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LECTURE SEVEN
PERSIAN WAR II
(486) Xerxes
Themistocles – transforms Athens from land to sea power
Peiraeus; Laureion mine windfall (fleet)
Triremes (200); oarsmen (thetes) – future political developments
(480) Persian War II
Hellespont, Thermopylae/Artemisium, Leonidas, Salamis
(479) Plataea, Pausanias, Mycale
Aeschylus’ Persians; Marathonomachoi; temples friezes (Amazons vs Greeks,
Centaurs vs Lapiths, Greeks vs Persians)
DELIAN LEAGUE
(477) Confederacy formed to protect Greek member states from Persians
Athens versus Sparta as leader
Initial successes: Fairness of assessments (Aristides, Hellenotamiae)
Military victories (Cimon, Eurymedon)
Corruption: Carystus, Naxos, Thasos
Cleruchies
Athenian law trumps allies’ law
Movement of treasury from Delos to Athens
Empire
ANCIENT GREEK DRAMA
Origins
Epic: + 50% dialogue
- Myth. Characters (Achilles, Odysseus, Ajax, Agamemnon, etc)
- Tragic vision – kleos – ate, - hybris – phthonos – destruction
- 534 Tragic competition formally introduced in Athens (Peisistratus)
Dionysia, Choral lyric
Aristotle (Poetics) – Thespis, extemporization on dithyramb
Actor – ‘hypokrites’ (answerer), Goat song (prize, chorus of goats/satyrs)
Dionysus
God of wine (vital fluids), enthusiasm, ritual madness, masks/theatre
Zeus and Semele, death and resurrection
Conventions
Religious festival (lasted several days)
Competition – choral lyric, tragedy, comedy
Ephemeral (productions designed to last 1 day)
Staging -
theatre, outdoors, 15-20,000 (females?)
Choregos
Orchestra, chorus
Skene, ekkuklema, mechane
Platform, Parodos, exodus
Actors three, highly trained, male, masks
Chorus (12-15), choryphaeus
Division prologos, parodos, epi 1, stas 1, ep 2, stas 2, epi 3, stas 3, epilogue, exodos
Singing versus speaking, No action; language; action reported
Playwrights - Aeschylus (525-456), Marathon, Oresteia
Sophocles (496-406), character, Oedipus Rex, Ajax, Antigone
Euripides (485-406), Sophists, Pelop. War, realism, Electra, Medea,
Hippolytus, Bacchae
Comedy
Dionysus, ribald, 487 (1st formal festival – Dionysia)
3 poets (1 play each), Aristophanes (457-385)
Clouds, Lysistrata, Frogs, Wasps, parabasis
Oedipus Rex
Oedipus, plague, Creon, Teiresias, Jocasta, Laius, sphinx, Polybus, Merope
TERMS
PERSIAN WAR II
Xerxes (486), Themistocles, Laureion mine silver, Phaleron Bay, Piraeus,
Triremes, oarsmen, thetes, Thalassa, Pontos, diekplous, Hellespont, bridge,
Hellenic Congress (synedrion), Invasion (480), isthmus, Thermopylae, Leonidas,
300 Spartans, Artemisium, Immortals, Mardonius, Athens, Salamis, Plataea (479),
Pausanias, Mycale, Aeschylus’ Persians, gods vs giants, Greek heroes vs
Amazons, Greeks vs Trojans, Lapiths vs Centaurs
DELIAN LEAGUE
Thucydides, Delian League (477), Pausanias disgraced, Themistocles ostracized, Cimon,
Eurymedon, Aristides, Hellenotamiae, Carystus, Naxos, Thasos, Cleruchy, treasury
removed to Athens
DRAMA
Drama, Tragic Formula, Kleos/timē (glory/honour), Atē (deceit), Hybris (insult,
insolence), Phthonos (envy), Dionysia, (534), Dionysus, wine, mask= prosopon =
character, enthusiasm, maenad, dithyramb, extemporization, Thespis, Hypokrites
(actor/dissembler), tragedy = goat song, satyrs, choregos, orchestra, skene, ekkuklema,
mechanē, parodoi/exodoi, protagonist, deuteragonist, tritagonist, chorus (12-15),
choryphaeus, prologue, parados, episode, stasimon, epilogos, exodus, Aeschylus,
Oresteia, Prometheus Bound, Sophocles, character, hero, Antigone, Ajax, Oedipus Rex,
Euripides, cultural/moral relativism, realism, Electra, Medea, Bacchae, Comedy,
Aristophanes, Lysistrata, Frogs, Clouds, Parabasis, Lernea, Dionysia, Oedipus Rex,
Aristotle’s assessment, Oedipus, Sphinx, Creon, Jocasta, Laius, Polybus, Merope,
Teiresias
Readings:
CHAPTER 5: The Wars Between Greece and Persia,
CHAPTER 6: The Rivalries of the Greek City-States, Sources for the Decades after the Persian
Wars, Aftermath of the Persian Wars, The Birth of Tragedy, Aeschylus and the Oresteia,
CHAPTER 7: Sophocles, Euripides