1. CLASSICAL GREEK HUMANISM

2. Main Objectives
Trace the evolution of Greek Art from Minoan to Classical Age
Compare the artistic contributions of the Near East with the Greeks
Analyze the contribution of Greek art to western history
Analyze the evolution of Greek Humanism
Learn to early Greek contributions to philosophy to evaluate later Greek thought and understand it’s impact on history

3. “MAN IS THE MEASURE OF ALL THINGS.” PROTAGORAS
HUMANISM
MAN IS AT THE CENTER

4. Humanism “Man is the measure of all things.”
“Man is the measure of all things.”
-Protagoras, 5th century BCE
But, there is a more fundamental philosophy that underlies this, one of many parallels between the ancient Greek world and our own. The concept of individualism and humanism was central to Greek life as it is to ours. What does this mean? What is humanism? Consider its root word, “human.” Humanism is very broadly centered on humans, their values, potential, and worth. It can be summed up in the ancient Greek saying, “Man is the measure of all things”, a concept perfectly illustrated later in the Italian Renaissance in the work of Leonardo da Vinci, among others. Leonardo’s Vitruvian Man is essentially a study of human proportion based on the ideas of the ancient Roman architect, Vitruvius, which where themselves influenced by ancient Greek aesthetics. It shows us how a study of man himself, his body, is essential to understanding the world around us. In fact, it suggests that since “man is the measure”, the world around him (even the heavens and the gods and goddesses who populate it) can be understood as an extension of him. That man contains within himself all the fundamental laws of nature. This informed the Ancient Greek belief that chaotic nature can and should be ordered and idealized by man, an idea which was largely affirmed by architects and artists through their development of a canon of formal vocabulary including: architectural orders, symmetry, naturalistic proportion and, at times, expressive movement. How can we see a continuation of these ideas today?
Leonardo da Vinci, Vitruvian Man, 1487

5. HUMANISM THE POWER TO THINK AND REASON GAVE MAN HIS WORTH
NO AUTHORITY HIGHER THAN REASON
‘GOD” WAS AN ABSTRACT IDEA NOT A PERSONAL PRESENCE
EXCELLENCE (ARETE) IN ALL THINGS
THE MATERIAL WORLD IS THE EXTENSION OF THE HUMAN ABILITY

6. Homer Arête: Excellence Examples of Homeric arête:
Value is determined by how effective you are at controlling your environment
Examples of Homeric arête:
Glory in battle or athleticism
Sense of duty
Xenia
Homer:
Illiad a epic covering the Trojan War. It is a reflection onto a time when life wasn’t perfect but it was heroic and structured. We can see the structure and order in the society by looking at archaeology which has revealed to us large palace complexes and magnificent homes (as described in Homer). It is the struggle between the gods and heroes and the heroes and heroes. The struggle for men to attempt to create structure in a world driven by capricious gods. In order to create a stable world, the heroes were practicing certain ideals that would make them virtuous and excellent individuals. The Iliad traces the 9th year of the Trojan War and gives us a look at how the people in the Dark Age of Greece (Homer was writing at the end of Dark Age but tries to remember the Mycenaean) attempted to practice virtue. It particularly covers the fight between Agamemnon and Achilles. To understand his rage, you have to understand social relationships in the Mycenaean/Dark Age period.
Major chieftain or wanax with supporting minor chieftains. The wanax (Agamemnon) has to court the favor of the lesser basileís by performing to certain culturally excepted norms.
The lesser basileis would give advice (this is the earliest account of that council of elders-areopagus) to the wanax.
All of the actions and potential of a man would culminate in a sense of arête or being excellent. It was in this idea of excellence that a struggle developed between gods and man. Even though man was technically fatalistic (his fate rested in the hands of the gods) and going against the gods was hubris, man still desires control. Human value and worth were determined by how successful an individual was at being effective in controlling his/her own environment. This gave one his/her arete and would lead to a sense of humanism or what a human is capable of doing.
Ultimately it is a combination of physical and intellectual. Even Achillies is reminded to be a doer of deeds and a speaker of words.
So, in this type of world what would the qualities have been that would have make someone virtuous?
Excellence in battle or raids. If you are weak, you would lose the support of your followers and you need their support for your livelihood.
Agamemnon would have had the supreme authority and expected everyone else to follow him. Achilles challenges him because Agamemnon is sacrificing his troops for his sexual pleasure (Apollo sends a curse because Agamemnon took daughter of Apollo’s priest). Of course Agamemnon has to respond in anger because Achilles is inferior. However, Achilles has some right to challenge because he is actually a better warrior and Agamemnon knows this. Agamemnon to prove his authority gives back the girl and then takes Achilles’ girl. Achilles withdraws from the battle. They both are exhibiting Homeric arête (Agamemnon is the leader and demands subordination and Achilles is the better fighter). They are also both exhibiting vice: Agamemnon lets his pride get in the way of protecting his troops and Achilles should have respected Agamemnon’s leadership and Achilles shouldn’t have withdrawn from battle.
Arete would be bravery in battle and athleticism when at peace (to practice for battle).
Glory (kleos):
Gaining followers and dying a heroic death
Sense of duty (aidos)
Leadership in battle
Or women being devoted to their households and supporting they husbands. Penelope in performing clever duties as a women to avoid her suitors.
Xenia:
Guest friendship. Your character can be assessed by how you treat others that were a suppliant of an ancestor.
Avoid shame (aidos) and blame (nemesis):

