Archaic Age Flashcards
Who was Homer?
composer of the Iliad & the Odyssey ca. 750 BC.
Who was Draco?
the harsh lawgiver of Athens, whose code made your punishments matched your crimes. Did this in 621 BC and gives us the English word draconian.
Who was Solon?
594 BC reformist and poet archon, who split Athens into four economic classes: pentekosiomedimnoi (men who produced 500 bushels a year; the rich); hippies (men rich enough to own a horse); zeugitai (men who could afford a yoke and oxen on their farm); and the poorest, the thetes.
Who was Peisistratus?
the tyrant of Athens in the mid-500’s BC, under whom the arts flourished
Who was Hippias & Hipparchus?
-the sons of Peisistratus, who don’t keep everyone as happy as their father did. Harmodius and Aristogeiton kill Hipparchus, becoming the tyrannicides. Hippias flees to Persia and aids them against Greece in the 490’s, trying to have them reinstate him as a ruler of Athens for Persia.
Who was Thespis?
revolutionary actor in the court of the Athenian tyrant Peisistratus; thespian is a derivative.
Who was Cleisthenes?
the “father of democracy” who in 508 BC reformed the Boule to the Council of 500.
Who was Lycurgus?
Spartan lawgiver of the 7th century BC who reformed the constitution with a Delphic proclamation called the Great Rhetra. Led to the militaristic Sparta we all love.
What is Ostracism?
process first utilized extensively after Cleisthenes. Each year Athenians would vote to kick one person out of Athens for a ten-year exile as a way to check his power. He retained all his property and could resume all social and political duties upon his return. At least 6,000 votes had to be cast; named ostracism because a vote would be cast on an ostrakon, a shard of pottery.
What was Pithecusae?
the first Greek colony in Italy, though it did not last. Technically on the island of Ischia.
What was Cumae?
the first permanent Greek colony, and the first on the mainland, in Italy
What was the Lelantine War?
early war between Chalchis and Eretria on Euboea, named after the plains between the cities. This war saw the development of the hoplite phalanx strategy. Lasted circa 710-590.
What was a Hoplite?
heavily armored infantry standard to most Greek forces.
What was a Phalanx?
a formation of hoplites shoulder-to-shoulder with spears and shields. Forms a wall of men with varying width and depth of added rows. Traditionally kept in a straight line butting heads with the enemy’s phalanx, though later tacticians staggered the lines and utilized more lightly armored troops. Developed during the Lelantine War, used until Rome’s conquest of Greece.
What were the Olympics?
started in 776 BC, ran every four years; Olympiads served as a calendar. Held at Olympia in Elis in honor of Zeus, organized by neighboring city of Elis.
