The Persians

• 550 B.C.E., Cyrus the Great• Zoroastrianism

–Good vs. evil–Last judgment

•Challenged the Greeks – invasions by Achaemenid Empire (Xerxes)•Conquered by Alexander the Great

The Persian Empire in Its Main Stages

Classical Greece•Classical Greece

–City-states (polis)–Mountainous terrain = rivalries

Variety of governments

• Literature– Iliad, Odyssey - Basis for Hellenic (Greek) culture

• Architecture–Columns

• Arts–Sculpture (ideal form)

The Greek World

The City-State as a Political Unit

•Greece formed into many city-states - polis• Each polis deeply united

–Public religion–Political participation–Cultural events, e.g. theatre

• Social hierarchy–Aristocrats (wealthy land-owners) at the top–Captures slaves at the bottom

The Rise of Democracy in Athens

• Solon & Pericles - Athenian statesmen• Popular assembly

–Oversight of most of the government

•Offices filled by lot•Who was excluded?

–Women–Slaves–Foreigners and their children

Greek Unity

•Colonization–Spread of Greek culture (Hellenism)

throughout Mediterranean–Expansion of trade

•Religious games–Truces – war against Persia (Delian League)–Olympics–Oracle at Delphi

Fragmentation

•Conflict between cities–Athens versus Sparta (military oligarchy)

Political contrasts Competing alliances Peloponnesian War, 431-404 B.C.E.• Athenian surrender, 404 B.C.E.

Macedonian Conquest

•Macedon (north) compared to southern Greece–Monarchy v. city-state–Plains v. mountains–Linguistic differences

• Philip II of Macedon (359-336 B.C.E.)–By 338 B.C.E., Greece conquered

Alexander the Great

•Conquests, 334-331 B.C.E.

– Into India, Egypt–Founded:

Alexandria – ancient city New and important trade routes, libraries

•Death, 323 B.C.E.

•Division of successor states by generals–Egypt: Ptolemies–Persia: Seleucids

Alexander’s Empire and the Hellenistic World, c. 323 B.C.E.

Creativity in Greek and Hellenistic Culture

•Religion, Philosophy, and Science–Religion

Pantheon of gods with human traits–Philosophy

Socrates - Skepticism Plato

–Stoics - Moral fortitude

Creativity in Greek and Hellenistic Culture

•Religion, Philosophy, and Science–Science

Pythagoras Euclid Archimedes

•Drama–Public, religious, typified by conflict–Sophocles - Tragedy–Aristophanes - Comedy

Literature and the Visual Arts

•Drama–Oral epic

Homer

–History Herodotus – mix of myth and history Thucydides – first true historian

•Human achievement important• Temples

Patterns of Greek and Hellenistic Society

•Men, Women, and Social Divisions–Patriarchal–Women – legal/cultural disadvantages–Athens – very patriarchal–Sparta – more rights for women