Four Tributaries of Western Tradition

Greco-Roman

Judeo-Christian

Ethical Monotheism

1 God who is Good

Bible

sacred text with unified teachings

Covenant

- you can make covenants with God

- it's big since Greeks and Romans believed in many Gods

guilt culture

you felt guilty for what you had done wrong

ethics

- laws are based on it

- 10 commandments

- code of behavior

- come from commandments and prophets

typology

- copies what will happen

- ex: Isaac and Abraham shadow Christ

- effects language of bible and its stories

- foreshadowing

prophets

-tell us what's right and wrong

- teach the word of God

Hebrew world view

- ethical monotheism

-guilt culture

-focus in internals

-linear view of history

-religion offers divine guidance

- God is good and supreme, Satan is bad

- will of God

- narrative focus on spiritual not physical

- bible is sacred text

Genesis

- beginning

- moving towards some end

misogyny

- hate of women

-it's just a misunderstanding

- stems from false ideas of Eve

beginnings in Genesis

- learns about God (we're like him, he has laws, and promised blessings)

- learn about the earth (created by God for man so we can labor here)

- man has agency and is mortal

- woman was made for man to bear children

cave painting

arose from a human desire for self-expression

mother goddesses

- common in Mesopotamia and dominated Aegean Bronze Age religion

- Venus of Willendorf

Hammurabi/Code of Hammurabi

- earliest attempts to achieve social justice by legislation

- laws carved on stele

- laws dealt with relationship between husbands, wives, and children

- 1800 BC King Hammurabi of Mesopotamia was author

myth/fact

myth: a traditional or legendary story

fact: something that actually exists

Aegean Culture

- valued grace, beauty, and comfort

- very civilized

Cyclades

- group of islands of the central Aegean

- they used bronze tools

- made sculptures and pottery

Cycladic idols

- ranged in height from a few inches to life size

- produced in large quantities

- buried with the dead

- most figures female

- carved simply with arms folded and head back

characteristics of Minoan culture

- centered on crete

- named after King Minos

- they had written script, but we cannot decipher it

- were sophisticated prosperous civilization

(palace at Knossos, art based on agriculture and nature, used organic lines, sea motifs)

Crete

center of Minoan civilization and home of King Minos

Knossos

- King Minos was the king

- labyrinth was built under Minos' palace with a Minotaur in it

King Minos

- ruled at Knossos

- had a labyrinth that had a Minotaur inside it

- the Minotaur was his son

Minotaur

- half bull half man

- son of King Minos and Pasiphae

- it eats 7 boys and 7 girls each year

- was killed by Theseus

Ariadne

- daughter of King Minos

- fell in love with Theseus and helped him escape the Labyrinth

Schliemann

- proved that the stories of the war against Troy and the Mycanaeans' were true

- excavated Troy

characteristics of Mycenaean culture

- war-like civilization on the Greek mainland

- influenced culturally by Minoans

- pillagers and war mongers

- attacked Troy

polis

Greek self-governing city-state

Heroic Age

- first 300 years of the Iron Age

- Iliad and Odyssey were created during this time

heroic code

if you die in battle, you get glory

Greek Gods

Zeus - Father of gods and men

Hera - wife of Zeus, Queen of Heaven

Poseidon - brother of Zeus, god of the sea

Hephaestus - son of Zeus and Hera, god of fire

Ares - God of War

Apollo - God of prophesy, intellect, music, and medicine

Artemis - goddess of chastity and moon

Demeter - earth mother, goddess of fertility

Aphrodite - goddess of beauty, love and marriage

Athena - goddess of wisdom

Hermes - messenger of the gods, god of cleverness

Dionysus - god of wine and emotions

Homeric question

Was Homer real?

- tradition is that he's a blind poet

Greek music

-really important

- fewer than 12 fragments have survived

- impossible to read notation

- was of divine origin

-composed of scales

- Dorian: firm, powerful, war-like

- Phrygian: passionate, sensual emotions

- music was connected to dance, drama, and poetry

Greek instruments

lyre, aulos, cithara

ethos

music affects human behavior

modes

a series of scales that composed Greek music

harmony

means together

describes certain scales

Pythagoras

- Presocratic philosopher that had greatest influence on later times

- believed in leading a pure and devout life

- founded a school

- discovered the numerical relationship of musical harmonies

Orpheus

- chief among poets and musicians

- perfected the lyre

Pre-Socratics

- lived before Socrates

- had little in common with each other

- turned away from religious teachings and used the power of human reason to discover how the world came into being

