Download 10. Mediterranean Society: The Greek Phase

Chapter 10
Mediterranean Society: The Greek Phase
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Early Development of Greek Society
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Minoan Society
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Island of Crete
Major city: Knossos
C. 2200 BCE center of maritime trade
Undeciphered syllabic alphabet (Linear A)
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Decline of Minoan Society
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Series of natural disasters after 1700 BCE
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Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tidal waves
Foreign invasions
Foreign domination by 1100 BCE
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By Mycenaeans
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Mycenaean Society
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Indo-european invaders descended into
Peloponnesus, c. 2200 BCE
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Influenced by Minoan culture
Major settlement: Mycenae
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Military expansion throughout region
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Chaos in the Eastern Mediterranean
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Trojan war, c. 1200 BCE
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Homer’s The Iliad
Sequel: The Odyssey
Political turmoil, chaos from 1100 to 800 BCE
Mycenaean civilization disappeared
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The Polis
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City-state
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Urban center surrounded by agriculture
Highly independent
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Monarchies
Early Democracies
Oligarchies
Aristocracies
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“Tyrannies”, not necessarily oppressive
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Sparta
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Highly militarized society developed
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to control threat of rebellion
Subjugated peoples:
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helots (slaves)
serfs (tied to land)
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outnumbered Spartans 10:1 by 6th c. BCE
little innovation
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Spartan Society
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Austerity the norm
Boys removed from families at age seven
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Received military training in barracks
Active military service followed
Marriage, but no home life until age 30
Some relaxation of discipline by 4th c. CE
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Athens
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Development of early democracy
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Freedom & voting for adult males only
Women, slaves excluded
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Athenian Society
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Maritime trade brought prosperity
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starting in 7th c. BCE
Aristocrats dominate smaller landholders
Increasing socio-economic tensions
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Class conflict
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Solon and Athenian Democracy
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Aristocrat Solon mediates crisis
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Aristocrats kept large landholdings
But forgave debts, banned debt slavery
Opened participation in public life
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Instituted paid civil service
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Pericles
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Ruled 461-429 BCE
Greek’s “Golden Age”
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High point of Athenian democracy
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Aristocracy but popular
Massive public works
 Encouraged cultural development
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Greek Colonization
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Population expansion drove colonization
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Coastal Mediterranean, Black sea
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Sicily (Syracuse; Archimedes)
Naples: “nea polis,” new city)
Southern France (Massalia: Marseilles)
Anatolia
Southern Ukraine
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Classical Greece and the Mediterranean basin,
800-500 B.C.E.
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Effects of Greek Colonization
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Trade throughout region
Communication of ideas
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Language, culture
Political, economic, and social effects
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Persian Wars (500-479 BCE)
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Revolt against Persian Empire 500 BCE in Ionia
Athens supported with ships
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Greek rebellion crushed by Darius 493 BCE
Successor Xerxes
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burned Athens but driven out
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The Delian League
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Created Delian League for defense
Led by Athens
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Massive payments to Athens
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fueled Golden Age
Resented by other city states
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The Peloponnesian War
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Civil war in Greece, 431-404 BCE
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Led by Sparta vs. Athens
Athens forced to surrender
Bankrupt poleis
Greece began its decline
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Kingdom of Macedon
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Frontier region north of Greece
King Philip II (r. 359-336 BCE)
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built massive military
Conquered Greek city-states by 338 BCE
Along with son, Alexander
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Alexander's empire, ca. 323 B.C.E.
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Alexander the Great
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Conquered Anatolia, Egypt, Persia to Indus River
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prompted unification of Mauryan empire
United Greek, Egyptian, & Persian cultures
Created Hellenism
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Alexandria, Egypt the hub
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The Hellenistic Empires
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After Alexander’s death,
competition for empire
Divided by generals
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Antigonus: Greece and
Macedon
Ptolemy: Egypt
Seleucus: Persian Achaemenid
Empire
Economic integration,
Intellectual cross-fertilization
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The Ptolemaic Empire - Egypt
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Wealthiest of the Hellenistic empires
Established state monopolies
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Textiles
Salt
Beer
Capital: Alexandria
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Important port city
Major museum, library
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The Seleucid Empire
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Massive colonization of Greeks
Export of Greek culture as far east as India
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Bactria
Ashoka legislated in Greek and Aramaic
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Trade in the Mediterranean Basin
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Greece:
 little grain
 rich in olives and grapes
Colonies further trade
Commerce was basis of economy
 not agriculture
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Panhellenic Festivals
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Useful for integrating far-flung colonies
Olympic Games begin 776 BCE
Sense of collective identity
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Patriarchal Society
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Women as goddesses, wives, prostitutes
Limited exposure in public sphere
Sparta was exception
infanticide in Greek culture
Slavery present, esp. in Sparta
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The Greek Language
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Borrowed Phoenician alphabet
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Complex language
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Added vowels
“middle” voice
Allowed for communication of abstract ideas
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Philosophy
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Socrates (470-399 BCE)
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The Socratic Method of questioning
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Student: Plato
Condemned on charges of immorality
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Forced to drink hemlock
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Plato (430-347 BCE)
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Systematized Socratic thought
The Republic
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Parable of the Cave
Theory of Forms/Ideas
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Aristotle (389-322 BCE)
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Student of Plato
Broke with Theory of Forms/Ideas
Emphasis on empirical findings, reason
Massive impact on western thought
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Greek Theology
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Polytheism
Zeus principal god
Religious cults
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Oracle of Delphi
Eleusinian mysteries
The Bacchae
Rituals eventually domesticated
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Tragic Drama
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Evolved from public presentations of cultic
rituals
Major playwrights (5th c. BCE)
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Aeschylus
Sophocles
Euripides
Comedy: Aristophanes
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Lysistrata
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Hellenistic Philosophies
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Epicureans
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Skeptics
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Pleasure, distinct from Hedonists
Doubted possibility of certainty in anything
Stoics
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Duty, virtue
Emphasis on inner peace
Popular in Rome
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