Kristin Hawkins, Demese Simmons, Greg Lathan

ENGL 208

Dr. Martin

10/6/2009

Ancient Greece

                Known as the Archaic period and spanning from 750 B.C. to around 400 B.C. Ancient Greece was a time of cultural and country growth immediately following the “Dark Ages” (Kagan et al. 25).

                The civic life of the Greek city-states or polis was organized around religion.  Polytheism surrounded all aspects of life (Lawall and Mack 106).  The Greek religion was in direct contrast to the Hebrew religion that believed in one god and a harmonious universe.  The Greek gods led by Zeus expressed the chaos and disorder of the universe.   Apart from their strength and immortality, the gods were thought to be like humans.  There were twelve main gods with Zeus ruling over them.  All gods were subject to the Fates despite their strength and immortality (Kagan et al. 40).            

Ancient Greece education greatly influenced Western formal education.  Homer’s epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey created a cultural tradition and served as educational tools.  Young Greeks looked to the warriors depicted in the poems as role models as well as using the stories to remember the history from the “Dark Ages”.   In Athens, only sons of free citizens could attend school.  It was believed that a liberal education was needed to perform one’s civic duties.  Women had little or no formal education.  In contrast to Athens, education in Sparta was all for military training.  Women in Sparta were educated but it was limited to athletic training and survival skills (“History of Education”). 

The role of the scribe was initially remembrance but evolved into an influential position during the archaic period because they were charged to write down and remember the affairs of the city and record laws (Thomas 70).   The city-states sometimes tried to influence or control the scribes because they did not trust the written record alone (Thomas 71).

The governments of Ancient Greece were varied by city-state.  Athens had a direct democracy where the free citizens would assemble and exercise their power. (Lawall and Mack 107) However, the democracy was ruled by the aristocrats.  There was no written law and every judicial decision was subject to appeal (Kagan et al. 34).  The Spartan government was conservative in policy.  It was mixed with elements of monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy.  Military rule was the standard and individuals were trained by the state to perform the state’s work and duties (Kagan et al. 34).

As with varying governments, the role of women was also varied by city-states.  Women of Sparta were trained to serve the state and had much more freedom and responsibilities than other Greek women (Kagan et al. 34).  They were expected to control and protect her husband’s property while he was off at war.  They could also control and own their own property (“Two Faces of Greece: Athens & Sparta”).  Athenian women were excluded from most of public life.  They had no direct part in politics and were subject to the authority of their male guardians.  Their chief responsibility was to produce male heirs (Kagan et al. 53).

In Athens, the social class was comprised of varying levels of freeman.  The highest social class was the aristocrats.  The aristocrats hired the lowest ranks such as laborers, sharecroppers, and slaves to work their lands leaving them plenty of time for government dealings and games.  The middle ranks included farmers, who owned and farmed their own land.  There was a “great contrast between the drab life of farmers and the cultivated existence of the leisured aristocracy” (Kagan et al. 40).   Sparta’s social class consisted of three classes:   The Spartiates or the military class who served in the army, the outsiders or Perioeci who were artisans, craftsmen, and merchants, and the Helots or serfs who farmed the land of the Spartiates  (“Two Faces of Greece: Athens & Sparta”).

The ancient Greeks had a good knowledge of the world and geography of the eastern Mediterranean and they believed the world to be divided into three continents all with similar inhabitants.      Both the Iliad and the Odyssey have many geographical references and descriptions of locations.   The Greeks also saw the world as round versus flat.  “Homer describes a circular world ringed by a single massive ocean.” (“History of Geography”)

The primary enemy of Ancient Greece was Persia and later in the time period the enemy came from within when Athens and Sparta were in conflict.  In 480 B.C., Persia invaded Greece.  Only thirty – one of the city-states defended their land.  The battled waged on and in 479 B.C. a decisive defeat was handed to the Persians by a united Greek front.  After the Persian defeat, the Greeks were not able to stay united and within two years the country had split into two sides as Athens and Sparta fought against each other (Kagan et al. 48).

Literature, art, and architecture were all lasting cultural achievements of Ancient Greece.  Epic poems and oral stories were the main literature form.  Epic poems such as the Iliad and Odysseus were also meant to pass on the history of the country.  Poetry that was meant to be sung was favored.  Plays and comedies were also developed during this time through competitions at festivals (Kagan et al. 58).   The art of the time focused on the stone sculptures of humans. Free standing statues were invented.      These sculptures usually portrayed smiling naked humans because the artists were trying to show the human perfection.   Three kinds of architecture were also invented during this time period: the sturdy and plain Doric style, the elegant and scroll-like design of the Ionic, and the elaborate and much decorated Corinthian style (“Ancient Greece”).  

Works Cited

“Art.”  Ancient Greece. 26 Sept. 2009.

26 Sept. 2009. <http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/Art/>

"History of Education," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia. 2009

26 Sept. 2009. <http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761561415/History_of_Education.html>

“History of Geography.”  Absolute Astronomy.com. 26 Sept. 2009.

26 Sept. 2009. <http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/History_of_geography>

Lawall, Sarah, and Maynard Mack. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. 2^nd ed. v.A. NY: Norton,

2002. 105 - 119. Print

Kagan, Donald, Steven Ozment, and Frank M. Turner. The Western Heritage.  Brief Ed. New

Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1996. 

“Two Faces of Greece: Athens & Sparta.”  PBS. 26 Sept. 2009.

26 Sept. 2009. <http://www.pbs.org/empires/thegreeks/educational/lesson1.html>

Thomas, Rosalind. Literacy and Orality in Ancient Greece. New York: Cambridge University Press. 1992.

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