his101cd

HIS 101 – Western Civilization I
Lecture 4 -- Ancient Greece

I. Earliest Greek Civilizations

The origins of Greek civilization are somewhat obscure. Neither historians, archaeologists, nor linguists can confidently establish when Greek-speaking peoples made the Balkan peninsula of Greece their home
Minoans

The first civilization to arise in the area of Greece came on the island of Crete.
Archaeologists have given it the name of Minoan, after the mythical Cretan king Minos
By sometime around 1650 BC, the island of Crete was home to the Minoan culture that flourished (although people had inhabited the island since the Neolithic period)
Almost all we know about Minoan culture comes from archaeology, since we cannot decipher their written language
The symbol of Minoan culture was the palace

Around 1650 BC, Crete was dotted with a number of palaces, with the most important one being at Cnossus
The palace was the political and economic center of Minoan society, containing storage areas and trading centers for the local region

like many of the societies in southwestern Asia, the Minoan society was rigorously controlled from above

At the top of the society stood the King and nobles, who governed the lives and labor of the island's farmers, sailors, shepherds and artisans
The tools and weapons of the Minoans were made primarily--they had to import the copper and tin from other parts to make these items
The society was wealthy overall, and for the most part lived in peace (almost no sign of fortifications around the palaces or cities)

In addition to agriculture, the Minoan economy centered around trade

Sailors and merchants traveled throughout the eastern Mediterranean Sea, trading with Egypt and cities along the coast of the Middle East
The Minoans established a number of trading posts throughout the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean
Through their commerce, the Minoans made contact with a group of Greek speaking people who were settled at Mycenae

Mycenaeans

We know little about when the Mycenaeans came to Greece (or where they came from), except that they spoke a language of the Indo-Aryan family
By 1650 BC, they were firmly established on the Peloponessus peninsula in the city of Mycenae, a major city and trading center
Mycenae was the capital for the legendary king Agamemnon (the Trojan War)
As in Crete, the political unit was a kingdom ruled by the king and his warrior nobles

The kings ruled from their palaces (unlike those of the Minoans, those of Mycenae were walled)
these palaces also served as the commercial centers of a tightly controlled economy

The Mycenaean economy was marked by extensive division of labor, tightly controlled from above

People were divided into artisans, farmers, laborers, and slaves (most of whom toiled for kings or aristocrats)
All worked according to orders from the king and his nobles

the Mycenaeans conducted regular trade with the Minoans--for at least 200 years, relations between the two peoples were peaceful

sometime around 1450 BC, Mycenaeans attacked Crete, destroying many of the Minoan palaces and capturing the one at Cnossus
for the next 50 years, the Mycenaeans ruled Crete until a further wave of violence destroyed Cnossus and left much of the island in ashes (unanswered question is who, not what destroyed civilization on Crete--natural disaster ruled out)
Mycenaeans took advantage of the absence of the Minoans to expand their trade to encompass the eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean
Their culture flourished like it had never done before as they became quite prosperous from their commercial activities

However, sometime between 1300 and 1100 B.C., the Mycenaean civilization came under constant attack

It had long been claimed that the attacks came from the Dorians (a Greek-speaking people from the northern part of Greece)
But now, historians believe that it was most likely that the warfare that destroyed Mycenaean civilization was internal--although there is still much dispute (natural disasters, changes in warfare--weapons and tactics)

Wherever the attacks came from, by 1100 BC Mycenaean civilization was destroyed

II. The “Dark Age” of Greece

the period following the fall of the Mycenaeans ushered in such poverty, disruption, and backwardness that historians usually call it the “Dark Age” of Greece
for the next 300 years (until 800 BC), Greece remained a land of chaos- Literacy, which had never been widespread under the Minoans nor Mycenaeans, basically disappeared completely
Still, the period was important to the development of later Greek civilization

the warfare and chaos of the era caused many Greek-speaking peoples to flee--some to Crete, others across the Aegean Sea to Asia Minor
in effect these migrants turned the Aegean into a Greek lake

the collapse of Mycenaean civilization also opened the door for new developments in the social and political areas of the Greeks

the loss of imports in copper and tin meant they could not use bronze any more, so they turned to working in iron to supply their needs for metal
the loss of literacy fostered the highly developed oral tradition which gave rise to the Homeric epics
the lack of writing also made possible the later adoption of the alphabet system from the Phoenicians (which they would later modify into the Greek alphabet)
finally, the collapse of centralized palace system left survivors adrift in small groups under local leaders who could most efficiently lead continuing survival efforts (or lead migrations)
these small groups provide the nucleus out of which developed the autonomous city-state, or polis --the basic unit of later Greek civilization

