3.1 The Classical Age
Goals
Identify developments in ancient Greek culture.
Discuss the significance of Athens in ancient Greek culture.
Recognize developments in Greek art.
Recognize developments in Greek architecture.
Recognize developments in literature.
Discuss the important role of the Parthenon in ancient Greek culture.
Cite architectural components and terminology.
The period covered in this chapter falls into three parts. The first, the years from 479 B.C.E. to 404 B.C.E., saw the growth of Athenian power and the consequent mistrust on the part of the rest of the Greek world of Athens’ intentions. The same period was marked by major cultural developments at Athens. Sculptors such as Myron and Phidias created the High Classical blend of realism and idealism. Tragic drama, in which music played an important role, reached its highest achievement in the works of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. In 449 B.C.E. work was begun on the buildings on the Athenian Acropolis planned by Pericles, Athens’ ambitious leader. The Parthenon and the Propylea were completed in an atmosphere made increasingly tense by the deteriorating relations between Athens and the other leading Greek states, particularly Corinth and Sparta.
3.2 The Peloponnesian War
Goals
Discuss the consequences of the Peloponnesian War in ancient Greek culture.
Discuss the role of Pericles in Athenian culture.
In 431 B.C.E. the Peloponnesian War broke out, with Athens and her few remaining allies on one side and the rest of the Greek world on the other. In 429 B.C.E., Pericles was killed by a plague that ravaged the city. In the absence of firm leadership, the war dragged on. During a period of truce, the Athenians launched a disastrous campaign against the Greek cities of Sicily. When hostilities resumed, the Athenians were fatally weakened, and in 404 B.C.E. they surrendered to the Spartans and their allies.
3.3 Classical Art and Literature
Goals
Recognize developments in ancient Greek art.
Recognize developments in ancient Greek literature.
Recognize developments in ancient Greek philosophy.
Understand the significant role of Thucydides.
The years of fighting profoundly affected cultural developments at Athens. Both the sculpture and the vase painting of the late 5th Century B.C.E. show a new and somber interest in funerary subjects. In the theater, the later plays of Euripides depicted the horrors of war, while the comedies of Aristophanes mocked the political leaders responsible for the turmoil. Thucydides wrote his History of the Peloponnesian War to try to analyze the motives and reactions of the participants. Socrates began to question his fellow Athenians about their moral and religious beliefs in a similar spirit of inquiry.
3.4 The Late Classical Period
Goals
Identify developments in ancient Greek culture.
Discuss the significance of Sparta and Thebes in ancient Greek culture.
Recognize developments in ancient Greek art.
Recognize developments in ancient Greek philosophy.
Discuss the evolution of the human figure and how it is represented in Greek art.
The second period, from 404 B.C.E. to 323 B.C.E., was marked by considerable upheaval. Athens was no longer the dominating force in the Greek world, but there was no successor among her rivals. First Sparta and then Thebes achieved an uneasy control of Greek political life. With the collapse of the optimism of the High Classical period, the Late Classical age was marked by a new concern with the individual. The dreamy melancholy of Praxiteles’ statues provide a strong contrast to the idealism of a century earlier, while his figure of Aphrodite naked was one of the first examples in the Western tradition of sensuous female nudity. The most complete demonstration of the new interest in the fate of the individual can be found in the works of Plato, Socrates’ disciple, who spent much of his life studying the relationship between individuals and the state. Aristotle, Plato’s younger contemporary, also wrote on political theory as well as on a host of other topics.
3.5 The Rise of Macedon
Goals
Identify developments in ancient Greek culture.
Discuss Macedon’s significant influence on ancient Greek culture.
Discuss Alexander’s rise to prominence.
In 359 B.C.E. the northern kingdom of Macedon passed under the rule of Philip II and began to play an increasing part in Greek affairs. Despite Athenian resistance, led by the orator Demosthenes, Philip succeeded in uniting the cities of Greece in an alliance known as the League of Corinth; the only important city to remain independent was Sparta.
When Philip was assassinated in 336 B.C.E., his son Alexander succeeded him and set out to expand the Macedonian empire. After defeating the Persians, Alexander set out on an amazing series of victories that brought him to the borders of India. Only the revolt of his weary troops prevented him from going farther. In 323 B.C.E., in the course of the long journey home, Alexander died of fever.
3.6 The Hellenistic World
Goals
Identify developments in ancient Greece.
Discuss Macedon’s significant influence on ancient Greek culture.
Discuss Alexander’s influence on Western culture.
Recognize developments in architecture.
The period from 323 to 146 B.C.E., marked by the spread of Greek culture throughout the parts of Asia conquered by Alexander, is known as the Hellenistic Age. In the confusion following his death, four kingdoms emerged: Syria, Egypt, Pergamum, and Macedon itself. Prosperous and aggressive and frequently at war with one another, they combined Greek intellectual ideas and artistic styles with native Eastern ones.
The chief characteristics of Hellenistic art were virtuosity and drama. Works such as the Altar of Zeus at Pergamum were commissioned by Hellenistic rulers to glorify their reigns. Artists were encouraged to develop elaborate new techniques and employ them in complex and dramatic ways. The principal buildings of the age were public works like markets and theaters or scientific constructions such as the Lighthouse at Alexandria.
3.7 The Roman Conquest of Greece
Goals
Discuss the consequences of Alexander’s death.
Discuss the consequences of Rome’s expansion into Greece.
Discuss the continued influence of Greece on Roman culture.
The inability of the Hellenistic kingdoms to present a united front caused them to fall victim one by one to a new force in the eastern Mediterranean: Rome. By the end of the 3rd Century B.C.E. the Romans had secured their position in the western Mediterranean and had begun an expansion into Asia that was to bring all the Hellenistic kingdoms under their control. In 146 B.C.E., Roman troops captured the city of Corinth, center of the League of Corinth founded by Philip and symbol of Greek independence. Greece was made into a Roman province, and its subsequent history followed that of the Roman Empire. If Greece was under Roman political control, however, Greek art and culture dominated much of Roman cultural life and were passed on by the Romans into the Western tradition.
Discussion Questions
In what ways can the manifestation of chaos, confusion, and uncertainty be seen in art from the Classical and/or Hellenistic periods? Explain, citing specific examples.
What is the “Classical Ideal”? In what works is this ideal best illustrated? Explain.
Compare the Acropolis with the buildings at Pergamum. How does each entity symbolize the cultural attitudes of its time and locale? Explain.
What role did drama and music play in the lives of the Greeks? How were the two forms interrelated?