alexandria •Student of Callimachus - legends of a literary feud between the two are probably sensationalized •Most famous work is the Argonautica, an epic poem about Jason's search for the Golden Fleece (6000 words, significantly shorter than Homer's 16000-word The Iliad)

Aramaeans

•Settled in Syria, Palestine, and northern Mesopotamia between the 11th and 8th centuries BC •Caravan traders who carried goods and cultural patterns across the Near East •In 1030 BC, a coalition of southern Aramaeans joined with Ammonites and Edomites to attack Israel - were defeated by King David •Were eventually absorbed into the Assyrian Empire

Hammurabi

•Sixth king of the Amorite First Dynasty of Babylon, reigned 1792-1750 BC •Expanded Babylonian rule across the entire region during his reign •Most famous for his law code •Harsh law code reflects multi-ethnic, multi-tribal reality of the Babylonian empire •Not all people - or cities - had the same understanding of the will of the gods •Laws established retributive justice - an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth •Hammurabi's empire would later be destroyed by Hittite invaders in 1595 BC

Skepticism

•Skepticism attacked the Epicurean and Stoic views that there was a definite path to happiness •Held that nothing can be known with certainty and that there are no absolute truths •Found contentment in freeing themselves from any and all dogmatic beliefs •Some Skeptics taught indifference to all theory and the utility of conforming to accepted views •"Go along to get along" and follow the crowd in order to avoid arguments and explanations •Committing to no system of belief led to peace of mind •These Skeptics were suspicious of all ideas and hostile to intellectuals, especially those full of ideas about the importance of living rationally •More sophisticated Skeptics refuted theories and pointed out the limitations of ideas •Insisted that there were no absolutes, only probabilities •Stressed the importance of practical experience over dogma

Dialectics

•Socrates' method of inquiry was dialectics (logical discussion) •Felt that a dialogue with others (or oneself) was the essential source of knowledge, one that compels the critical examination of one's ideas •Learning was a creative act, and dialogue compelled the individual to play an active role in acquiring ideas and values •Only through the use of reason could one attain and live a good and moral life •Virtue requires knowledge •The Socratic method has come to be defined as an educational strategy that involves the cross-examination of one speaker by another

King Solomon

•Solomon becomes king c. 962 BC •Jerusalem becomes the trade and religious center of ancient Israel •Trade and construction flourish •Makes allies with nearby kingdoms, including Egypt and Phoenicia •Uses riches coming in from trade to build a glorious temple in Jerusalem to house the Ark of the Covenant •Israel reaches the height of its power and prosperity •Solomon's building projects did require high taxes and great deal of labor •In 922 BC, after Solomon's death, tax policies and territorial rivalries divide Israel into two kingdoms: •Kingdom of Israel in the north •Kingdom of Judah in the south

Sparta

•Sparta was a city-state situated on the Peloponnesian peninsula •In Greek mythology, Sparta was founded by Lacedaemon, a son of Zeus, and participated in the Trojan War under King Menelaus •Founded around 1000 BC by Dorians who migrated to that region of Greece •Messenian Wars •Sparta conquered Messenia c.735-715 BC •Kept the defeated Messenians as state serfs, or Helots - essentially, these were slaves to the state rather than to individual Spartan masters •In c.660, Sparta put down a revolt by the Messenians •To better control the Helots, who outnumbered them 10-1, Sparta transformed itself into an armed camp populated by soldiers

The Prophets

•Spiritually inspired prophets emerged in times of distress •Great prophets of the Hebrew people included Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, and Jeremiah •Prophets saw national misfortune as an opportunity for repentance and reform •8th century BC brings a flowering of literary prophecy, with prophets critiquing the disparity between the rich and the poor and pointing to social evils: •Amos denounces pomp and hypocrisy, calls for social conduct to be unified with religion •Amos and other prophets stress direct spiritual-ethical encounters between the individual and God •Put forth the revolutionary social doctrine that everyone has an equal right to justice •Argued that life on earth could be improved by individuals behaving morally