Homeric Age

the major cultural development of the Dark Age was the oral tradition of epic poetry
the most important (as well as the most famous of these) were the Iliad and the Odyssey, attributed to Homer

the rise of the Polis

During the Dark Age of Greek history, the polis came to be the dominant political unit
With the fall of the Mycenaean civilization, the Greek peoples needed a government that was flexible in the face of rapidly changing conditions and responsive to local needs
To solve this problem, they developed the polis as their main form of government
What is the polis

The polis is not really a city-state--in many cases will not even center around a city (many of the polis were centered by towns, Sparta was actually a group of small towns and villages rather than one urban center)
The polis also differed from modern cities in that it was autonomous, that is not controlled by a larger regional or national government
The polis included the city or town and the surrounding countryside
Living setup within the polis

The people of a typical polis lived in a compact group of houses within the city, close to convenient water supplies
They got their water from public fountains and cisterns
Each polis contained a point, usually elevated above the rest of the city, called the acropolis, and a public square or marketplace called the agora

The acropolis served double duty in most poleis, being a place of refuge in times of trouble and a place of worship--containing temples, altars, public monuments, and various dedications to the gods of the polis

Ex.--Acropolis in Athens was originally used as the city's last place of refuge when the city came under attack (they even constructed a shaft 120 feet deep down to a spring; with five flights of stone and wooden steps constructed to make it easy and safe to get water during a siege)

Each city had an agora, which was originally where the warrior assembly met. But over time, the agora became the political center of the polis--a place for public meetings

The agora also came to house a number of shops, public buildings, and courts

Adjacent to the agora was an area set aside for dancing and celebration, which often later served as the location of the polis's theatre
The Chora -- three types of land around the polis provided its source of wealth

1) farmland--where one would have orchards and vineyards (the main products were grapes (and wine) and olive oil), grains such as barley and wheat, and beans in some places
2) pastureland--usually for sheep and goats, a few of the truly wealthy had cattle or horses
3) wasteland--where the men of the polis would quarry stone for building, mine for precious metals, or at certain times of the year gather small amounts of fodder for the livestock

How the polis is organized

Size of Polis

It is hard to determine the population of most of the poleis, since most were too small to need a regular census
Plato thought that 5,000 people made an ideal number for a polis

This small, intimate size was an important factor in life in the polis, because the small population enabled Greeks to see how each individual fit into the system
However, this intimacy also proved to be a drawback in two ways

1) Members of the polis were extremely reluctant to allow foreigners to become citizens, even if they were Greek by birth
2) Women were denied the right to participate in government, even though they could serve as religious leaders in some cults

Importance of polis to everyday life

The polis was more than a political institution
Above all, it was a community of citizens, and the affairs of the community were the concern of all
The customs of the community were at the same time the laws of the polis
Thus the laws of one polis might be similar to that of another, but there would always be some differences simply because each polis was unique

Governing the polis

There were several ways that the poleis were governed
The form of rulership depended on how those who held the power locally wanted to be governed

1) Monarchy
2) Aristocracy
3) Oligarchy (rule of the few) -- usually a small group of wealthy citizens, not necessarily the aristocracy
4) Democracy -- all citizens, without respect to birth or wealth participated in the administration of the polis
5) Tyranny -- someone who seizes power unlawfully--generally by using his wealth to gain a political following that could topple the existing government

The Hoplite Phalanx

each polis had its own group of soldiers called hoplites

hoplites were usually middling farmers who provided their own weapons and equipment
description of equipment

armor--helmet, breastplate, shin-guards, and round shield
weapons--short sword and long spear (9' long)
all totaled, this equipment usually weighed 50 to 60 pounds

these hoplites fought in a formation known as a phalanx

description of a phalanx

phalanx was a dense formation of men, sometimes 1,000 men long and 10-20 ranks deep
the effectiveness came in the fact that the shields of each man overlapped the next, creating an almost solid wall
the spears of the front 4 or 5 ranks would be thrust forward, creating a virtual hedge of spearpoints that was almost impossible to break

the major weakness of a phalanx was that it was slow moving and had to be used on flat ground

the phalanx was the most feared military formation of its time--seldom defeated except by other phalanxes or overwhelmed by sheer numbers on occasion (Thermopylae as an example--480 BCE)

