The Classical Greek Age

500-350 BCE

Theater of Dionysus

What is Aristophanes’s attitude toward democracy?

How does he express this attitude in the plays?

What is the main topic of the play?

Why did the war start?

What sort of man is Dikaipolis?

Who were the Acharnians, and what was their relationship with

Dikaipolis?

How does the play start?

A. With the main character having breakfast in the agora with his friends

B. With the main character praying at the temple of Athena in the Acropolis

C. With the main character sitting alone at the pnyx

D. With the main character waking his household

How does Dikaipolis explain the outbreak of the war?

A. He blames Spartan aggression

B. He mentions the abduction of prostitutes

C. He refers to a prophecy by the Delphic Oracle

D. He suggests that Socrates persuaded the Athenians to undertake reckless policies

What does the opening scene at the assembly suggest about the nature of Athenian democracy?

A. Athenians were corrupt and lazy

B. Pericles was an amazing orator

C. Peace with Sparta was popular

D. Panhellenism was on the rise by 430 BCE

The Persian Empire

Greek Trireme

Athenian Coinage and Patriotism

The Periclean Building Programs• Named after Pericles (c. 495-429

BCE), the Athenian general/statesman who championed the building program– Parthenon started in 447 BCE with

money from the Delian league

– Numerous temples built in the Parthenon complex as well as around Athens

The Athenian Acropolis c. 430 BCE

The Parthenon, Acropolis, Athens, 448-432 BCE

Concrete replica of the Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee's Centennial Park

Map of Athens

c . 430 BCE

Acropolis from the Agora

Herodotus & Thucydides

Socrates, Plato, Aristotle

Aeschylus, Sophocles & Euripides

Theater of Dionysus

Spartan Culture and

Architectural Styles

Spartan Women

Military Might of Athens and Sparta at the Beginning of the War c. 330

Course of the War

Overview

• The Delian League

• Public life and democracy in Athens

• Greek Theater

• Women & Greek society

Background

• Because Athens has left us the most abundant records of life in classical antiquity, it is tempting to assume that the Athenian experience was typical; however, in analyzing life in classical Greece, we must keep in mind that Athens was probably 30-50 times larger than the typical Greek city-state; consequently its cultural life was much richer and more varied than the experience of most ancient Greek city-states

• With that caveat in mind, many city-states adopted Athenian customs and traditions so that they resembled the Athenian model in various ways

The Delian League

• After the removal of the Persians from Greece, the Athenians established an alliance of Ionian city-states (the Delian League) for the purpose of protecting the Greek settlements along the coast of Asia Minor from Persian retribution– commercial purposes– tax levies– imperial purposes

• By 460, the League had successfully eliminated the Persians from the Mediterranean.

• As revenues from the League continued to pour in, Athens embarked on a major reconstruction program

Public Life in Athens

• The agora was the public marketplace where citizens met to purchase goods, read public announcements, and discuss politics

• Located on the other side of the acropolis, the Theater of Dionysus was the scene of poetry and theatrical contests

Athenian Democracy Defined

• Direct and widespread participation of male citizens in legislation - slaves, metics, and women excluded

• Random selection and rotation of membership in– the council of 500

– jurors

– magistrates

• Elaborate precautions against malfeasance & corruption• Equal protection under the law, regardless of wealth• Ten generals with far reaching authority

The Expansion of the Popular Vote

• The Law of Pericles in 461 BCE removed property restriction on the attainment of citizenship and consequently expanded the number of people who participated in Athenian democracy

• Critics of this development, including Aristophanes, claimed that the law increased the influence of demagogues who catered to the poorer, lazier, and uneducated members of Athenian society, who sought handouts from the government in exchange for political support; this notion pervades the Aristophanic comedies in his treatment of– juries– popular leaders, most notoriously Kleon & Kleophon

Greek Philosophy

• Literally the love of knowledge, philosophy in ancient Greece was more akin to what we call education than the pursuit that modern people associate with philosophy– covered a broad range of subjects

– seen as essential for democracy to function properly

– gradually broke into separate movements or schools during the fourth century BCE - see Hellenistic civilization

The Sophists• In Athens they were often metics who came from Asia Minor• Little or no influence in Sparta, which spurned outsiders who

talked a lot• They appear frequently in the writings of Plato as the

intellectual rivals of Socrates; Plato contrasts the shallowness of their rhetorical skills to Socrates’ quest for the truth

• A group of teachers who specialized in rhetoric and the art of persuasion; they frequently traveled from town to town charging for their services; eventually the term became derogatory as they gained a reputation as “word twisters”

• Their success in Athens underscores the increasing importance of public speaking in Athens– Litigiousness– Politics

