Final Exam Review

You’ll choose terms you’re most comfortable writing about from a selection (so if I ask for 5, I’ll give 10 terms).
All of the terms will come from this sheet.
Remember, the definition itself will only be half of this question—you must also be able to discuss in detail why it’s important.

Essays—I will ask you to write two essays having to do with overall themes of the course.

You will need to provide an argument supported by three solid examples on topics relating to major themes and transformations of the Greeks and their world.

There will be some kind of extra credit. The essays will count for most of the grade on the exam (around 60%).

Approach to Preparing

Make a list of the most important milestone events in the periods we’ve discussed.
CAUSES—Make sure you can identify the key factors that helped cause these events—including long-term factors (“the environment”) and short-term factors (“the spark”)
LEGACIES—Make sure you can identify the legacies of the milestone event. How did it change the culture, society, etc.? What impact did it have on future milestones and events?

Using this review sheet

For each of the questions below, see whether you have a strong idea how to answer, an okay idea how to answer, or a weak sense of how to answer. Review from the books and your notes at least the “weak” ones.
Approach the questions below as a means of gauging topic to spend more time with in review, and as a guide to how you’ll express and illustrate what’s really important—the larger themes of the course.
Take note of the terms below and review ones you’re unfamiliar with.
Note that there is seldom one and only one answer to the kind of questions on this sheet.

WHY almost always means “For what reasons…”?
HOW almost always means “In what ways…?”

Preparation for the essay

Try to come up with possible essay questions and map out in advance the kinds of examples and interpretations that might pertain. See sample thematic questions below.
Topics might relate to important periods of change—wars or reforms that changed everything, and so on.
Discussion groups can be helpful in comparing others’ interpretations of topics and ideas with your own.
In the essays you should be able to talk about, and use as examples, Clouds and relevant documents from the Reader.

Concerning dates

I’m not going to ask you for exact dates but you should know the period in which a people are important or an event occurs, and which events occur before or after which other events.
You’re best off if you know centuries (e.g., the Greeks recover writing and emerge from the Greek Dark Age during the 8th century BCE).
At the very least you should know the period—whether a person, event, or concept is associated with the Bronze Age, the Dark Age Period, the Archaic Period, the Classical Period, or the Hellenistic Period.

Sample Thematic Questions

Following are the kinds of thematic questions you might want to consider as you prepare for the essay. Note that these are examples only and are not necessarily the actual essay questions.

If all the Greek poleis had separate identities, what does “Hellas” really describe?
There’s a big break between the Bronze age and the emergence of Hellas, but what can we say about the legacy the Minoans and Mycenaeans provide for the later Greeks?
If Homer was really the foundation for the Greeks’ sense of the divine world, how does that help explain the Greeks’ understanding of how to relate to the gods and to each other?
The Greek attachment to the idea of freedom, as contrasted with, for example, the Persians’ enslavement to their king—how does that jibe with the fight for hegemony and how the Greeks treat each other?
What factors explain Athens’ rapid mutation into a radical democracy—a social structure unique to the Aegean world?
The Persian wars and the Peloponnesian wars stand out to historians as the key transforming events of classical Hellas—is it right to emphasize these military milestones, or are other transforming moments just as important for shaping Greek culture?

Topics

Note: For ease of preparation the sections below are organized around class meetings, and include the sections of the corresponding textbook chapter as a reminder of the topics covered.

Dawn of the Aegean

The Land of Greece – Greece and the Near East in the “Final Neolithic” Period (c. 4000-3000 BC) – Greece in the Early and Middle Bronze Ages (c. 3000-1600 BC) – the Discovery of Aegean Civilization: Troy, Mycenae, Knossos – Minoan Civilization – Greece and the Aegean in Late Bronze Age (1600-1200 BC) – the Years of Glory (c. 1400-1200 BC) – the End of the Mycenaean Civilization

How were the Minoans different from the Mycenaeans? What did they have in common, and why?
What kind of economy does Bronze Age Hellas have?
What factors might have led to a war between the Mycenaeans and Troy?
What factors help bring about the end of Mycenaean Greece?
TERMS: Aegean Sea – Bronze Age – Linear B – Minoans – Mycenaeans – palace state – primary sources – Anatolia

The Greek Dark Age

Decline and Recovery (c. 1150-900 BC) – the New Society of the Dark Age – Revival (c. 900-750 BC) – Homer and Oral Poetry – Late Dark Age (Homeric) Society – Community, Household, and Economy in the Late Dark Age – the End of the Dark Age (c. 750-700 BC)

What is the dark age and why is it called that? What kind of society and economy were common in Hellas during this period?
What roles do Homer and Hesiod play in early Greek society, and why?
Why do the Greeks lose the technology of writing, and how do they recover it?
TERMS: Dark Age – xenia – Hesiod – Homer – time – arete – rhapsode

Archaic Greece

The Formation of the City-State (Polis) – the Ethnos – Government in the Early City-States – the Colonizing Movement – Economic and Social Divisions in the Early Poleis – Hesiod: the View from Below – the Hoplite Army – the Archaic Age Tyrants – Art and Architecture – Lyric Poetry – Philosophy and Science – Relations Between States – Panhellenic Institutions