Creation of leagues

Although each polis was normally very careful to preserve its independence, some Greeks banded together to create leagues of city-states
This gave rise to the birth of Greek federalism, a political system in which several states formed a central government while remaining independent in their own internal affairs
United in a league, this confederation of poleis was far stronger than any of its individual members and thus better able to withstand attacks from the outside

III. Lyric Age (800-500 B.C.)

Greek overseas expansion

During the period from 1100 to 800 B.C., the Greeks not only recovered from the breakdown of the Mycenaean world, but also grew in wealth and numbers

This new prosperity brought with it new problems, since Greece is a small and not especially fertile country--leaving many families with very little land or none at all
Land hunger and the resulting social and political tensions drove many Greeks to seek new homes outside Greece
When combined with other factors--such as the desire for a new start, a love of excitement and adventure, and a natural curiosity about what lay over the horizon--the Greeks were ready to expand their boundaries
Because so many Greeks were seafaring people, the Mediterranean offered them a highway to colonize other areas
They were aided by the fact that the climate and lands of the Mediterranean region are remarkably similar, making it easier to establish new colonies that closely resembled the towns and cities they had left behind
Once the colonists established themselves in their new homes, they continued living essentially as they had in Greece

Over a 200 year period from 750-550 B.C., Greeks from the mainland and Asia Minor poured onto the coasts of the northern Aegean, the Black Sea, the Ionian Sea, Sicily, southern Italy, France, and Spain, and into northern Africa

This wave of colonization spread the Greeks and their culture throughout the Mediterranean

How colonization changed Greece

As the Greeks encountered other peoples, they came into contact with new ideas and customs as well as establishing new economic links
They adopted Eastern and Egyptian motifs into their artwork, particularly pottery
In economic terms, the expansion of the Greeks created a much larger market for their agricultural and manufactured goods
They exchanged olive oil and wine for wheat in a volume that could not be grown on Greek soil
Greeks also traded their well-crafted jewelry and pottery for raw materials to places as far away as southern Russian and Spain

IV. Growth of Sparta

During the Lyric Age, Spartans expanded the boundaries of their polis and made it the leading power in Greece

Like other Greeks, the Spartans faced the serious problem of overpopulation and the need for more land--Unlike the others, the Spartans solved this problem through conquest rather than colonization

In 735 B.C., the Spartans first set out to conquer the Messinia, a rich fertile region in the southwestern Peloponessus--the war lasted for 20 years and ended in Spartan triumph
The Spartans then appropriated the Messenian land and turned the native inhabitants into helots (or serfs of the state)
About 650 B.C., the helots rebelled against the Spartans, leading to a bloody 30 year war that ended in Spartan victory, but one that left them with little stomach for more fighting

Following the war, the commoners of Sparta (who had done much of the fighting) demanded equality with the nobility

The commoners agitated and disrupted Spartan society so much that the nobility agreed to remodel the government
The reforms, called the Lycurgan regimen, created a new political, social, and economic system
Political distinctions among Spartans were eliminated and all citizens became legally equal--in effect, eliminating the aristocracy and creating an oligarchy

The government was formally led by 2 kings (war leaders) aided by a council of 28 elders who controlled military and foreign policy

Domestic affairs were handled by five ephors (overseers) elected from and by all the people

Economically, the Spartans divided the land of Messenia among all citizens--helots worked the land, providing food for the Spartans (Spartans kept them in line through force)
Under the Lycurgan system, every citizen owed primary allegiance to Sparta. The polis and its welfare was everything

The needs of the individual were subservient to the needs of the state
Family life was sacrificed to the polis--the polis oversaw the upbringing of children from infancy. It was a government council, not the father, who determined whether or not an infant was to be raised (i.e. allowed to live)
Boys from the age of seven lived in “herds” in a system of training called the agoge, which was carefully planned to weaken ties to the family and to strengthen collective identity
All adults were responsible for the behavior of all children, with the right to punish discipline any child, not just their offspring
Military service was compulsory from age 12 onward (story of the Spartan mother)

Spartan Womanhood

As young girls, Spartan women led rigorous lives to keep them physically fit (in belief that healthy women bore healthy sons)
They were allowed to move freely about the city, rather than being secluded in the home and allowed to participate in religious festivals and processions
Women did not marry at puberty, as was the custom in most of Greece (and the rest of the region at that time), but put off marriage and childbearing until they were around 18-20 years old
Marriage was by “capture”--the girl was carried off, her hair was cut, and she was dressed as a boy by her bridesmaids. She was then left in a dark room where her husband-to-be would visit her. If pregnancy resulted, the marriage was considered valid

