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Classical Greece
Greek civilization hit its peak in politics, though (philosophy), and art between 500 and
338BCE
The Classical Period in Greece was defined by warfare:
499BCE - The Greeks of West Asia (with limited Athenian help) rebelled against Persia.
490BCE - Persia strikes back but is repelled at the battle of Marathon.
480BCE - Persia under King Xerxes invades - the Greeks unite under Spartan leadership on
land and Athenian naval power.
-With the pass of Thermopylae stand, and the battle in the waters off Artemisium the
Greeks retreated... but experienced a naval victory a short time later at Salamis.
479BCE - The Greeks route the last Persian forces at Plataea.
478BCE - The Delian League is formed (Athens and her allies), aimed at freeing the region
from Persian rule.
- Under Pericles (494-429BCE) Athens uses this league to gain tribute and start the
Athenian Empire... Raising concerns in Sparta...
431-404BCE - The Peloponnesian War pitted the land force of Sparta and her allies against the
naval forces of Athens and her allies... Once Sparta turns naval battles into land battles Athens
surrenders...
- The war destroyed Greece with plague, famine, loss of life, and widespread
destruction...
- Sparta then begins envisioning an empire...
371BCE - The Theban army destroys Sparta... but could not bring peace to Greece
Phillip II of Macedonia (359-336) - Unites Macedonia and Greece by 338BCE
Alexander takes over after his father falls to an assassins dagger... by 324BCE he has a vast
empire (p128). On his death Alexander's generals split up the empire: Ptolemy took Egypt,
Seleucus took western Asia and India...
In the last half of the fifth century Pericles turned the Acropolis into "art"... The polis was the
meeting place, drama stage, festival center...
The 3 Great Greek tragic dramtists:
Aeschylus (525-456BCE) - The first of the great Athenian dramatists
Sophocles (496-406BCE) - Antigone, The Oedipus Cycle...
Euripides (480-406BCE) - Focus on the flawed human character (tragic flaw)...
Society:
Agriculture-based
Women stayed in the domestic sphere - with her main function of raising children
The Greeks accepted both hetero and homosexuality as normal parts of life
Religion had its imperfect/petty deities, they did not expect moral lessons from their gods
Pre-Socratic Philosophy:
Thales (600BCE) - Natural phenomenon was nature... not the gods. Water was the basic
element of the universe... START OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD.
Heraclitus (500BCE) - Declared the primal element fire.
Democritus (460BCE) - Created the atomic theory of the universe made up of invisible,
indestructible particles...
Hippocrates - Sought medical knowledge apart from the gods
Sophists:
Socrates (470-399BCE) - Humans and their environment are the essential subject of
philosophy. Questioned everything...
Plato (427-347BCE) - Founded the Academy. A philosopher, political scientist, and utopian the ideal polis...
Aristotle (384-322BCE) - Politics looked at the ideal polis... through moderation