Chapter 5
In This Chapter
• What is so special about Greece?
• Many cities on many hills
• Greek philosophy
• Greek art
• Alexander the Great
• Hellenistic culture
The civilization of Greece rivaled the other classic civilizations we have looked at of India and China in cultural richness and effect on history. Its institutions, literature, art, and philosophy reverberate into the later historyof the Middle East, and Europe, and extend into the Americas. But our understanding of classic Greek civilization and culture is sometimes complicated by its expansion into the Middle East through Persia and the development of Hellenistic culture.
The Geography of Greece
The area in which the Greek civilization emerged is in the southernmost part of the Balkan Peninsula. Unlike most of the civilizations we have previously examined, Greece did not benefit agriculturally from a great river and valley. However, it was surrounded by water: the Aegean, Mediterranean, and Ionian Seas. Of course, sea water has limited agricultural benefit.
What in the World
The Greeks called themselves Hellenes for a good reason. They believed that they were descendants of the goddess Helen, whom they worshipped.
Furthermore, three quarters of the region in which the Greek civilization developed was covered by mountains. These factors did not make the developmentof Greek civilization easy—but one factor did. The land had a very mild climate, which led to more agricultural production. This helped to create the necessary ingredient for civilization in the region.
Aegean Civilizations
Before the classic Greek civilization that we think of, two other civilizations existed on the Greek peninsula. Together the Minos and Myceneae are called the Aegean civilizations. They were the early ancestors and the foundation of Greek civilization.
The Minoans
The Minoan civilization centered on the island of Crete from 2000 to 1450 B.C.E. Much of what we know about the Minoans has come from the discoveries of Sir Arthur Evans, an archaeologist who in the early twentieth century excavated the capitalcity of the Minoans, Knossos, found at Crete.
Although little is known for certain even today about the Minoans, some basic facts have been deduced. First, because of their geographic location on an island, the Minoans depended on trade around the Mediterranean Sea basin for their wealth and power. They apparently reached the height of their power around 1600 B.C.E. But around 1450 B.C.E., the Minoan civilization collapsed, oddly and quite suddenly.
Historians from antiquity to modern times have speculated that a catastrophic tidal wave flooded and destroyed the civilization. It is possible that this gave rise to the myth of Atlantis. But such speculation should be taken with a grain of salt.
The Mycenaean Civilization
The Mycenaean civilization took over in Greece where the Minoans left off, but in contrast, it was centered on the Greek mainland and used conquest for its wealth and power. Unfortunately for the Mycenaeans, their reign over the Greek Peninsula did not last long. They moved into the Balkan Peninsula around 2000 B.C.E. but were unable to organize sufficiently to control Greece until around the 1450s B.C.E. By the 1100s B.C.E., the Mycenaeans were warring amongst themselves, which left them very weak.
In their weakened state, a group of upstart, Greek-speaking Indo-Europeans invaded from the north, plunging the land into what are called the Greek Dark Ages from about 1150 to 800 B.C.E. Although politically divided, the Dorians formed a single culture based on common language and religion, eventually calling themselves Greeks or sometimes Hellenes.
The Greek City-States
Eventually the Greeks began to get it together, turn on the lights, and end the Dark Ages. During the Archaic period (800-500 B.C.E.) they moved forward socially, culturally,and politically. The political advancements were to some degree affected by the hilly, mountainous geography of Greece.
The Greeks settled and lived on the top of the hills because it was, and still is, much easier to keep an eye on suspicious people from the top of a hill rather than the bottom. These large and small settlements formed protected cities that ruled the surroundingcountryside. The end result was that hundreds of Greek city-states grew up politically independent of each other.
The Polis
The city-state, or polis, included the Greek city itself and the surrounding countryside,which it controlled and used for farming. The term “polis“ is where the word “politics” was derived; despite what most people think, politics means to participate in the development of the polis.
The citizens of the city-state—generally the free, landowning males (sorry, ladies, equality has always been a difficult road)—all took part in the process of government.They could vote, hold public office, own property, and speak in court. With that participation came rights and responsibilities, which the citizens of the polis took very seriously. The famous philosopher Socrates died an unjust death honoring those rights and responsibilities! (More on Socrates later in the chapter.)
Sparta and Athens
There were a few leaders of the hundreds of city-states in ancient Greece. Corinth and Thebes were largest and were very politically powerful. But Sparta and Athens truly led the pack. Not only did they have the honor of being the leaders of classical Greek civilization, they were also the death of classical Greek civilization.
