1. What does 19th-century poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley, mean by “We are all Greeks”? What were the two ancient Bronze Age civilizations of the Aegean Sea? What myths or characteristics are these two ancient civilizations known for? He means that modern individuals- profoundly influenced by the Hellenic ideals of reason, beauty, and the good life on earth. Two bronze age civilization of the Aegean sea were the mycenaeans and the maritime. They were known for being prosperous and seafaring. 2. Who is Homer? What questions are associated with him and the Iliad? What events are the Iliad about?
What is the Heroic Age? Based on your readings, what are the characteristics of the epic hero? (What is the quest of the epic hero? How is Achilles different than Gilgamesh? What is arete? ) Make sure to read Reading 4. 1on page 81-84 in your textbook Homer is a blind poet and questions that are associated with him and the illiad are scholars are not sure where or when he lived, or if he even lived at all. The illiad are about the last days of the Trojan war. The heroic age is the period between the coming of the Greeks to Thessaly and the Greek return from Troy.
An epic hero is an important figure from a history or legend. The quest of an epic hero is to find everlasting life. Achilles was considered a hero in contrast to Gilgamesh, he failed his search of immortality. Arete is in its basic sense, means excellence of any kind. In its earliest appearance in Greek, this notion of excellence was ultimately bound up with the notion of the fulfillment of purpose or function: the act of living up to one’s full potential. 3. How did the ancient Greeks envision their gods/goddesses? What is the title of the Greek creation myth?
They envisioned their gods/goddesses as a family of immortals who intervened in the lives of human beings. The title of the greek creation myth is theogany. 4. What were the Persian wars? How were the Persians defeated? What is a city-state? Who was Herodotus? Why are his writings important to us? The Persian wars were a series of battles fought between Ancient Greece and Persia. They were defeated by Greece building a fleet of warships. A city state is an independent or autonomous entity whose territory consists of a city which is not administered as a part of another local government.
Herodotus is the world’s first historian (father of history). His writings were important because he laid the basis for the historical method. 5. What is the Golden Age of Greece? What was the personality and characteristics of the city-state, Athens, during the Golden Age of Greece? Who was Pericles? Who were the Peloponnesian Wars fought by? The golden age of Greece was the period between 480 and 430 BCE. Pericles was a leader of Athens who was responsible for rebuilding Athens following the Persian Wars. He was also leader of Athens during the Peloponnesian war. The Peloponnesian war was fought by Athens and Sparta.
6. Who was Thucydides? Based on your readings in Reading 4. 2 on page 88-89 in your textbook, In what ways does he find Athens unique? What does he mean by saying “Athens is the school of Hellas”? Thucydides was a Greek historian and author from Alimos. He finds Athens unique because he said pretty much no other civilization matches Athens in the least. He means by saying “Athens is the school of hellas” by Athens is all powerful and will prevail over others. 7. What were the Olympic Games of Greece? What were the histories, purpose and characteristics of Greek Drama?
Who are the four Greek playwrights whose works still exist? Which of these four were playwrights of tragedy and which were playwrights of comedy? Based on your readings from Reading 4. 3 on pages 92-98, Who is the tragic hero? What are the characteristics of the tragic hero and what is his tragic flaw? How does Aristotle categorize the tragedy as a genre? The Olympic games of Greece began in 776 bce and was in honor of the greek gods. The histories, purpose, and characteristics was a form of play that addressed the relationship between the individual, the community, and the gods.
Four greek playwrights of tragedy were Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes. Aeschylus was the only play of comedy, the rest were tragedy. The tragic hero is the protahegonist of a tragedy. Characteristics of the tragic hero as well as his flaw is tragedy which gave formal expression to the most awful kinds of human experience. He catorgarizes it as violence and tragic death. 8. Who made the speculative leap from supernatural to natural explanation of the unknown? Who were the Pre-Socratics? What were the teachings of Pythagoras? Who was Hippocrates? Who were the Sophists? Who was Socrates?
Based on your readings from Reading 4. 5 on pages 103-104, How does Plato’s Crito illustrate the relationship between the individual and the community? The greek philosophers. The pre-socratics were the earliest of the greek philosopher scientists. The teachings were the belief that proportion was the true basis of reality. Hippocrates was the most famous of the greek physicians. The sophists were people who would travel from city to city and teach people how to be wise for a fee. Socrates is athens’ foremost philosopher, vigorously opposed the views of the sophists. 9. Who was Plato? From your readings in Reading 4.
6, What does each allegorical figure (the Cave, the Sun, and so on) represent? How does this education of the psyche contribute (according to Socrates) to the life of a “well governed society”? Plato was the pupil of Socrates who reaped the benefits of golden age culture along with the insecurities of the postwar era. The allegorical figure refers to sculptures that symbolize and particularly personify abstract ideas. It contributes to the life of a well governed society because that was when order took place in not only the civilization but as well as throughout multiple civilizations multiple order place.
10. Who was Aristotle? What were his contributions to human reason and science? Based on your readings in Reading 4. 7 on pages 109-110, What, according to Aristotle, is the supreme good? How does one arrive at the Golden Mean? Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His contributions were insisting governments would be in the best interest of the state, not just an individual group. The supreme good is ”an activity of the rational soul in accordance with virtue”.
One arrives at the golden mean by forming habits of moderation Allegory- a literary device in which objects patterns or actions are equated with secondary figurative meanings that underlie their literal meaning. Amphora- two handled vessel used for oil or wine. Antagonist- the character that dierectly opposes the protagonist in drama or fiction. Catalog- a list of people things or attributes, characteristic of biblical and Homeric literature. Catharsis- in drama an emotional experience that revitalizes the spectator. Democrcy- a government in which supreme power is vested in the people.
Dialectical method- a question and answer style of inquiry made famous by Socrates. Empirical method- a method of inquiry dependant on direct experience or observation. Epithet- a characterizing word or phrase in Homeric verse a compound adjective used to identify a person or thing.
Ethics- that branch of philosophy that sets forth the principles of human conduct. Hubris- excessive pride, arrogance. Krater- a vessel used for mixing wine and water. Oligarchy- a govt in which power lies in the hands of an elite minority. Syllogism- a deductive scheme of formal argument consisting of two premises from which a conclusion may be drawn.