Ancient Greece
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History of Greece
Prehistoric Greece
(before the XXX century BC) The Aegean civilization
(XXX XII BC) Western Anatolian civilization Minoan civilization Cycladic civilization Helladic civilization Mycenaean civilization Ancient Greece
(XI — 146 BC) Dark Ages (XI IX centuries BC) Archaic period (VIII VI centuries BC) Classical period (V IV centuries BC) Hellenistic period (323-146 BC) Greece as part of the Roman empire Roman Greece (146 BC 330 AD) Middle Ages and Modern Times
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Ancient Greece, Hellas — an ancient Greek civilization in the south east of Europe, the highest flowering of which occurred in the V IV centuries BC -a period that received the name of the classical in its history.
this is the tyranny of Polycrates, as well as the tyranny of the cities of Sicyon, Miletus, Ephesus, etc.
At the end of the Archaic period, slavery spread in many polises, regardless of the form of organization of the polis, including in Athens.
At the same time, certain features of the tribal system were preserved in oligarchic Sparta, Crete and Argos, and in the communities of Aetolia, Acarnania and Phocis — subsistence farming.
Against the background of such diversity, both in political and economic indicators, Greek cities begin to compete, the Peloponnesian Union, led by Sparta, appears — a military alliance of the cities of the Peloponnese for joint warfare and suppression of helot uprisings.
The classical period[edit / edit wiki text]
Main article: Classical Greece
Acropolis of Athens, reconstruction by Leo von Klenze in 1846
The classical period is the time of the highest flowering of ancient Greek society and culture, which occurred in the V IV centuries BC .
The most influential political and cultural center after the victory in the Greco Persian wars was Ancient Athens, which was at the head of the Delos Union among the polises of the Aegean islands, its western, northern and eastern coasts.
Athens reached its maximum power and cultural flourishing when an outstanding political figure, a commander, a supporter of the democratic party Pericles, who was elected strategist 15 times, became the head of the state.
This period is known in historiography as the "Golden Age of Pericles", although it was relatively short lived.
The transfer of the treasury of the Delos Union from Delos to Athens, the collection of fees — foros from the allies, the restriction of free trade at sea, punitive expeditions, cleruchies — all this caused indignation among the allies and a desire to free themselves from obligations.
In parallel, conflicts outside the union were also brewing: an economic struggle between Athens and Corinth in the field of trade, with Sparta — for supremacy in Greece.
In 431 BC, the largest war in the history of Ancient Greece began — the Peloponnesian War, which ended with a crushing defeat of Athens, the loss of possessions and privileges, and Sparta established its hegemony.
The "policy crisis"was growing: the inner political antagonism between the poor and the rich grew; the meteks (foreigners in the polis) were glorified, the spread of slavery did not give a free but poor citizen the opportunity to find a job for hire, the only means of existence was the conduct of war (therefore, Greek mercenaries often fought in the Persian army).
Frequent internecine wars further weakened the policies, they were no longer able to protect their citizens.
Finally, in 395 BC, the Corinthian War broke out, as a result of which Persia imposed on the Greeks the humiliating peace of the Antalkids, the implementation of which Sparta had to monitor.
Thus, it became the main enemy, the Second Athenian Maritime Union was created to fight Sparta.
Although Thebes defeats Sparta at Leuctra, Athens ' attempt to impose its will leads to a new Allied War, and the union breaks up.
During the period of weakness of the Greek polis, Macedonia begins its rise.
King Philip II of Macedon successively conquers Thessaly, Phocis, Chalcis and Thrace.
The anti Macedonian coalition, whose ideologist was Demosthenes, suffered a crushing defeat in the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC .
By 337 BC, the Corinthian Union of Greek states led by Macedonia was created, Macedonian garrisons were introduced everywhere and oligarchic regimes were established.
Hellenistic period[edit / edit wiki text]
Main articles: Hellenistic Greece, Ancient Macedonia
See also: Hellenistic Period
A new stage in the history of the Eastern Mediterranean countries — the stage of Hellenism — begins with the campaigns of Alexander the Great (IV century BC) and ends with the conquest of the Hellenistic states by Ancient Rome in the I century BC (the last was captured by Egypt).
Macedonia, having conquered Greece, fully embraced its culture, so after the victorious campaigns of Alexander the Great, ancient Greek culture is spreading in the conquered eastern countries.
In turn, the conquered peoples were carriers of their own ancient culture and themselves influenced the ancient culture.
The Battle of Chaeronea and the conquests of the Greek Macedonian army in the east under the command of Alexander the Great opened the period of Hellenism.
The empire of Alexander collapsed immediately after his death in 323 BC .
The long struggle of the Diadochi and their successors the Epigones led to the creation of a number of independent Hellenistic states (the largest of them were the monarchies of the Seleucids, Ptolemies and Macedonia proper).
Greece of the Hellenistic period is characterized by the predominance of states and unions of a paramilitary type (Macedonia, the Achaean Union, the Aetolian Union, some period Sparta), which continued to challenge the rule in Greece.
The fresco "Mosaic of Alexander" depicting the Battle of Issus: Alexander the Great on his horse Bucephalus
In most states, an oligarchy or tsars were in power.
