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A Collision of Cultures. Greece and Persia. The Ancient Greeks. Dark Age: 1200-800 BCE Archaic Age: 800-500 Classical Age: 500-350 Aristophanes wrote from ~ 428-390 BCE Hellenistic Age: 350-200. Timeline: Greece and Persia.
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A Collision of Cultures Greece and Persia
The Ancient Greeks • Dark Age: 1200-800 BCE • Archaic Age: 800-500 • Classical Age: 500-350 • Aristophanes wrote from ~ 428-390 BCE • Hellenistic Age: 350-200
Timeline: Greece and Persia • 508 BCE: Athenian revolution under Cleisthenes; some eupatrid leaders flea to Persian Empire • 499-493: Athenians support Ionian Greek cities in rebellion against Persians • 493: Sack of Miletus • 490: Persians cross the Aegean, attack Greece, suffer defeat at Marathon • 480-479: Larger Persian army invade Greek mainland and suffers defeat by combined forces of Greeks • 430s-404 BCE Athens and Sparta court Persians in Peloponnesian war • 334-323: Alexander conquers Persians
Discuss the Archaic Age • What changes occurred in the distribution of wealth and power between 800 and 500 BCE? • What caused the distribution of wealth to change? • How did wealth distribution influence power? • What can we apply this lesson to our own society? • How did the development of poleis influence Panhellenism?
"Carving of Draco Lawgiver in US Supreme Court library" by Source (WP:NFCC#4). Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Carving_of_Draco_Lawgiver_in_US_Supreme_Court_library.jpg#/media/File:Carving_of_Draco_Lawgiver_in_US_Supreme_Court_library.jpg
Solon c590 and the Tyrants of the 600s and 500 BCE transformed Athenian politics
Pesistratus instituted the Pan Athenian Festival during the mid 500s BCE. The games showcased Athenian achievements and patriotism.
Sophoi:Thales of Miletis (624-547) Pythagoras of Samos (570-495)
Discuss Aristophanes’ Clouds • What do we need to know to understand what this play meant to the Athenians? • What was Aristophanes trying to do with the Clouds? • How did he depict Socrates, and why did he depict him this way?
Discuss Aristophanes’ Clouds • Under what conditions did Aristophanes produce this play? • How was this play related to the war with Sparta? • What kind of education did the Spartans have? • How were the plays related to democracy and intellectual change in Athens? • Why was the play a flop?
What fields of study were most conspicuous in the Thinkery? • Science and rhetoric • Politics and law • Wood working and basket weaving • Sculpture and divination
How did Aristophanes depict the chorus in Clouds? • As beautiful goddesses • As grumpy old men • As women intent on changing Athenian politics • As benevolent aliens from outer space
What did you think of this play? • I can see why Aristophanes thought it deserved a prize • It was OK, but it never made me laugh or even smile once • I fell sleep reading it • I never even looked at it
Immortal LancersTheir pikes were approximately 2 feet shorter than those of the Greek hoplites
Overview • The Revival of Greece • the Development of Athenian Culture • The Emergence of Persia • Collision of Two Cultures
The Revival of Greece • In the century from 800 - 700 BCE, the population of Greece swelled; in Athens, it septupled to over 100,000; by 500 BCE, it was close to 350,000, roughly ten times the size of Sparta • The increasing population increased demands on the political and administrative structure of the city-states where population increases were most dramatic • Between 700 and 500 BCE, the Athenians under the direction of tyrants undertook dramatic reforms in political organization and developed a written constitution
The Emergence of Persia • Persia emerged as an imperial presence in the Middle East during the seventh century BCE • Led by the able dictator/general Cyrus the Great, the Persians sacked Babylon c. 540 and allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem - the Jews herald him as a savior • The Jews were impressed with the Zoroastrian religion of the Persians, who were impressed with the literacy and book religion of the Jews; the long term effects of the interaction of these two religions is still a matter of historical research
The Persians • Persian imperial success relied on • 10,000 Immortals: a warrior aristocracy who engaged in both shock combat and the “Parthian shoot” on horseback • A Great Navy manned by Phoenicians and Ionian Greeks • Bureaucratic and organizational hierarchy, based on satrapies, imperial units of administration • Traveling inspectors, known as the King’s Eyes, who ensured that governors of the satrapies acted according the to Emperor’s will • The enlightened despotism of the Persian Kings who were tolerant of the various religions of their subjects
