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Exam 2 Study Guide: Greek Drama-The Romans
Greek Drama
Plays originated as festivals to Dionysus. The City Dionysia and Lenaean Festivals were both festivals that occurred that were devoted to Dionysus. They were performed only once and done in competition. The Rural Dionysia was put on in country theatres and this was where plays could be repeated. The first person to win such a thing as a “best actor” award was Thespis (534 BC), where the name Thespian originated, meaning “actor”. Competition was structured as such: judges were chosen by lottery, only three actors could be on-stage at a time, and a chorus of ten to twelve men played all parts of the show. Tragedies: Aeschylus (525-456 BC) We have seven plays from Aeschylus left. He is known for his Orestia Trilogy : Agamemnon comes home from the Trojan War as a hero and is met by his wife Clytemnestra. Previously, Agamemnon had asked the Gods what he must do in order to ensure a success in battle, and he sacrificed his daughter, Iphigenia. His wife never forgets this, plots his murder while he is away, and when he returns, she murders him. Agamemnon’s son, Orestes , finds out what has happened and his sister Electra tells him to kill his mother, that he must avenge his father’s death, and he does so. The harpies , who endlessly chase the abusers of women, put Orestes on trial by an Athenian jury, and the story ends with the trial. The question raised here is this: where is the justice in all of this? The answer: Justice is tough, and sometimes it is difficult to decipher what it is. Tragedies: Sophocles (496-406 BC) Wrote Oedipus the King. The precursor to which is this: There is a prophecy declaring that Oedipus will murder his father and marry his mother. His parents take him out to a hill and leave him there (King Laius and Queen Jocasta ). King Laius is sideswiped by a chariot one day and killed, and at the time that Thebes is under siege, a riddle must be answered and Oedipus answers it correctly, freeing the city and enabling him to marry the queen of Thebes at the time (his mother). A plague hits Thebes, and Oedipus must find out who killed the king. Determined to find out, Oedipus finds his wife/mother dead after determining what he has done, and he puts his own eyes out with needles. The message: We all have a destined fate, no matter what we do, and we must accept it and deal with it. Tragedies: Euripides (485-406 BC) Euripides wrote The Bacchae , which occurs in Thebes and involves King Pentheus. Every year the women of Thebes go into the woods to have an orgy. The men are outraged and need the women in town to do their womanly duties. There is, of course, a blind man in the story, who tells King Pentheus not to ask any questions, but Pentheus complains anyway. Dionysus appears, and takes Pentheus to the women dressed as one of them, putting him in a tree. The women spot him, tear him from the tree, and rip him to pieces. His own mother chops his head off. The message: Listen to your emotions. They are important and give a release and help you to know what it means to be human. Comedies: Aristophanes (448-385 BC) The only complete comedies still in existence are all belonging to Aristophanes. His comedies were mostly filed with political satire. His most famous play is Lysistrata , which occurs during the Peloponnesian war. The women get together and want the war to stop and the men to come home, so they decide to hold a sex strike until the war ends. The war ends with the men signing a peace treaty.
Greek Philosophy
Greek Philosophy originated with dissatisfaction in the Greek Religion. Gods were not portrayed a certain way. The Greeks assumed that logos controlled the universe and wondered how they could learn about it; it is possible to learn more through reason and rational thought- to use your brain and critical thinking. The word philosophy means, “love of knowledge”. Pre-Philosophers Pythagoras (~500 BC). We only have what his students wrote about him. He said that the way to learn more about God was to study math and music. Math, for its unchanging principles, because God and the logos do not change, and music, because it is God given with the power to hear and create harmonics. Mathematics believed in reincarnation and because of this, were vegetarians. Heraclitus of Ephesus (540-480 BC). Everything is in constant change/flux: the only thing unchanged is change itself. Fire/the logos causes change. Empedocles of Acragas (490-430 BC). Saw the universe as cyclical, came up with the four elements: fire, air, earth, and water. Love/strife causes them to interact. Leucippus of Miletus (5th^ century BC). Everything is made up of atoms. Sophists : “Those who make it a business of being wise.” Sophists were more like consultants; in Ancient Greece, a Greek had to speak for himself in court on trial, he had no lawyer to speak for him and because of this he needed the ability to speak in public. Thus, a Greek would go to a Sophist and pay him to teach the best way to argue his case. Sophists try their best to make rational arguments. Socrates was accused of being a sophist. The criticism on sophists was that they do not teach the client to search for truth, but rather how to have a good case. Philosophers Socrates (470-399 BC). Was the first real philosopher. He is the main figure in Plato’s writings and is most famous for the Socratic Method of Questioning. He left behind no writings, and was mainly concerned with personal justice. How can you act justly? What does it mean to be just? Plato (428-347 BC). Plato was Socrates best and most famous student. In 385 he established a school called the Academy , and it was built next to a gymnasium for the athlete Academus. It opened in 385 BC and closed in 529 AD. Plato argued Form Theory : that we know on earth we have principles such as love, justice, and good, but we know they are imperfect. The fact that we have principles means that somewhere there exists perfection. Imagery of people in a cave around a fire: you can only see their shadows along the walls, which are distortions, but you know somewhere they are real. Aristotle (385-322 BC). Aristotle was Plato’s best student but a Macedonian. Aristotle tutored Alexander the Great and started the Lyceum (school). Whereas Plato was more about deductive reasoning, Aristotle was more interested in inductive reasoning , where one gathers evidence and studies it, uses the scientific method, etc. Diogenes (400-325 BC). Lived in a bathtub and carved lanterns. Was looking for an honest man, said that “people should live lives of simplicity”. Diogenes founded the Cynic school ; cynic means “dog”, because people said that Diogenes lived like a dog. Cyrenaics believed that you could reason through something and still come out with a wrong conclusion, you should rely on hunches, minimize pain and maximize pleasure, and the perfect pleasure is studying philosophy.