7. Hesiod Two major works: Works and Days Theogony Humanism vs Fatalism
Hard work (ergon)
Guest friendship (xenia)
Theogony
the creation of the gods and the world
Humanism vs Fatalism
So we have the beginnings of humans determining their place in the world by hard work. However, we still are getting that sense that people are still fatalistic-fate determined by the gods.
In Homer as well we can see the sense of ergon or hard work tied into a sense of duty. Penelope focuses on her manual weaving and household duties. Odyssesus boasts about his building of his bed around the base of a tree. Priam builds Troy with his very hands.
Wrote Works and Days and Theogony
these works give us the daily life and religion of the Dark Ages
More concerned about divine causes rather than natural causes (very oriental-copied Enuma Elish)
Order is seen as an outgrowth of human motivation rather than divine will

8. CLASSICAL ART AND ARCHITECTURE
GLORIFIED THE HUMAN BEING
PERFECT PROPORTION AND FORM
FOCUS ON BEAUTY
BUILDINGS REFLECTED MATHEMATICAL PROPORTION
HUMAN SCALE
PERFECTION AND LOGIC

9. Ancient
Greece
In what ways are we like the ancient Greeks? What do we owe to them? How have their politics, philosophies, love of athleticism and standards of beauty informed our own? Today, we will examine the art of ancient Greece, a period and place which has had tremendous influence on the course of Western history and on the modern world in which we live. Here’s just one prominent example, the Olympic Games and the discus event.
Lawrence Okoye, 2012, London, ©Sports Beat
Myron, Diskobolos, Roman copy, 450 BCE
Greek original

10. Greek Architecture
Iktinos and Kallikrates
Parthenon, Athens
ca BCE
The White House, Washington D.C.
Probably the most visible evidence of Greek influence today is in the realm of architecture. Here, we see the Parthenon, the icon of ancient Greek architecture on the acropolis in Athens Greece, and two more recent buildings, the White House in Washington, D.C. and the Art Institute of Chicago. Both modern structures were built according to ancient Greek design principles and use Greek architectural elements, like the pediment (the triangular top), the column and pilaster. We can see these forms, albeit in ruin, in the Parthenon above.
The Art Institute of Chicago

11. Greek Art Themes: Humans Mythology Trojan War Forms:
Mathematical proportion
Symmetry, balance, order
Beauty (the ideal form)
Restored façade of the Temple of Aphaia, Aegina, ca BCE. Fig. 2-28
Conceptual→Optical
Doric, Ionic and Corinthian orders (architecture)

