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    Yale Greek History Notes

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    Christian King
    The document provides an overview of Greek history and values in the rise of the polis after the Mycenaean fall. It discusses the Greek masculine qualities of arête including courage, beauty, strength and cleverness through speech. Greeks valued seeking honor and legacy through facing death in battle as exemplified by Achilles. The polis was seen as necessary for a good life and meaning, with norms and values emerging from the community rather than individualism. Moderation was an important value rather than hedonism. A brief history is given of the periods from Mycenaean to Classical Greece, including the development of the polis as a physical and social place, with citizens rather than subjects, and an ideal size of

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    Yale Greek History Notes

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    Christian King
    195 views3 pages
    The document provides an overview of Greek history and values in the rise of the polis after the Mycenaean fall. It discusses the Greek masculine qualities of arête including courage, beauty, strength and cleverness through speech. Greeks valued seeking honor and legacy through facing death in battle as exemplified by Achilles. The polis was seen as necessary for a good life and meaning, with norms and values emerging from the community rather than individualism. Moderation was an important value rather than hedonism. A brief history is given of the periods from Mycenaean to Classical Greece, including the development of the polis as a physical and social place, with citizens rather than subjects, and an ideal size of

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    Yale Online Greek History Notes

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    The document provides an overview of Greek history and values in the rise of the polis after the Mycenaean fall. It discusses the Greek masculine qualities of arête including courage, beauty, strength and cleverness through speech. Greeks valued seeking honor and legacy through facing death in battle as exemplified by Achilles. The polis was seen as necessary for a good life and meaning, with norms and values emerging from the community rather than individualism. Moderation was an important value rather than hedonism. A brief history is given of the periods from Mycenaean to Classical Greece, including the development of the polis as a physical and social place, with citizens rather than subjects, and an ideal size of

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    195 views3 pages

    Yale Greek History Notes

    Uploaded by

    Christian King
    The document provides an overview of Greek history and values in the rise of the polis after the Mycenaean fall. It discusses the Greek masculine qualities of arête including courage, beauty, strength and cleverness through speech. Greeks valued seeking honor and legacy through facing death in battle as exemplified by Achilles. The polis was seen as necessary for a good life and meaning, with norms and values emerging from the community rather than individualism. Moderation was an important value rather than hedonism. A brief history is given of the periods from Mycenaean to Classical Greece, including the development of the polis as a physical and social place, with citizens rather than subjects, and an ideal size of

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    Greek History

    3/11/15 8:33 PM

    YALE GREEK HISTORY


    RISE OF THE POLIS (after Mycenaean fall)
    LECTURE 4 Ethics and Values in Homer
    Arte: Greek Masculine Qualities, excellence towards admiration
    -courage
    -beauty
    -strength
    -cleverness through speech
    Aristocracy claims descent from gods
    Afterlife/Face Death by seeking honor and legacy
    -exemplified by Achilles
    Greeks had a very secular view of life (opposed to Judeo-Christian tradition)
    Politicon Zoon: Aristotle term for a man who lives in a polis. Men NEED a
    polis if no polis, then a god
    No history of individualism in Ancient Greece. Community was the source of
    meaning
    Nihilism emerges from individualism?
    Nomoi: norms of society
    Mythos: a tale
    When a man has too much becomes too arrogant afflicted with Hybris
    takes violent action struck by Ate harmful act struck by Nemesis
    Ex: Oedipus
    Moderation is a key value for Greeks. No Hedonism

    Brief History:
    Mycenaean Dark Ages Archaic/Classical Period (750-500 BC)
    *Homer composed Illiad in 750 BC
    1st Olympic Games 776 BC
    Polis: -in Homer: Physical place, citadel at center of town
    Polis is not a city-state
    Later: Men are the polis (sense of community and structure)
    Largest Polis: Athens anyone in peninsula of Attica
    -1000 square miles
    Ideal Size of Polis according to Aristotle: 5000 male adults
    Agora: marketplace
    -not central to polis, mainly agricultural
    No city walls at first
    No Kings in Polis, Aristocratic republic instead (council of aristocrats)
    Hesiod: Poet
    Codrus: soldier, buried on sport where he died

    RISE OF THE POLIS (After Mycenaean Fall)


    LECTURE 5 The Emergence of the Polis
    Zeus will punish polis for acts of one man
    Justice can only exist in a polis, the only good life is in the polis
    Croesus: richest man in the world, asks Solon who the happiest man was

    Solon: wise man/poet/political figure who responds that a simple man in


    Athens was because of his successful polis, sons, and sacrifice as citizensoldier
    Wrote poetic pamphlets for new Athenian government
    Good polis creates good citizens reciprocal
    Greeks invented the idea of citizens opposed to subjects
    So why did Greece become so great?
    Advanced farming with centralized leadership
    Small family farms (about 10 acres) which encourage
    improvement of plot and techniques
    Marginalized land is used and optimized
    Many skills learned from Asia
    No wasted land, diverse crop portfolio
    Farmers grew, processed, and stored
    Slaves (1 or 2 per farm)
    Law enforced by aristocrats via councils (possibly elected)

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