The struggle of the states led by Athens against Macedonia after the death of Alexander (the Lamian War) ended with the victory of Macedonia and the massacre of the Greek Democrats.
After the second defeat in the Chremonid War (267-261 BC, named after the Athenian commander Chremonides), Athens was defeated, becoming completely dependent on the Macedonian monarchy.
However, Macedonia was unable to restore its power over the entire Balkan Peninsula.
Two new powerful alliances fought against it — the Achaean (restored around 280 BC) and the Aetolian (created around 320 BC).
The Achaean Union covered most of the Peloponnese (except for Sparta, which joined the union after 192 BC) and the largest cities (Sycion, Corinth, Megara).
The Aetolian Union, in addition to Aetolia, included the regions of Central Greece (except Athens), southern Thessaly and some other cities.
The struggle of the successors of Alexander, and later Macedonia and the two unions for power in Greece led to the mass destruction of cities, the sale of Greeks into slavery, and the settlement of the centers by new colonists.
The Greek cities were also devastated by pirates, who were used by the Aetolians, selling them into slavery the inhabitants of the captured cities (up to 50 thousand people were sold from Laconica alone).
The result of the struggle was the slow agony of the cities, the ruin of the middle strata, the growth of the poor, whose unrest became commonplace (in Corinth, Argos, Miletus).
The Roman Conquest[edit / edit wiki text]
Main articles: The Conquest of Greece by Rome, Roman Greece
After the defeat inflicted by the Romans on Macedonia in the Battle of Cynoscephalae (197 BC), the Romans constantly interfered in the internal affairs of the Greeks, supporting the oligarchic strata against democracy.
In the summer of 196 BC, the Roman general Titus Quinctius Flamininus proclaimed the "freedom" of the Greeks at the Isthmian Games, the belief in which made Rome popular in Greece for a short time.
From that time on, Greece was constantly under Roman influence.
Macedonia lost its political importance, and in 148 BC, after the suppression of the uprising of Andriscus, it was transformed together with Iliria and Epirus into a Roman province.
The Aetolian Union was dissolved by the Romans.
In 146 BC, the Achaean Union was also defeated.
Thus, the whole of Greece was under the rule of Rome.
Greece was turned into the Roman province of Achaia (except for Athens, which was nominally considered a free city).
Since the IV century AD, Greece has formed the core of the Eastern Roman Empire Byzantium.
The culture of Ancient Greece[edit / edit wiki text]
Main article: The Culture of Ancient Greece
Mythology[edit / edit wiki text]
Main articles: Ancient Greek mythology, Ancient Greek religion
Aphrodite of Cnidus
Venus of Milo
Mythology played a unifying, formative role for the entire ancient Greek culture.
It began to take shape in the Cretan Mycenaean period.
The oldest were the deities who embodied the forces of nature.
From the union of Gaia — earth and Uranus — sky, the titans appeared, the elder was Ocean, the younger was Kronos.
According to mythology, Kronos decided to take revenge on his father for the fact that he imprisoned his Titan brothers in Tartarus.
While Uranus was sleeping, Kronos dealt him a heavy blow and became the king of all the gods.
The children of Kronos the gods led by Zeus in a fierce battle with the Titans won and shared power over the world.
Mount Olympus was considered the home of the twelve supreme gods, led by Zeus.
The thunderer Zeus became the king of gods and people, Poseidon — the seas, springs and waters, Hades the gloomy underground kingdom.
Hera the wife of Zeus was the patroness of marriage and family, Zeus ' sister Demeter — the goddess of fertility, another sister Hestia the patroness of the house.
The daughter of Zeus — Athena was revered as the goddess of war and wisdom, she patronized knowledge and crafts.
According to the myth, Athena appeared from the head of Zeus in full battle dress - in a helmet, with a shield and a spear in her hands.
The God of war was Ares.
Hermes was first the god of cattle breeding and the patron of shepherds, later he was revered as the messenger of the Olympian gods, the patron of travelers, merchants, the god of trade, the inventor of the measure and the shepherd's flute.
Artemis was first the goddess of fertility and the patroness of animals and hunting, the goddess of the Moon, later she became the patroness of female chastity and women in labor.
Apollo is the brother of Artemis, the deity of sunlight, education, medicine, art, which is embodied by his companions the nine Muses.
Another daughter of Zeus is Aphrodite, who was born from the sea foam near the island of Cyprus, the goddess of love and beauty.
From anti the most famous images of Aphrodite are: Aphrodite of Cnidus by Praxiteles (IV century BC) and Venus of Milo (II century BC), which are located in the Louvre in Paris.
Aphrodite's husband was the blacksmith god Hephaestus.
Dionysus is the most cheerful among the gods, the patron saint of winegrowers and winemakers, special celebrations were dedicated to him at the end of the agricultural year — dionysia.
In addition to the Olympian gods, there were many other (mainly local, local) gods who had their own functions.
The gods in the view of the Greeks had a human appearance, human desires, thoughts, feelings, even human vices and shortcomings.
They severely punished those who tried to approach them in beauty, intelligence and power.
A special place is occupied by the myth of the titan Prometheus the defender of people from the arbitrariness of the gods.