Even after marriage, husbands lived in their mess hall until they reached the age of 30, visiting their wives only at night and by stealth. One reason given for this was to heighten sexual attraction and increase the vigor of any resulting infants. Another reason given for the practice was to ensure that the couple saw each other primarily as sexual mates and would not develop deep emotional bonds that might hamper their fighting
In Spartan law and practice, it was acceptable for a husband to loan his wife to his friends if he wanted no more children himself, or to borrow the wife of another man for reproductive purposes
Ideally, a Spartan woman was expected to raise three sons to adulthood--to do this would on average require them to bear around 12 children (6 boys and 6 girls, only half of whom would live to be adults)
The number of children that Spartan women bore took a heavy toll on the women, as childbirth and its complications were a leading cause of death among women

At all times though, it was the husband who controlled such matters--reinforcing the basic Greek idea of women as property (although taking it to such an extreme that most other groups frowned upon such practices)

Still, the women had some control. One historian has described how the Spartan women informed their men, who had been away at war for 10 years, that they would chose new partners unless the men returned home soon

Cost of Sparta’s security

The Spartans paid a high price for their security, with their way of life being marked by extreme austerity

They were notorious for the simplicity of their meals--a typical mess consisted of barley, cheese, figs, and wine, with meat being supplied occasionally by a wealthier member of the community
Their art and literature were considered backwards by other Greeks, with most literature being devoted to patriotic songs and poems

The strict control that the polis held over individual lives made for a well-disciplined army trained to follow orders explicitly, but at the same time did not foster the development of individual judgment--a lack which hurt the Spartans when they encountered situations unusual to them
Despite the efforts to weaken ties between the individual and his/her family, children of aristocratic families sometimes received preferential treatment and were placed in positions of power based on their family ties rather than merit

Finally, Sparta’s population began a rapid decline between about 700-300 B.C, brought on by a combination of large number so men being killed in war and many women dying while giving birth

IV. The Evolution of Athens

Athens located on the Attican plateau
Although Athens faced the same social and economic upheavals as Sparta during the Lyric Age, Athenian society evolved very different from that of Sparta

Instead of creating an oligarchy, over time the Athenians extended the right and duty of governing the polis to all citizens
However, it took some time for Athens to develop its system of democracy
Athens' steps toward democracy

Sometime around 630 B.C., Cylon, an Athenian aristocrat, attempted to seize control of the city and become a tyrant--his efforts were foiled (he escaped, but most of his supporters were killed)
In response to Cylon’s attempt, another Athenian aristocrat named Draco, established the first law code for the Athenian polis--Although the Draconian code was quite harsh (it was often said they were written in blood) it embodied the idea that the law belonged to the citizens of the polis (term draconian)
Peasant unrest continued over the next century

Much of the unrest stemmed from the fact that all economic matters were controlled by the assembly, which was run by the aristocrats of the polis
Because most of the best farmland was owned by the aristocrats, common farmers struggled to survive, often going into debt to meet their daily needs

This debt forced many farmers into economic dependence to the aristocrats--a farmer who owed a debt was forced to put up his land as collateral and hand over 1/6th of the annual crop for the debt until it was paid
If the farmer could not pay the debt, then he pledged himself and/or his family as collateral. If he could not pay this debt, then he and his family became slaves of the creditor
In most cases, a farmer who went into debt would be able to produce enough to support his family, but not enough to pay off debts
Some farmers went into exile rather than allow themselves to be sold into slavery

Reforms of Solon

One Athenian aristocrat, Solon, recognized that the unrest caused by this pattern of debt and slavery was what often led to the rise of tyrants in other areas of Greece
He used his writings to oppose the system
Because Solon was respected by both the aristocrats and the common people, his words were heeded and in 594 B.C. he was elected as chief magistrate of the Athenian polis and given extraordinary power to reform the state

Solon immediately freed all people enslaved for debt, recalled all exiles, canceled all debts on land, and made enslavement for debt illegal
He also divided society into four legal groups on the basis of wealth. The most influential group was made up of the wealthiest citizens, but even the poorest and least powerful enjoyed certain rights, including the ability to select some of the magistrates that ran the city.
Solon also crafted a set of laws that revised most of the Draconian code, calling for moderation and restraint in most legal affairs

Solon’s moderation must have been fairly complete, because no one was particularly pleased with the legal code he devised
After finishing the code, Solon left Athens for ten years in order to avoid pressure to revise his work