pottery

lots of vases and jars that were used in everyday life

geometric art

- our impressions of the first 300 years of Greek art

- lines, curves, zigzags; later there was circles, meander, and animals

Archaic period

- 3rd era of early Greece

- paved the way for the classical period

orientalizing

- period and style of art after the Heroic era

- large pictures on pottery

red figure

- figures are in red clay and the rest of the vase is dark

- details filled in using a brush

black figure

back paint was used for the figures

Doric order

columns have no base and 20 grooves

raking cornice

pediment

cornice

firenze (made of triglyph and metope)

architrave

capital (made of abacus and echinus)

shaft

stylobate

Apollo/Dionysus

Apollo: god of logic, order, power of the mind

Dionysus: god of emotions

Solon

- legislator and poet

- reformed the legal system in 594 BC and divided citizen in 4 classes

Sappho

- first woman poet to leave a literary record that reflects her own personal experiences

- poems have survived in fragment form

- she was a wife/mother and poet/teacher

sculpture

kouros

- naked men sacrificing to the gods

- left foot forward

- arms to the side

- hands clenched

- hair and body looked unnatural

kore

- clothed female

- stands straight

archaic smile

- almost all archaic sculpture had the ''smile''

- may have symbolized

Battle of Marathon

first Persian invasion of Greece in 490 BC

Hubris

- excessive pride

- being out of touch with reality

Herodotus

- "Father of history" in Western culture

- first Greek historian

- wrote 9 books of the history of the Persian Wars

influences of Greek culture

it has influenced architecture, art, literature, and drama in Western traditions

Greek world view

- you are subject to your own fate

- the gods play an active role in your life

- honor is everything

orders of architecture

- ionic (scroll)

- doric (plain)

- corinthian (leaves)

Homeric world view

- honor and greatness are achievable

- there is order and control in the universe

- the gods have some control of us

Trojan War

- caused: Helen was taken by Paris to Troy, so the Greeks when to get her back

- outcomes: Greeks won because they outwitted the Trojans

- story: the war lasted 10 years

Arete

- a particular excellence

- physical prowess most valued in the Homeric world

epic conventions

- universal illumination: writer stops goes off on a tangent

- epithets: second name

- epic invocation: beginning of the poem calling to the gods to help tell the story

- epic similies: comparisons used throughout the story

- in medias res: begin in the middle of the story and flash back

themes in the Iliad

controlling anger and loyalty

shield of Achilles

- shield made by Hephaestus after Achilles lost his armor

- had two cites on it that represented peace and war

portrayal of women

- women were prizes to be won

- they were required to be loyal to their husbands

shame culture

- not a culture of guilt

- shame was brought when a soldier lost their prize

- honor was everything to them

role of fate

- even the gods respected and tried not to interfere with fate

- fate was what they lived by

Achilles (Iliad)

- son of Peleus and Thetis

- prince of Myrmidons

- immortal warrior (except the heel)

- fought like no other man could

- story is written about his anger

- got Briseis taken from him

Agamemnon (Iliad)

- main king of the Greeks

- greedy, glory hound, gutless leader

- took Achilles prize because he had to send his back

- too gutless to ask Achilles to fight so he sent men to coax him back

Patroclus (Iliad)

- Achilles friend

- died when he went out to fight wearing Achilles armor

- second in command

- his death motivated Achilles to start fighting again

Hector (Iliad)

- son of Priam and Hecuba

- prince of Troy and commander of Trojan forces

- mightiest warrior for the Trojans

Paris (Iliad)

- brother of Hector

- took Helen from Greeks

- self-centered and too cowardly to fight

Helen (Iliad)

- started the Trojan war

- most beautiful woman in the ancient world

- left Menelaus to go with Paris

Andromache (Iliad)

- Hector's wife

- begs Hector to withdraw from war and save himself

Briseis (Iliad)

Achilles' prize that Agamemnon takes from him

Thetis (Iliad)

- Achilles' mother

- asks Zeus to help the Trojans start winning

- got Achilles more armor

- sea nymph

Hephaestus (Iliad)

- god of fire

- helps the Achaeans by forging a new set of armor for Achilles

- rescues Achilles from the river god

guest/host law

- let strangers in to eat, bathe, and sleep

- guest cannot overstay their welcome and must entertain the host

themes (Odyssey)

returning home, never losing sight of what's important

Penelope (Odyssey)