• Frequently drew distinctions between nature and convention

Plato & Aristotle

• Plato (427-348 BCE)– mystical understanding of the forms as ultimate reality; his allegory of

the cave is characteristic of his idealism– our primary source about the life of Socrates– his Academy was an influential school of philosophy– glorification of the contemplative life– tendency toward monotheism

• Aristotle (384-322 BCE)– emphasized observation and the senses for discovery of the truth; this

approach typified his more pragmatic approach to discovering the truth– student of Plato– enormous influence on formative thinking in logic, rhetoric, biology,

physics, ethics, metaphysics– teacher of Alexander the Great– originally from Macedonia but spent most of his life in Athens– extremely biased against women as rational thinkers

Herodotus & Thucydides

• Herodotus, 485-425 BCE– Originally from Asia minor, he traveled broadly throughout the eastern

Mediterranean– Our best source for the Persian War– Interested in the rise and fall of empires– Influenced by Greek tragedy and the tragic flaws of greed and arrogance

that accompany wealth and success

• Thucydides, 455-397 BCE– ostracized for his failure as an Athenian general– our best source for the Peloponnesian war– interested in the dehumanizing aspects of war– also influenced by Greek tragedy– sought historical causation in terms of human nature rather than the

influence of the gods– Recorded great speeches such as Pericles’ funeral oration

Greek Theater

• The oldest form of theater were probably tragedies, which usually invited the audience to contemplate the dangers related to ignorance, arrogance, violence, public responsibility, individual freedom, good vs evil

• Athens had an elaborate outdoor theater of Dionysus that could hold approximately 15,000 people

• productions usually took place in the afternoon• By the fifth century, every Spring Athens hosted a

Dionysian festival that included a competition of plays

Greek Theater• Like tragedy Greek comedies were

– written in verse– performed during festivals– subsidized by public funds– included a chorus

• unlike tragedy, comedies – commented directly on contemporary events and public policy– skewered political & intellectual leaders

• The comedies from the time of the Peloponnesian War underscore the incredible freedom of speech that characterized Athens even in time of war

• Most of the humor in the comedies concerned sex and bodily functions and seems somewhat immature by modern standards

• Plays usually performed in the context of heavy drinking in front of a predominately or entirely male audience

Greek Theater

• Aristophanes reached the height of his influence during the Peloponnesian War

• He is generally associated with the Old Style of Greek Comedy– chorus: parabasis

– frequent use of a phallus recalls origins of Dionysian festivals

– attacks on individuals; a roast

– heavy drinking almost certainly took place during these performances

Women & Greek Society

• in Athens women were considered citizens but they were a subclass of the citizenry with no right to vote

• In many Greek city-states (except Sparta) women were discouraged from appearing in public, except for religious festivals, funerals, and domestic necessity

• because men were often involved in either military training (Sparta) or politics and commerce (Athens), women often exercised significant influence over the administration of the estates, the household, and the slaves

Women & Greek Society

• Rich women tended to powder their skin in order to demonstrate their wealth, which allowed them to stay out of the sun

• segregation between the sexes was more pronounced among aristocrats; working women usually had to interact with men to make a living

• the restriction of women’s movements to the household probably originated with their concerns about ascertaining the paternity of their children and with the desire to ensure that daughters maintained their virginity until marriage

Women & Greek Society

• The status of a married women increased dramatically as she produced legitimate offspring, especially males

• A group of women, known as companions (aspasians), defied the normal course of the Athenian family and developed an alternative lifestyle– often foreigners

– physically attractive and witty

– able to sing and play music

– often entertained men at symposia - parties without wives

– engaged in conversations with men on topics of politics

Relations Between Athens and Sparta

• Immediately following the Persian Wars (c. 480), Athens and Sparta enjoyed very warm relations

• By 460, relations had cooled considerably as the popular faction gained increasing control of Athenian politics

• Offering pay for jurors and an expansion of the voting franchise, the popular party advocated imperialist policies that eventually brought Athens into conflict with the Spartans c. 430

Summary

• Although the Athenian experience was atypical of many Greek city-states, records of the Athenian experience yield a detailed view of Greek life during the fifth century BCE

• The political and commercial advantages enjoyed by the Athenians allowed them to develop popular institutions and traditions related to– politics– culture– art – law

Summary

• Gradually during the fifth century BCE the citizens of Athens began to believe in the superiority of their city-state to others, and this belief led them to embark on the reckless imperialist policies that brought their ruin

• During the same period, the Athenians increasingly devalued both working with one’s hands and working for someone else; increasingly they viewed both of these activities as abridgements of one’s freedom and therefore vile

• Nevertheless, the intellectual achievements of Athens during the fifth and fourth centuries BCE were nothing short of extraordinary and continue to influence our preconceptions about art, music, politics, law, and the hard sciences to this day