12. Pottery Progression from abstract to naturalized human form.
Early art in Dark Age is very abstract.
Around 720ish, end of the Dark beginning of Archaic Age art copies the Near East with animal motifs but the animals are much more life-like. They are not just imperfect representations of the animals. They depict them as they are in the world. Beginnings of humanism-copying things as naturalistic as possible.
During the Age of Tyrants-late Archaic- the human form becomes much more life-like but still very calm and regal.
650 BC in Corinth under Cypselus began the rise of Corinth with trade and pottery with Orientalizing pottery and black-figure
Black figure until Athens begins to dominate the scene under Pisitratus
By 530 BC Athens bgan to dominate the scene
Black figure: emphasis is now on the human and the depictions are mythogical. Still very impersonal-only a brief snapshot in a moment in time
530 BC Exekias: backs match handles, square, figures mirror each other
Breaks up symmetry by the spears, spears are curved, helmet of Achilles emphasizes his position an stands out and also mirrors the curve of the handles,
Movement in the figures is matched in the pottery, symmetry but the symmetry is not rigid enough to detract from the naturalism in the art. The goal is to be idealistic but naturalistic as well-the idealism is to complement the naturalism-the symmetry complements the motion of the vase.
By 530 using red figure
For over 100 years black figure was used
By 470 CLASSICAL ART: What changes during the Classical Age?
Still an emphasis on the geometry because the Greeks realized that humans operated in a mathematical world. So they depicted their paintings according to geometry but emphasized humanity even more. No longer stiff and formal, everyday events emphasized. Still impersonal and only a snapshot in time. The geometry complemented and emphasized what they people’s activities were.
Realism is more important! Not as concerned about matching figures to align with a vase but attempts to depth and other forms of realism are depicted.
Activity become less important (as seen in he Exekias vase) in comparison with the human body. Making it natural, beautiful, ideal…though human activity is still important as an extension of humanity-especially the work of women. Men’s bodies were usually depicted nude and the subject of a painting, while the work of women is more emphasized in paintings.
Very few artists are known by name but the pots are designated by where they were found or the subject matter (women washing clothes)
Like sculptors during the Classical Age, paintings are given more motion. The break with the east is probably one of the underlying causes plus the continued evolution and development of humanism-the human as the center- and a slight move away from the divine.
Humanism:
Naturalistic in form
Motion (the curve of the pottery helps lend itself to the action)
Impersonal and idealized-often caught in the moment of action. We again don’t have a personalization of the images. Just the idealized image of activity of the person.
Ajax and Achilles playing dice 530 BC
Women washing clothes 470 BC

13. Sculpture
Idealized, archaic smile, static, naturalisitic, naked, impersonal. Representation of humanity in 3-D. Fully in the round-not bound to a block of stone. (600 BC)
The Kroisos in 530 (Pisistratis’ reign) more well-developed , rounded, proportional, torso not triangular, more fleshy face and life-like, muscles. Still static, archaic smile, hair stylized, eyes closed, symmetrical appearance.
The critias boy Eyes naturalistic, motion in limbs, slight curve in the body, hair is shorter showing off the facial features. Motion even in the hair, hips tilted

15. ARCHITECTURE
Express the extent of Athenian power and humanism-look what humanity is capable of doing
refinements: all to soften the geometric lines and avoid optical illusions. Make things look more realistic, natural, more alive
Entasis: swelling of the columns to look realistic, draw eyes from bottom to top (where the frieze would have been)
Corner contraction: so that the columns appear more evenly spaced
Columns lean: to give the appearance of not bowing out
Stylobate curved up
Doric Style
Stylobate
Column
(shaft)
Capital
Entablature
Architrave
Frieze
Metopes
Triglypghs
Cornice
Pheidias: supervisor and artist?
Decorations:
Metopes: heroes: centaurs vs Lapiths centaurs representing barbarian uncivility (temple of zeus this same story is in the pediment)
Pediments: Athena’s gift of Olive tree being accepted vs Posideon’s gift
Frieze: Pananthenaic festival: teaching tool to show the crowd how to behave and to immortalize the aristocracy so they would be ok with the democratic reforms occurring in Athens.
First time gods and men are in same context

16. GREEK PHILOSOPHY
They were interested in finding the unity in life-in both the material world and the spiritual world.
WHO AM I
WHAT IS THE WORLD COMPOSED OF
WHERE DID I COME FROM
WHAT IS RIGHT AND WRONG
WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE

