Greece and Persia

A Collision of Cultures

Theater of Dionysus

How were the plays related to democracy and intellectual

change in Athens?

How is arête related to democracy?

What was Aristophanes trying to do with the Clouds?

How did he depict Socrates?

Why did he depict him this way?

What did the play suggest about trends in Athenian education and

society as a whole?

Under what conditions did Aristophanes produce this play?

Greek Theater

• Elements of Old Comedy– An outlandish plot or scheme is proposed by

the main character

– political satire or social commentary

– the chorus: ancient element of theater• parabasis: direct address to the audience

– the agon: a dispute or argument over a theme related to the plot

– ribald humor

• When New Comedy appears in the 4th century, it is less caustic and political

Structure of the Plays

• Structure of the Plays– Problem– Outrageous solution– Outrageous Consequences of the Solution

• Structural Elements– Agon– Parabasis– The Chorus

Colonization c. 500 BCE

Greek Hoplites

Attica

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Solon and the Tyrants

Pesistratus Instituted the Pan Athenian

Festival during the mid 500s BCE

CleisthenesFather of Athenian

Democracy

508-507 BCE

The Persian Empire

Persian Soldiers

Immortal Lancers

Their pikes were

approximately 2 feet shorter than those of

the Greek hoplites

The Persian Empire

Persepolis

Greek Hoplites

Overview

• The Revival of Greece– the Development of Athenian Culture

• The Emergence of Persia

• Collision of Two Cultures

The Revival of Greece

• In the century from 800 - 700 BCE, the population of Greece swelled; in Athens, it septupled to over 100,000; by 500 BCE, it was close to 350,000, roughly ten times the size of Sparta

• The increasing population increased demands on the political and administrative structure of the city-states where population increases were most dramatic

• Between 700 and 500 BCE, the Athenians under the direction of tyrants undertook dramatic reforms in political organization and developed a written constitution

The Emergence of Persia

• Persia emerged as an imperial presence in the Middle East during the seventh century BCE

• Led by the able dictator/general Cyrus the Great, the Persians sacked Babylon c. 540 and allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem - the Jews herald him as a savior

• The Jews were impressed with the Zoroastrian religion of the Persians, who were impressed with the literacy and book religion of the Jews; the long term effects of the interaction of these two religions is still a matter of historical research

The Persians

• Persian imperial success relied on– 10,000 Immortals: a warrior aristocracy who engaged in

both shock combat and the “Parthian shoot” on horseback

– A Great Navy manned by Phoenicians and Ionian Greeks

– Bureaucratic and organizational hierarchy, based on satrapies, imperial units of administration

– Traveling inspectors, known as the King’s Eyes, who ensured that governors of the satrapies acted according the to Emperor’s will

– The enlightened despotism of the Persian Kings who were tolerant of the various religions of their subjects

The Persians

• The Persian King of Kings built a network of roads throughout the empire to facilitate travel in the huge, most land locked empire

• The Royal Road connected the capital at Susa with the rich western provinces located near the Mediterranean

• The common language of the Empire was Aramaic, not Persian. It was the language spoken by Jesus of Nazareth

The Persians• The Zoroastrian religion

– dualist religion but with a heavy emphasis on ethical bahvior– developed by Zarathustra during second half of first

millenium and put in writing c. 500 BCE– Ahura Mazda, Lord Wisdom is the God of all creation

• associated with light and the sun• Had twin children, locked in a cosmic battle: the Beneficent Spirit

and the Hostile Spirit

– to attain immortality and happiness, humans must live ethically and contribute to the common good

– A Day of Judgement will send sinners to eternal torments– Influenced the development of Judaism and especially

Christianity

Collision Between Two Cultures: The Persian War

• Begins with a diplomatic miscommunication between Athens and Persia c. 507 BCE– Athens signals symbolic recognition of Persian terms to an

alliance

• Escalates when Athenians send troops to foment revolt of Ionian cities in Asia Minor c. 500 BCE– they sack the provincial capital at Sardis

• Within a decade Persia launches a punitive expedition against Athens only to receive humiliating defeat at Marathon in 490 BCE

• Marathon assumed mythical proportions in Athenian history

Battle of Marathon – September 490 BCE

• The battle began as the Persians tired of waiting to engage the Athenians who were situated on a hill; the Persians started to load their ships, probably with their cavalry who were noticeably absent in the battle accounts

• 10,000 Athenian hoplites meet a much larger Persian force (15,000) on the plain of Marathon by the Aegean Sea

• The Athenians placed their strongest units on their phalanxes, which surrounded the Persians and attacked from the rear

• The Persian foot soldiers were less heavily armed than the Greek hoplites, who induced panic in their enemy

• In disarray, the Persians retreated for their ships– 6400 Persian died; less than 200 Greek casualties but this number

may not have included slaves

The Persian War• Roughly a decade later (c. 480 BCE) the Persians send

a massive land invasion of Greece across the Hellespont• Thirty one Greek cities form a defensive alliance,

known as the Hellenic League– led by the Spartans, who offer legendary resistance at the

narrow mountain pass of Thermopolae - warm gates

• The Persians march on Athens, find it empty, and burn it to the ground

• Using tactics similar to the Spartan 300, the Athenians force the Persians to come through a narrow sea channel and score a major naval victory at Salamis– the trireme

The Persian War

• Following the Athenian victory at Salamis, portions of the Persian Empire fell into revolt and the navy headed east the following year

• That year (479 BCE) the Spartans scored decisive land battle victory at Plataea and Xerxes withdrew hoping to fight another day

• The wars demonstrated – the strength of the panhellenic ideal in the face of foreign invasion– the resourcefulness of the Greek military strategies– the bravery of the hoplite soldiers– how the underdog could overcome overwhelming odds and

achieve victory

The Persian War

• Our most thorough source is Herodotus– lived and wrote in the generation immediately

following the war– viewed the war as a battle between civilization

(Greeks) and barbarians (Persians)– considered the war the greatest war of all time– ascribed historical change to natural phenomena not the

intervention of the gods– provided cultural comparisons between civilizations

including Greeks, Persians, Egyptians– the “father of history”

Summary

• The polytheistic city-states of Greece differed dramatically from the Zoroastrian Empire of the Persians in terms of political organization, religion, and civic culture

• The victory of the Greeks in the years 480-479 was a temporary victory for panhellenic ideals in the face of foreign invasion

• Ultimately, however, once the Persian threat subsided, the centrifugal tendencies of poleis loyalty would continue to divide the Greeks for the remainder of the fifth and most of the fourth centuries BCE

How is the moon related to Strepsiades’s problems?

A. He chooses to study astronomy

B. Its brightness keeps him from sleeping

C. He feels that it is watching him

D. It signals when his debts are due

E. Because he fears donkeys

What is the character Socrates’ attitude toward the gods?

A. He is quite reverent and pious

B. He is cautiously certain that they all exist

C. He doubts their existence

D. He claims that they control natural phenomena

E. What’s this pig doing here?

How does Aristophanes portray Socrates?

A. As a bit looney

B. As a great sage who charges no money for his help

C. As a scientist who performs careful experiments

D. As a corrupt politician

In the opening scene of the play, the characters are…

A. Sleeping

B. Eating

C. At the Assembly (pnyx)

D. At the house of Socrates