Athens

•Striking contrast between city-states of Athens and Sparta •Athens, a city-state near the coast, had a strong navy, an expansionist outlook, and stood as the commercial and cultural leader among the Greeks •Had a daring and aggressive attitude rather than an isolationist and defensive posture, looking to expand influence over other Greek city-states •Athens emphasized personal and political freedom rather than military discipline •Athens, like most Greek city-states, moved through four stages: •Rule by king (monarchy) •Rule by land-owning aristocrats (oligarchy) •Rule by a single man who seized power (tyranny) •Rule by the people (democracy)

Old Kingdom (2686-2181 BC)

•Strong centralized state under powerful pharaohs of third and fourth dynasties •Expanded kingdom into Libya and Nubia •Under fifth and sixth dynasties, pharaohs' wealth and power faltered, as the nobility and priesthood grew in influence •Kingdom fell into chaos following the death of King Pepy II

Aristotle (384 - 322 BC)

•Student of Plato for some 20 years, known in his time as "the man who knew everything" •Wrote some 200 treatises, only 31 of which survive, on various philosophical and scientific subjects (biology, politics, metaphysics, agriculture, literature, medicine, theatre, etc.) •Tutored Alexander the Great, who would spread Aristotle's writings throughout the known world of that time •Founded his own school, the Lyceum •Achieved creative synthesis of earlier thinkers' knowledge and theories

Plato (c. 427 - 347 BC)

•Student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle •Established an Academy in Athens in 387 •Wrote around 30 dialogues, most of which feature Socrates as the main character •Plato used Socratic ideas to create a comprehensive philosophical system •Wanted to arrange political life by rational rules, transform community via reason •Two principal concerns were his theory of Ideas (Forms) and his theory of the just state •Decided to follow a strange semi-homeless man named Socrates around as he annoyed people with a battery of questions that were carefully designed to reveal that they didn't know what they were talking about

Anaximander (c. 611-547 B.C.) of Miletus

•Student of Thales, but rejected Thales' theory of water as the original and basic substance •Argued that an indefinite substance called "the Boundless" was the source of all things •Offered a natural explanation of the universal origin of things •First to conceive a mechanical model of the world •Thought the seed of the world emerged from this primary mass of the Boundless: •Powers of cold and wet condensed to form earth and clouds •Hot and dry formed the moon, sun, and stars •Heat from the sky dried the earth, and life emerged

First Intermediate Period (2181-2040 BC)

•Succession of weak rulers ended in civil war among provincial governors in 2160 •Bedouin invasion and famine added to Egypt's problems •Two kingdoms emerged, eventually leading to civil war •Mentuhotep reunited the two kingdoms, beginning the 11th Dynasty

Sumer

•Sumerian canals were the world's first engineering works •Small-scale irrigation around 6000 BC •Complex irrigation networks around 5000 BC •Irrigation required coordinated effort of many people, which promoted the development of local government •Independent, autonomous city-states would emerge in Sumer •Each city was built around a temple to a god or goddess specific to that city-state •Each governed by a priest king •Contained one or more ziggurats •Well fortified with thick walls •Ruling family, leading officials, and priests at the top, civil servants (scribes) and craftsmen/merchants in the middle, with peasant farmers and then slaves at the bottom of Sumerian society •Worshipped a pantheon of gods •Primary gods were Anu, lord of heaven; Enlil, god of air and storms, and Ea/Enki, god of water

Classical Greek Art

•The Classical age of Greek Art lasted from 479 BC to 323 BC (from the end of the Persian Wars to the death of Alexander the Great) •Like Greek philosophy and politics, art applied reason to human experience •Moved away from mythic and religious themes to secular human themes •Sought to imitate human anatomy at rest and in motion as closely as possible •Also aspired to an idealistic vision, seeking to depict the essence of a thing in its most flawless form •Just like Greek philosophers, classical Greek artists proclaimed the importance and creative capacity of the individual

Ancient Greece and the Study of History

•The Greeks initiated a new and different approach to studying history, one that removed mythical elements and examined things critically •Rather than putting together annals or records of divine intervention, early Greek historians put their emphasis on human actions •Emphasized the deeds of people, based answers on factual evidence, and wrote in prose style •Greeks began the idea that history can be a science •At the same time, the Greeks were ahistorical in their cyclical notion of history - unlike the Hebrews, who had a notion of historical uniqueness and progression

