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Western Civilization 101
Mavrogianes
Spring 2010
Classical Greece
Beginning about 800 B.C. on the peninsula and islands of Greece and surrounding territory in the
eastern Mediterranean, a center of classical civilization began to emerge. Classical Greek civilization was
built on earlier regional civilizations, which had constructed elaborate monuments, developed a form of
writing, and produced strong monarchies. Influenced by cultures in the Middle East and Egypt, civilization on
the island of Crete and around Mycenae on the Greek mainland had flourished for several centuries around
2000 B.C. Greek-speaking people spread around the Aegean Sea, setting the basis for a culture that could
include important parts of modern Turkey, Greece, and the Balkans.
Greece As A Classical Civilization
Only after 800 B.C., would a full-fledged classical society began to take shape, exhibiting many basic
features in common with the classical phase of civilization in China and India. Like the other classical
societies, Greek civilization would extend over a wide region. Greek influence would spread well beyond the
peninsula itself, to much of the Middle East, part of North Africa, Sicily, and southern Italy.
Classical Greece developed the second major feature of all the classical civilizations by demonstrating
new political and cultural capacities. A greater variety of philosophies and political forms developed; science
and mathematics advanced, building on previous achievements; the ability to organize large empires arose.
More elaborate forms of trade, philosophy, and government define this classical society.
Finally, there was an ongoing heritage of values and institutions between classical civilization in the
Mediterranean and later cultures, making the long classical period a foundation for the development of the
Western world. Although Greek politics and culture flourished between about 800-400 B.C. and then began
to decline, it’s influence can be felt even today.
A Vital Legacy
For most people in the Western world,Greece is the first phase of "our own" classical past. The framers
of the Constitution of the United States were intensely conscious of Greek political ideas. Designers of public
buildings in the United States have dutifully copied Greek and Roman models. Plato and Aristotle continue to
be thought of as founders of our philosophical tradition, skillful teachers still imitate the Socratic method in
seeking dialogues with students, and modern science owes much to Greek formulations. The United States
and Western Europe unquestionably owe a great debt to the achievements of the classical Mediterranean.
We need to understand Greek civilization in order to understand our own society.
The Emergence Of Greek Artistic Forms
During the 8th century B.C., the Greeks adapted the Phoenician alphabet for writing their own language,
therefore creating the literal basis for a new civilization. This alphabet was easier to learn than any writing
system previously devised. The advancement of literacy further stimulated trade by aiding in the exchange of
commercial information, and also enhanced cultural life. It was at this point that two great poems, the Iliad
and the Odyssey, which focused on the legendary war with Troy, were written down, possibly by the poet
Homer. The Homeric achievement drew together many separate stories and set forth definitions of the gods
and human nature that shaped later Greek thinking profoundly. Soon after the Homeric epics were written,
other writers in several cities, including the famous woman poet Sappho, began writing poems. A distinctive
Greek art also began to emerge.
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Architects defined the shape of the Greek temple as an oblong building framed by pillars. Early Greek
sculptors used Egyptian models, but then moved toward more realistic portrayals including full profile figures.
Geometric designs on pottery similarly yielded to more realistic scenes of human activities, reflecting yet
again the growing appreciation of human beauty and the importance of individual human beings.
The Rise Of The City-States: The Political Core Of Greek Civilization
Greek politics also took shape in the three centuries after 800 B.C. Greek government revolved around
the city-state unit, called by the Greeks the Polis. A polis was the city and the surrounding agricultural land.
The Polis could be quite tiny or, like Sparta (one of the key city-states), they could embrace a substantial area.
Athens, the most famous city-state, was about the size of the state of Rhode Island. The polis came naturally
to Greece, because a mountainous terrain and numerous islands made larger connections difficult. By 600
B.C., nearly 300 independent city-states had developed in Greece. While the polis promoted frequent wars,
since no single city predominated, it did encourage a political life of unusual intensity. Sice the polis was small,
each individual had a much closer and stronger relationship to his government.So much was this the case
that the Greek word for city-state government - polis - serves as the origin of our word politics.
