1. Classicism: The Greek Legacy

2. Greek Classicism
 Clarity
 Simplicity
 Balance
 Harmonious proportion

3. What is a Classic?

4. Classics
 Have outlived their own time and place
 Have become authoritative models for future
generations to follow
 Continue to provide inspiration

5. Art and Architecture

6. Sculpture
Apollo of
Tenea:
560 B.C.E.
Pushkin
Museum
Kritios Boy
Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest, 480 B.C.E. Acropolis
"The Apollo Of Piombino “, 500 B.C.E. Bronze Museum
, accessed 9 Sep 2012,
http://quest.eb.com/images/126_495630

7. Art
Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest
, "Classical Black-figure Amphora,
From Ialyssos, In The Archaeological
Museum Of Rhodes, In Greece",
accessed 9 Sep 2012,
http://quest.eb.com/images/153_2366352

8. Literature and Drama
 Epic and lyric Greek poetry well established art forms
 Drama: developed in Athens when poetic odes were
chanted by choruses to the god Dionysius
 Aeschylus: introduced a second and third character
into the ode making it possible to present human
conversation and conflict on the stage
 Themes of Greek Tragedy
 Justice
 Law
 Conflicting demands of piety and obligation that drove
heroic men and women to destruction

9. Comedy and Current Events
 Comedic Themes
 Life on the farm
 The good ole days
 Sex
 Nightmare of politics
 Strange manners of the town
 Aristophanes: greatest Greek comedic playwright
 repeatedly dragged into court to defend himself against
politicians he had attacked;

10. Classical Study of History
Herodotus
Thucydides

11. Herodotus (484-425 B.C.E.)
 Assemble sources, test their accuracy with one
another, write a vivid narrative of past events.
 Father of History
 The Histories : an inquiry into the origins of the Greco-
Persian wars
 Herodotus favored Athens and had uncomplimentary
things to say about Thebes and Corinth.
 Agreement with many other sources although includes
fanciful accounts.
 Priests and Kings
 Reputedly recited The Histories at the Olympics

12. Thucydides (460-395 B.C.E.)
 Student of Herodotus
 Wrote History of the Peloponnesian Wars
 Known as “Father of Scientific History”
 Reliance on sources
 Charted cause and effect without reference to
intervention by the gods.
 Idea of “political realism” relations between competing
poleis or kingdoms are based on Might rather than
Right.
 Inquired about the positive and negative consequences
of democracy.

13. Pythagoras (C. 570-495 B.C.E.)
 Essence of life lays in the mind
 Speculative life is highest good
 One must be purified of fleshly desires to achieve a
speculative life
 Essence of the universe is found in the study of
abstractions NOT the physical world
 Established key properties of odd and even numbers
 Proved Pythagorean theorem

14. Sophists
 “Wise men” made their living by selling their
knowledge
 Protagoras, “Man is the measure of all things”
 Truth, justice, goodness are relative concepts, adaptable
to the needs and interests of human beings
 Truth, justice and goodness are not moral absolutes
established by the gods
 No one can know if the gods exist or what they wanted
 Particular truths valid for individual knower

15. Philosophy: Socrates, Plato,
Aristotle

16. Socrates (469 – 399 B.C.E.)
 Hoplite soldier who participated in three campaigns
during the Peloponnesian War
 Method of instruction was conversation and asking
questions: Socratic Method
 Submit every presumed truth to examination of reason
 Socrates never wrote anything, what is known of his
philosophy comes from Plato’s writings and the
writings of his other pupils

17. Socrates’ Philosophy
 Known through writings of Plato
 Absolute standards do exist as ideals which can be
discerned through rational examination
 All supposed certainties are merely unexamined
prejudices inherited from others
 “I know nothing”
 Investigate own assumptions and reflect on principles of
proper conduct
 Consider the meanings and consequences of one’s
actions at all times and be prepared to take
responsibility for them

18. Plato (424/423 -348/347 B.C.E.)
 Student of Socrates
 Writings include dialogues between Socrates and his
opponents
 Founder of the Academy in Athens: first institution of
higher learning in Western Civilization
 Taught Aristotle
 Platonism: physical world is merely a “shadow” of the
ideal.
 Justice exists in its ideal form but men’s practice of justice is
merely a cheap “shadow” copy of justice.
 Philosopher –King: wise ruler who attempts to attain the
ideal in the physical world.

19. The Parable of the Cave
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQfRdl3
GTw4&feature=player_detailpage

20. The Republic
 The quest for justice
 What is the nature of a just society?
 Idealism
 Reality lies in the realm of unchanging forms rather than
sensory objects
 Psyche (soul) belongs to the realm of unchanging forms
 Soma (body) belongs to the sensory (material realm)
 Purpose of philosophy: to educate the psyche and free it from
its material prison to regain perfect awareness

21. Plato’s Just Society
 No private property
 Minimal family life
 Education for both men and women
 Each person’s abilities determine his/her place in the
community
 Government by enlightened guardians: philosopher-
kings
 Most intellectually capable
 Carry the welfare of the whole commonwealth

22. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E.)
 Empirical method
 Dependent on direct experience
 Male generator—female receptacle
 Male: life giving form
 Female: chaotic matter
 Women are imperfect and incomplete versions of men
 Logic
 The syllogism

23. What type of government is best ?
 Plato: Republic ruled by philosopher-kings
 Aristotle
 Governments must function in the interest of the state NOT
the people
 Democracy puts too much power in the hands of poor people
 Demagogues can persuade masses to pass less-than worthy
laws
 Humans can reach full potential only within the framework of
the state
 Best government is constitutional government ruled by
middle-class

24. Ethics
 Examines human values
 Happiness is the only human value which is a final
goal
 Virtue exists in how well one performs its function
 Virtue= how well a human exercises the function of
reason.
 The Golden Mean= the middle ground between 2
extremes of behavior.

25. The Greeks and Western Civilization
 Similarities between important concepts of
human society in the civilization of ancient
Greece and present day western societies
 Concern for the most just form of government
 The idea that at least some citizens should have a voice
in government
 The notion that the fullest development of one’s own
potential should be the aim of existence
 “Every free man is the sculptor of his own monument”
 Notion of uniqueness of being “Greek”

26. Stark Differences between Ancient
Greek Society and the Present
 Place of women
 Place of children and slaves
 Notion of “Mentoring”
 Rights of Free Men
 The practice rather than the ideal of democracy
 Small group of males in control.
 Exploitation of other city-states—no compromise only
competition.