- Odysseus' wife

- stays loyal to her husband

- cunning and smart

Aigistos (Odyssey)

- Agamemnon's cousin

- took Agamemnon's wife Clytemnestra

- example of Atasthalia

Agamemnon (Odyssey)

- was killed by Aigisthos

- meets Odysseus in Hades and says to watch out for women

Clytemnestra (Odyssey)

marries another and has her husband killed when he gets home from the Trojan War

Telemachus (Odyssey)

son of Odysseus

Polyphemus (Odyssey)

- cyclops that Odysseus blinds

- curses Odysseus

- son of Poseidon

Nausicaa (Odyssey)

- the beautiful daughter of King Alcinous and Queen Arete of the Phaeacians

- she discovers Odysseus on the beach at Scheria and invites him to go the palace

Circe

- witch that turned Odysseus' men into swine

- Hermes helps Odysseus resist her powers

Calypso

- goddess that keeps Odysseus on her island for 7 years

- doesn't let him go until Hermes comes and makes her

nostoi

looking and longing for home

atasthalia

overwhelming recklessness

trip to the underworld

Odysseus needed to take this trip to understand what was waiting for him at home and what he'd have to do

Scylla the render

6 headed creature that lived on rocky cliffs

Charybdis the sucker down

whirlpool that would suck a whole ship in

Sirens

women that sang beautiful songs, but the ships would catch on the reef going in and be destroyed

Classical/Hellenic

covers Greek and Roman era (500 BC)

Hellenistic

from Hellinize "Spreading Greek culture"

humanism

- philosophy way of seeing man-kind

- humans can succeed

- potential to be perfect

- more man centered

- man is the measure of all things

- human body is beautiful

- positive sexuality

- joy can be had

- man is supreme creation

Parthenon

- first building to be constructed

- build to be pleasing to the eye

- statue of Athena inside

Lord Elgin

- British ambassador to Constantinople

- when the Parthenon was blown up, he crated up a lot of the broken sculptures and put them back together

Erechtheum

- Ionic temple

- has the Porch of Maidens

- built in Acropolis

- final temple to be completed

- was built on uneven ground

post and lintel

- it has two posts with a header on top

- ex: Stonehenge

contrapposto

putting weight on one leg to make the sculptures

look more realistic

low, high relief sculpture

- low relief sculpture: the carving preserves the flat surface of the stone

- high relief sculpture: the figures project from the background so much as to seem almost 3-d

Praxitiles

- sculptor with a particular brand of gentle melancholy

- had an effect on contemporaries

- made statue of Aphrodite that show women's beauty

- 1st attempt to bring sensuality to women's form

Canon of Polykleitos

- has written math formula representing male body

- book tells the relationship between body parts (proportions)

Doryphoros

- bronze statue of a young man holding a spear

- made by Polykleitos

- shows the idea of contrapposto

Golden Age of Greece

- the sculpture in the Golden Age was outstanding

- materials were marble and bronze

- subjects were gods, heroes, and humans in prime of life

- they used ideal proportions and face showed serenity

- central idea for Classical Age is existence can be ordered and controlled

- it was a time of richness in artistic and intellectual achievement.

Athens

-Athenians lived in tension and violence in the Golden Age

- they reached its high point at the last half of 500 BC

Acropolis

- represents the supreme expression of Classical Ideals

Caryatid

- female statues used instead of columns to support a roof

- Porch of Maidens

entasis

- a slight convexity given to a column or tower as seen in the architectural design of the Doric column

- columns that are thickest at the point 1/3 from the base and then taper to the top

Dionysus

- Ancient Greek god of wine and emotions

trilogy/satyr play

- each play was made of four plays

- there were three tragedies and one comedy

Euripides

- the closest to our own time with his concern for realism and his determination to expose social, political, and religious injustices

- one of the best-known Greek tragic dramatists

Aeschylus

- Greek poet and playwright from 525-456 BC

- wrote Oresteia

Aristophanes

- the greatest comic poet of 5th century BC Athens

- his work combines political satire with a strong vein of fantasy

Sophocles

- tragic poet whose plays include Antigon and Oedipus the King

-  he explores the nature of tragedy

characteristics of Greek theater

- was only for men

- it was held in a big amphitheater

- actors wore big masks

- no gore or violence on stage

Delian League

- under Athenian leadership in the years following the wars

- a defensive organization of Greek city-states was formed to guard against any future outside attack

