Week 3 Overview and Assignment

Welcome to Chapter 2
Near East Empires and the
Reemergence of Civilization in Greece
1000-500 b.c.e. / b.c.

"History is written by the victors; it is suffered by the losers."

"History is what the present considers important about the past. Will this 'history' be significant to a future present? Who knows?"
Chet Brousseau

 
Maps tell stories. 
What does this one tell of ancient Greece in the Archaic Age?

 

Chapter Learning Objectives

After reading and studying this chapter, students should be able to:

1. Analyze the similarities and differences among ancient Near Eastern empires.
2. Trace the development of Greek civilization.
3. Explain the emergence of the Greek city-state.
4. Compare and contrast different forms of government in Greek city-states.

 

The Greeks: the Early Years, up to 500 b.c.e. / b.e.

In the Greek peninsula and in the Aegean islands, the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations came before the formation of the Greek city-states, the most famous of which were Sparta and Athens. In some of the poleis (that is, city-states), participatory forms of government evolved, as did traditions of philosophy, literature and drama, art and architecture, and medicine. By 490 b.c.e., the heroic individualism and competitive spirit of the Greeks led them to confront the encroaching Persian Empire. The Greeks confederation of city-states, in a great upset, defeated the Persians and were left unmolested to expand in the Mediterranean. And they did. Greek colonies spread in all directions and were hotbeds for Greek drama, democracy, and new disciplines -- such as history.

However, those same traits led to the demise of the city-states, as Greeks failed to cooperate amongst themselves.

Please be aware that until 1920, when the history of the West was narrated in college textbooks, the writers began with the Greeks. It was not until the early part of the 20th century that discoveries in the Middle East of ancient Sumerian and Babylonian cities forced historians to change their chronologies of the West. 

Civilizations that deeply influenced the Greeks pre-existed the rise of the Greek poleis. This is why your textbook begins in Sumeria, not Athens. The history of the West is the history of the Middle East as well.

Three Common Misconceptions About the Greeks:

1. The Greeks are the first people in Western civilization for which there is evidence of an interest in the individual as a unique person. Some may struggle to separate Greek individualism from modern individualism. For modern individualists, the needs of an individual are paramount, superseding the needs of the group or the community. While the Greeks certainly showed an interest in self-sufficiency and individual expression, they also valued the needs of the group and public participation for the betterment of the community. In reading our chapter, keep an eye out for this concern with the community or polis.

2. "Doesn't Homer show us archaic Greeks in a war of all Greeks against all Greeks? I mean, where's the Greek sense of unity or of a common heritage?" Good observation. The Greeks shared a common linguistic, artistic, architectural, and cultural heritage, but not a political unity. This is particularly important for understanding Greek colonization. Students often attribute the motivations of the modern era of imperialism to the Greek colonies, and see it as a means to building an empire. Students should remember that once a colony was founded, it became independent of the metropolis, or mother polis.

3. You may be tempted to assume that the pre-Socratic philosophers have much in common with modern scientists. Many of their conclusions were correct, or sound similar to scientific ideas as they are understood in the present. It is important to draw a distinction between correct knowledge and how that knowledge was gained. While the Greeks, for example, knew that the earth was round and that matter was made up of elements and atoms, they did not achieve these understandings in the same way as a modern scientist. Scientists today use experimentation to reach their conclusions, but the pre-Socratic philosophers did not. Instead, they based their theories on observation and philosophy.

Read

For Week-3, carefully read in our textbook chapter 2. I recommend a reading method that might work better for you than the one you currently use. See the Student Toolkit to find it. 

In the Week-3 Module, read "How to Be An Historian: Five Tools." In order to read history well -- actively and questioningly -- it is necessary to know how historians think and the tools they use to represent the past. This article is a start. Since this reading is assigned, expect to be tested on it and to be asked to build on this knowledge in the weeks ahead.

Please browse the Resources page. It is a treasure house of opulent knowledge.

Discuss

Go to the Discussion Forum for Week 3 and contribute to this week's Discussion topics.

Remember: each week and for each discussion topic, at minimum, two posts are required. That's the minimum. If you wish to post more, please do. Your grade will probably improve if you do. Your initial posts, as always, are due before Friday is over.

Submit-a-File

Please read the assignment on The Real Story of the Ancient Greek Games -- a Website Analysis. Then submit a file containing your answers.

The Quiz

Finally, take the Chapter-2 Quiz in this Week-3 module. It covers all of chapter 2. Earlier quiz questions may appear. Be ready.