17. Causes of Philosophy Miletus: Ionian city-state
Freedom of Thought promoted by:
Religion:
Not state-centric but dealt with in families
Homer wasn’t dogma (not quite like a Bible)
Politics
Written laws promoted rational debate
Written language not class specific
Miletus: Ionian city-state
Contact with Greece and the Near East
Astronomy, Orientalizing pottery, alphabet, religion
Continuous Greek culture passed down through the Mycenaean period
“Homeric” social structure, language, epics, and culture
Wealthy polis (shipping, trade, industry)
Aristocratic and secular
More causes for the beginnings of philosophy, science, and humanism/independence
Freedom of though in absence of organized religion.
Reason promoted through written laws
Wealth encouraged specialization and leisure
Written language not class specific
Contact with other countries

18. Three types of Greek religious views
Upward or heavenly looking
Downward or earthly looking
Mystical or inward looking
Upward: homer, Hesiod, Olympiad gods
Transgression oriented. Hubris, required obedience or moderation
Downward: early pre-Socratic and Archaic age: creation is viewed as a balancing act between good and evil. There are two opposite components that the world relies on and needs to balance…we start to see more Eastern thought so this falls towards the end of the Dark Age.
Human wrongdoing curses humanity and destroys harmony. People must purge evil from their surroundings. Murderers are exiled because the blood of the murdered destroys the harmony of the ground and thus people. Cain, murder of Clytemnestra by her son is blood relational and thus pollutes the ground and thus was very controversial when Athena overrode the furies.
Mystical: late pre-Socratics and Socrates
Mystical
Goal is the quest after the one
Not what is the world but “what am I”
People are cut off from the One by human self-will

19. Hesiod vs Thales the dark age and archaic connection
Wrote Works and Days and Theogony
these works give us the daily life and religion of the Dark Ages
More concerned about divine causes rather than natural causes (very oriental-copied Enuma Elish)
Order is seen as an outgrowth of human motivation rather than divine will
Early vestiges of Greek independence and arête.
Mixture of both divine will and human will
The gods ruled the world and Hesiod didn’t attempt to explain the world naturally
However, people were rather in charge of their own destiny
Humanism: humans are responsible for their own lives-not the gods

20. Pre-Socratics

21. Pre-Socratics: Humanism
Natural origins of life.
The divine wasn’t abandoned, however.
The search for the unifying factor would ultimately come down to the Logos and the Forms.
Humanism in the actual philosophy
Moved away from the Near Eastern ideas that the divine was a part of the general makeup of the world. For those in the Near East, gods were inseparable from the physical word. The sky was a god. The earth was a god. A god didn’t exist until it had a physical function and vice versa.
However, they weren’t abandoning the divine all together. They would develop a concept that a divine being was in charge of imbuing the material world with part of its divinity.
Thales: Water was the origin of life. In all things, seen in all three states. No beginning and thus divine
Pythagoras: Math was perfection. The soul was perfect reflection of god-a perfect being-therefore the soul was perfect. Only the soul is perfect and all material life are reflection of the perfect being.
Heraclitus: Logos is a unifying soul present in all things. It is the rational thoughts present in humanity and given by the divine. It is through our rational thoughts that we can understand the imperfect world. Even though, all things change we can still understand the world by understanding these divine rational ideas present within us.
The search for the unifying factor would lead the Greeks to search outside the divine realm and focus on what people can do.
Hesiod (both divine will and human will)Heraclitus (divine logos/thought allows us to understand reality)Plato (the forms are a perfect reflection of reality; humans know the imperfect world via the knowledge of these forms; therefore reality is a reflection of human thoughts/reason)Aristotle (Plato’s student; reject forms; only know reality by material world; like Heraclitus, the world is changing; human workmanship can mimic the changing world therefore human work is an extension of the divine)

22. To be or not to be; whatever is, is the Beginnings of Greek thought
Quest for order (Cosmos), unity within diversity, and monarchy
Searched within the material world and abandoned the divine
Early beginnings of science
What is the monarchy?
Physical one or many
Immaterial one or many