Hebrew Scriptures

•The Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) are called the Tanak by Jews •39 books in all (24 by Jewish tradition) •Divided into 3 sections •Torah, meaning Instruction or Law - the Pentateuch or 5 books of Moses •Nevi'im, meaning Prophets •Ketuvim, meaning Writings - books of history, wisdom, poetry, and psalms •Hebrew Scriptures represent Jewish oral and written tradition from 1250 to 150 BC •Texts include history, poetry, legends, and religious inspiration •Record more than 1000 years of ancient Jewish history •Scriptures' emphasis on human qualities and the relationship with God play a crucial role in the development of Western civilization

The Individual and Moral Autonomy

•The Hebrew conception of God made possible an increased awareness of the individual •Hebrews developed the notions of personal worth and moral autonomy •Hebrews insisted that God did not create people to be slaves •Men and women had the individual responsibility to choose between good and evil •Hebrews rejected the worshipping of idols or other gods (another break with Near Eastern religions) •Felt that ultimate loyalty could only be granted to God, not to a human ruler or institution •Freedom means voluntary obedience to God's commands •The human dilemma is that freedom to choose includes the freedom to choose to disobey God and suffer the consequences •Hebrew assertion of human dignity and autonomy is at the core of the Western tradition

Homer

•The Iliad tells the story of the end of the Trojan War, which did go back centuries to the Mycenaean times •It emphasizes the cause and consequences of wrath via the quarrel between the arrogant Agamemnon and a vengeful Achilles •Shows both people and gods as subject to fate, to an unchangeable framework •In Homer we find the beginnings of Greek humanism - a concern with the individual and his achievements •Three principles in Homer's writing become key to Greek (and Western) thought •A sense of a universal order to things •Emphasis on honor and dignity, bravery and skill •Primacy of the individual - human respect the gods, but they choose whether to follow or disobey them in striving for honor and excellence

The Greek 4th Century: Retrospective

•The Peloponnesian War was the great crisis of Hellenic history: •Marked the end of the cultural golden age of Athens •City-states of Greece never recovered •Civic loyalty and confidence of the 5th century waned •Private concerns overwhelmed devotion to the community •Professional politicians and mercenary soldiers took the place or ordinary citizens •Factors shaping political history in 4th century Greece: •Athens lost its chance to unite the Greek world •Provincial-minded Spartans proved unable to govern the Greeks: •Formerly democratic city-states quickly threw off the pro-Spartan oligarchies installed there •City-states formed new alliances and fought each other regularly Civil wars between the rich and poor took place in many city-states

Sophists: A Rational Investigation of Human Society

•The Sophists exemplify a shift to rational methods, particularly in the civic realm •Argued that speculation about first principles was useless because unknowable •Said individuals should apply reason to matters of citizenship and statesmanship •Itinerant professional teachers who offered young Greek aristocrats an education in rhetoric and public speaking, as well as grammar, mathematics, music, etc. •Served as tutors to politically ambitious young men in Athens and other Greek cities •Taught the art of persuasion and argument, largely abandoning science, philosophy, mathematics, and ethics •Plato and Aristotle attacked sophistry as the art of fallacious reasoning and intellectual charlatanism, but Western humanist tradition was significantly shaped by Sophists' interest in political/ethical concerns •Sophists examined political and ethical ideas, cultivated the minds of their students •Sophists argued that no man was a slave by nature and that all people, Greek or not, were fundamentally alike •Argued that no truth is universally valid (philosophical relativism) •Good and evil are matters of community and individual judgment •Law was a human invention that hopefully derived from the judgment of wise men •Challenged traditional religious and moral values of society •Some argued that religion was a human invention intended to keep people from doing bad things •Did undermine traditional authority by claiming that laws were not based on divine judgments or absolute truths of right and wrong •Implied that laws did not need to be obeyed if they were only based on the might of a person or group and that the strong have the right to exploit the weak •Radical sophists attacked the Athenian tradition of moderation and self-disciple, arguing that an individual should maximize pleasure •By applying their critique of reason to traditional beliefs, Sophists triggered something of an intellectual and spiritual crisis, indirectly encouraging •Loss of respect for authority •Disobedience to law •Neglect of civic duty •Selfish individualism •This contributed to the decline in civic responsibility during and after the Peloponnesian Wars