For all Solon’s wisdom, his system of government and law failed, and Athens gave way to a tyranny in 546 B.C. (Pisistratus) where the leader reduced the power of the aristocracy and supported the common people (Athens actually prospered under this tyranny, with the economy becoming strong enough to support much of the building program that made ancient Athens one of the splendors of Greece. Pisistratus also promoted ideas of equality among the people)
Still, the foundations laid out by Solon would form the institutional framework for the Athenian state
Cleisthenes

Around 500 B.C., a new tyrant arose in Athens named Cleisthenes (he was a tyrant in that he seized power unlawfully) who had the widespread support of the people
Cleisthenes immediately set out to reform the Athenian constitution, listening to the demands of the people as he did so
the new constitution provided for a democracy, creating an assembly that gave political power to all citizens and a council that consisted of 500 elected members

citizenship determined by belonging to the 140 or so villages that belonged to the polis--every male who lived there at this time became a citizen, afterwards, it was hereditary
Although Cleisthenes did not develop a true democracy--the highest offices were still held by aristocrats, but all citizens could vote and were tried by their peers in courts of law--any person could even become president of the assembly for a day.

Ostracism--exile for 10 years (one vote held to see if there would be an ostracism that year, if a majority, another taken to see who would be exiled)--a good way of removing troublemakers without resort to violence (exiled person still retained rights as a citizen and could keep their property)

Persian Wars (499-479 B.C.)

In 499 B.C., Ionian Greeks in Asia Minor rebelled against the Persian Empire (weakly backed by Athens)
Persians under Darius attack Greece in 490, but are repelled by the Athenians at the battle of Marathon
480 BCE, Xerxes returns with army of more than 150,000 men

Facing this emergency, the Greeks united--Sparta provided the heart of the army, Athens the navy
Thermopylae (480)--Xerxes defeats the Spartans (the "immortal 300")
Salamis (480)--”Wooden Walls” of Athens wins the campaign

Growth of the Athenian Empire

The end of the Persian wars provided a new opportunity for the Athenians
With the withdrawal of the Persians to Asia Minor, whoever controlled the seas could turn the Aegean into their own lake--that prize fell to the Athenians
Delian League

In 478 B.C. the Athenians and their allies formed the Delian League, a grand naval alliance aimed at liberating Ionia (in Asia Minor) from Persian rule (The league took its name from the small island of Delos, which contained a religious center sacred to all the states in the league)
The Athenians, supported by the league, carried the war to the Persians
But this success had a sinister side to it--while the Athenians were driving the Persians out of Ionia, they were becoming increasingly more imperialistic, eventually turning the Delian league into simply a portion of their empire
The other states in the league soon became nothing more than subjects of the Athenians--forced to pay tribute or suffer attacks from the Athenians

Athenian imperialism brought it into conflict with some of its neighbors, particularly the large and powerful states of Corinth and Sparta on the Peloponessus

Keeping control of this empire cost the Athenians and their allies dearly--in a failed attempt to gain control of part of Egypt, they lost an estimated 250 ships and as many as 50,000 men
As the tensions increased between Athens and other Greek states, the city gained a strong leader by the name of Pericles (sometime around 450 B.C.)--an member of one of Athen’s leading aristocratic families and a man of strong intellect
Like the democracy he led, Pericles was aggressive and imperialistic

Peloponessian War

In 431 BC, Athens and its allies went to war with the Peloponessian states and their allies
According the historian Thucydides, “the truest explanation (for the war), though the one least mentioned, was the great growth of Athenian power and the fear it caused the Spartans, which drove them to war.”
The Spartan ambassador warned the Athenians that “this day will be the beginning of great evil for the Greeks.” He was very correct in his prediction
Over the next 7 years, the army of Sparta and its Peloponessian allies invaded Attica 5 times.
The Athenians stood secure within the walls of the city, and repelled each and every attack

However, the Athenians were not secure from dangers within their walls. In 430 BC, the cramped conditions of living closed up in the city nurtured a plague which killed huge numbers of people, including Pericles himself
The death of Pericles opened the door to a new breed of politicians who were rash, ambitious, and more dedicated to themselves than to Athens--these rulers did little to help Athens in their war effort

In 421, the Athenians, wearied of losing so much, and the Spartans reached a stalemate--the 10 years of war had brought neither side anything but death and destruction, no one prospered
That year, they agreed to a peace settlement called the Peace of Nicias
This peace treaty led to a cold war in which each side tried (unsuccessfully) to expand their power without coming into conflict with the other
In 413, the peace broke down and Sparta declared war on Athens
Following another decade of war, the Athenians were defeated on the battlefield and Athens was blockaded and starved into submission