Prometheus stole fire from Olympus and gave it to people, for which Zeus chained him to a rock and condemned him to eternal torment.
In addition to myths about the gods, there were legends about heroes, the most favorite of which was Hercules, who performed twelve great feats.
Myths and legends about gods and heroes formed into whole cycles, which later became a source of plots for literature, drama and sculptures.
In parallel with mythology, a cult practice developed — sacrifices and prayers that took place in temples.
Every city had a patron god.
Athena was considered the patroness of Athens.
Olympia was the center of worship of Zeus, to whom Olympic sports competitions were dedicated here.
The place of the main sanctuary of Apollo Delphi, where the famous Delphic oracle was located (an oracle is a place in the sanctuary where the deity received an answer to a question, or exactly divination of the deity), as the Greeks believed, there was a center of the Earth marked with a special stone.
The human images of Greek mythology, imbued with harmony, became the ground for the development of ancient Greek art.
The mythology of the ancient Greeks exercised a decisive influence on the formation of ancient Roman mythology and religion.
During the Renaissance, it was actively included in the European cultural process.
Until now, scientific, cognitive, and aesthetic interest in it has not weakened.
Science[edit / edit wiki text]
Main article: Science in Ancient Greece
Already in ancient Greek mythology, the desire to give a comprehensive picture of the world, to find an explanation for everything that exists, was clearly visible.
The same search, but on a different ideological level, was continued by scientists of Ancient Hellas.
It is in the ancient culture that science is distinguished for the first time in the history of mankind into an independent sphere.
There is every reason to talk not just about the accumulation of scientific knowledge (which was, as a rule, in the hands of priests), but about the development of professional science.
The ancient philosophy has an enduring significance.
In ancient Greece, philosophy was born as a scientific theory, a system of concepts was developed, the main philosophical problems were posed and received their original solution.
One of the most important achievements of ancient Greek philosophy is the development of cosmological questions — about the origin of the universe, about the nature of man.
Tradition considers Thales to be the first Greek philosopher, astronomer and mathematician.
He made long trips to gain knowledge.
The list of the "seven sages" opens with his name, many catch phrases are attributed to him: "Know yourself", "Space is the greatest, because it contains everything in itself"," Necessity is the strongest, because it has power over everything","Time is the wisest, because it opens everything".
Thales considered water to be the primary basis of all things — "intelligent and divine".
Thales stands at the origins in the demythologization of the world: he considered Zeus to be the world mind, the gods the forces acting in the world.
Thales became the founder of the spontaneously materialistic school of philosophy.
The most prominent representatives of this school were Anaximander, who gave the first formulation of the conservation of matter; Anaximenes, according to whose teaching everything that exists comes from the first matter air — and returns back to it; Democritus, who defended the atomistic ("atomos" — indivisible) concept of the structure of the world.
Heraclitus played a huge role in the formation of dialectics, Socrates played a huge role in the formulation and deep development of social and ethical problems.
His disciple Plato became the founder of the philosophical school of objective idealism, one of the greatest philosophers of all time.
Fresco of the Athenian School, Raphael Santi
Aristotle is the most famous philosopher in the history of mankind, in his teaching he tried to combine the strengths of the views of Democritus and Plato, had a huge influence on the philosophical trends of the Middle Ages and Modern times.
A distinctive feature of the philosophical works of the Hellenistic time, when the rather closed world of the Greek polis broke, is the increased attention to the individual and his problems.
Epicurus ' philosophy saw as its task the liberation of man from the fear of death and fate, he denied the intervention of the gods in the life of nature and man, proved the materiality of the soul.
The life ideal of the philosophical school of Stoicism was the equanimity and calmness that a person should maintain in contrast to the changing world.
The Stoics considered understanding (that is, knowledge of what is good and evil), courage and justice to be the main virtue.
The historical science of ancient Greece is primarily associated with the name of Herodotus.
He traveled a lot: he visited Asia Minor, Ancient Egypt, Phoenicia, various cities of Balkan Greece, the Black Sea coast, where he collected, in particular, information about the Scythians.
The main work of Herodotus is "History", which is devoted to the most important political event in Greek history — the Greco Persian wars.
Despite the fact that the "History" is not always characterized by integrity and complete scientific character, the facts that are given in it are mostly reliable.
It is Herodotus who gives the first systematic description of the life and everyday life of the Scythians in ancient literature.
Medical knowledge began to be generalized quite early.
The supreme patron of medicine, the healing god was considered one of the Olympian gods — Apollo.
Asclepius became the god of medicine proper, and many scientists now believe that this mythological character had a historical prototype, a real skilled doctor.
There are several scientific medical schools in Greece, the most famous are the Knidian (the city of Knid) and the Kos (on the island of Kos).
The representative of the latter was Hippocrates, who lived in the classical era.
His arguments about the causes of diseases, about the four temperaments, about the role of prognosis in treatment, about the moral and ethical requirements for a doctor had a great influence on the further development of medicine.
The Hippocratic Oath is still the moral code of doctors around the world today.
The first systematic textbook on animal anatomy was compiled by Diocles.
Major medical centers were the cities of Magna Graecia, the most prominent representative of which was Philistion.
The era of successful development of science was Hellenism.