The Spartans, who descended from the original Dorian invaders and claimed descent from Hercules (remember him, the big strong guy?), inhabited a land-locked city-state.They depended on a large slave-holding population gained through wars and agriculture for their wealth. This created a measure of paranoia in the Spartans (a huge slave revolt in 650 B.C.E. didn’t help)—so much so that they were very strict and maintained a dictatorship.
It also led the Spartans to put a lot of time (and I mean a lot) into the training of a large and effective army, which became one of the most feared in the ancient world. Spartan boys entered the military at age 7, did not leave the military barracks until age 30, and did not fully retire from the military until age 60.
Notable Quotable
"At seven years old they were to be enrolled in ... classes, where they all lived under the same order and discipline ... he who showed the most courage was made captain; they had their eyes always upon him, obeyed his orders, and underwent patiently whatsoever punishment he inflicted.”
—The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, Plutarch on the beginning of Spartan military training
The Athenian way was the opposite of the Spartan way on most every point. First, Athens had access to the Aegean Sea, which allowed it to depend on trade for its wealth. To protect that trade, the Athenians became a naval power. That trade brought a steady flow of new culture and learning into the city on which Athenians prided themselves. Athens also developed a new, more liberal form of government called democracy.
Democracy began in Athens in 508 B.C.E., when the dictator of Athens, Cleisthenes, gave Athenian male citizens a voice in governing with the Council of 500 and the Athenian Assembly, made up of all the citizens of Athens. The Athenian Assembly made and passed laws for the city-state, while the Council of 500 administered those laws and performed the everyday business of government. The Assembly also chose 10 generals each year to command the army and navy. Athenian democracy even provided for a jury system to try cases in court. This democratic form of government reached its high point in Athens under the direction of Pericles (461-429 B.C.E.) and at that time was the most representative form of government yet created.
All of that democratic practice and freedom in the city-state of Athens was an exceptionrather than a rule. In general the majority of the city-states were ruled by an oligarchy, or an elite group of wealthy and powerful men. All of the city-states in some form or fashion used slaves from other regions as laborers, teachers, or servants. Finally, women were treated as inferiors in Greek society and not given any kind of status equal to that of the male citizens.
All Greek to Me
During the time of the city-states, the Greek culture advanced by leaps and bounds, and laid the first bricks of Western culture. Greek religion with its myths, although not practiced today, is taught to students across the world. The philosophy of the Greeks remains the foundation of Western thinking. Greek drama and literature still provide inspiration for movies and books. And the art and architecture of the Greeks has been copied in the buildings of Washington, D.C., and elsewhere.
Greek Religion
Greek religion developed in response to the sometimes scary mysteries of the natural world. The gods became connected to the elements of nature. For example, Poseidon was the god of the oceans and Apollo was the god of the sun. Eventually the gods and goddesses took on human form and characteristics. The stories that the Greeks told about the gods and goddesses became mythology. Most of the myths taught a lesson, which usually was “don’t mess with the gods because they’re a dysfunctional lot!”
The gods became the center of social and civic life, with each polis dedicating itself to one particular god or goddess. Athens, for instance, was dedicated to their namesake, Athena, the goddess of wisdom (although she apparently wasn’t much help during the Peloponnesian Wars). Each city-state built temples and celebrated festivals to honor their particular god or goddess.
The Olympic Games
Beginning in 776 B.C.E., the Greek city-states assembled every four years at Olympia for a sport festival to honor Zeus, father of the gods. At first the Olympic Games were made up of only footraces, but later they included wrestling, boxing, javelin throwing, discus throwing, long jumping, and chariot racing.
In 393 C.E., a very pious Christian Roman emperor objected to the games because of their pagan origin, so they ceased to be played. The Olympic Games were later revived by the French baron Pierre de Coubertin, who was inspired by the Greek ideals he found in the games. In 1896, the first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens with competitors from nations around the world. Of course the tradition of the Olympic Games continues to this day and includes all of the countries around the world, as well as winter events.
Great Greek Philosophy
The Greeks created new ways of thinking based on humanism and rationalism, startingthe discipline of philosophy. Humanism is the focus on man as the center of intellectual and artistic endeavors, while rationalism is the doctrine that knowledge comes from reason without the aid of the senses. The new discipline of philosophy was most exemplified in three great Greek philosophers: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.