Egyptian religion - afterlife

•The afterlife was the key to Egyptian religion •Mummification preserved the dead •Practice began in Egypt around 3500 BC, based on myth of Osiris •Eternal life was only possible if the physical body remained intact and was kept as life-like as possible •Different parts of the soul, such as the ka (astral self) needed to see the body to remember and orient themselves once released from the body •For pharaohs, hieroglyphics on the walls helped the king ascend to heaven (Osiris) •Body was buried with goods that would supposedly be needed in the afterlife •"Opening of the mouth" ceremony conducted prior to sealing of the tomb

The Covenant and the Law

•The covenant (God's agreement with the Hebrew people) was central to Hebrew religious thought and history •As a nation, the Hebrews saw themselves as a "chosen people" rescued from bondage in Egypt so that they could lead others to know God •As a nation, Jews bore a heavy responsibility of being moral teachers of humanity •Ten Commandments were believed to be a divine moral code which all Hebrews were obligated to follow •Violating divine law meant breaking the covenant, which could lead to major national implications for any violation •Justice became a central theme of Hebrew ethics, especially a duty to care for the poor and the weak •The full code of Hebrew law was much more detailed than just the 10 Commandments and governed all sorts of social and religious conventions (613 sub-commandments in the Torah)

Early Greek philosophy

•The first theoretical philosophers emerge in sixth century BC Greek cities of Ionia in Asia Minor: •Ionians sought physical, rather than mythic-religious, explanations for natural occurrences •Believed nature contained a hidden, intelligible structure (general laws) •Believed that the natural world could be investigated rationally and systematically •This new naturalistic outlook marks the emergence of scientific thought •Possible conditions enabling this breakthrough in rational thought: •Familiarity with Near Eastern achievements in mathematics and science •Poetic conception of humanity being subject to universal destiny extended into a belief that nature was governed by laws •Greek freedom from a priesthood and rigid religious doctrines that would have limited thought •Extension of thought that, if laws governed cities and human affairs, the universe should also be regulated by laws

The Hebrew Idea of History

•The idea of God made the Hebrews aware of the importance of historical time •To the Hebrews, the Exodus and the covenant at Mount Sinai were singular, nonrepetitive events: •Thus, Hebrews kept the past alive through rituals and celebrations •They also valued the future, seeing history as a process leading to a goal with God's active intervention •For the Hebrews, history was a divine drama filled with sacred and moral meaning •Historical events were seen as being worth recording

Sophocles (496 - 406 BC)

•The most successful of the three primary tragedians of ancient Greece •Won at least 20 festival competitions, including 18 at the City Dionysia •Was still writing plays at the age of 90 •First playwright to use painted scenery •Introduced a third actor, keeping the chorus as both a protagonist and commentator on events •Focused more on the individual than Aeschylus did •Developed deep and complex characters •Often wrote about well-intentioned characters struggling in vain against fate, ignoring signs of danger and coming to tragic ends •Oedipus Rex (429 B.C.) is exploration of human psyche •Tragedy gives Oedipus the strength to assert his moral independence •The "catharsis," or purging of the audience's emotions, comes from Oedipus' self-inflicted punishment •Oedipus, despite his tragic fate, chooses to punish himself with blindness, thus showing courage and nobility of character in accepting his situation •In Antigone, Sophocles examines the conflict between individual morality and the requirements of the state, as Antigone defies what she considers to be the unjust authority of Creon's ruling •Wrote between 123 and 130 tragedies, only seven of which survive intact •Actively involved in Athenian military and political affairs, even serving as one of Athens' 10 generals on a couple of occasions •In his later years, Sophocles' son accused him of senility in a bid to gain control of the family property •Reportedly read from a brand new play to prove his soundness of mind to the jury

Individualism

•The universalism of the Prophets was accompanied by an awareness of the individual's value to God •In the early 6th century BC, Jeremiah predicted doom for sinful Judah, emphasizing individual responsibility and the coming of a new covenant between God and each person •Jewish prophets understood God's law as an appeal to the inner person •This prophetic emphasis on individuality is another key legacy of the Hebrews' importance to the Western tradition