This stage is characterized by the successful development of many new scientific centers, especially in the Hellenistic states in the East.
The synthesis of the mathematical knowledge accumulated by that time can be considered the work of Euclid, who lived in Alexandria, "Elements "(or "Principles").
The postulates and axioms set out in it, the deductive method of proof, have served as the basis of geometry for centuries.
The name of Archimedes from Syracuse on the island of Sicily is associated with the discovery of one of the basic laws of hydrostatics, the beginning of the calculus of infinitely large and small quantities, a number of important technical inventions.
Pergamum became a center for the study of Greek philology, where Dionysius of Thrace created the first grammar.
Astronomy was further developed on the basis of the works of Babylonian scientists.
For example, Seleucus of Babylon tried to justify the position that the Earth and the planets revolve around the Sun in circular orbits.
The campaigns of Alexander the Great significantly expanded geographical representations.
The Dikearch made a map of the world.
Eratosthenes from Cyrene calculated the length of the Earth's equator, getting a result close to the correct one (while the scientist proceeded from the hypothesis of the spherical shape of the Earth).
Volcanic and meteorological phenomena were studied, monsoons and their practical significance were discovered.
The study of man has made significant progress.
Herophilus discovered nerves and established their connection with the brain, he also suggested that human mental abilities are connected with the brain.
Erasistrat studied the anatomy of the heart, the research of veterinary medicine was developed, Zopyr and Philo of Tarsia made a major contribution to pharmacology.
The largest scientific center of the Hellenistic world was the Alexandria Museum and the library of Alexandria, which numbered more than half a million books.
Outstanding scientists, poets, and artists from all over the Mediterranean came to work here.
Education[edit / edit wiki text]
Gymnasium (Palaestra) in Olympia
In the course of the development of ancient spiritual culture, the ideal of a person is gradually being developed, which implies harmony, a combination of physical and spiritual beauty.
The entire system of upbringing and education, unique for its time, correlated with this ideal.
It was in the policies of Hellas that for the first time in history the task of educating the children of the entire free population (it was primarily about boys) arose.
Moreover, attention was paid both to the acquisition of scientific knowledge, and to physical development, to the assimilation of the moral code of a free citizen.
There were private and public educational institutions.
The structure of education was affected by political differences.
I live by policies.
In the recognized center of education — Athens with its democratic republican system, the following system of education took shape.
The first school laws were drawn up by the ancient Greek poet and statesman Solon.
They stipulated that a school teacher should take exams from time to time to confirm his right to teach others.
Classes in schools were held only in daylight.
If the father did not send his son to school, then the son could not support his father in old age.
The school teacher always showed the children the basic gymnastic exercises that will be taught in the gymnasium.
Competitions in recitation and various types of athletics were held among Athenian teachers.
After home education, boys from the age of seven began to study at a lower school, which was called didaxaleion (from the Greek "didaktikos" — teaching).
Here they taught literacy, literature, starting with Homer, music, arithmetic, drawing.
A more in depth study of subjects with the addition of the principles of astronomy and philosophy continued at the second level of primary schools grammar school (from 12 to 15 years).
Physical culture training was conducted simultaneously, in a special complex the palaestra.
All these types of educational institutions in Athens were owned by private individuals.
But the Athenians taught at public expense those children whose parents died on the battlefield, defending the Fatherland.
General education was completed at the gymnasium, where young men aged 16-18 years improved in the sciences, which included rhetoric, ethics, logic, geography, as well as in gymnastics.
The state was in charge of the gymnasiums, monumental buildings were built for them.
Wealthy citizens considered it an honor to take the elected position of the head of the gymnasium, despite the fact that it was associated with large personal expenses.
The gymnasiums were the centers of the intellectual life of the polis, there were several of them in Athens.
There was always a library attached to every gymnasium.
The most famous are the Platonic Academy, where Plato conducted conversations with his students, and Lycaeus, founded by Aristotle.
After the gymnasium, one could become an Ephebe a student of a higher educational institution, which in the polis era were military, and in the Hellenistic era radically changed and became civilian.
Circles that were grouped around major scientists can be considered a peculiar form of higher education.
In Sparta, the state's control over the development of the individual was quite strict.
According to legend, newborns were examined by members of the gerusia (city council of elders) and only healthy children were selected.
The weak and sickly were thrown into the abyss of the Taiget Ridge.
There was a system of public school education, mandatory for every Spartan from 8 to 20 years old.
Unlike Athens, both boys and girls studied in schools, but in Sparta the child was torn away from the family.
The children, starting from the age of 12, were divided into squads, at the head of each squad was pren (the oldest and most authoritative boy).
The main elements of the training were: hunting, religious and military dances, various physical exercises.
Mental development was a personal matter for every Spartan.
Clothing and fashion[edit / edit wiki text]
Main article: Costume of Ancient Greece
Sexual relations[edit / edit wiki text]
Main article: Homosexuality in Ancient Greece
The Art of Ancient Greece[edit / edit wiki text]
Main article: Ancient Greek art
Literature[edit / edit wiki text]
Main article: Ancient Greek literature
Homer, who is credited with the authorship of the Iliad and the Odyssey
Hesiod — the first known ancient Greek poet
Ancient Greek art culture occupies a special place in the history of world civilization.