23. Thales Founder of Greek philosophy and science
Water was either the main material or the main source of all things
Has no beginning and thus is divine
Three states of being and all things need it (therefore all share in the divine)
A “soul” connects all things and is the cause of motion
Eclipse: year only according to Herodotus’ account. Probably came from Babylon either by Thales visiting or vice versa.
Math: perhaps introduced the concept of proofs

24. Plato and Christian thought
Pythagoras
Soul is divine
Math was perfection; Geometry was the beginning of all things
Music was mathematical
Soul and world consisted of geometric shapes
Soul was perfect but if body was out of alignment soul would be tainted
Transmigration of souls (reincarnation until you recognize Truth)
Soul was the perfect reflection of “god”; body imperfect
Plato and Christian thought
Gnostics:
Spiritual and Physical dualism (spiritual is perfect while physical imperfect)
Augustine and Aquinas (two early church fathers who merged Platonic and Aristotelian thought)
From samos 570.
His followers identified three types of people: gods, people, and people like Pythagoras
Died out in the 4th century except with the influence of Plato from the tyrant Archytas in Tarentum
Neopythagoreans in 50 BC through third century AD (religion superstitions, and numerological aspects and combined Plato) later absorbed into the Neo-Platonists in the third century
Divine soul continuation with the other pre-Socratics (all their unifying characteristics were made to be eternal and thus divine)
If the soul becomes to connected with the body, if the body become ill it will also die…however the soul was perfection and thus would survive outside the body at death. Need to care for all souls because we are all connected. Strive for the best possible care of one’s body/self to promote unity with the divine and stop reincarnations.
Christian thought: complicated! There was an intertwining with the early Christian fathers (Augustine and Aquinas) as well as others into the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
Research task: separate out what is scriptural and what is Greek…

25. Heraclitus “All things are in flux”
The only constant is change represented by fire
He is still looking at the material world for a unifying composition
Logos: what connects all people
Logos=Word/Reason/Thought
Thoughts were seen as part of the divine; perfect representations of reality given by “god” and therefore humans can understand reality
Logos is related to the word “to speak” word, statement, or story and because to speak is related to reason, rationality, thoughts, arguments…etc. it can also be used for these things.
Language mirrors reality
Fire is the unifying principle

26. Philosophy: The Sophists
Wandering teachers
Paid for services
Focused on rhetoric (persuasion)
Rejected idea of universal truth
Stressed civic duty
Focused on humanism without a divine component
The sophists: lovers of wisdom. (sophomores: wise morons)
Persuaded people for no other reason than to develop a sound argument. They took the new humanism that had been developing and decided that man was the measure of all things. A product of the developing humanism and democracy with being able to have sound argumentation. This was necessary in a democracy.
Therefore they rejected the idea that there was an absolute truth or any sense of the divine within a person. This had been a part of philosophy for centuries.
They were more what we would consider to be secularists today. Man is in complete control. No absolute truth. All is relative and it’s up to us to persuade others to agree with us.
Of course this was a reflection of the post-Persian wars where the youth were now exposed to other cultures and realized how cultures develop and that we all seem to believe very strongly that our version is correct. Herodotus is a great example with his inclusion of various cultures and his appreciation. He does make it a point to say that cultures do seem to spring up randomly and perhaps one isn’t better than another but he still believes in hubris.

28. MAJOR GREEK PHILOSOPHERS
SOCRATES
1. Believed in the concept of the divine thoughts. He was an intellectual mid-wife who wanted to draw out ideas that were already present in your mind. He believed in universal truth because it was placed in our minds by an absolute being. This would be explained by his students Plato who described them as Forms-unchanging ideas that help us understand the imperfect world around us.

