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Classical Greece and the classical ideal The philosophers Protagoras and Xenophanes sum up the attitude of Greek intellectual thought when they write: • Protagoras: “Man is the measure of all things, of the existence of those that exist, and of the nonexistence of those that do not.” • Xenophanes: “If horses and cows had hands and could draw, they would draw gods looking like horses and cows.” We find just such a human-centered view in the writings of Herodotus (484-420 BCE) •The first historian: “Father of History” •Wrote the History of the Persian Wars First writer in Western tradition to devote himself to historical writing rather than Epic poetry (like Homer) •His history is based on observation, analysis, and credible sources •Posits the concept of hubris •In Book VII of the history, the Persian emperor Xerxes’s uncle, Artabanus, warns Xerxes before the invasion: “You know, my lord, that amongst living creatures it is the great ones that Zeus smites with his thunder, out of envy of their pride. It is God’s way to bring the lofty low. For He tolerates pride in none but Himself.” We find a complementary human-centered view in the poems of Sappho (b. 612 BCE), the great Greek lyric poet; Percussion, salt and honey, A quivering in the thighs; He shakes me all over again, Eros who cannot be thrown, Who stalks on all fours Like a beast. Perhaps the most human-centered intellectual work of the Greeks is philosophy. What is philosophy? Perhaps the most human-centered intellectual work of the Greeks is philosophy. What is philosophy? • Philosophy literally means “love of wisdom.” Perhaps the most human-centered intellectual work of the Greeks is philosophy. What is philosophy? • Philosophy literally means “love of wisdom.” • In the Western tradition it usually refers to inquiries into the nature and ultimate significance of human experience, including such areas as logic, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, and politics. Perhaps the most human-centered intellectual work of the Greeks is philosophy. What is philosophy? • Philosophy literally means “love of wisdom.” • In the Western tradition it usually refers to inquiries into the nature and ultimate significance of human experience, including such areas as logic, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, and politics. • Philosophy is not religion. Greek philosophers turned away from religious teachings to study the above topics, using the power of human reason to try to discover how the world came into being and how it works, and to understand the place of humans in it. The first schools of philosophy: The first schools of philosophy: • Materialism: the earliest school of Greek philosophy. Sought to explain all phenomena in terms of one or more elements. The first schools of philosophy: • Materialism: the earliest school of Greek philosophy. Sought to explain all phenomena in terms of one or more elements. • Pythagoreanism: mathematical relationships represent underlying order of universe. The first schools of philosophy: • Materialism: the earliest school of Greek philosophy. Sought to explain all phenomena in terms of one or more elements. • Pythagoreanism: mathematical relationships represent underlying order of universe. • Dualism: there are two worlds, the world around us and an ideal world accessible only through the intellect and reason. The first schools of philosophy: • Materialism: the earliest school of Greek philosophy. Sought to explain all phenomena in terms of one or more elements. • Pythagoreanism: mathematical relationships represent underlying order of universe. • Dualism: there are two worlds, the world around us and an ideal world accessible only through the intellect and reason. • Atomism: reality consists of ultimate, unchangable particles that are not obvious to the eye and also of void (nothingness). The Classical Ideal • The belief that the quest for reason and order could succeed. The Classical Ideal • The belief that the quest for reason and order could succeed. • Existence can be ordered and controlled. The Classical Ideal • The belief that the quest for reason and order could succeed. • Existence can be ordered and controlled. • Human ability can triumph over the apparent chaos of the natural world and create a balanced society. The Classical Ideal • The belief that the quest for reason and order could succeed. • Existence can be ordered and controlled. • Human ability can triumph over the apparent chaos of the natural world and create a balanced society. • The aim of life should be a perfect balance: everything in due proportion; “nothing too much.” The Classical Ideal • The belief that the quest for reason and order could succeed. • Existence can be ordered and controlled. • Human ability can triumph over the apparent chaos of the natural world and create a balanced society. • The aim of life should be a perfect balance: everything in due proportion; “nothing too much.” • Individuals can achieve order by understanding the motives for their own action. The Classical Ideal informs every aspect of Greek culture: • • • • • Greek philosophy Greek architecture Greek sculpture Greek drama Greek history Thucydides (b 460 BCE) , wrote The History of the Peloponnesian War. First history to focus on human motives and reactions so that future generations could understand why the events of the past happened and, thus, understand themselves. The Parthenon, a temple built for Athena atop the Acropolis, Athens The Classical Style: ideal beauty represented in realistic terms Chrysippus writes: “beauty consists of the proportion of the parts; of finger to finger; of all the fingers to the palm and the wrist; of those to the forearm; of the forearm to the upper arm; and of all these parts to one another, as set forth in The Canon of Polykleitos” This statue by Praxiteles (copied many times) represents the discovery of the female body as an object of beauty in itself. It is also one of the first attempts to bring the element of sensuality into the portrayal of the female form. Athenian Drama • Athens the center of dramatic production in Greece; plays produced for the festival of Dionysus, god of wine and song. • The Athenian tragic dramatists: Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides. Tragedy is the art of hamartia and catharsis. • The Athenian comedies (Aristophanes): mocked the constantly warring culture of Greece. Philosophy in the Late Classical Period: Platonist and Aristotelian • Socrates: proponent of the Socratic method of questioning of traditional values through dialog • Plato: Socrates’s student; wrote down the dialogs of Socrates; founded The Academy (the first univesity); proposed concept of ideal societies and forms in works such as The Theory of Forms and The Republic • Aristotle: Plato’s student; founded the Lyceum in competition with The Academy; known as the great systematizer; rejected in works such as The Metaphysics and The Rhetoric Plato’s other-worldly idealism in favor of the analysis of the essences of the material and mental world as directly experienced; inspiration for modern science. Exam Question 2 • Making reference to at least two specific works of classical Greek culture, define the classical ideal and discuss how it informs Greek culture. • Successful answers should be one full paragraph at least five sentences long