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Chapter Outline
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  1. Introduction and Overview
    1. Brief contrast of Greek civilization with that of Mesopotamia and Egypt
      1. Human-centered versus god-centered
      2. Protagoras: "Man is the measure of all things"
    2. The Greek foundation of Western civilization
    3. Greek borrowings from the Near East

  2. Prelude: Minoan Civilization, 3000–1100 BCE
    1. The source of the term Minoan
    2. Characteristics of Minoan civilization
    3. Its outstanding architectural creation: the palace at Knossos
      1. Layout
      2. Decorative plan
    4. Cretan script, Linear A and B
      1. Similarities and differences
    5. Religion
      1. Worship of a mother goddess
      2. The bull cult (Figure Caption)
    6. Commerce
    7. Mythology and its later impact on Greece

  3. Beginnings: Mycenaean Civilization, 1900–1100 BCE
    1. A source of legends for Greece
    2. Power center: Mycenae and the Peloponnesus
    3. Political, social, and economic structure
    4. The chief symbol of this militaristic civilization: the fortress-palace (Figure Caption)
      1. Ashlar construction
      2. The Lion Gate, Mycenae
    5. Religion
      1. Burial practices
    6. The Trojan War: Mycenae and the epic tradition
      1. The realities of the war
      2. The inspiration for Homer's Iliad and Odyssey

  4. The Greek Dark Ages
    1. The collapse of one form of civilized order
    2. The emergence of a new civilized order

  5. The Archaic Age, 800–479 BCE
    1. Historical overview: Age of innovation and experimentation
    2. The origin of Hellas and Hellene
    3. Political, economic, and social structures
      1. The rise of the polis
        • a) The acropolis
          b) The agora
          c) The goal of the polis
      2. The shift from monarchy to oligarchy
        • a) Exemplary leadership, civil idealism, and cultural and artistic patronage
          b) New military tactics
          c) Overseas expansion and colonization
            (1) The coasts of Spain and North Africa, and the Black Sea area
            (2) Southern Italy and Sicily: Magna Graecia
            (3) Social developments
            (4) The rise of tyrants
    4. The Greek polis: Sparta and Athens
      1. Sparta, the symbol of Dorian civilization
        • a) Origins of oligarchic rule and stringent social and military policies
          b) Relationship with the Helots
          c) Limited cultural achievements
      2. Athens, the symbol of Ionian civilization
        • a) Origins of democratic rule
            (1) Mounting social problems
            (2) Solon's reforms
            (3) Cleisthenes' democratic constitution
          b) Inauguration of the Hellenic Age
    5. The Persian Wars
      1. The threat from Persia
        • a) The war against Darius
          b) The war against Xerxes
      2. The consequences of a Greek victory for the West
        • a) Political changes in Athens after the wars
    6. Women in Sparta and Athens
    7. Technology in Archaic Greece
      1. Iron Age technology
      2. Improved technology in ship construction

  6. The Emergence of Greek Genius: The Mastery of Form
    1. Archaic Greece as a crucible for artistic and intellectual achievement
      1. The role of the muses in artistic creativity
      2. Religion
        • a) Olympian and chthonic deities
          b) Natures of the Archaic Greek gods
          c) The concept of hubris
          d) Examples of gods from the Greek pantheon and the traditions of their worship
      3. Epic poetry
        • a) The Iliad
          b) The Odyssey
          c) The role of Homer in Greek civilization
      4. Lyric poetry
        • a) The solo lyric
          b) The poems of Sappho
      5. Natural philosophy
        • a) The emergence of philosophy/science
          b) The Milesian school: Thales
          c) The Sicilian school: Pythagoras
          d) The originator of dialectical reasoning: Heraclitus
      6. The supreme architectural achievement of the Greeks: the temple
        • a) Post-beam-triangle construction
          b) The principal parts
          c) The Doric-style temple
      7. Sculpture
        • a) The chief sculptural forms of this period
            (1) Kouros and Kore
            (2) Characteristics
            (3) Influence from Egypt and Greek innovations
            (4) Temple sculpture: The Temple of Aphaia at Aegina and the Trojan War as a decorative theme
          b) The shift from the Archaic to the Hellenic style

  7. The Legacy of Archaic Greek Civilization







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