HIS 101 WEEK 4: CLASSICAL GREECE
Reading Assignment for the week:
- Read the appropriate chapters in the
textbook (chapters 3 and 4 in the 7th or 6th ed. of Perry)..
- Read Pericles' Funeral
Oration (You may wish to participate in an Online Discussion of this reading.).
-
Listen to some further information about Classical Greece
as a Realaudio file
or as a wav file. You can also read the information as
a txt file.
Questions to
Consider while studying this week's material:
- What was the connection
between Socrates, Plato and Aristotle?
- What is an ethical philosophy?
Key Terms to study
while reading the textbook:
- Polis
- Socrates
- Plato
- Aristotle
- Pericles
Suggested Websites for further study:
- The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization is an excellent
site that accompanies the PBS series. See, for example, the page on
Pericles.
- How Democratic Was Athens?, remarks
by Professor Gerhard Rempel, Western New England College. Some good commentary
on the functioning of democratic Athens.
-
Dr. J's Illustrated Pericles' Funeral Oration by
Janice Siegel, Illinois State University, is a rather interesting take pn Pericles.
- For extra credit please suggest to your instructor a
relevant website for this unit of the course. Send the title of the site, the url and a
brief explanation why you find the information interesting and applicable to
the material being studied this week.
Submit the Pericles Paragraph:
Read the Pericles
Funeral Oration (along with the document background notes
and the questions to consider).
Answer the following
question in a paragraph: What were the main
features of Athenian democracy according to Pericles?
Your paragraph should be about
one-half page in length, double-spaced with one-inch margins, font size 10 or 12; it should
contain a concise topic sentence that directly responds to the assigned
question (no need to define terms or cite a dictionary) and use
direct, quoted material to support your points. Do not spend time repeating
what happened in the document; spend your time providing analysis to
answer the assigned question.
This assignment should be sent by e-mail according to the Electronic Submission
Information instructions.
Please remember to consult
Charlie's History Writing Center for
specific information on the writing requirements of this course.
You may also wish to post or respond in the
Blackboard online discussion forum
for this assignment. Please review the instructions for
Using the Blackboard
Discussion Forums, if necessary.
The Pericles Paragraph is worth a maximum of
25 points.
You may choose to do an optional, extra credit assignment
on the Melian Dialogue (also at
www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/Melian.html (a one-page paper worth a
maximum of 25 points). In the "Dialogue," the Ancient Greek historian
Thucydides reconstructed the negotiations that took place between the
Athenians, who wanted to annex the island city-state of Melos, and the
Melians, who wished to remain neutral and not get involved in the
war between Athens and Sparta. In 416 bce, after discussions failed to
reach an agreement, the Athenians
invaded Melos and enslaved the inhabitants of the island. The representatives of
Melos argued for neutrality; Athens asserted that neutrality was just not good enough and
that Athens had a right, and duty, to assert its power. Sound familiar? The
"Melian Dialogue" remains a stunning example of how stronger
nations/countries/societies manipulate ideas of
justice and natural rights to achieve their own political ends.
In a one-page paper, assess the relevance of some of the issues touched on in
the "Dialogue" to recent (last 25 years) international politics.
You may also choose to do an optional, extra credit assignment
on Thucydides (one page paper worth a
maximum of 25 points).
Back to
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Notes:
The ancient Greeks contributed much to the development of
Western culture in numerous areas: alphabet, drama, comedy, poetry, politics, democracy,
medicine, architecture, sculpture and philosophy. Much of the Greek experience remains deeply embedded
in the Western experience today; and not just letters to distinguish one
fraternity or sorority from
another. The Greek use of rational
thought, and not supernatural explanation, to understand the natural world formed the basis of
Western philosophy and science. Greek appreciation of the value and beauty
of the individual were crucial
to the ensuing artistic and aesthetic history of the West. The Greeks also developed
the idea and practice of "democracy," an idea and practice much different than the
current understanding and use of the concept.
Whereas the Hebrews provided an ethical
religion for the West, the Ancient Greeks provided an ethical philosophy--again,
both centering on the role of the individual and one complementing the
other (ethical irrationalism and ethical rationalism) when merged later
in Christianity.
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