Midterm 1 Essay Sources

Question 1

Poetry and Prose

Answer 1

• Shelmerdine + Bennett on administration of Mycenaean state (administrative documents, bias of authority)
• Raaflaub on Homer (audience of epic poetry)
• Bowden on Naukratis (fallibility of ancient texts)
• Gray on the tyrants of Corinth (shared stories, bias of authority, bias of authorship)
• Athenocentrism
• Homer on Odysseus in the Underworld (bias of authorship)
• Fragmentation

Question 2

The Development of the Polis

Answer 2

• Shelmerdine + Bennett on administration of Mycenaean state (palatial economy)
• Raaflaub on development of poleis (causes of poleis formation for Athens, Sparta)
• Thucydides on Theseus and Athens
• Aristotle on formation of polis
• Archilochus’ poem on lost shield
• Tyranny

Question 3

Memory and Identity

Answer 3

• Hecateus’ map of the world
• Malkin on Mediterranean networks (maternal bonds of colonies)
• Theognis (agathoi/kakoi divide)
• Gray on the tyrants of Corinth (tyrants associated with east)
• Raaflaub on Homeric society (difference in the ages)
• Divisions
• Homer’s poems

Question 4

Shelmerdine + Bennett; Administration of the Mycenaean State
(Poetry and Prose)

Answer 4

• Can make assumptions about ancient societies (c. 1400 - 1190 BC) based on administrative documents; ex. we know the lawagetas to probably be the second most powerful man based on his land holdings
• Shows how textual evidence can be biased → texts take the perspective of a central authority and document activities in which this authority had stake; didn’t care about the mundanity of daily life

Question 5

Raaflaub; Homeric Society
(Poetry and Prose)

Answer 5

• Historical societies were described from the perspective of and with the knowledge of the poet’s time, changing aspects to make them more recognizable and meaningful to an audience (ex. The Odyssey’s focus on exploration runs parallel to the age of exploration beginning in the 8th century)
• Recognize that Homer’s works are better evidence of the time in which they are written then the time which they describe

Question 6

Bowden; Naukratis
(Poetry and Prose)

Answer 6

• The works of Greek authors can’t always be taken as gospel (ex. Herodotus and Naukratis – the city uncovered is different from the city he describes)

Question 7

Gray; Tyrants of Corinth
(Poetry and Prose)

Answer 7

• There are common stories shared amongst Greeks while having different details depending on time period and location (ex. Cypselus, Cyrus the Great, Lycrophon); share similar motifs (pity) and character archetypes (problematic oracles, weak infants turned dominant tyrants)
• In an autocracy, the autocrat controls information flow and thus regulates what is written for the mainstream → contemporary accounts of tyrants are often biased towards tyrants
• Poets wrote for their audience, often changing history so that it fit with a contemporary political message, ex. Herodotus’ writing on the speech of Spartans that reflects panhellenic politics of the period leading up to the Peloponnesian War

Question 8

Homer; Odysseus in the Underworld
(Poetry and Prose)

Answer 8

• Can learn about what is valued by seeing what cultural heroes valued → Odysseus believes glory is important, Achilles believes in life over power in death
• Can be altered by an author’s beliefs; can’t necessarily treat them as monoliths of society

Question 9

Shelmerdine + Bennett; Administration of the Mycenaean State
(Development of the Polis)

Answer 9

• First form of a political economy → central authority mobilizing resources to fulfill the needs of a lower class; similar to connection between agathoi and kakoi
• Resembles polis astu and chora, with the palace taking the place of the astu
• Hierarchical society based on role in the economy → ex. second-highest member was a military leader, other elites include collectors (managed livestock)

Question 10

Raaflaub; Development of Poleis
(Development of Polis)

Answer 10

• Extended/permanent pressure from a hostile environment or by long wars and subjected populations can lead cities to become polis (ex. Sparta)
  
  • The absorption of Lakonia and the conquest of Messenia made it possible for Spartans to consolidate their reliance on dependant labor and free them for activities as citizens
  • In reaction to revolt and war to subject Messenia to Spartan rule, Spartans transformed themselves into an agrarian elite of professional warriors → became largely “alike” as homoioi, focusing their lives on the public sphere
  • The gains of Spartan conquest were enormous (land, economic security), but incurred the obligation of defending it, requiring the common well-being depending on the contribution of all citizens – commoners for military force, and aristocracy for leadership; mutual dependence led to political integration and uniformity
• The plague of factional strife among the aristocracy provoked the lower class to enact law and reform that consolidated a city into a more unified polis (ex. Athens)
  
  • Enactment of written law was an important feature in the development of many archaic poleis; forming a central legal authority bonds a polis together
  • Communal responsibility of citizens was enhanced in Athens by Solon’s laws (personal freedom, can take action on wronged people)
• While tyranny didn’t create poleis, it can help set the stage for one’s formation
  
  • By killing/exiling aristocratic rivals, tyrants weaken the political structures of a pre-polis city
  • Citizens became focused on their loyalty to the tyrant and through him, the city → leads to the unification of belief that becomes the polis
• Key conditions: land scarcity, problems with justice, population growth

Question 11

Thucydides; Theseus and Athens
(Development of Polis)

Answer 11

• Theseus establishes mechanisms to force the independent lords of Attica to work together, creating the social cohesion required for poleis to emerge

Question 12

Archilochus; Shields
(Development of Polis)

Answer 12

• proof of military unification tactics; deserting meant dooming your unit

Question 13

Aristotle; Formation of Polis
(Development of Polis)

Answer 13

• initial impetus was conflict but sometimes benefits of synoecism led to a more permanent arrangement

Question 14

Herodotus; Asia Minor
(Development of Polis)

Answer 14

• in east, poleis would emerge around sources of wealth (ex. Lydia)

Question 15

Hecataeus’ Map of the World
(Memory and Identity)

Answer 15

• places Greeks at center of world, believed themselves to be “civilization” surrounded by barbarians

Question 16

Malkin; Mediterranean Networks
(Memory and Identity)

Answer 16

• colonies felt a duty to help one another if they came from the same places (Greeks helping Greeks), ex. Lampsakos and Massalia

Question 17

Theognis; Aristocrat of Megara
(Memory and Identity)

Answer 17

• aristocrats were expected to stick amongst themselves, not associate with the “knavish” kakoi

Question 18

Gray; Tyrants of Corinth
(Memory and Identity)

Answer 18

• Greeks associated tyrants – objectively evil – with traits they often used while describing eastern autocrats, showing the correlation between the two in the minds of the Greeks

Question 19

Raaflaub; Homeric Society
(Memory and Identity)

Answer 19

• The Greeks of the Dark Age saw themselves as very separate from the Greeks of the Bronze Age, requiring poets to make changes to epics to make them more palatable to audiences; the fall of the Mycenaean palaces was an “unbridgeable gap”
• Envisioned their past as a greater era than the era of suffering now (age of heroes vs. age of iron)