Peloponnesian War (430-404 BC)
The Peloponnesian war was the war between Athens and Sparta and their allies. It takes a
Alexander the Great
Attention moves to Macedonia after the Peloponnesian wars (359 BC). Greece expands, due to Philip (Alexander’s father). Characteristics of Macedonia: was a very small area, was weak, was Greek, worshipped Greek Gods, the people were not very sophisticated. Philip of Macedon was the father of Alexander the Great (382-336 BC). As a teenager, he was held hostage in Thebes. He was fascinated with the Phalanx, assembly, military, culture, poetry, and drama. When he became king in 359 BC, he wanted to unite Greece into a single state under his authority. He knew he would have to do this with military force and knew that the best way to conquer a city was to bribe the people and only fight as a last resort. When a country defeats another, the defeated country will be resentful. Philip knew how to have an effective army, which Macedonia didn’t have. Philip introduced the Macedonia Phalanx , which was a flexible military formation that was 16 rows across and deep that could face any direction. He also introduced the usage of calvary, the hammer and anvil tactic and 16-foot spears. Conquest of Greece (352 BC) Succeeds; a key battle was the battle of Chaeronea (338 BC). Philip defeats the Greek army; afterwards, he asks all Greek cities to select him as a ruler and took on the title “ hegemon ” meaning, “a leading or paramount power”. Planned to attack Persia in 337 BC; as he was making preparations for war he went to his daughter’s wedding, where he was murdered in 336 BC. Alexander Becomes King Spends his first few years suppressing the unrest of Greece; in 334, decides to invade Persia like his father. Thus begins the Conquest of the East Coast of the Mediterranean, in 331 BC, in order to control the sea. The critical battle of the Conquest was the Battle of Arbela (Gaugamela 331 BC). The Persian army was bigger; Alexander led the cavalry, and met the end of his conquests in 326, dying in 323 BC. Alexander was a military genius, there was considerable disagreement saying that he was an adventurer and an economic and cultural visionary. He campaigned for eleven years, marched 22,000 miles, created a cultural whole. Greek civilization as a whole became more sophisticated after Alexander the Great.
Hellenistic World (323-30 BC)
Hellenistic means “Greek-like”. The Hellenistic world lasted from Alexander all the way to Cleopatra. Because Alexander’s son was unborn when he died, the empire was divided into smaller empires founded by Alexander’s generals. It was divided into three major empires: I. Antigonid Empire: Macedonia and parts of Greece; founded by Antigonus II. Ptolemaic Empire: Egypt; founded by Ptolemy I III. Seleucid Empire: Persia; founded by Seleucus All of these empires shared certain common features : All kings were Greek Greeks dominated administrations Greeks were imported from homeland and military colonies for administrations Natives could join by learning and practicing Greek ways Armies were all Greek, soldiers were professionals Because of this, battle was avoided because soldiers were expensive to pay and train Hellenistic Culture Greeks were no longer tied to cities; instead they traveled all over the place. The word cosmopolitan arose around this time, meaning “universe city”- the world is my city. A common Greek/Hellenistic language emerged: Koine.
