HY 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Roxana, Sacred Band Of Thebes, Corinthian War
30 May 2018
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Chapter 4 – The Greek World Expands, 400 – 150 B.C.E.
I.Downfall of the Greek Polis
A. The Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C.E.)—Spartan dominance
B. The Corinthian War (395-387 B.C.E.)
1. Failed response to Spartan dominance
2. Followed by pattern of Greek-on-Greek violence
C. The struggle for hegemony
1. Thebes and Sparta
2. Epaminondas and the battle of Leuctra (371 B.C.E.)
a. Development of "Theban Sacred Band"
3. Spartan defeat
4. Emergence of Athenian naval confederacy
5. Strife between democrats and oligarchs
D. Social and economic crises
1. Declining wealth
2. Towns devastated
3. Decline in the standard of living
4. Increased taxes and widespread unemployment
5. The problems of mercenary armies
E. The Cultural and Intellectual Response
1. Art and literature
. Heightened sense of realism
a. Drama in decline compared to fifth century
b. The flight from social and political commentary
c. Art privately funded, control of message
2. Drama as diversion and escape
. Focus on "safe" topics, avoid controversy
a. Slapstick topics
b. Menander (c. 342-292 B.C.E.)
i. Most famous of the age
ii. Set precedents for literary forms that followed
3. Philosophy and political thought in the age of Plato and Aristotle
. Plato (c. 429-349 B.C.E.)
. Strove to vindicate Socrates
i. Introduced more structured framework
ii. The Academy
iii. Wrote a series of dialogues
iv. Social harmony more important that individual liberty
v. Government by a superior group of "guardians"
vi. Wrote The Republic
i. Idea of the Philosopher-King
ii. Elements of benign tyranny
iii. "Who will guard the guardians?"
a. Aristotle and Aristotelian thought
. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E.)
i. Trained as a scientist
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