- collected money from members and it was used to help build the Parthenon

Alexander the Great

- King of Macedonia and conqueror of the Persian Empire

Alexandria

has a lighthouse that is one of the 7 wonders of the world

Pergamum

became the capital of the King of Pergamum during the Hellenistic Period

Laocoon

- a Trojan Priest that was punished by the gods for his attempts to warn his people against bringing the wooden horse left by the Greeks

- he was killed along with his two sons by two snakes

Persian Wars

- there was a set of three wars

- it was 50 years long

Aristotle

- Greek philosopher and pupil of Plato

- founder the Lyceum which was a school that competed with Plato's academy

Lyceum

school of philosophy founded by Aristotle

Plato

- 427-347 BC

- Socrates' pupil

- came from a distinguished family and was groomed to be in politics

- disillusioned with existing forms of government

- left Athens for 12 years and then returned to teach

- wrote the Allegory of the Cave and The Republic

- recorded Socrates' Apology

Academy

- founded by Plato

- first permanent institution in Western civilization devoted to education and research

- it concentrated on mathematics, law, and political theory

dramatic irony

everyone knows what is going on, but the character to which it is happening

Oedipus

- good, cunning king

- was sent away from home as a child to die on a hill

- kills his biological dad and marries his biological mom

Jocasta

- wife/mother of Oedipus

Creon

Jocasta's brother

Tiresias

- blind seer and prophet that tells Oedipus that he's the man who killed the king

Lauis

king and dad that Oedipus killed

sight/blindness images

sometimes you can literally, but you cannot see what is really happening in front of you

sophist

- professional philosophers of the day

- charged money to argue a point

- truth was not their aim

- justice is what you decide it is

chorus

- speak from the spectator's point of view

- they are similar to narrators

philosophy of Apology

- once you go out into the light and see truth, you don't want to go back into the darkness

Pre-Socratics

examined origins of the world, working of nature, evolution, and elements

Socratic method

- find truth

- change your way of thinking back onto the way to truth

- question answers

Socrates

- 469-399 BC

- son of a sculptor and midwife

- citizen of Athens

- was a war hero

- condemned for no good reason

- tried to find a man wiser than him but couldn't

- preferred death over exile

Socratic problem

what did Socrates really teach and what was made up after his death?

dialogue of The Apology

question and answer

gadfly

- a big horse-fly that stings and bites

- someone who upsets people by posing novel questions

- Socrates was stinging and biting Athens to change, but it wouldn't

apology

a defense at a trial

midwife

Socrates' mother

Socrates' views on wisdom, death

- the most wise person is someone who don't thinks they are

- we should not fear death, but embrace it; there is nothing to fear on the other side

oracle in The Apology

told Socrates that he was the wisest of all men, but Socrates didn't believe him

allegory

story that had representative meaning more than literal

symbolism of The allegory of the Cave

- once men learn the good in life and where it is, they don't want to back to back to the darkness and evil in the world

- what we see in reality may just be an illusion

ideal rulers

the ideal rulers are those that don't want to lead

philosopher kings

the wisest people should be the leaders

Theory of Forms, Ideas

- in the world, perfect aspects of every object exists

- in our world we share some aspect of the ideal

bases of reality

nature and phenomena

Ring of Gyges

- we don't do bad things because they fear the punishments

- what you would to with the ring on is the same thing you'd do without in on

mean

in the mean we find virtue

virtue/vice

- we have to find the middle of deficiency and excess

- both deficiency and excess of anything are vices, but in the middle ground you find virtue

elements of tragedy

- a good and noble protagonist

- hamartia

- hubris

- downfall

pity, fear

the audience needs to feel this for the protagonist

catharsis

- cleansing or purging

- it let the audience get rid of all their feelings

protagonist

a good noble person who can fall a long ways

hamartia

tragic mistake

reversal/recognition

hero experiences a fall and recognizes it

Roman world view

they were more into honor and glory

Roman contributions

- law

- government and military science

- language

- calendar

- alphabet

- sense of empire

-ideal of duty

-roads, sewers, aqueducts

they could absorb and assimilate outside influences adopting them to something typically Roman

development of sculpture from archaic to Roman

- it started as awkward and unrealistic

- it became forms that were sophisticated and realistic that used both men and women as nude figures

portrait sculpture

- creative and sensitive

- revealed psychological documents

Ara Pacis

- altar of peace made that was dedicated by Caesar Augustus for having the empire in peace

- it depicts the abundance of nature that could flourish again in the peace of the Augustan Age