V. The Classical Age of Greece -- Culture and Society in Athens

For all the horrors and loss of life and property during the Peloponessian wars, some positive developments did occur in Athens
Birth of Historical Awareness

Herodotus--often called the father of history-- and The Histories (a history of the Persian wars)
Thucydides wrote about the Peloponessian wars because he believed this would be the greatest time in Greek history

Thucydides’ accounts of the Peloponessian war differed from Herodotus’ account of the Persian wars in that the latter attributed much of the success of the Greeks to divine intervention (in some ways his work closer to Homer than to Thucydides), while Thucydides placed all events in terms of human action (for good or bad)
It was this cool, analytical characteristic that made him considered the father of history

Athenian arts in the Age of Pericles

Architecture

During his 20 or so years as the leader of Athens, Pericles turned the city into the showplace of Greece
He appropriated money from Delian League funds to pay for a huge building program, planning temples and other buildings to honor Athena, the patron goddess of the city, and to display to all Greeks the glory and superiority of the Athenian polis
Pericles also pointed out that the building project would employ many Athenians and bring economic progress to the city
The building that would turn the Acropolis into a monument for all time began with in 447 BC, the year work on the Parthenon started
It was soon followed by the Propylaea, the temple of Athena Nike (Athena the Victorious--in case you wondered why the shoe company took the name Nike), and the Erechtheum
The planning of the architects and the skill of the workmen who erected these buildings were very sophisticated

Visitors to the Acropolis first saw the Propylea, the ceremonial gateway--with its grand design and magnificent Doric columns that seemed to hold up the sky
On the right was the small temple of Athena Nike, built to commemorate the victory over the Persians--Along its frieze were a series of carved panels depicting the struggle between the Greeks and Persians--A reminder for all the world of Athenian and Greek valor and a reminder of Athens part in that victory

As visitors continued across the Acropolis, they came to the Parthenon--which many consider to be the perfect Doric temple

The Parthenon was the chief monument to Athena and her city--with sculptures inside portraying the greatness of Athens and its goddess--along the pediment were a variety of figures depicting different events in Athena’s life and her glories

Theater of Dionysos was built along the base of the Acropolis--seated 8-9,000 spectators

Athenian theatre

Athenian drama, both comedies and tragedies, formed an important part of Greek life (not only in terms of the art form, but also as a way of understanding the people)
Drama probably originated as an opposition between a chorus and a single actor--choral performances had been around from earliest times as a part of honoring the gods or celebrating military and athletic victories

The two types--tragedy and comedy--most likely derived their names from either the prizes won by contestants or from drunken revelers. Tragedy comes from Greek works for “goat song”--probably indicating that the prize for winning the competition was a goat. Comedy means “Komos singing”, with komos being a band of drunken revelers who wandered about town crashing drinking parties. Thespis was supposedly the first winner of the tragedy competition.
The promotion of drama to the level of national pasttime in Athens owed much to the tyrant Peisistratos, who made it a central part of a new festival he instituted in honor of Dionysos (God of new wine, fertility, and revelry--later patron god of drama)
The festival’s origins in fertility rites are reflected in the language of the plays, which overflows with double meanings and obscenities (which is often lost or suppressed in translations)
The comic choruses often have fantastic identities, sometimes being animals, at others being clouds (in Clouds) or wasps ready to sting an errant defendant in The Wasps

The conditions of performance of Greek drama set it very much apart from its modern descendants

Dramatic performances were only held during annual festivals, performances were outdoors during the day, several plays would be presented each day of the festival, the playwrights competed for the first prize--determined by a panel drawn from the spectators
There was little on the stage in the way of props, you only had three actors in each play with speaking parts (with the same actor sometimes playing more than one role)--the use of masks helped an actor play more than one part (this also made the characters more visible in the large theaters and helped amplify the actors’ voices
The chorus was an integral part of the play--the training of a chorus was an expensive civic duty that often fell upon the wealthier citizens of the city.

