Ancient Greece

• 3 Themes• Individualism, Heroism,

Rationalism

• 3 Philosophers• Socrates, Plato Aristotle

Announcements

• Welcome to our first “virtual” class!• Please print/download/view either the PDF or the

PPT slides to accompany the audio portion of the lecture (MP3). The lecture is about 40 minutes long, and there are about 12-14 slides.

• We may have a brief pop quiz on Tue, Feb.19 on this lecture and on the movie you saw on Wed.

Legacy of Greece (Classroom summary)

• Language• Fraternity names; beta

version; Alpha Omega watches

• Mathematics• Pythagorean theorem;

Euclid’s geometry

• Architecture• Neo-classical; columns

• Drama• Tragedy & Comedy;

Oedipus Rex, Aristophanes, Sophocles

• Epic literature• Iliad, Odyssey

• Astronomy• Zodiac signs

• Democracy• Assembly; citizens;

referendum; ostracism

• Athletics• Olympics; heptathlon; 26.2

miles

• Cuisine• Spanakopita; baklava;

gyros

• Philosophy• Plato, Aristotle, rational

Vocabulary to Know

• Polis• Phalanx• Oligarchy• Agora• Hoplite• Philosophy• Acropolis• Helot• Tyrant• ostracism

mkatz.web.wesleyan.edu/.../greek_numerals.html

3 Themes in Classical Greece

• Public Life:– Agora; Assembly; Chorus; Male Space

• Rationalism– Emphasis upon logic, balance– Aristotle and scientific analysis; Thucydides and

historical analysis;

• Individualism/Heroism– Homeric heroes; geographic determinism; Sophocles

on individual vs. community

Philosophy

• Rational > spiritual• Natural science and

humankind = focus• Socratic, Platonist,

Aristotelian, Epicurean, Hedonist, Cynic, Stoic, etc.

Philosophy in Ancient Greece

• Abstract > divine explanations

• Archaic (natural) vs. Classical (human)

• Philosopher = one who seeks knowledge; scholar, thinker– “philo” = strong attraction to

something (e.g., philharmonic, bibliophile)

– “sophia” = knowledge (e.g., sophomore, sophisticated)

Socrates (469-399 BC)

• “Socratic method” of teaching

• Gadfly• Teacher of Plato &

other young men• Poisoned by hemlock

Plato (427-348 BC)

• Ideal > real; “forms”• The Republic = utopia

– Communal property– No nuclear family– Guardians =

philosophers

• “platonic relationships”

• The Academy• Aristotle’s teacher

Aristotle (384-322 BC)

• Systematic thinker in range of fields

• Physics, metaphysics, biology, botany, zoology, rhetoric, politics, logic, music, astronomy, chemistry, geology…

• Analytical, empirical• Favors hierarchy & function• Tutor of Alexander the Great• Founder of Lyceum• Influences Aquinas, Dante,

Machiavelli, Copernicus, Galileo, John Locke, et al.

• Still relevant today….

“School of Athens”

Plato & Aristotle

Socrates w/ Xenophon & Alcibiades

Heraclitus/Michelangelo