What are the characteristics of the polis?
What are the effects of the introduction of hoplite warfare?
How do colonies relate to their mother cities?
TERMS: agora – aristoi – hoplite – colony – phalanx – polis – symposion

Sparta and the Art of War

The Dark Age and the Archaic Period – the Spartan System – Demography and the Spartan Economy – Spartan Government – Sparta and Greece – Historical Change in Sparta – the Spartan Mirage in Western Thought

How would the Spartans explain their warrior society? How does this pursuit make Sparta different for other poleis?
How does Sparta make possible a class of men dedicated to the craft of war?
What role do women play in Spartan society?
TERMS: agoge – helot – homoioi – Messenia – perioikoi

Athens and the Art of Society

Athens from the Bronze Age to the Early Archaic Age – the Reforms of Solon – Pisistratus and His Sons – the Reforms of Cleisthenes – the Rise of Persia – the Wars Between Greece and Persia – the Other War: Carthage and Sicily

How and why does Persia invade the Aegean world? How are the two invasions different?
What factors allow the Greeks to prevail against the Persians in these two invasions?
How is Hellas different after the Persian invasions? How does it relate to Athenian hegemony and the Delian League?
What are the stages involved in the development of Athenian democracy? What factors drive Athens in this direction? How do these developments affect class and society?
TERMS: Solon – Cleisthenes – Battle of Salamis – Battle of Thermopylae – satrap

The Legacy of the Persian Wars

The Aftermath of the Persian Wars and the Foundation of the Delian League – the “First” (Undeclared) Peloponnesian War (460-445 BC) – Pericles and the Growth of Athenian Democracy – Literature and Art – Oikos and Polis – the Greek Economy

What factors are involved in the Undeclared War?
How is this conflict different from the Peloponnesian War that begins in 431?
Given that Athens is a democracy, how does someone like Pericles become preeminent?
TERMS: hegemony – metic – Delian League – Thucydides – Thirty Years’ Peace

Clouds

What are the major conflicts in Clouds? How do these conflicts relate to Athenian society?
What messages is Aristophanes trying to communicate? What techniques does he use?
What does Strepsiades stand for?
Why is the Socrates in the play different from the real Socrates?
TERMS: Strepsiades – sophists – Unjust Argument – the Thinkery

Athens in the Classical Period

Greece After the Thirty Years’ Peace – the Breakdown of the Peace – Resources for War – Intellectual Life in Fifth-Century Greece – Historical and Dramatic Literature of the Fifth Century – Currents in Greek Thought and Education – the Physical Space of the Polis: Athens on the Eve of War

Why does Athens become a center of cultural innovation? What role does this play in Athenian society?
How do cultural developments in classical Hellas affect women?
What developments stand out in history, drama, comedy, poetry, sculpture, and philosophy?
TERMS: Corcyra – sophist – panhellenism – nomos vs. physis

War Between the Greeks

The Archidamian War (431-421 BC) – the Rise of Comedy – Between Peace and War – the Invasion of Sicily (415-413 BC) – the War in the Aegean and the Oligarchic Coup at Athens (413-411 BC) – Fallout from the Long War – the War in Retrospect

What are the long-term causes of the conflict between Athens and Sparta?
What incidents are the immediate causes of war?
What strengths and weaknesses does each side have?
In what ways does Alcibiades affect the war?
What makes it possible for Sparta to win this war?
How is Hellas different after this war?
TERMS: Alcibiades – Melos – Socrates – Sicilian Expedition

The Fourth Century Crisis

Postwar Greece and the Struggle for Hegemony – Law and Democracy in Athens – the Fourth-Century Polis – Philosophy and the Polis

What is the fourth-century crisis? What brings it about?
How is war different in the fourth century?
How does the Second Athenian Empire compare to the First?
What advantages does Thebes have in its fight for hegemony? What vulnerability of Sparta’s do they exploit?
What philosophical ideas emerge in the fourth century? How are they a product of the time?
TERMS: Crisis of the Fourth Century – Aristotle – Plato – peltast – Sacred Band (Thebes) – King’s Peace

The Rise of Macedon

Early Macedonia – Macedonian Society and Kingship – the Reign of Philip II – Macedonian Domination of Greece

What elements of Macedonian society, state, and culture would have made the Greeks consider them to be barbarians?
What factors prevented Macedon from impacting on Hellas before Philip?
What reforms does Philip accomplish in Macedonian politics and society? What military reforms?
How does Philip become progressively more involved in Greek affairs?
How do the Athenians respond to Philip’s increasing power in Hellas?
TERMS: Amphictyonic Council – Philip II – Demosthenes – sarissa

Alexander the Great

Consolidating Power – From Issus to Egypt: Conquest of the Eastern Mediterranean (332-331 BC) – From Alexandria to Persepolis: the King of Asia (331-330 BC) – the High Road to India: Alexander in Central Asia – India and the End of the Dream – Return to the West

How are Philip and Alexander similar? How are they different?
Was Alexander Greek?
What was Alexander trying to accomplish? What did he accomplish?
What made possible the extent of Alexander’s conquest?
TERMS: Alexander III – Battle of Issus – hellenistic – diodochoi

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