Socrates
Socrates (470-399 B.C.E.) studied human behavior and ethics. He was famous for his ability to argue and challenge ideas through question after question, which became known as the “Socratic method.”
Socrates believed in an absolute truth, not a relative truth. His questioning focused on the search for the truth, which he thought was the most important thing a person could do. Of course, questioning everything all of the time can sometimes get one into trouble. Socrates was a case in point.
After Athens lost the Peloponnesian war, Socrates was set up as the scapegoat because of his questioning of the decisions of the Athenian government. He was put on trial for corrupting the youth and sentenced to death through the drinking of hemlock. Socrates could have easily escaped but refused, because he thought a citizen should not defy the decisions of the city-state.
Plato
Plato (427-347 B.C.E.) was a student of Socrates and it’s through him that most historiansget their knowledge of Socrates. Plato loved politics and put most of his thinking and writing talents into examining the politics of the city-state. Although Plato wrote a great deal, his volume on politics titled The Republic is his most enduringwork.
In The Republic, Plato stressed the importance of ideals and truths. The ideal ruler of a city-state, according to Plato, would be a philosopher-king, who would have greater knowledge of the truth and the state’s ideals—and plenty of experience. The ideal polis would be a place where the individuals of the city-state would place the welfare of the polis above their own welfare.
Plato’s influence extended beyond his writing when he opened an educational center for young men to learn and discuss philosophy, called the Academy. In this setting, he taught Aristotle for 20 years.
Aristotle
Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E.) was more interested in the meaning of life than politics. He taught and practiced a life of moderation, or the “Golden Mean,” but Aristotle was also a master of logic. He argued against his former teacher Plato and Plato’s forms in the volume Metaphysics, writing that all matter is form and substance or ideal and reality. He also argued with logic and reason for the concept of a single god.
In another book, Organan (he produced over 200 different volumes), Aristotle explored how humans learned and divided learning into two groups—deductive and inductive. Aristotle thought that people have to individually decide which type of learning best suited them to ensure a good education. In the volume Politics, Aristotle described a good government as one that should serve all citizens, very similar to Athenian democracy. Like his teacher Plato, Aristotle’s influence went beyond his writing when he opened up his own school, called the Lyceum, for young men to learn. One young man who learned from him was the famous world conqueror Alexander the Great.
Classical Greek Achievements
The Greeks didn’t just think great thoughts. They also wrote entertaining literature, drama, and history, all of which has made a lasting impression on world civilization.
Homer (not the Simpson)
Homer was possibly (there is still debate about whether he existed) a blind poet who lived during the 700s B.C.E. He has been named as the author of two epic poems, The Iliad and The Odyssey, which greatly influenced Greek and Western civilization.
The Iliad is an epic tale about the Trojan War, which was possibly (there is also debate about whether this war actually happened) waged between the city-states of Greece and the nation of Troy. The war began when the beautiful Spartan princess Helen left her husband the king of Sparta for the love of Paris, a Trojan prince. The Trojans decided to shelter Helen, and they were successful defending the walls against the Greeks’ greatest warrior, Achilles. The war ends very badly for the Trojans, however; the trickery of Greek prince Odysseus and the Trojan horse allows the Greek forces to enter Troy and destroy it.
The Odyssey picks up where The Iliad ends, detailing the adventures of Odysseus as he tries for 10 years to return to his beloved wife and Greece. Beyond being a great yarn, the Greeks used the epics to teach the values of Hellenic culture—excellence, loyalty, dignity, and the importance of heritage—to their youth.
Drama
At first, plays were written to be presented at religious festivals of the gods, but later snowballed into events of their own. The plays were emotional and entertaining but also instructive, much like the Greek myths and Homer. Usually the drama revolved around the idea of fate and character flaws that lead someone to greatness and then ruin.
Sophocles wrote one of the more memorable examples of this dramatic use of success,flaw, and ruin with Oedipus Rex, a play about a king who unwittingly kills his father and marries his mother. Once this is discovered, it all ends rather badly, with Oedipus’ mother hanging herself and Oedipus stabbing his eyes out.
What in the World
As bizarre as the story of Oedipus Rex appears, twentieth-century psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud based much of his approach to understanding unconscious desires on it. In Freud’s mind, men unconsciously want to be with their mother and kill their rival—that is, their father—for her attention!
