Greek achievements and Greek history

Greek Achievements and a Summary of Greek History
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INTRO:

    In my first lecture, made the generalization that history is most wonderful, most exciting, most fascinating of all subjects. All periods/all peoples interesting. But for me at least, most interesting field of all, Ancient Greece--and there is almost nothing at all I would rather study. Now I've probably told all of you a story about how I came to be a history professor (my sister Marta telling me I had "the most beautiful voice for putting people to sleep.")

    Actually, while that happened, that's not the whole story. All my life, Greeks had a special fascination for me. It started in elementary school, when I fell in love with Greek mythology (played at being Hector and Achilles). While I was in junior high, my dad introduced me to the works of Plato, and I fell in love with Greek philosophy. As an undergraduate, I was a theater major: and fell in love with Greek drama. I taught h.s. drama and English for several years, and didn't spend much time with the Greek literature. And then one day I picked up Herodotus' history of the Persian Wars--and I was in love all over again. I knew that, if I possibly could, I wanted to study this stuff for the rest of my life, to understand how human beings could create such absolutely incredible works--works that are, in my opinion at least, the finest achievements of the human mind.

    But its not just in literature the Greeks excelled. They produced some of the world's greatest art, the first true science, and some of the greatest athletes the world has ever seen. In fact, of all the ancient peoples, it was the Greeks who contributed the most to subsequent civilization in virtually every field of human endeavor. What's all the more amazing is that the Greek were able to do all these things despite the fact that they were constantly at war--or maybe because they were constantly at war.

Generalization: Greeks made more important contributions to sub. civilization than any other ancient people, despite the fact--or maybe because of the fact that they were constantly at war.

1. Art (Pathenon, sculptures of Phidias, etc., source of inspiration for Roman and all sorts of sub. art

3. History (first and some of greatest historians, including HERODOTUS, Thucydides, and Xenophon)

A. First political science (Plato, Aristotle)
B. Vocabulary for political science (monarchy, etc.)

       A. Among greatest epic poems (HOMER)
   B. Among greatest lyric poems (SAPPHO)
   C. Vocabulary for analyzing poetry (iamb, trochee, etc.)

       A. First plays (Thespis)
       B. Some of greatest comic playwrights (Aristophanes/Menander)
       C. 3/4 greatest tragedians (Aeschylus/Sophocles/Euripides)

       A. Thales/Democritus/Aristotle
       B. Euclid/Pythagoras in math
   C. Eratosthenes (Circumference of the earth)
   D. Aristarchus of Samos ("Copernican" theory)
   E. Archimedes (specific gravity, etc.)

How is it the Greeks were able to achieve so much? Some special genius? Miraculous intervention of God? Chance? Greek history suggests some answers--short overview of Greek history.

Minoan civ began, not in Greece proper, but an island of coast, Crete. Minoans first great civilization on the European continent. (C. 3000--height 2000-1500 B.C.) We don't know as much about them as we would like/can't read their writing. But: very advanced civilization. Indoor plumbing, living standards higher than Europe would see again for 3000 years. Natural enough that memory of this civ. would make it a golden age, perhaps even exagerate achievements. Minoans probably source of Atlantis legend, a legend that still fascinates people today.

Equally interesting the next great phase of Greek civilization, the Mycenaeans (1500-1200 B.C.). With Mycenaeans, we are a little luckier: we can read their writing. Unfortunately mostly business texts. (Not much fascinating in that!). But we also have another source for Mycenaeans: poems of Homer, Iliad and Odyssey. The Heroes Homer writes about (Agamemnon, Achilles, Odysseus, etc.) lived during the Mycenaen period. Just stories? Historians once thought so, but Archaeology has tended to confirm things Homer says about Mycenaean age.

Trojan war was last great adventure of Mycenaean period. Mycenaeans were attacked by new Greek speakers: Dorians. We don't know much about Dorian period. One great achievement: the poems of Homer--not much else. A dark age--but this dark age gave rise to one of the most impressive civilizations the world has ever seen.

Greek political system that emerged during the dark ages was based around what called the polis (word that gives us political/politics). Polis a city-state: not a kingdom or empire, but an independent, self-governing community (Egyptian nomes, Sumerian cities.) Polises ranged from a few thousand, as many as 200,000. But whether big or small, each polis has its own facinating story to tell. Corinth: the San Franisco of the ancient world, a wealthy trading city, full of the finest in Greek culture, but also a city of thousands of prostitutes. ("Corinthing"). Thebes, a city that suffered military defeat after military defeat--until they put together an army dominated by homosexuals.

But most fascinating of all polises, probably the most important, Sparta and Athens.

Story of Sparta first. Sparta at first little different than other city states, had agora, acropolis. Began to change after a series of wars with neighboring Messenia. Got helots/perioikoi/land. Nice! But to preserve status had to turn selves into a military machine.

(Why is it that Spartan women are the only women in Greece who rule men? Because Spartan women are the only ones who give birth to men).

2. Example of what a disciplined lifestyle can do: Michagan State Spartans, San Juan Spartans: you don't here athletic teams called Athenians, Thebans, Corinthians--and of course Lesbians wouldn't do at all.

At same time as Sparta, Athens developing a very different type of Polis. Agora/Acropolis. But far more trade, far more cosmopolitan. Athens more democratic than Sparta: Solon, Cleisthenes, and Pericles. Ecclesia. law courts (600 jourers; no lawyers; sun up to sun down.)