Download Greek Life and Culture

Greek Life and Culture
Survey English 9
8th Century B.C. Greek Society
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Patriarchal
Agricultural
Monarchal
Slave-holding
Polytheistic
“Shame Society”
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Epic Poetry is popular
Shame Society
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If a person loses their honor, they are
shamed.
Shaming someone is a no-no, especially
someone higher up on the social ladder.
Hospitality
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Very important in Greek Society and
mythology
Economy depended on it– Greece is
surrounded by water and mountains, so
merchants traveled by sea.
Laws protected strangers from harm; people
welcomed strangers in their homes (fed,
clothed, and sheltered them)
Oral Poetry
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Poems were recited to audiences– no actors
Told by bards (also known as rhapsodes)
Memorized by repetition
No abstract thought, therefore no language
for abstract thought (for example, no Greek
word for “soul”)
Homer (not Simpson)
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Gets credit for the
creation of The Iliad
and The Odyssey
Written 750 B.C.
(approximately)
Some scholars believe
Homer was blind
Very little known about
his life……
Separatists and Analysts
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Separatists believe that many different
people contributed to the material which
makes up The Iliad and The Odyssey.
Analysts believe that the stories came from
one person.
Epic Poems
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A long poem involving a hero who represents
his society’s values
Written on one theme– Aristotle’s formula for
the perfect poem involved having a central
theme
Begin with an invocation to the gods
Homeric similes
Epic Hero/Warrior
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Subject of an epic poem or long work
Has a flaw that causes downfall
Warriors in Greek Mythology measure
themselves in terms of “loot”
Live by the Warrior Code– he who has the
most “loot” is the most honorable
The Iliad: Things to Know
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Theme of the Iliad is rage (“rage” is the first
word in the poem)
Tells the story of the last 41 days of the
Trojan War
Made up of 15,693 lines of verse!
Troy is also called “Ilium”
Words for “Greeks”
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Acheans
Hellenes
Argives
The Back Story
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Trojan War started because
of a breach of hospitality
Helen (the most beautiful
woman in the world) is
married to Menelaus, King of
Sparta
Every man who wanted to
marry her promises to
protect her if need be
Runs off to Troy with Paris
(one of the Princes of Troy)
More Back Story
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All of Helen’s suitors are gathered to fight a war for
her
Agamemnon, King of Mycenae, also Menelaus’
brother, is chosen to be the Greeks’ leader
Agamemnon insults Artemis, goddess of the hunt, by
proclaiming that he is a better hunter than she
Artemis requires Agamemnon to sacrifice his eldest
daughter, Iphegenia, in order for the ships to sail to
Troy
The ships set sail after the sacrifice
Irony
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The Trojan War occurred to keep a family
together (Helen and Menelaus), but started
by destroying an innocent family
(Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, and Iphegenia)
Achilles
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The Hero of The Iliad
Prophecy: Achilles can
either fight at Troy and die,
or stay home and lead a
normal life (and live to be an
old man). He chooses to
fight.
Rejects the Warrior Code
and fights for friendship in
the end of The Iliad
The Iliad: Plot
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Greeks have been
camped out on the
beaches of Troy for
nine years– the war is
at a stand still.
Agamemnon has stolen
a slave woman (Briseis)
from Achilles
Achilles will not fight
More Plot
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Hector, Prince of Troy
and the best fighter on
the Trojan side, Kills
Achilles’ best friend,
Patroclus, who is
disguised as Achilles
Achilles rejoins the
fight, bent on killing
Hector to avenge his
friend
More Plot!
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Achilles challenges
Hector to a duel
Achilles chases Hector
around the walls of
Troy three times, kills
him, and drags his body
back to the Greek
camps to be eaten by
dogs
Resolution
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King Priam sneaks into
the Greek camp at
night to beg Achilles for
the body of his son
Achilles agrees,
deciding that a proper
burial and time for
grieving are important
for family members
Moral of the Story
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The Iliad is an anti-war poem
Achilles turns inside himself for the answers,
as opposed to measuring his worth in terms
of material things
The war is completely futile, since Helen
expresses regret for marrying Paris and
comes home to Greece willingly with
Menelaus