Other important tragic playwrights include Aeschylus, one of the earliest writers, who wrote Orestia, and Euripides, who wrote Trojan Women. But it wasn’t all tragic. Aristophanes wrote popular satires and social comedies like Knights, which poked fun at government officials, andClouds,which ridiculed the seriousness of philosophers.
Historians and History
In addition to literature and drama, Greek civilization produced some of the first historiansand histories. Herodotus produced the one of the first books on history, The History of the Persian Wars. Although the account of the Persian Wars has some accuratefacts, Herodotus also colored some facts in an epic way to add to the story. He also included the Greek gods as part of the narrative, making the history even more epic than historical.
Thucydides, the father of history (a title I wish I could get), wrote the first true historicalwork, The History of the Peloponnesian Wars. Thucydides tried to be accurate and objective with the facts in his history of the war between Athens and Sparta, even traveling to the places where the events took place and interviewing participants.Thucydides’ approach influenced historians of Western and world civilization through the centuries—including this author!
Notable Quotable
"Our constitution is called a democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but the whole people. When it is a question of settling private disputes, everyone is equal before the law.”
—History of the Peloponnesian Wars, Thucydides’ account of Pericles’ description of Athenian democracy
Math and Science
In math and science, the Greeks again made substantial strides in human understanding.Thales (c. 600 B.C.E.), considered a philosopher by most, was said to have predicted a solar eclipse. By today’s standards, he would be considered a scientist with his development of theories about the nature of the world. He formulated a theory that water was the most basic substance of the world. (He got an A for effort; humans are made mostly of water.)
Pythagoras (c. 530 B.C.E.) also tried to explain the nature of the world, but in mathematicalterms. His Pythagorean Theorem (a2+b2=c2) was the result of some of his work and demonstrates his and classical Greek influence today in the field of geometry.
Art and Architecture
When the Greeks were not thinking great thoughts or writing entertaining literature,they were building really big, beautiful buildings. The Parthenon was the crown jewel of Greek architecture and art. Built as a temple to Athena from 447 to 432 B.C.E., it was perfectly balanced in form and surrounded by beautiful marble columns. The frieze displayed at the top of the Parthenon and the statue of Athena in the templewas created by the sculptor Phidias, who used balance and restraint in his realistic depictions of gods, humans, and animals. He also created the great statue of Zeus found in the Olympia, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
Other great Greek sculptors who defined the art of the age were Myron, who portrayedmore idealized versions of people; in other words, what they should look like, rather than their actual looks. And Praxiteles favored grace in the subject rather than power.
A Little Persian with Your Greek
Eventually the Greeks began to rub elbows with other big civilizations, namely the Persian Empire. This contact allowed the Greeks to go global, so to speak. In the end, the contact created an interesting mixture of east and west, or Persian and Greek, civilizations.
The Persian Wars
Around 500 B.C.E. the Ionian Greek colonies, which were under the control of the Persian Empire, revolted. The Greek city-states, naturally, wanted to help their oppressed brothers and sisters, so they created an army and sent some very strong words to King Darius of Persia. King Darius was not too impressed with the Greeks or their strong words, so in 492 B.C.E. he invaded Greece to teach them a lesson.
The Persian army was larger but not as unified as the Greeks’ and King Darius and his army were defeated at the Battle of Marathon by an Athenian army in 490 B.C.E. This sent King Darius back to the Persian Empire with his proverbial tail between his legs and ended the First Persian War.
The next king of Persia, Xerxes, did not forget the Greek victory. In 480 B.C.E., he invaded Greece; this time with a superior army and navy. The Spartans were able to hold off the Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae to give the other Greek city-states a chance to prepare. Later, at the Battle of Salamis Bay, the Athenian navy, with the use of ship rams, was able to destroy the Persian navy as King Xerxes helplessly watched from a nearby cliff. Finally, in 479 B.C.E. at the Battle of Platea, Sparta and Athens joined forces and sent King Xerxes and the Persians packing for home.
What in the World
The modern marathon was inspired by the story of the Athenian runner who ran 26 miles from the Marathon plain to Athens to deliver the news of victoryat the Battle of Marathon to Athens. What modern marathonersdon’t know (or seem to forget) is that the runner died of exhaustionafter delivering the news.
The Beginning of the End
The teamwork between Athens and Sparta quickly dissolved in the years following the Persian Wars. Athens, fearful of another Persian invasion, formed a defensive allianceof Greek city-states called the Delian League in 478 B.C.E. The Athenians didn’t invite the Spartans because they wanted to lead it.