Early Greek poleis were mainly ruled by land owning aristocrats, a warrior class who were still
responsible for most military activities. Free farmers were also citizens, supporting the government and
often participating in periodic assemblies though not ruling directly. Councils of various sorts played a vital
role in the early Greek city-states, even when there was a single king or other ruler. Warrior-aristocrats
frequently met with the ruler to advise on matters of state, and they expected their advice to be taken
seriously.
With the commercial expansion that began in the 8th century, aristocratic rule was often disputed.
Some city-states escaped major contests, for they remained largely agricultural, but in active trading
centers, merchants and a growing urban manufacturing group resented aristocratic rule.
Furthermore, in many areas agriculture itself changed. Landlords began to specialize in growing olives and
grapes and in manufacturing cooking oil and wines.The landlords began importing cheap grain from colonies
in Asia, Egypt, and Sicily in order to provide basic foodstuffs. These imports progressively squeezed out local
independent farmers, creating a growing gulf between the rich and poor. The ideals of widespread citizenship
were contradicted by these developments.
By the 6th century B.C. there was growing social protest, pitting urban groups and dispossessed
farmers against the aristocracy. Many reformers emphasized developing new laws to regulate economic
relationships. They based their reforms upon traditions of political participation, which held that the
community should govern itself. Hence in many cases reformers arose to try to restore earlier ideals of
citizenship while dealing with the new social tensions. Solon, a reformer in Athens early in the 6th century,
set up laws that would ease the burden of debts on the farmers by prohibiting slavery for such debts. The
idea developed that laws could be written and revised, rather than being passed down unaltered from
tradition; here was one source of new political interest and participation.
Other forces pressed for political change. Military activity increasingly involved larger numbers of
citizens who formed tightly organized and well-coordinated lines of hoplite infantry. Naval forces, in the port
cities, such as Athens, also depended on citizen participation. This development increased the need for
strong bonds among citizens within the polis. By 500 B.C., most cities strongly believed in the importance of
loyalty to the community, which itself would be regulated by law rather than custom or purely personal
relationships. Participation in public life became a widespread ideal.
The dominant religion also supported this ideal of political unity and involvement. Each city-state had its
own patron god or goddess, and regular rituals called forth prayer and ceremony on behalf of the city's well2
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being. These ceremonies included plays, choruses, sporting events, and religious exercises, all calling
attention to the power and unity of the polis. When, in 399 B.C., the philosopher Socrates was condemned
by a jury in Athens for corrupting his students by encouraging skepticism and doubt, he was given a choice
between exile and death: he chose death because, as he said, the city had been the source of his character
and he owed it obedience; better to die than to be apart.
This spirit of political devotion and participation was the most common ingredient of city-state life. It
showed itself in the willingness of citizens to serve in the military at their own expense and to sponsor plays,
poetry contests, temples, and other public buildings.
The Rise Of Democracy In Athens
By the 5th century, Athens proudly took the lead in the development of democracy. Athens had undergone
a fairly standard political evolution prior to its democratic flowering in the 5th century. Solon expanded the
citizenship rights of most adult males. Citizens could elect a council that monitored the aristocratic
government. A new reform leader, Clisthenes, reestablished a council, elected by all citizens, that prepared
agendas for an assembly composed of the citizens themselves. Athens was ready to become not only the
most powerful but also the most fully developed of the Greek democracies of the 5th century.
Full-blown Athenian democracy continued to depend on the as principle authority. All decisions of state
had to be approved by the popular assembly, and there were no restrictions on who could debate or propose
in assembly meetings. This was direct democracy - the word itself comes from the Greek word for people,
demos. Since the assembly met frequently, only a minority of citizens actually had time to attend regularly,
and a few leading speakers usually dominated.
Citizen voice, however, had other outlets. The army was composed of citizens, whose active service and
coordinated maneuvers expressed the spirit of the democratic polis. Citizens also served as jurors in court
trials, and every judicial decision could be appealed to a citizen board. Most officials were selected by lot on
grounds that any citizen could and should serve as administrator. A few key officials - the generals and
imperial treasurers were elected, usually from the nobility, but like all officials they were carefully assessed by
the assembly and might be removed or punished for faulty service. Terms of office were brief, further to
encourage popular control. Only a few positions in the area of military leadership were reserved for
appointment.
