1. Greek Archaic or Formative Period (800-500 B.C.)

2. Greek Archaic or Formative Period (800-500 B.C.)
A major creative period
Greek alphabet
Homer's writings (Illiad and Odyssey)
Greek religion codified
Morals
Science
Democracy

3. What a Difference Language Makes
Greek Alphabet
First alphabet with the ability to write in full phonetic detail
Less ambiguity
Anyone with a little training could learn to read and write
No longer restricted creation of new ideas as pictograms and Chinese characters did
Easy recording

4. Greek Language Accomplishments
Homer’s writings-foundation of Greek civilization
Aesop’s fables- Greek ethics
Hesiod’s writings-defined Greek religion
Science was born

5. Greek religion did not have a god that gave the “true” method of living so the Greeks adopted the lifestyle of the Homeric heroes as their standard and Homer’s works became the “scriptures” of the Greeks.

6. Homer Blind bard, or professional story teller
Recited stories to a scribe
Created the Illiad and the Odyssey
Greatest literary works of all time, in terms of their impact on society
Began the western literary tradition
Basic values for the Greek culture
Almost like a religious text, often memorized
Mythical beginnings for Greek history
Was a unifying force for the Greek people
Defined the epic genre

7. Homer Epics Larger than life
Long story with many events over many years
Heroes and often gods
Wrestle with problems and also with life
Lessons that can apply to everyone in many periods of time

8. The Iliad Discusses the interaction of men and gods
Takes place in the last year of the Trojan War
Examines the motivation of the main characters
Themes
Purpose of life and immortality is achieved through heroic acts (areté)
Human vanity and pride can be costly
Growth comes from inner reflection
Death can be ennobling
Human action is influenced only slightly by the gods

9. Illiad and the Bible Many gods involved Challenge by Hector
Greek fear and shame
Acceptance by Ajax by lot
Hector's ridicule of Ajax
Spears and stones
Armor of Achilles
Post fight honor (until Patroclus and Achilles, then sacrilege)
One God
Challenge by Goliath
Israelite fear
Acceptance by David
Goliath's ridicule of David
Slings and stones
Armor of Goliath
Post death beheading

10. The Odyssey Travels of Odysseus trying to get home
Tone is light hearted
10 year journey
Exploration of his growth and maturing
Growth comes from experiencing troubles

11. “How foolish men are! It is their lot to suffer, but because of their folly they bring upon themselves sufferings over and above what is fated for them. And then they blame the gods.”
The quote is a dialogue from Zeus in the Odyssey

12. Religion Theogony by Hesiod (700 B.C.)
Traces the descent of the gods (myths)
Greek Gods
Separate race from humans
Immortal characteristics
Explanation for life events and conditions
Did not give patterns for moral behavior
Art and literature—method of finding purpose of life

14. Religion The Olympics Founded in 776 BC Held in Olympia
First event was a foot race
Other events added
Boxing, javelin, throwing, chariot racing, wrestling, long jump, discus
Held every 4 years until 394 AD
Revived in 1896

15. Morals Aesop Slave in 550 B.C. Wrote short stories Attention to ethics
Used fables and morals to make his points
Cicada and the fox (learn from others' mistakes)
Greedy dog (the greedy end up with less)
Tortoise and the hare (perseverance)

16. Aesop's The Lion and the Mouse
Or The Mion and the Louse

17. Science Thales First great Greek thinker (625 B.C)
First Philosopher, First scientist
Mathematician, astronomer
Greatest contribution:
“All events, even extraordinary ones, can be explained in natural terms that can be understood by humans.”
Water is the fundamental material

18. "In its early days philosophy included science – which became known as 'natural philosophy'. Thales' thinking was scientific because it could provide evidence for its conclusions. And it was philosophy because it used reason to reach these conclusions."
– Strathern, Paul, Mendeleyev's Dream, New York: Berkley Books, 2000, p.11.

19. Thales and Water
"We know from anecdotal evidence that Thales arrived at his theory [that water is the fundamental material] after seeing some seashell fossils high above the contemporary sea level. But his speculations probably went deeper than this. He must have seen the mist rising from the Anatolian hills to become clouds, and have observed the rain falling from clouds in storms out over the Aegean. Land becoming damp air, which in turn became water. Just a couple of miles north of Miletus, a large river meanders over the wide plain to the sea. (This is in fact the ancient River Meander, from which our word derives.) Thales would have observed the river slowly silting up: the water becoming muddy earth. He would have visited the springs on the nearby hillside: the earth becoming water again. It takes little imagination now to see how Thales conceived of the idea all is water.“
– Strathern, Paul, Mendeleyev's Dream, New York: Berkley Books, 2000, p.12.

20. Science Pythagoras Inventor of Mathematics
Created a system for expressing equations
Through numbers, all truth could be expressed (fundamental of the world)
Irrational numbers bad

21. Science Pythagoras (cont) Pythagorean theorem Trigonometry
Music is based in mathematics
Principle of harmonic vibration
String length relationships (octaves, fifths, etc.)

22. Pythagoras Discovered Golden Mean (ratio of 1.618) Body dimensions
Crosses

23. “The Golden Mean defines the proportions of the Parthenon, the shape of playing cards and credit cards, and the proportions of the General Assembly Building at the United Nations in New York. The horizontal member of most Christian crosses separates the vertical member by just about the same ratio: the length above the crosspiece is 61.8% of the length below it. The Golden Mean also appears throughout nature – in flower patterns, the leaves of an artichoke, and the leaf stubs on a palm tree. It is also the ratio of the length of the human body above the navel to its length below the navel (in normally proportioned people, that is). The length of each successive bone in our fingers, from tip to hand, also bears this ratio.”
– Peter L. Bernstein, Against the Gods, 1996, XXVI

24. Golden Triangle and Rectangle
Golden Rectangle

25. Pythagoras Golden Triangle Isosceles with 72 and 36 degree angles
Used to construct the Golden Spiral
Dodecahedron forms a 5 pointed star made of Golden Triangles
Symbol of the Pythagoreans

26. Ram’s horns
Sea shells
Flowers
Galaxies
Golden Spirals

27. Science Anaximander Heraclitus Xeno Democritus
Fire was the fundamental element
Heraclitus
Fundamental concept of change being constant
“No one can step in the same river twice”
Xeno
Any movement is impossible because you can divide all space in half
Democritus
Atomic Theory
Atoms were the fundamental of nature
solved the Xeno dilemma

28. Democracy Rule of Law Broad Participation of Government
Draco (621 BC)—tyrant of Athens
Written Laws were harsh (“draconian”) but equal
Stability
Broad Participation of Government
Families formed a council, Aeropagus (Oligarchy)
Solon, Father of Democracy
Gave voice to merchants and other non-landholders
First jury system
Strong currency system
Freedom of thought and action

29. Persian Wars 5th Century BC
Revolt of Ionian Greeks
Present day Turkey
Brought the wrath of Darius, the Persian King
Darius defeated at Marathon
Greek messenger carried the news to Athens
Shouted “NIKE” (victory) and died
Traditional race distance is from Marathon to Athens
Xerxes
Bridge over the Bosporous
Defeated the Spartans but they gained glory
He was defeated on the sea at Salamis
He was defeated on land at Plataea (phalanx)

30. Phalanx

31. Thank You