Hellenic art has reached a deep humanity of images, imbued with a sense of harmony between the world and man, which consciously embodies the beauty of natural existence.
A very early formation of the ancient Greek literary tradition is associated with mythology, its plots and images.
The development of individual spheres of culture does not always occur evenly.
Thus, in ancient Greece, the peaks of poetic creativity were reached much earlier than the classical science, education and art were formed.
Around the eighth century BC , Homer wrote his epic poems The Iliad and the Odyssey.
Most scientists believe that Homer lived in Asia Minor and was a rhapsodist — this was the name of the poets who recited their poems.
Opinions differ about the time of writing the poems: some believe that the first records were made during the life of Homer, others — that it happened later — in the VI century BC.
Both versions relate to the history of Greek writing.
The alphabet (phonetic writing) was borrowed by the Greeks from the Phoenicians just in the VIII century BC.
The Greeks wrote, like the Phoenicians, from right to left, without punctuation marks and without vowels, and in the VI century BC the letter acquired a familiar form for us.
Homer's poems are closely connected with the folk heroic epic dedicated to the Trojan War, in which real historical events are intertwined (the military campaign of the Achaean Greeks to Troy, which they called Ilion), and fantastic plots (the"Apple of Discord" as the cause of the war, the participation of the gods in the conflict, the "Trojan Horse").
However, Homer does not translate myths, but creates artistic images, draws the inner world of the characters, the clash of characters.
The Iliad is dedicated to one episode of the last, tenth, year of the war — the anger of the strongest and bravest of the Greek soldiers Achilles, who took offense at the leader of the Greeks, the Mycenaean king Agamemnon.
Achilles refuses to take part in the battle, the Trojans break through to the ships, Achilles ' best friend, Patroclus, dies.
Achilles changes his mind, enters into a duel with the main defender of Troy, the son of King Priam, Hector, and kills him.
The scene of the meeting of Achilles with Priam is striking, when the king, kissing the hands of the winner, asks to give him the body of his son for burial with all honors.
"Odyssey" tells about the long, full of incredible fairy tale adventures, the return home of one of the main participants in the war — the king of the island of Ithaca, the cunning Odysseus.
The Greeks not only knew by heart, copied many times, loved the Homeric poems, but worshiped them.
They were made the basis of upbringing and education.
An accurate and imaginative assessment of the meaning of the "Iliad" and "Odyssey" was given by the medieval Byzantine writer Mikhail Choniat in the XIII century.
: "Just as, according to Homer, all rivers and streams originate in the Ocean, so every verbal art has its source in Homer."
Hesiod continued the epic tradition of Homer.
In the poem "Theogony" he outlined mythological ideas about the origin of the gods and the structure of the world.
In "Works and Days", for the first time, he introduced personal assessments and a description of the circumstances of his own life into an epic poem.
Later, lyrical poetry was developed in Greece.
The names of the poetess Sappho (the sapphic stanza is a special poetic size), Anacreonta (anacreontics — lyrics that glorify the joy of life and worldly pleasures) became famous.
However, the poems of these and other ancient Greek authors have been preserved only in fragments.
Dramaturgy has developed as an independent genre of literary creativity.
Drama and theater[edit / edit wiki text]
Main article: Theater in Ancient Greece
Theater in Epidaurus.
The origin of the ancient Greek theater is associated with the holidays in honor of the god of viticulture Dionysus — dionysias.
The participants of the processions put on goat skins and sang and danced (the word "tragedy "in Greek means" song of goats").
The historical origin of the theater is indicated by the mandatory participation in the tragedies of the choir, with which at first a single actor entered into dialogues, later the number of actors increased to three.
Combined with the literary tradition, the theater in the classical era turned from religious, folk performances into an independent art form.
Theatrical performances have become an integral part of public holidays Dionysius and Lenya.
Grandiose stone theaters were built for them, designed for thousands of spectators (the Dionysus Theater in Athens, the amphitheater in Epidaurus is the best preserved).
The city authorities found a choreographer (a person who provided funding), selected productions and, at their discretion, determined the order of showing comedies and tragedies.
Poor people received money for an entrance ticket.
The actors were exclusively men, they played in special masks.
The masks reflected the character and mood of the depicted character.
The director was the poet himself.
After the end of the performances, which lasted for several days from morning to evening, special judges determined the best and awarded prizes in the form of a cash prize to the playwright and choreg, a laurel branch and a monument in honor of the choreg.
The most famous playwrights were the tragedians Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides.
Aeschylus wrote 90 plays, he won 13 times in dramatic competitions.
His historical play "The Persians" glorifies the victory of the Greeks in the war against the invaders.
Aeschylus himself took part in the largest battles.
Most ancient Greek plays use mythological plots, which the authors freely interpreted, expressing their own views.
Aeschylus in" Prometheus chained " admires the courage and freedom of the titan.
Sophocles has a psychological motivation for the actions of the heroes.
For example, in "Antigone" the main character sacrifices herself, but fulfills a moral obligation: contrary to the tsar's ban, she hides her dead brother.