Division of Israel into 2 kingdoms

•These scattered Israelites merge and assimilate with other peoples throughout the empire, disappearing from history and becoming known as the 10 Lost Tribes of Israel •Assyrians who settled in Jerusalem and other parts of Israel began worshipping Yahweh along with their native gods and, within a couple of centuries, were worshipping Yahweh exclusively •This led to the schism between the Samaritans, who were Assyrian, and the Hebrews

Sparta

•True Spartans were concerned only about soldiering and fighting for their city •Helots performed all agricultural labor •Trade and crafts were the domain of the periokoi, conquered Greeks who were free but were not granted Spartan citizenship •Spartan boys began military training at the age of 7 •Spartan soldiers were better trained and more disciplined than any other soldiers in Greece •Consequences of their military focus was a failure to take part in the cultural enlightenment that pervaded the other Greek city-states and economic isolation from the rest of Greece •Sparta did emerge as the leader of the Peloponnesian League by 500 BC •Strongest land forces in Greece •Saw League in defensive rather than expansionist terms •Would later come into conflict with Athens and her allies in the Peloponnesian wars

Second Intermediate Period (1786-1570 BC)

•Two different dynasties vied for power, one in Thebes and one in the Nile delta •Around 1650, Hyksos invaders seized control of northern Egypt, while southern Egypt paid the Hyksos taxes •Thebans launched war against the Hyksos around 1570 and drove them out of Egypt

Universalism and Parochialism

•Two key tendencies in Hebrew thought were universalism and parochialism •Parochialism stresses the special destiny of the Hebrews as God's "chosen people" •Universalism is characterized by a concern for all of humanity, as expressed by the Hebrew prophets •Prophets of universalism desired all nations to join peacefully under God

Competing Dynasties

•Unfortunately, Alexander died before he could establish well-organized government institutions, and his one male child was unborn at the time of his death •Generals in his army fought over control of the empire •Wars of Succession (Wars of the Diadochi) lasted 30 years and basically ended in stalemate •By 275 BC, Alexander's empire was fractured into three kingdoms/dynasties: •Ptolemies in Egypt •Seleucids in western Asia •Antigonids in Macedonia •A fourth dynasty later emerged in western Asia Minor, the kingdom of Pergamum •In 275 BC, Ptolemaic Egypt was the greatest power in the Hellenistic world •The Seleucid Empire was the largest, however, and eventually defeated the Ptolemaic forces, taking control of Phoenicia and Palestine •All of these separate kingdoms would eventually be absorbed by the Romans

Hebrew History

•Wandering Israelites return to Canaan and join other Hebrew tribes •Israelites were loosely organized into a confederation of twelve self-governing tribes under Yahweh •In times of crisis, God would raise up judges to unite the tribes and provide judicial and military leadership •During the period of the Judges, the people lived in scattered communities with no central government •Philistines invade in the late 11th century and dominate Israelite territory •12 Tribes eventually decide to unite under a single king: •Saul named first king of Israel in mid-1000s BC •Saul falls out of favor with God and is killed in battle with the Philistines •David is named king around 1010 BC

First Peloponnesian War

•War drags on inconclusively •In 446, a Thirty Year Treaty is agreed upon •Recognizes two spheres of influence •Athens and the city-states of the Aegean Sea •Sparta and land-states of the Peloponnese and central Greece •Neither side is to commit an act of aggression against the other •Treaty is tested in 433 when Athens, under Pericles' persuasion, sends 30 triremes ("for defensive purposes only") to aid the Corcyrans against Corinth •In 432, Sparta, arguing that Athens has broken the Thirty Year Treaty, demands the withdrawal of Athenian ships •Pericles persuades the Assembly not to give in to Spartan demands, calls for independent arbitration

Achievements of Athenian Democracy

•Western civilization would be based on the principle of the state being a community of free, self-governing citizens •Athenian democracy embodied the principle of the legal state - one based on community laws rather than force •Removing myth and religion from politics, the Athenians created a government based on the rational mind, and the accountability of human leaders •Democratic politics and systematic political thought originated in ancient Greece •Citizenship & constitutions •Equality before the law •Government by law •Reasoned debate •Respect for the individual •Greeks saw the good of the individual and the good of the community as synonymous •No perception of the state as a potential threat to personal freedom