The Persians • The Persian King of Kings built a network of roads throughout the empire to facilitate travel in the huge, most land locked empire • The Royal Road connected the capital at Susa with the rich western provinces located near the Mediterranean • The common language of the Empire was Aramaic, not Persian. It was the language spoken by Jesus of Nazareth
The Persians • The Zoroastrian religion • dualist religion but with a heavy emphasis on ethical bahvior • developed by Zarathustra during second half of first millenium and put in writing c. 500 BCE • Ahura Mazda, Lord Wisdom is the God of all creation • associated with light and the sun • Had twin children, locked in a cosmic battle: the Beneficent Spirit and the Hostile Spirit • to attain immortality and happiness, humans must live ethically and contribute to the common good • A Day of Judgement will send sinners to eternal torments • Influenced the development of Judaism and especially Christianity
Collision Between Two Cultures: The Persian War • Begins with a diplomatic miscommunication between Athens and Persia c. 507 BCE • Athens signals symbolic recognition of Persian terms to an alliance • Escalates when Athenians send troops to foment revolt of Ionian cities in Asia Minor c. 500 BCE • they sack the provincial capital at Sardis • Within a decade Persia launches a punitive expedition against Athens only to receive humiliating defeat at Marathon in 490 BCE • Marathon assumed mythical proportions in Athenian history
Battle of Marathon – September 490 BCE • The battle began as the Persians tired of waiting to engage the Athenians who were situated on a hill; the Persians started to load their ships, probably with their cavalry who were noticeably absent in the battle accounts • 10,000 Athenian hoplites meet a much larger Persian force (15,000) on the plain of Marathon by the Aegean Sea • The Athenians placed their strongest units on their phalanxes, which surrounded the Persians and attacked from the rear • The Persian foot soldiers were less heavily armed than the Greek hoplites, who induced panic in their enemy • In disarray, the Persians retreated for their ships • 6400 Persian died; less than 200 Greek casualties but this number may not have included slaves
The Persian War • Roughly a decade later (c. 480 BCE) the Persians send a massive land invasion of Greece across the Hellespont • Thirty one Greek cities form a defensive alliance, known as the Hellenic League • led by the Spartans, who offer legendary resistance at the narrow mountain pass of Thermopolae - warm gates • The Persians march on Athens, find it empty, and burn it to the ground • Using tactics similar to the Spartan 300, the Athenians force the Persians to come through a narrow sea channel and score a major naval victory at Salamis • the trireme
The Persian War • Following the Athenian victory at Salamis, portions of the Persian Empire fell into revolt and the navy headed east the following year • That year (479 BCE) the Spartans scored decisive land battle victory at Plataea and Xerxes withdrew hoping to fight another day • The wars demonstrated • the strength of the panhellenic ideal in the face of foreign invasion • the resourcefulness of the Greek military strategies • the bravery of the hoplite soldiers • how the underdog could overcome overwhelming odds and achieve victory
The Persian War • Our most thorough source is Herodotus • lived and wrote in the generation immediately following the war • viewed the war as a battle between civilization (Greeks) and barbarians (Persians) • considered the war the greatest war of all time • ascribed historical change to natural phenomena not the intervention of the gods • provided cultural comparisons between civilizations including Greeks, Persians, Egyptians • the “father of history”
Summary • The polytheistic city-states of Greece differed dramatically from the Zoroastrian Empire of the Persians in terms of political organization, religion, and civic culture • The victory of the Greeks in the years 480-479 was a temporary victory for panhellenic ideals in the face of foreign invasion • Ultimately, however, once the Persian threat subsided, the centrifugal tendencies of poleis loyalty would continue to divide the Greeks for the remainder of the fifth and most of the fourth centuries BCE
How is the moon related to Strepsiades’s problems? • He chooses to study astronomy • Its brightness keeps him from sleeping • He feels that it is watching him • It signals when his debts are due • Because he fears donkeys
What is the character Socrates’ attitude toward the gods? • He is quite reverent and pious • He is cautiously certain that they all exist • He doubts their existence • He claims that they control natural phenomena • What’s this pig doing here?
How does Aristophanes portray Socrates? • As a bit looney • As a great sage who charges no money for his help • As a scientist who performs careful experiments • As a corrupt politician
In the opening scene of the play, the characters are… • Sleeping • Eating • At the Assembly (pnyx) • At the house of Socrates