It is in this tragedy that the chorus sounds with the famous refrain: "there are many great forces in the world, but there is nothing stronger than man in nature."
Most of the dramatic works are lost.
Only seven plays of Aeschylus, seven of Sophocles have been completely preserved (123 were written, 24 of them won competitions), a little more — 17 of Euripides.
Euripides was already living in an era of crisis, civil wars, and external danger that was growing from Macedonia.
All this was reflected in his work ("Medea", "Hippolytus"), Aristotle called Euripides "the most tragic among the poets".
Aristophanes ("Clouds", "Wasps", "Frogs") was deservedly considered a master of comedy.
The dramatic works of the ancient Greeks still remain in the repertoire of many theaters, they have been repeatedly filmed.
Music[edit / edit wiki text]
Main article: Music of Ancient Greece
Music occupied an important place in the life of the Hellenes.
Images of musicians are represented in ancient Greek mythology (Orpheus, Pan, Marsyas), images of musicians have been preserved on Greek vases and in the form of sculptures.
In Greece, there were special colleges (associations) of singers, musicians, dancers; music was played during celebrations, rituals, games, accompanied theatrical actions.
The musical instruments were represented by plucked strings (kifara, lyre), as well as wind instruments (avlos, Pan flute).
Ancient Greek thinkers studied the most important acoustic laws (Pythagoras, Aristoxenus), developed a detailed fret system and a system of notation, at the same time, a significant place in the works of philosophers was given to musical aesthetic and musical ethical problems (Plato, Aristotle).
The musical culture of the ancient Greeks preceded the cult music of Christian Europe of the following centuries (Byzantine music, Gregorian chants) and largely determined the further development of European music, giving most European languages also the term "music" (from the muses).
Architecture[edit / edit wiki text]
Main article: Architecture of Ancient Greece
Acropolis of Athens
The Parthenon
In the conditions of a slave owning democracy, an integral environment of city states is created.
A system of regular planning of the city (the Hippodamus system) is being developed, with a rectangular grid of streets, a square the center of commercial and social life.
The cult and architectural compositional core of the city was the temple, which was built on the top of the acropolis — an elevated and fortified part of the city.
The Hellenes developed a completely different type of temple than in the ancient Eastern civilization — an open, bright one that glorified a person, and did not inspire awe.
It is characteristic that there is a human metric principle in architecture.
A mathematical analysis of the proportions of ancient Greek temples showed that they correspond to the proportions of the human figure.
The classical Greek temple was rectangular in plan, surrounded on all sides by a colonnade.
The roof was gable roofed.
The triangular planes formed from the facades — pediments were usually decorated with sculptural images.
Greek architecture is distinguished by the purity and unity of style.
Three main architectural orders were created ("order" - translated from the Greek "order") — they differ in the types of columns and ceilings, proportions, decorative decoration.
The Doric and Ionic styles originated in the Polis period.
The Corinthian Order appears in the Hellenistic era.
The most perfect architectural ensemble of classical Greece was the Acropolis of Athens.
It was built in the second half of the V century BC.
e. during the period of the greatest power of Ancient Athens.
The Acropolis hill, which rises 150 m above sea level, has long been a fortress, and then the place of the main religious buildings.
However, during the Persian attack, all of them were destroyed.
Pericles, who achieved the transfer to Athens of the treasury of the Athenian Maritime Union, which included many ancient Greek policies, initiated a grandiose reconstruction of the Acropolis.
The works were supervised by a personal friend of Pericles — the outstanding sculptor Phidias.
A distinctive feature of this complex is its extreme harmony, which is explained by the unity of the plan and the short construction time for such a scale (about 40 years).
The main entrance to the Acropolis Propylaea was built by the architect Mnesikl.
Later, a small Temple of Niki Apteros (Niki the Wingless) was built in front of them on an artificially enlarged ledge of the rock — a symbol that the goddess of victory will never leave the city.
The main temple of the Acropolis is the white marble Parthenon the temple of Athena Parthenos (Athens of the Virgin).
Its architects — Iktin and Kallikrat conceived and designed a structure so proportional that it stands out as by far the most majestic structure of the complex, while its size does not weigh on others.
In the old days, in the center of the Acropolis, on a pedestal, in golden armor, there was a grandiose figure of Pallas Athena (Athena the Warrior) by Phidias.
Erechtheion is a temple dedicated to Poseidon, who in mythology competed with Athena for the right to patronize the city.
The portico of the caryatids is famous in this temple.
A portico is a gallery open on one side, which is supported by columns, and in the Erechtheion the columns are replaced by six marble figures of caryatid girls.
The Roman historian Plutarch wrote about the construction of the Acropolis: "..
their eternal novelty saved them from the touch of time."
The architecture of Hellenistic polis continued the Greek traditions, but along with the construction of temples, more attention was paid to civil construction — the architecture of theaters, gymnasiums, palaces of Hellenistic rulers.
The interior and exterior design of buildings has become richer and more diverse.
The construction of such famous "wonders of the world" as the tomb of the king of the Mausoleum in Halicarnassus and the Pharos lighthouse at the entrance to the harbor of Alexandria, the temple of Dionysus in Theos — the creation of Hermogenes dates back to this time.