This was a democracy of a different sort from the version common today. It depended on the small size of
the city-state and the intensive participation of its citizens. Furthermore, many adults were excluded from
political rights. Women, though they might be citizens in terms of treatment by the law, had no rights of
political participation. Half of all adult males were not citizens in any sense, being slaves or foreigners. The
Athenian leader Pericles, who guided Athens during its decades of greatest glory after the mid-5th century,
was an aristocrat who managed to direct affairs year after year through wise manipulation of political groups
and his own prestige, whether or not he held formal office. Many Athenians, and even more Greeks in citystates where democracy did not go as far, continued to believe that real political virtue lay in aristocratic rule
(aristocracy being derived from the Greek word aristos or "rule of the best"). Sparta continued to represent
the aristocratic alternative.
By the end of the 5th century, when Athens plunged into a devastating war with Sparta, the polis
demonstrated some of the weaknesses as well as the strengths of democracy. Ordinary citizens worked
hard in the war, but often pressed for reckless expeditions that weakened the state in its military efforts and
contributed substantially to ultimate defeat. Cautious leaders were overturned in favor of crowd-pleasers
who promised lucrative colonial ventures or an expansion of government payments to poorer citizens.
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Greek Unity
During the four centuries when Greek political forms evolved, many city-states sent out additional colonies,
which expanded exposure to Greek political values. Colonies helped relieve population pressure at home.
They also provided vital grain supplies to the mainland while serving as markets for processed products,
including wine, cooking oil, and manufactured goods. By the 5th century, Greek colonies dotted the
Mediterranean coast of present-day Turkey, the entire coastline of the Black Sea, and key points in North
Africa, Italy, and even southern France and Spain. By providing new wealth, colonies greatly supported
political and cultural vigor in Greece itself.
At their best from 750-420 B.C., Greek politics included some important common efforts, in addition to
the focus on separate government units. The Greek city-states were capable of sufficient coordination to deal
with a variety of general problems. They joined in regular celebrations such as the athletic competitions of
the Olympic games, which grouped wrestlers and runners in often bitter (and occasionally rigged)
competitions. They supported some common religious organizations, such as the oracle priests at Delphi
whose predictions and advice were widely sought. More important was the collaboration that allowed Greece
to defeat its most pressing outside enemy, the great empire of Persia.
The Persian and Peloponnesian Wars
Soon after Cyrus the Great created the Persian Empire, he turned against wealthy Greek colonies along
the Asian side of the Mediterranean, conquering them by about 540 B.C. Persian power became an obvious
threat to the Greek mainland, forcing cooperation between Athens and Sparta, the most powerful city-states.
In 499 B.C. the conquered Greek cities rebelled against the Persians, and were aided by the Athenian navy.
The rebellion failed, and the Persian kings (Darius I, then Xerxes) moved against Greece in punishment. In
480 B.C. a Persian army of 100,000 troops moved down the Greek peninsula, initially winning great success
and capturing Athens. But the Athenians built a new fleet, which defeated the Persian navy and cut off
supplies, and then a Spartan-led force defeated the Persian army. While Persia continued to dominate the
Middle East, Greek independence was preserved. The greatest age of Greek politics and culture followed,
including the perfection of Athenian political institutions and the Age of Pericles.
The wars against Persia provided some of the most dramatic moments in classical Greek history. In the
battle at Thermopylae, 300 Spartans and a few thousand Greek soldiers blocked a huge Persian army until
they were betrayed by local Greeks and caught from behind. After a crucial Athenian naval victory at
Marathon, a runner labored over 26 miles to bring news to the city, collapsing after the word was passed.
The final Greek triumph, celebrated later by the historian Herodotus, who praised Greek justice over the
excessive ambition of the Persians, helped the Greeks define their separate identity as a society different
from the Asian empire.
Yet the Greek political structure was also fragile. With so many different government units, division
could easily override common purpose. Diversity also produced animosity, with democrats and aristocrats
glaring at each other both within and among poleis. A new and bitter conflict between the leading states set
the stage for declining political vigor within Greece itself.