Greek drama focused on both the problems that Athenians faced in their daily lives and also on the politics of the time
The tragedies of the major playwrights--Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides--are set in Greek’s heroic past (although the plays themselves are written during the Classical Age)--and focus on the fortunes of the royal houses

Still, they present themes that examine contemporary political, moral, and social issues. For example, Aeschylus’s play Euminides (produced in 458 BC) discussed the Oedipal period (several hundred years earlier, but contained clear and ringing endorsement of the democratic revolution that took place in Athens only 4 years earlier
Comedies, such as those by Aristophanes, quite frequently focused on contemporary political and social figures and events—Lysistrata

Philosophy (mainly centered around Athens)

Ancient Greek philosophy focused on finding rational, even skeptical, ways of explaining the natural world and relationships among people. Although some of these philosphers worshipped the Greek gods, as a group, they sought explanations that did not evolve around these deities--a human-centered way of approaching the questions of life, the universe, and everything.
Hippocrates (around 400 B.C.)--attempted to make medical diagnoses and find cures based on rational observation rather than explaining illnesses as having supernatural causes
This lack of emphasis on the divine or supernatural was also reflected in the way the Greeks shaped their political and legal systems, something they spent much time and effort in developing
Sophists

of the major groups of Greek philosophers before Socrates (the pre-Socratics), the most important was the Sophists
they shunned speculation not only about the gods and religion, but also ignored physical world around them (what we call natural sciences had no appeal to them)
the Sophists were concerned almost totally with teaching practical skills used in government and business--such as the arts of persuasion and rhetoric (for a fee of course)- -some claimed to even be able to teach wisdom and virtue
their basic beliefs was summed up best by Protagoras, who stated that “man is the measure of all things.”

the turmoil in Athenian society caused by the Peloponessian wars gave rise to what is known as the Classical Age of Greek society
During this Classical Age, three philosophers stood out in theorizing about relationships between humans and their world

Socrates

first among these was Socrates (469-399 BC)
unlike his Sophist contemporaries, Socrates did not take pay for teaching and claimed he was only wise enough to know the extent of his own ignorance
he taught using the dialectic method (often called Socratic method today) of a series of probing unending questions
Socrates was a devout believer that human reason could lead him to the truth
he used his questioning to challenge basic beliefs of those around him, trying to get them to use reason instead of blindly following tradition or the masses
Socrates despised democracy, believing that government should be in the hands of strong, intelligent, and informed people
His questioning attacks about government led to his trial and execution in 399

Plato (student of Socrates) (429-347)

approached the gaining of wisdom as a science--argued that knowledge and virtue came through constant study and questioning
this science, according to Plato, could only be truly understood by those with sufficient training and intelligence (Plato has little faith in masses)
like Socrates, Plato despised democracy, arguing that it was the worst system of government for the people
he called for an enlightened despot (benevolent dictator) to rule a society where strife would be eliminated by erasing its causes--mainly private property and the family
argued that women should have role in society, even though they were less capable than men
duality of body and soul

Aristotle (384-322) -- student of Plato

in political theory, Aristotle was most interested in the best state practically possible--he had not interest in the perfect (or utopian) state
argued the best would be one that allowed those of middle talent and wealth to rule (keeps the natural tyranny of the wealthy and the jealousy of the poor at bay)
Aristotle argued that humans were social animals--that their natural milieu was in society. Thus the polis (or city-state) was the natural setting for humans.

Women, Metics, and Slaves

Women

The world of the classical polis was a man’s world. Only men could attend the Assembly, vote, hold office, serve on juries, or even own property
In Athens, the legal position of free women of citizen parentage was that of perpetual minors

In any economic or legal transaction, they were always represented by a guardian--father, husband, male relative
One Greek male described the different types of women as: “We have prostitutes for the sake of pleasure, concubines for daily care of the body, and wives for the purpose of begetting legitimate children and having a reliable guardian for the contents of the house.”

Marriage and Childbirth

Bearing legitimate heirs was the main duty of the free women of Athens
To ensure that girls remained chaste and honorable, they were carefully sheltered throughout childhood
For this same reason, girls usually married at puberty, usually around age 13--Their husbands on the other hand, were typically around 30 years old, in a position to take over control of his family’s household or to establish one of his own
Marriages were arranged, usually by the men--between the father or or guardian of the bride and the potential groom and his male relatives

In a Greek play, the husband explains to his wife why he married her--”Have you ever wondered why it was that I married you and why your parents gave you to me? It wasn’t just because I wanted someone beside me in bed at night. What happened was a follows. Your parents were looking for a suitable son-in-law and I was looking for a suitable wife. I chose you and they, from among a number of possibilities, chose me.”
Marriages between cousins were favored, so sometimes a girl may have seen her future husband at a family affair--otherwise girls had no opportunity to meet potential husbands
The reason marriages between cousins were so favored was a desire to keep (or build up) a family’s wealth
Even the second marriages of fully adult women were arranged--sometimes a man even chose his wife’s second husband in his will or arranged for her remarriage before divorcing her