29. PLATO
STUDENT OF PLATO
WROTE
THE REPUBLIC
THE APOLOGY

30. ARISTOTLE
STUDENT OF PLATO
TUTOR TO ALEXANDER

31. CLASSICAL LITERATURE HERODOTUS- The Histories Social historian
Gender inclusion
Multi-subjectivity/relativism
Written in prose
History made by average person
What makes him a historian is also tied into the development of humanism.
Social history. Not just events but the people. And people from different cultures-not just Greece.
Cause and effect of people/events.
When he discusses events, he discusses them from the perspective of the people involved. When hubris (or cause and effect) is discussed, it generally isn’t from the perspective of having the gods interact with people. People cause their own downfall. We see hubris with Persia and the kings; Solon and Croesus, Croesus and Persia; the killing of the Pisistratids because they were too tyrannical,
Both genders
Multi-subjectivity and cultural relativism. Interested in ALL cultures. Presents a type of relativism which allows the readers to make their own judgments.
Wrote in the language of prose rather than poetry. Prose was more of the people’s language. Language of everyday speech. Poetry was the language of the gods.

32. CLASSICAL EDUCATION PEDAGOGUE- TUTOR INDIVIUDALIZED INSTRUCTION
MALE ORIENTED
GIRLS WERE EDUCATED IN THE AREA OF RUNNING A HOUSEHOLD AND RAISING CHILDREN

33. AESOP
FABLES- STORIES WITH A MORAL LESSON

35. Democracy What is it? What was democracy like in Athens?
What is democracy?
Rule by the people? What people? How do we protect ourselves from “those people?” Rule by majority? Rule by all? Rule by wealth/elite? Rule by education?
Refers to ideals (life, liberty, pursuit of happiness)
Liberty, individualism, equality, human rights
Equality of people? In what form? Wealth? Opinions? Class?
Because they are equal in some things (life worth) should they be equal in all (class, vocation, education, money)?
Refers to behaviors
Valuing human life
Refers to legal issues
Class mobility, Representative government, political justice
Protection from the government and each other
Justice
Constitutional vs. general will
For the law to offer restraints on people? OR
For people to say what they wish. When they wish, and how they wish it? And that the majority will always be in the right (Rousseau)
Eligible for leadership?
Education? Property?
What is it not?
Athenian democracy?
Rule of a few by the consent of all citizens.
Assembly was filled of all citizenry
The Archons which were once filled by the aristocracy but by the time of Themistocles they were chosen by lot not by the upper class. In Solon’s reforms they were chosen by lot but based in the upper classes. By the time you get to Themistocles, they are chosen by lot out of the whole of the citizenry. The areopagus is losing the elitism. The government is becoming more militaristic as well.
Plato saw the government as the ruling of the many uneducated (lacking excellence) mob
He advocated a government more akin to Sparta-one of mixed function with the top having education
There wasn’t wealth equality but political equality.
Equal citizenship (protection under the law)
Equal participation in the assembly. After Persian Wars, the assembly became more equal in government participation as the elite councils gained less prominence. They had less restrictions placed on them and could debate in the assembly.
Free speech in private and public.
It grew in the Classical Age because the poorer classes were involved in the Persian Wars. The extension of political power, previously, had been given for generally the same reasons: poorer classes desired more say, poor were hoplite, and the tyrants wanted the poor’s support. As democracy progressed, the disenfranchised kept making inroads for more political participation-not wealth equality which they did achieve some with the ability to have up-ward mobility.

36. Humanism and Democracy
How were they a reflection of each other?
All men were valued
Participation was required (arete)
Equal in citizenship but not wealth
Class systems were disregarded in the assembly
Opinions debated
Arguments made
How did democracy produce
Sophists, Herodotus, and Drama?
IT was as if the humanism in democracy had a qualification: active participation in the government. Your excellence was determined by the involvement in politics.
Wealth was not equal just the ability to participate in government
We can see this combination in the tragedies of Aeschylus and the art of the Parthenon