The Greek Achievements: Reason, Freedom, Humanism

•Western thought begins with the Greeks, who were the first to define individuality by the capacity to reason •Mesopotamian/Egyptian peoples had no idea of individuality or political liberty •In contrast, Greeks created civic politics and political freedom •For the Greeks, the state was a civilizing agent helping one live "the good life" among a community of free and equal citizens •Ancient Greeks believed that power should be regulated by law and justice, that men are capable of governing themselves, and that public service is a citizen's duty •Greeks also gave Western civilization the idea of inner, ethical freedom •The individual is free to choose between good and evil actions •Socrates and others inspired men to lead an autonomous, moral life •Underlying all Greek efforts was a humanist attitude toward life and the dignity of the individual •Maximum cultivation of human talent •Full development of human personality •Deliberate pursuit of excellence •Greek thinkers repeatedly warned of catastrophic social breakdown without necessary: •Restraining forces of law •Civic institutions •Moral norms •Character training •Greeks broke with the past and founded the rational/humanist Western tradition

Hebrew History

•While dwarfed in size by the great empires of the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians and Egyptians, it was the Hebrews who exerted the biggest influence on western society and the western intellectual tradition •Yahweh was neither a localized deity nor a physical being •The name Hebrews refers to Abraham and his descendants •Main Biblical name of the Jewish people is the name Israel (the name given to Jacob) - Jacob's descendants are known as Israelites •Jews are named after Jacob's son Judah, the father of the tribe from which King David would come; name came into widespread use following the split of Israel into two kingdoms and destruction of the northern kingdom, when only the southern kingdom of Judah was left •Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were technically not Jews because they lived prior to the Exodus and the birth of the Jewish people •After a famine struck Canaan, many Hebrews migrated to Egypt and lived well, causing the pharaoh concern •Pharaoh eventually made the Hebrews slaves •Under the leadership of Moses, the Hebrews escape Egypt around 1300-1200 BC •Hebrews wander the Sinai desert for 40 years

Post-Ionian pre-Socratic philosophies

•While the Ionian philosophers were considered matter philosophers, holding the view that everything issued from a particular material substances, other 6th century philosophers defined nature in terms of forms or mathematical relationships

Second Peloponnesian War

•Without her navy, Athens is unable to feed itself when Spartan forces surround the city, leading to its surrender in 404 BC •Spartan conditions are actually quite lenient: •Dismantling of the Long Walls fortifying Athens •Dissolution of the Delian League •Athens could have a navy of no more than twelve ships •Payment of tribute to Sparta •Did not order the execution of any citizens or take them as slaves

Sumerian firsts

•Writing •Cuneiform was written using a reed or wooden stylus on clay tablets •Administrative records, literary texts, scientific writings •Number system •Used a sexagesimal system based on the number 60 •Used for trade and to create taxation policies, astronomical calculations •Time as we know it •First to divide time into units of 60 •Astrology and the lunar calendar •First to name constellations •Predicted eclipses and other celestial events •The wheel •First used around 3500 BC •Potter's wheel and wheels for carts •Urban civilization •Uruk had up to 30,000 people by 3000 BC •The sail and sailboats •Revolutionized trade and warfare around 1300 BC •Fabricated copper around 5000 BC •Board games •Royal Game of Ur was invented around 2500 BC •Law codes •Code of Hammurabi •Code of Ur-Nammu •Monarchy and ruling families •Weapons •Copper weapons - spears, swords, maces, slings, clubs, sickles, axes

Battle of Salamis

•Xerxes' forces invaded southern Greece, burning the city of Athens to the ground - but the Athenians had already abandoned their city by sea •Athenian fleet of 300-370 triremes now faced Xerxes' fleet of 500-800 galleys •Themistocles lures the Persian warships into the narrow straits of Salamis •Unable to maneuver crammed vessels, the Persians lost 300 ships (Greeks lost 40) •Naval victory forced Xerxes to postpone his final land offensives for a year, giving time for the Greek city-states to unite against him