Epicureanism

- the goal and principle of human actions is pleasure

- rejected a driving force in the world and superstitions

Stoicism

- Romans liked it

- Stoics thought the world was governed by reason and divine providence

- the wheel turns and we have no control where it stops

Etruscans

- were responsible for the technology and desire to conquer the world that Rome possessed

- we know little of their origins

- lived in Tuscany

- showed sophistication and technological ability

- art was elemental, but produced an immediate impact on the viewer

Roman architecture

achieved a style impressive of all legacies from  the ancient world

oculus

- an opening (eye) at the top of the building that allows light to come in

- there's one on the Pantheon

Pantheon

- built during the reign of Hadrian

- one of the greatest buildings of all time

- temple made to worship all gods

- it has an unsupported dome inside

pilaster

it resembles a flat column

keystone

- appears at the top of an arch

- it helps to distribute the weight to the sides of the arch

arch

stolen by the Romans from the Etruscans

dome

a large version of the arch

barrel or tunnel vault

where two tunnels intersect to roof a large area

arcade

has many arches in a row

Pont du Gard

an aqueduct that has many arches in a row

Pompeii

a Roman city covered in ash that has been excavated

Pliny the Younger

wrote about the eruption of the volcano

Punic Wars

- a series of three wars

- elephants were brought over the Alps

- Rome VS Carthage

-Rome won

consuls

highest elective office in the Roman Republic

Romulus/Remus

- Rome's twin founders in its traditional foundation myth

- they are descendants of the Trojan prince and refugee Aeneas

- they were added to the sculpture of "She-Wolf"

Roman Gods

Roman - Greek

Jupiter - Zeus

Juno - Hera

Neptune - Poseidon

Vulcan - Hephaestus

Mars - Ares

Apollo - Apollo

Diana - Artemis

Ceres - Demeter

Venus - Aphrodite

Minerva - Athena

Mercury - Hermes

Bacchus - Dionysus

Julius Caesar

- roman general and historian

- he bought peace to Rome

- was assassinated

Marc Antony/Cleopatra

- Marc ruled the Eastern part of Rome after Caesar's death

- Marc and Cleopatra fell in love and eventually committed suicide

Battle of Actium

- the decisive confrontation of the Final war of the Roman Republic

- was fought between the forces of Octavian and Marc Antony

- Octavius was the winner and ruled Rome, naming himself Caesar Augustus

patricians

- power was concentrated in the hands of the upper class

plebeians

lower Roman classes

Cicero

Roman statesman, orator, and philosopher whose works introduced Greek philosophy to Rome

Augustus

Octavian, he assumed the name Augustus when he was crowned emperor in 27 BC

Constantine

- moved the capital from Rome to Byzantium and renamed it Constantinople in 330 AD

- became a Christian at the end of his life

- granted tolerance to Christians

Vergil

- commissioned by Augustus to write an epic poem for Rome

- the author of The Aeneid

Aeneas

warrior whose destiny is to take the Trojans to Italy

Anchises

- Aeneas' father and dies during the journey to Italy

Dido

- strong queen of Carthage

- falls in love with Aeneas

- commits suicide when Aeneas leaves

Turnus

- ruler of Rutulian in Italy

- wants to marry Lavinia

- main enemy of Aeneas

Juno

a goddess that is mad at the Trojans for naming Calypso more beautiful than her

Lavinia

- Latinus' daughter

- supposed to marry Aeneas

Pallas

- son of Evander

- Turnus kills him

Jupiter

- king of the gods

- he directs Aeneas' fate

Vulcan

- god of fire and forge

- crafts a set of arms for Aeneas

Ascanius

- Aeneas' young son, by his first wife

- he defends the camp and leads boys on horseback during the games

Creusa

- Aeneas' wife in Troy

- she dies when they escape

Venus

goddess of love and mother of Aeneas

Carthage

the city Aeneas stops at and meets Dido there

pietas

duty or devotion, male

furor

passion, female, fire imagery

night journey

themes (Aeneid)

returning home, completing our destiny

purpose of the work (Aeneid)

to become the epic poem of the Romans

tenets of epicureanism

- unattainable desires cause pain, so you should only desire what you can get

- the world is made of atoms moving randomly in a void

- the gods should not be feared because they are uninterested and uninvolved in human affairs

- death should not be feared

tenets of stoicism

-it is irrational to want that which is not God's will, so attune thyself with thy inner Nature and live happy

- live according to your own nature