Dr. Vess's World Civilization Virtual Library

Greek Culture

OBJECTIVES:


1.  Be able to discuss the Greek ideals of harmony, order, balance,

and rationality through the use of selected texts, authors and

artistic works.



2.  Be able to discuss the role of transcendental ideals in Greek

thought as exemplified in the work of Plato and Sophocles.



3.  Be able to discuss the use of practical rationality as

exemplified in the work of Aristotle.



4.  Be able to discuss Aristotle's theory of tragedy and to apply

this theory to Oedipus Rex.



5.  Be able to discuss the Greek ideal of humanity and to compare

and contrast this ideal to the Mesopotamian concept of humanity and

to that of other cultures.



FOOD FOR THOUGHT:



How does the Greek view of humanity contrast with that of the other

ancient cultures we have studied?



What are the conflicts between ideals and practical concerns seen

in Greek thought?



What would Confucius say in response to Plato's transcendental

standards?



What would Lao Tzu say to Aristotle if they were debating the use

of logic?



FOOD FOR THOUGHT:



     The life which is unexamined is not worth living.

               Plato, Apology, 38.  attributed to Socrates.



     The soul takes nothing with her to the other world but her

     education and culture; and these, it is said, are of the

     greatest service or of the greatest injury to the dead man, at

     the very beginning of his journey thither.

               Plato, Phaedo, 107.



     While both [Plato and truth] are dear, piety requires us to

          honor truth above our friends.          

               Aristotle, Ethics, chapter 6.





     All men by nature desire knowledge.

               Aristotle, Metaphysics, book I, chapter 1.



                             OUTLINE



I.  The Greek love of reason and science:

     Rationality



     A.  The Presocratics (see outline part I)



     B.   Aristotle



          i. observation and logic:

               a) genus and species

          ii. The Organon:

               a) the syllogism    



     C.  Thucydides and historical method



          i. the logic of human behavior

          ii. the rational use of sources

          iii.  Primary Source: theprologue of The Peloponnessian War

     D.  Hippocrates



          i. rational explanations vs.  superstition



     E.  Greek Architecture: Harmony, Order and Balance



          i. The Greek Temple:

               a) The Parthenon



II.  The Ideal vs.  the Common



     A.  Plato:



          i. Eternal Forms are Reality



               a) "The Cave": from The Republic

                    i) experience is the world of being and

                         becoming

                    ii) The Forms are the world of reality

                    iii) knowledge



     B. Transcendental laws: Antigone



          i. laws of the gods are above those of man



     C.  Man as Ideal:



          i. Athenian democracy

          ii. Greek statuary

          iii. The Homeric Heroes

               a) honor, glory

               b) Men as gods 

               c) the gods as men



III.  Greek Tragedy



     A.  The purpose of Tragedy



          i.  Aristotle's Poetics



               a) The elements of Tragedy:

                    i) depicts an action of serious magnitude

                    ii) the progress from happiness to despair

                    iii) plot must be unified

                    iv) the fatal flaw: hamartia

                    v) catharsis:  

                         a) the purging of emotions 

                         b)  restoration of harmony, order and

                         balance



     B.  The Greek Tragic Hero 



          i.  Sophocles's Oedipus Rex



               a) The story of Oedipus

               b) His fatal flaw

               c) His tragic demise



          ii.  the role of fate in Oedipus Rex