Education existed for the purpose of bringing up Greeks. A formal educational system structure was created, including military skills- the need for Greek Soldiers existed and thus male students were taught physical training, where there was a shorter version for girls. Girls were expected to marry Greeks and raise Greeks. Higher education existed of the teaching of rhetoric , which consisted of general education courses so that they would have general knowledge on multiple topics. Museum of Alexandria Ptolemy I (305-283 BC) wanted Alexandria to be a cultural beacon so he sent letters out to philosophers in Athens requesting them to come to Alexandria for money, hoping to attract great scholarship; only one person showed up: Demetrius of Phalerum (345-283 BC), who was a student of Aristotle, told Ptolemy he needed to collect all of the writing he could; to learn by doing to become a great academia. The Museum of Alexandria was built and was the greatest research institution at the time and the closest thing to a modern university in ancient times. It was called a ‘museum’ for the muses , the goddesses of learning. Euclid taught Geometry Archimedes developed the value of pi Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of the Earth It was burned by the Romans in the 1st^ century BC
The Romans
Italy: the people are Latins and Indo-European peoples arrived (_BC); Roman Values Of all of the ancient peoples, Romans are the most like us in values and how values should be passed down through family. Pietas : piety; respect for or duty towards God, state, and family Gravitas : means “gravity”; taking things seriously when it is appropriate to do so Hard work Simple tastes: everyone blends in Honor Honesty Courage Did not particularly value beauty, charm, and imagination. Romans transmitted values through two ways: I. The family: expected to transmit values II. Forefathers and foremothers Roman Political System Kingdom to 509 BC, overthrown and becomes Roman Republic from 509 BC-27 BC. Institutions: Centuriate Assembly : similar to the Athenian assembly; it was made up of citizens who were part of the army; people did not vote individually, rather they voted by centuries , groups of 100 men. Executive Authority : in republic; there were 2 consuls , men elected annually by assembly who were in charge of administration and commanded armies at war Senate : began in the kingdom, was made up of prominent men of Rome (1-300 men). It’s powers were vague, but it: Advised consuls
however as expansion grew it became impractical to give ability to vote, thus they restricted citizenship to the following: o Conjugium : The right to marry a Roman, giving access to Roman social life- this helped in business o Commercium : The right to own and dispose of property; the right to participate in commerce in Rome When Romans did conquer a city, they allowed it a lot of self-rule and would send out a representative to make sure Roman justice was followed. However, taking advantage of Roman citizenship meant that others had to provide soldiers and revenue/taxes to Rome. Roman Expansion Outside Italy Punic Wars against Carthage consisted of two important wars; by 264, Carthage is an Empire by itself and a Phoenician city: “Punic” is Latin for Phoenician. 1 st: 264-241 BC 2 nd: 218-201 BC Hannibal was a military genius who defeated the Romans again and again; he didn’t have the resources to take Rome, he tried to get Italian cities to join him and failed because Roman citizenship was a better deal to them. Scipio Africanus was the Roman military director who defeated Hannibal in the Battle of Zama in 202 BC. Carthage fell in 201 BC. Hellenistic Wars (200-188 BC) Philip V of Macedonia- welcomed Hannibal 2 nd^ Macedonian War (200-196 BC), a Hellenistic War: Romans crush Philip V for the purpose of Roman expansion The Syrian War (192-189 BC): Antiochus III of the Seleucid Empire : destroyed by the Romans In 218 Rome had one foe, it was Carthage, and then they were defeated. And the same happened with Macedonia, and Seleucid. Rome dominates the Mediterranean world.
Decline of Roman Republic
The Roman government was not designed for an Empire, and this causes trouble in many ways. Trouble in the countryside : in the Punic/Hellenistic wars caused the Roman citizen-soldiers to need to leave Italy, so the farmers would sell their farms to rich Romans o Plantation agriculture : farmed by slaves and tenant farmers on plantations owned by wealthy, causing slave-revolts in the countryside Trouble in the cities : causes overcrowding of cities, fewer jobs cause more poverty, city held around 1 million people, slums and urban rioting as early as 200 BC, Roman government was giving out free food to curb urban unrest Trouble in provinces : assembly lets the senate worry about problems, beginning of nepotism , which causes corruption in system and causes riots and protests Republic is in trouble: Gracchi Brothers (133 BC) want to restore the Roman farmer/soldier. Tiberius and Gaius Gracchi were rich Plebeians and tribunes for the Plebeians. They worked hard to restore the citizen-soldier and introduced a bill into assembly limiting what one person can rent of public land and made it to give farmlands to the citizen-soldier; The assembly passes Gracchus’ law, but the senate blocks it because they are rich and use the land. Tiberius staged a demonstration that
causes a riot and Gaius resumed the effort. Senate asks the army to come into Rome and kill the rioters, it is unconstitutional and Gaius is killed as a result. Age of Generals Creates structures outside constitution creating loyalties to them and not the government Gaius Marius (155-86 BC) soldiers no longer had to own land; Gaius tried to work within the Republican constitution Sulla (138-78 BC) violates the constitution: takes over Rome and runs it, introduces many laws- when he died, the laws were revoked but then reinstated when Pompey (106-48 BC) same as Sulla Julius Caesar (100-44 BC) greatest general; governor of Gaul (France today) 59-50 BC, term runs out in 50 BC and he was ordered home because he was growing too powerful and there were many charges against him, he instead returns to Rome at the head of his army, crossing the Rubicon and starts war with Pompey in the senate, establishes himself as the ruler of Rome (49- 44 BC war); wants to maintain republican appearance so invites senators to be part of his new administration; doesn’t bring bodyguards into the senate one night and he is murdered on March 15, 44 BC