The Spartans were understandably hurt and worried about a new powerful alliance of Greek city-states. So Sparta created a defensive league of Greek city-states called the Peloponnesian League. Eventually the interests of both leagues clashed and the resulting armed conflicts were called the Peloponnesian Wars (432-404 B.C.E.). Sparta and the Peloponnesian League were victorious over Athens and the Delian League, but the wars devastated the whole of Greece, leaving all of the city-states weakened.
The Rise of Macedonia and Alexander the Great
The weakened state of Greece left the door wide open for a “would be” conqueror. That conqueror was King Philip of Macedon, whose kingdom was located north of the Greek city-states. The Macedonians were related to the Greeks but were not as socially or politically advanced. But at the end of the Peloponnesian Wars, King Philip saw his chance to make Macedon a first-rate Greek kingdom and, by 338 B.C.E., he conquered all of the Greek city-states. His success fueled his confidence, and King Philip prepared for an invasion of the Persian Empire, but he was murdered (probably arranged through his wife) before he could start.
What in the World
It was said that when Alexander the Great was born there “was a flash of lightning”and “thunder resounded.” Apparently Aristotle recognized this flash of brilliance. When asked by Philip of Macedon to tutor Alexander, the philosopher jumped at the chance.
Philip’s son, Alexander the Great (r. 336-323 B.C.E.), took over where his father left off. At 20 years of age, Alexander began a 12-year campaign of conquest of the Persian empire and Egypt. With only 50,000 soldiers he accomplished his mission and conquered over 2 million square miles of territory. Marching over 20,000 miles with his Greek soldiers, Alexander crossed the Indus River into India to conquer more territory. At this point his Greek soldiers refused to march any more and demanded that Alexander turn back to Greece.
The empire of Alexander the Great.
On the return march Alexander died at age 33, probably from a combination of exhaustion, fever, and too much drink. After his death his quickly conquered and created empire was divided into three large administrative kingdoms ruled by his former generals.
Hellenistic Culture
From the death of Alexander to 30 B.C.E., Hellenistic culture combined the best of Greek and Persian cultures, growing out of the trade that flourished with the protectionof the kingdoms of Alexander the Great’s former empire. This trade benefited from the use of same Greek language and methods of buying and selling goods. It eventually produced sufficient wealth to allow new cities and inventions to be built and new ideas to flourish.
A prime example of this combination of trade and wealth in action was found at the city of Alexandria in Egypt, which became the place to be if you wanted to be on top of Hellenistic culture. Alexandria also was the home of the Library of Alexandria, the official repository for all that was known (a pretty tall order).
New philosophies and ideas spread across the Hellenistic kingdoms. Cynicism, advocatedby Diogenes (412-323 B.C.E.), taught that humans should live in harmony with nature and forgo luxuries. Epicureanism, created by Epicures (340-270 B.C.E.), taught that human pleasure equals the good life—the “eat, drink, and be merry” attitude. And the philosopher Zeno (335-262 B.C.E.) wrote that humans must participate in society in their assigned role with virtue and duty as their guides.
There were also many leaps in the realms of science. Thales was one of the first to record the movements of the stars and planets. Aristarchus (310-230 B.C.E.) theorized that the earth orbited the sun; while Ptolemy argued that the sun and stars orbited the earth. He was wrong, but Ptolemy’s earth-centric theory remained the accepted one until Copernicus proved it wrong in the sixteenth century.
Euclid (c. 300 B.C.E.) wrote The Elements of Geometry, which still provides some of the most fundamental proofs of geometry. Archimedes, Greek inventor and mathematician,wrote in his book Plane Equilibrium some of basic principles of mechanics, including the lever. He even invented the compound pulley and the Archimedean screw, used to pump water. Finally, Eratosthenes (285-204 B.C.E.) calculated the circumferenceof the earth to be 24,675 miles. He was only off by 185 miles, which is pretty good considering he didn’t have a pocket calculator!
The Least You Need to Know
• Athens and Sparta became the leading city-states politically and economically.
• The Greek cultural contributions to philosophy, literature, architecture, and art formed the foundation of Western civilization.
• The Greek city-states reached their apex shortly after the Persian Wars but were weakened by the Peloponnesian Wars.
• Alexander the Great launched an ambitious conquest of the Persian Empire. He died after conquering his empire, but Hellenistic culture flourished as a result of his conquests.