Athens Vs. Sparta
In the years following the Persian defeat Athens began to form an empire of its own. The Athenians
quickly rebuilt their city, leading to a huge impetus for Greek art and architecture. Athenian naval power
helped organize an alliance of lesser Greek cities, which Athens quickly dominated. The growing imperial
power of Athens attracted competition from Sparta, which had its own alliance system of land-based citystates. Competition for power in the Greek peninsula in the later 5th century B.C. - each side fearing that the
other might gain a dominant position - was heightened by ideological conflicts between aristocracy and
democracy. Sparta stood for the old Greece before extensive commerce and massive political change.
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Aristocratic rule had been transformed into a highly military regime in which boys were trained for battle and
girls for the bearing of brave sons; Spartan militarism was designed to keep a large force of near-slaves, who
did the agricultural work, under control. Use of money was discouraged by minting coins of unwieldy size.
Discipline and control were the themes of Spartan society.
Athens contrasted with Sparta by encouraging extensive trade and a vibrant, creative culture, while its
democracy contrasted with the narrow aristocratic dominance of Sparta. Both sides were quite aware of
their differences and disliked the principles of the rival society intensely. Both also drew allies from likeminded poleis. Sparta had unexpected advantages because its traditional principles were widely admired,
even by some conservative Athenians. The heavy-handedness of Athens's empire also drew hostility from
many smaller cities. War broke out in 431 B.C., as Spartan forces marched into Athenian territory.
During the second year of the war a massive plague broke out in Athens, ultimately killing one-third of the
population, including Pericles. Grievances rose in Athens, and there was no longer a leader to provide
consistent guidance. A victory over Spartan troops brought a chance for peace, but a warlike faction in
Athens insisted on continuing the war, seeking to conquer new territory while wasting precious Athenian
resources. The attempt to invade Sicily failed, costing Athens over 200 ships, 4500 men, and the support of
many allies. Finally, in 404 B.C. a Spartan general cut off the Athenian food supply, and the city had to
surrender. Athens was deprived of its remaining fleet, and the city walls were torn down. A political age came
to an end not only in Athens, but in all of Greece.
Greek Creativity In Culture
The genius of Greek civilization lay more obviously in various facets of culture than in politics. It was Greek
culture that determined the most lasting contributions of this civilization to the Mediterranean world, and
that served as a model for Western civilization
The Greeks did not create a major religion. The characteristic Greek religion was a rather primitive,
derived from animist belief in the spirits of nature elevated into a complex set of gods and goddesses who
were seen as interfering in human life. The Greeks thus had a creator or father god, Zeus, who presided over
an unruly assemblage of deities whose functions ranged from regulating the daily passage of the sun (Apollo)
or the oceans (Poseidon) to inspiring war or human love and beauty. Specific gods were associated with
other human activities such as metalworking, the hunt, literature, and history. Regular ceremonies to the
gods had real political importance, and many individuals sought the gods' aid in foretelling the future or in
assuring a good harvest or good health. Stories of the gods' activities provided rich entertainment and could
drive home lessons about appropriate moral behavior, including courage and humility.
This was a religion,that served many human needs and cemented community loyalties. It was not,
however, intensely spiritual. Greek religion tended toward a human-centered, worldly approach. Stories of the
gods allowed illustration of human qualities, rather like soap operas on a larger scale; the gods could be
jealous, sneaky, lustful, and powerful. Greek religion helped create an important literary tradition. In the Greek
religion the gods primarily provided good stories or served as as a way to inquire deeply into human passions
and vulnerabilities.
Philosophy
The limitations of Greek religion left many literate and educated people dissatisfied. The religion provided
stories about how the world came to be as it is, but scant basis for systematic inquiry into nature or human
society nor did it provide an elaborate basis for ethical thought. Hence, from at least the 6th century onward,
many Greek thinkers attempted to generate philosophical systems separate from a primarily religious base.
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The attempt to understand humankind, society, and nature by rational observation and deduction became
one of the hallmarks of Greek culture.
Many thinkers sought to generate ethical systems on the basis of rational definitions of right and wrong
and some sense of the purpose of life on earth. Socrates (born in 465 B.C. and the tutor of Plato, who in
turn would teach Aristotle) urged people to consider the bases of right action in terms of rational reflection
on goals and consequences, he thus formulated secular criteria, rather than devising rewards and
punishments from a religious system.
