"Ancient Greece and the Formation
of the Western Mind"
Source:
Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces, expanded edition in one vol, ed.
Maynard Mack, 1997, pp. 87-92 & 388-391
Origin of peoples there still a mystery
Indo-European
lang family (yet distinct)
Great
literature 8th – 4th centuries BCE
2000 – 1000 BCE MINOAN – Crete (King Minos)
Citadel of Mycenae (mainland) also wealth & power
Gold masks & clay tablets w/ early form of Greek
Around
1000 BCE palaces destroyed by fire
Time of
Trojan war–many arts/skills lost incl writing
100s yrs
poverty, illiteracy (“Dark Age of Greece”)
shaped into 2 great epic poems
Heroes,
great characters = models for conduct
HOMER
– sets down shape of Olympian Gods.
Heroes
similar to ours today & in history; Gods different
Greek conception of nature of gods & relation to humanity alien to us (hard to take seriously)
Gods can be feared, laughed at, admired, blamed, and still sincerely worshipped
vs.
Hebrew conception of God emphasizing universe harmonious order &
all-powerful, just God
(never tampers w/ fundamental datum)
GREEKS – Gods reflect disorder of actual lives/world (sublime disregard for humans)
Zeus limited power although superior strength (behind him is mysterious power of Fate – stronger)
Blind forces of universe people cannot control (not connected with morality)
MORALITY = human creation (gods may approve but not bound by it); death is human fear only
Courage also has uniquely human face (double standard – gods vs mortals)
Real admiration and sympathy directed not toward gods but toward humans
Homer – anthropocentric emphasis; great
contribution to Western Mind (true concern men and women)
GEOGRAPHY
– mountain barriers and scattered encouraged fragmentation of city-states
Common Hellenic heritage, but not enough to unite (except at rare times of danger), rivals, competitors
~
Aristocratic oligarchies & colonization
5th
c BCE ATHENS & SPARTA prominent city-states à
defeat of Persia, & resist invasion by Erp
~ Great confidence in culture (great naval power)
ATHENS – first Western democracy (direct not reprstv democracy) few citizens (rich, male, free)
SPARTA – totalitarian state, rigidly conservative govt & policy (individual is for state use); superior army
Enemies
once external threat (Persia) eliminated, war
431-404
BCE à
total defeat of Athens
BEFORE THE WAR – great cultural and political envir. for citizens, critical eval of all areas of thought
Sophists – professional teachers who develop system of liberal education (lecture for fee)
SOCRATES
– stonemason who discussed nature of justice, truth and piety, did not lecture
nor charge fee; dialect search for truth (grew out of last half of 5th
cent when individuality undermined during war)
Moral disintegration – new leaders concerned w/ power, savage reprisals, expansionist à disaster
Pro-Spartan
regime (antidemocratic) – The 30 Tyrants – installed & overthrown à
new democracy
But confidence of great age & community/individual often conflict à cynicism/emph “traditional values”
Distrust intelligence à anger at Socrates (intel>belief)
He rejects absolute standards in favor of ethics built on intellectual inquiry -- resentment 399 BCE
Every man must think way through to truth
Sentenced to death on charge of impiety à century of large group of philosophical schools (re Socrates)
338
BCE Philip’s son Alexander inherits powerful army & political
control of all Greece, leads vs Persia
Master
of empire extending to Egypt and India, dies in Babylon in 323 BCE, empire
broken up
Middle East becomes Greek-speaking area, source of math, geography, literature (libraries like at Alexandria), gymnasium, theater (Gospels in Grk)
Cultural
Homogeneity