Fine arts[edit / edit wiki text]
Diskobol, Miron, Glyptothek, Munich
Doriphorus of Polycletus the Elder
Sculpture was a favorite art form of the Hellenes.
Statues of the gods were erected in temples and in city squares, put up to the winners of the Olympic Games and major playwrights.
The mastery, very gradually, of perfection in this art form dates back to archaic times.
Archaeologists have found dozens of archaic statues of two types that are very similar to each other: kurosy — statues of naked young men and kora — draped female statues.
These figures still look very constrained, you can only see attempts to convey live movement.
Masterpieces of sculpture, which mankind never tires of admiring, were given to the world by the era of ancient Greek classics.
His contemporaries were great masters Phidias, Myron, Polycletus the Elder.
Phidias was called by his contemporaries "the creator of the gods".
Until now, his main works have not reached, they can only be judged by enthusiastic descriptions and Roman copies.
The statue of Zeus, faced with gold and ivory, which was located in the main temple of Zeus in Olympia, was rightly ranked among the seven wonders of the world by contemporaries.
He also created outstanding bas reliefs and sculptures of the Parthenon, including the main statue — Athena Parthenos (Athena of the Virgin).
Miron has reached heights in his desire to convey the movement of a person in a sculptural image.
In his famous Discobole for the first time in the art of r the problem of transmitting the moment of transition from one movement to another has been solved, static nature has been overcome.
At the same time, in accordance with the general aesthetic ideal, the sculptor depicts the athlete's face absolutely calm.
Polycletus owns a cycle of statues of athletes winners of the Olympic Games.
The most famous figure is Dorifor (a young man with a spear).
Polycletus theoretically summarized the experience of his skill in the treatise "Canon".
The most famous creator of female sculptural images was Praxiteles.
His Aphrodite of Cnidus caused many imitations.
The proportionality of classical sculptures has become a model for masters of many eras.
The era of the conquest of Alexander the Great, the subsequent collapse of his empire, full of passions, ups and downs of the human destinies of entire states, brought a new atmosphere to art.
If we compare the sculptures of the Hellenistic era with the previous, classical period, then their appearance has lost its equanimity, calmness.
Artists (Apelles, Protogenes, etc.) began to be interested in emotional impulses, throwing people, their state in tragic moments (for example, the sculpture group of Laocoon).
There are sculptural portraits that convey individual traits.
The work of Scopas was bright (a sculptural portrait of Alexander the Great has survived to us).
The successes of science have expanded the technical capabilities of art.
One of the "seven wonders of the world" is the Colossus of Rhodes, which was a bronze statue of the Sun god Helios (the height of the colossus was about 35 m).
The paintings (frescoes, paintings) have not been preserved by time, but their level can be judged by the wonderful vase painting, as well as the striking frescoes of the so called "graves" of Persephone and Philip the Second in Virgina (Macedonia).
With the improvement of ceramic technology, its artistic level grew: the so called black figure style of the image is characteristic of the archaic (dark figures were drawn on a light background), which in the classical era was replaced by red figure, which made the images more realistic.
The right[edit / edit wiki text]
Main article: The Law of Ancient Greece
Greece left no records of law in the writings of its lawyers; the latter, in our or Roman sense, it did not know at all.
Information about ancient Greek law is therefore drawn only from: 1) from fragmentary news about him from various Greek writers news of far from equal value and reliability, and 2) from inscriptions that have come down to us.
Among the first, the most important are the works of orators and among them, especially the legal speeches of Demosthenes, which report a number of facts about the current state of ancient Greek law and its history, Isei, who gives valuable information mainly about inheritance law, Lysias, Isocrates and Aeschines.
Plato, Aristotle, Theophrastus give in their writings a whole mass of information about the positive law of Greece, which, undoubtedly, radically influenced their philosophical ideas about laws.
Philosophers and moralists are followed by poets (Homer, Hesiod, Euripides, Aristophanes), historians (Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Polybius) and lexicographers, who, however, generally still have less information about law than one would expect.
The main drawback of this information is that all of them, with a few exceptions, are not an exact transfer of the norms of law, but their subjective retelling.
Cities[edit / edit wiki text]
The Parthenon of Athens
In the cities of ancient Greece, luxury was allowed only for public buildings.
Private dwellings were very modest and devoid of even the most insignificant comfort.
The city streets, narrow and winding, cluttered in addition with ledges and balconies of the first floors, were almost inaccessible to the sun.
Athens, in particular, kept the most pathetic appearance for a long time.
The city was burned down during the Persian wars, but it was rebuilt again with the same carelessness.
The streets still had a random direction, and the houses of the populated quarters remained small and inconvenient.
Foreigners spoke of Athens with contempt.
Demosthenes himself looked with amazement at the poor dwellings of Miltiades, Aristides and Themistocles.
But little by little, luxury penetrated into private homes.
The city wall was pushed back, new blocks were broken up.
The architect Hippodamus of Miletus made a whole revolution in the construction of cities.
During his work in Piraeus, Turium and Rhodes, he tried to arrange the streets according to the correct plan and build houses in one line.
Plato refers to the new rules directed against the owners.
In Athens, the astinomes and the areopagus were obliged to monitor the proper maintenance of houses, force them to repair and initiate cases about all sorts of violations.