Aristotle, perhaps the most important of the Greek philosophers, maintained this ethical system through
stressing the importance of moderation in human behavior against the instability of political life in Athens and
the excesses of the gods. Greek philosophy further devoted much attention to defining appropriate political
structures. The Athenian philosopher Plato, in the 5th century, devised an ideal government structure in
which philosophers would rule. Religious justifications for political behavior were played down in favor of
arguments of utility and practicality or more general definitions of justice.
The idea of a philosophy separate from official religion, though not necessarily hostile to it, also
encouraged considerable emphasis on the powers of human thought. In Athens, Socrates encouraged his
pupils to question received wisdom on the ground that the chief human duty was "the improvement of the
soul." Socrates himself ran afoul of the Athenian government in the aftermath of the tensions of the
Peloponnesian War, for he seemed to be undermining political loyalty itself with his constant questions. But
the Socratic principle of thinking things through by means of skeptical questioning, rather than assuming on
the basis of authority or faith, became a foundation of classical Greek thinking and education and was part of
its heritage to later societies.
Socrates' great pupil, Plato, accentuated the positive somewhat more strongly in suggesting that human
reason could approach an understanding of the perfect forms - the absolutely True, Good, and Beautiful that he believed underlay nature. Thus a philosophical tradition arose in Greece that tended to play down the
importance of religion in favor of a celebration of the human power to think.
Greek interest in rationality carried over into inquiry into the underlying order of physical nature.Greek
interest lay in speculations about nature's order. Greek belief in rational theorizing produced widespread
philosophical commitment to a scientific method that would combine empirical data with general theories. In
practice, the Greek concern translated into a host of theories about the motions of the planets and the
organization of elemental principles of earth, fire, air, and water, and into a considerable interest in
mathematics as a means of rendering nature's patterns comprehensible.
The Arts
Despite the importance of the rationalist tradition, science and mathematics loomed far less large than
art and literature in conveying key cultural values in Greece. Greek drama took a central role. Greek
dramatists worked both on comedy and on tragedy.
The Greeks placed greatest emphasis on tragedy. Their belief in human reason and balance also involved a
sense that these virtues were precarious, so that a person could easily overstep and be ensnared in
situations of powerful emotion and uncontrollable consequences. The Athenian dramatist Sophocles, for
example, so portrayed the psychological flaws of his hero Oedipus that modern psychology long used the
term Oedipus complex to refer to potentially tragic attachments between a man and his mother. Another
Athenian playwright, Aristophanes, used similar beliefs in the limitations of human experience to produce a
sense of comedy, poking fun at the failures of human nature.
Greek literature contained a strong epic tradition as well, starting with the beautifully crafted tales of the
Iliad and the Odyssey. By the 5th century B.C., interest in human affairs led to a new kind of formal historical
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writing with Herodotus trying to sort out fact from myth in dealing with various Mediterranean cultures and
Thucydides composing a vivid account of the Peloponnesian War.
In the visual arts, the emphasis of classical Mediterranean civilization lay in sculpture and architecture,
though Greek artists also advanced in ceramic work. In Athens's brilliant 5th century B.C. - the age of
Pericles, Socrates, Sophocles, Aristophanes, and many other intensely creative figures - sculptors such as
Phidias developed unprecedented skill in simultaneously realistic yet beautiful portrayals of the human form,
from lovely goddesses to muscled warriors and athletes.
The Principles Of Greek Culture
Overall, Greek cultural achievement rested on four major principles. First, the interest in formal political
theory, with a strong emphasis on debating the merits of different constitutional structures and assuming
that government forms could be planned, obviously reflected the distinctive political atmosphere of Greece. If
Greek politics faced frequent crises, its incorporation in political thought and history gave it a longer life and
wider subsequent influence.
Second, art and sculpture served on the whole to glorify human achievement, starting with a celebration
of the beauties of the ideal human form, used also to represent the gods.
Third, drama and philosophy stressed the importance of human striving, though comedy might poke fun
and tragedy might emphasize the inevitable limits. This characteristic joined with the emphases of the visual
arts in stressing secular over otherworldly themes. And while ethical philosophers might enjoin moderation,
there was a fascination with human energy and striving rather different from the more consistent restraint
urged in secular Chinese thought.
Fourth, the philosophical and scientific tradition emphasized the validity of logical constructs in
understanding the natural world.
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