37. Drama and Tragedy Dionysian Festival
Performed over three days
Held in late spring
Competitive
Three playwrights chosen to produce four plays
A trilogy (set of tragedies) and a satyr (comedy/satire)
The plot would involve a struggle between gods and humans and represent a political struggle concurrent in Athens
Playwrights competed for best drama as well as the actors
Dionysian Festival
Performed over three days
Held in late spring
The plays were preceded by looking at all the tribute from the Delian League
The men attending were actual or potential veterans and would be deeply invested with the political life of the city.
Three playwrights chosen to produce four plays
A trilogy (set of tragedies) and a satyr (comedy/satire)
The plot would involve a struggle between gods and humans and represent a political struggle concurrent in Athens- to education and/or persuade the general population
Presented problems that shouldn’t be grappled with lightly. A delicate balance needed to be constructed in dealing with justice and how to administer it wisely.
The playwright needed to be self-sustaining monetarily to devote time to writing and production of a play
The production took the place of military service
Performance
Took place during the daytime. Outside on the slope of the southern side of the acropolis…not an actual theater until 4th century.
Had same size cast in all competing dramas
All were men (3 to play all the main characters and 15 for a chorus)
All lines were in poetic meter
Chorus danced and sang in an area called an orchestra (front of the stage)-it’s lines were an elaboration and extension of the overall poetic structure
Decorative costumes and intricate dance routines
Actors wore masks
Dialogue (like democracy) was the key factor in a drama. There was little action. Persuasion and a good voice was necessary to get your point across

38. Aeschylus: Eumenides Democracy and humanism in tragedy
Conflict of the old vs. new
Old family blood ties vs state
Question government and recreate a secular society
gods less important and human made courts more so
The content is supposed to represent the original areopagus prior to democratic reforms. This play would have occurred right after the Ephaltean/Periclean reforms to the areopagus
Drama was the vehicle in which ideas could be debated. Here we see the old ways of government, the old aristocratic government, represented by the old gods and by the female gender. This tied the old government into family relationships rather than state. The new government was more state based and was represented by the male gender in the drama.
Humanism, Democracy and Tragedy
Tragedy had freedom to express and question the government. The ability to question is part of the makeup of democracy. Also, grated during a Dionysian festival-Dionysius was a freer god.
This removal of gods freed the Athenians from superstitions and connections with the past. The old was of looking at the world appeared aristocratic as well. It needed an outlet to celebrate its new freedoms but continue to question and recreate a society based on humanity rather than gods and aristocracy.
MOST important: convince people of somethings worthiness by making a solid arguement
Tragedies as a whole:
Reflective of policy
In the political realm, contests of words were apparent
In the drama: choruses would argue to move the plot forward-convince people of its plot and worthiness
Engaged with policy
Teaching tool for those that were ill informed about politics or to re-educate the public according to the playwrites perspective
Furies = old blood ties and justice tired in the family unit.
Orestes shouldn’t have killed the mother- she was blood. She had a right to kill her husband and avenge the death of her daughter.
This type of revenge would have existed prior to Homer- who become more patriarchal. In the Odyssey Orestes is lauded by Athena for killing his mother.
Old laws also bespoke of aristocracy
Apollo and Athena who urge Orestes to kill his mother as justice. He is then tried in front of a jury of 12 members. Transition to state law.
Athena reveals that she is not born of woman so is a bridge between the old and the new.
Order is primarily a patriarchal matter and Athens is orderly based on it’s patriarchal laws.
Order prevails when people are innocent until proven guilty.

39. Sophocles OEDIPUS REX ANTIGONE Sophocles
Ajax: Odysseus uses words and rational arguments to not desecrate the body of the dead Ajax. Odysseus is considered the best speaker and cunning in Homer’s epics. Thus Sophocles is using him as a mouthpiece to support debate and logical thinking.
Theban Plays
Oedipus Tyrannus, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone
Follows the life and death of Oedipus. Discusses hubris when Oedipus unknowingly marries his own mother.
Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus and refused burial of her brother who had attempted to overthrow the new government (their uncle and another brother). She represents the older family ways (represented by a female) and her uncle represents state government (male).
Continues the discussion between state and family justice. After the uncle condemns Antigone to die, his wife and son commit sucide. Sophocles attempts to state that there is no easy solution in these matters.

40. Euripides Medea Bacchae Euripides
Depicted women as strong independent people who if not allowed some freedom would pretty much go insane.
Medea: a scorned wife of Jason, who takes another wife, creates a wedding gown for the new bride which is laced with magic. The bride burns to death and Medea in her grief kills her two boys.
Favorite playwright of Athens
Competed 30 times winning at least 20 times

41. Hippocrates Doctor “First do no harm”
Looked at natural causes for illnesses rather than divine