Almost all the cities Athens and Megara, Scion and Potidea, Samos and Sardis - were surrounded by large suburbs, where luxury was most noticeable.
To understand this change, it is enough to compare the old quarters of Pnyx and Areopagus in Athens with the new quarters of Keramik and Dipilon: real dwellings have taken the place of cramped slums.
But it was difficult to rebuild the city's shopping streets and increase the number of houses on them.
Therefore, the rich preferred to settle in the country.
Thucydides and Isocrates claim that in their time it was necessary to look for beautiful dwellings outside the city walls.
In the IV century, Demosthenes is horrified by the increasing luxury of private houses.
However, this new taste was mainly manifested in the colonies, in overseas countries, and it was there that the Hellenic dwelling reached its apogee in the V and IV centuries, in the palaces of tyrants and kings.
In rich houses, there was, as a rule, a fence facing the street in front of the dwelling.
The free space between this fence and the door served as a passage, or an entrance hall, often decorated with paintings, inscriptions that avert thieves and evil fate from the house, ancient images of Hecate, Hermes and the altar of Apollo of the Aegean.
See also[edit / edit wiki text]
Costume of Ancient Greece Homosexuality in Ancient Greece
Literature[edit / edit wiki text]
Andreev Yu.
V.
The price of freedom and harmony: A few touches to the port.
Greek.
civilizations St. Petersburg: Aleteya, 1998.
Ancient Greece.
Problems of policy development [: Collection of articles].
Edited by E. S. Golubtsova et al.
In 2 volumes.
Moscow: Nauka, 1983.
Belokh Yu.
Greek history.
In 2 volumes -M., 2009 — - 480+480 p. "Ancient Greece" Mironov V. B., 2006.
Droysen I.
The history of Hellenism.
In 3 vols.
- St. Petersburg, 1995.
Zaikov A.V.
The place and role of Spartan statehood in Ancient Greek civilization (theoretical aspect) / / Materials of the XV International Scientific and Practical Conference of the Humanities University.
Yekaterinburg: Humanities University, 2012.
Vol. 1. pp.
340-345.
Karyshkovsky P. O. Coins of Olvia.
Kiev, 1988.
ISBN 5-12-000104-1.
Lurie S. Ya.
History of Greece.
- St. Petersburg, 1993 — - 680 p. Lyapustin B. S., Surikov I. E. Ancient Greece.
- M., 2007 — - 362 p.
The expansion of the Greek world.
VIII VI centuries BC (Cambridge History of the Ancient World , vol. III, part 3).
Moscow: Ladomir, 2007.
ISBN 978-5-86218-467-9 Tarn V. Hellenistic civilization.
- M., 1949 — - 376 p. Hammond N.
The history of Ancient Greece.
- M., 2008.
- 704 p. Hellenism: East and West [: Collection of articles].
- M., 1992 — - 384 p. Hellenism: Economics, politics, culture [: Collection of articles].
- M., 1990 — - 376 p.
Historical materials[edit / edit wiki text]
Hellas: Essays and paintings of Ancient Greece for lovers of classical antiquity and for self education / Op. by Dr. Wilhelm Wegner.
- 4th ed., Rus., ispr.
and significant add., edited by prof .
V. I. Modestov.
- St. Petersburg : T. vo M. O. Wolf, censor.
1900.
- IV X, 1012, VIII p., 9 l.
ill., maps: ill.; 23 Introduction to the Economic History of Ancient Greece / A. Tyumenev.
- Petrograd ; Moscow : The book, [1923].
- 48 p.; 17 cm — - (Cultural and educational Library.
The third stage of knowledge. Ser. Economic).
The history of the peoples and republics of Ancient Greece.
part 1 / presented by Konstantin Arsenyev.
- in the Printing House of the Medical Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 1825 — - 464 p.
The history of the peoples and republics of Ancient Greece.
Part 2.
Containing the times from the end of the Peloponnesian War to the conquest of Greece by the Romans / described by Konstantin Arsenyev.
- In the printing house of the Medical Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 1826.
- 424 p.
Essays on the Economic and Social History of Ancient Greece.
Vol. 1: Revolution / A. Tyumenev.
- St. Petersburg : State University.
publishing house, 1920 — - [2], 179 p.; 21 cm.
Links[edit / edit wiki text]
Portal "Ancient Greece" Ancient Greece in Wikiuchebnik?
Ancient Greece on Wikimedia Commons?
Ancient Greece an article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia.
Ancient Greece // The Soviet Historical Encyclopedia: in 16 vols.
/ edited by E. M. Zhukov — - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1961-1976.
Surikov I. E., Lenskaya V. S., Solomatina E. I., Taruashvili L. I. History and culture of Ancient Greece.
Encyclopedic Dictionary / Under the general editorship of I. E. Surikov.
- M.: Languages of Slavic cultures, 2009 — - 729 p — - 800 copies.
— ISBN 978-5-9551-0355-6.
History of Greece Stone, Bronze Age Culture, history, art, myths and Personalities of Ancient Greece Library of Literature on History and Culture Sparta ancient Greece Athenian Democracy
Ancient Greece in themes Portal: Ancient Greece
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