Dowry played an important part in a woman’s marriage--it helped determine who she married and provided her with security once she was married

Dowry was legally attached to the woman, but managed by her guardian. When a woman married, her husband became the guardian and could use it as he saw fit so long as part was used to support the woman. In the event of a divorce, the husband had to return the dowry to the woman’s new guardian.
This need for the husband to return the dowry provided the wife some protection against hasty divorce and also allowed her new guardian to dower her in another marriage

Childbirth

After marriage the woman’s primary role was to produce an heir for the household--everyone in the household waited anxiously for this event

Failure to produce a child usually meant divorce, and a difficult time for the woman to get remarried--infertility was always blamed on the woman
Although failure to produce a child meant social stigmitization for the woman, actually bearing children was often deadly

Midwives, along with female family and neighbors, handled routine childbirths, with doctors sometimes being called inf for complications during or following delivery (but there was little they could usually do
Death was quite common with childbirth--infections, malaria, and tuberculosis took many lives
Pregnancy in the early teens did much to contribute to the dangers of child-bearing, and the practice of close-kin marriages (first cousins being favored--although sometimes even uncles) no doubt added to number of birth defects or miscarriages
However, if mother and child survived, her status was much enhanced within the family, especially if the child was a boy (Even if pregnancy resulted in the loss of the infant, the wife still had an enhanced position by proving she was fertile)

Exposure of infants

When a child was born, its father had the right to accept and raise or to expose (but not kill outright) the child
Exposed infants might be picked up and raised by anyone who found them, either as free or slave
The birth father, however, retained a right to the child if he ever wished to claim it
Abnormal or sickly infants were routinely exposed--with a good possibility of female infants also being exposed more than boys (few families ever raised more than two female children to adulthood)

Women’s daily lives

The place of a citizen wife was within the household, not in the public life of the city or in its social life--women did not join men at the dinner parties or symposia that were the central focus of male social and political affairs (the very presence of a woman at a public social event was enough to mark her as a prostitute or concubine)
The fact that women were expected to live their lives within the household does not mean that they literally never went out, or that they had no influence on the running of the household
it was the job of the wife to care for the household and its possessions, to oversee the working of wool and other tasks carried out by younger women and slaves. Women also nursed sick slaves and assisted midwives at childbirths of neighbors or friends
Women also left the house to visit with female family and friends and to borrow needed items for the household
In some occasions (probably rare), women displayed considerable knowledge about household finances and were literate enough to transact household businesses (estimated that no more than 5% of Greek women were literate)
The only role women could properly perform in public was in religious rituals and ceremonies. When someone died, women prepared the body for burial and participated in the mourning and the funeral itself
In service to the gods, some women--usually from elite families--served as priestesses or in other ritual roles. All girls were obliged to serve the goddess Artemis in coming-of-age ceremonies before marriage, and after marriage joined in the annual celebration to Demeter
Poorer women seldom could live up to this ideal, simply because they were often obliged to go outside the home to help support the family
These women might work as vendors of food or small items in the Agora, or in extensions of their household duties--as midwives, wet nurses, or wool workers. Such activities always remained a threat to the reputation of the women and their families
There is some indication that attitudes were beginning to change during the latter part of the 5th century--such as Plato’s ideal state where women would share in the work of the state. However, Greek women did not achieve significantly more rights and freedoms until after the demise of the polis during the Hellenistic period

Metics

Another marginalized group that was vital to the maintenance of the good life for Greek citizens consisted of the metics, or resident aliens
These men and women included immigrants--Greeks from other poleis and non-Greeks--freed slaves, and the descendants of metics
In 5th century B.C. Athens, any free non-citizen was obliged to register as a metic and to obtain an Athenian sponsor
Metics had no political rights and could not marry Athenian citizens. They also could not own land (except their homes on rare occasions)
Still, they had to pay taxes (including a special tax just on metics) and serve in the military if needed
These restrictions make one ask why they were willing to live this life. The answer is simple--Metics could still earn a better living in Athens than in many other areas of Greece or the Aegean area
Many of the male metics worked as craftsmen or traders, competing on an equal basis with citizens and slaves
The economic vitality of Athens continued to attract metics in large numbers right up to the end of the Classical era
As many as 15-20% of Athens’ population was comprised of metics

Slaves

Slaves played an essential role in the polis, yet enjoyed even fewer rights than metics
Slavery was accepted in Greece because it provided the male citizens more free time from labor to participate in public affairs
Slaves occupied a variety of occupations, from simple laborers to skilled craftsmen to prostitutes--basically anything that the owner felt would make money