Week 9 (Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus, Thucydides' Histories and the Peloponnesian War) Flashcards
Sophocles lived c. 496-406 BC: was once a public _________, strategos, and commissioner for the ________ state reform in 413 BC. In total, he wrote c. ___ plays
treasurer
Athenian
120
Sophocles contributions: introduced the _rd actor, increase chorus size from 12 to __ members.
Inaugurated ______ backdrops.
Known for his “______ plays” about Oedipus and his family, that question traditional Greek ______ with moral conundrums.
3rd
15
painted
Theban
values
Main themes of Oedipus Tyrannus:
1) fate/destiny - it is ___________
2) Consequences - uphold the law
3) Respect for the gods
4) Personality flaws - hubris and anger (what makes a ____?)
1) inescapable
4) hero
Thebes’ problems beginning of play
1) plague
2) drought
3) death of livestock
4) women’s inability to bear children
The ______ at Delphi tells Oedipus the problems have been caused by blood __________, or the unavenged murder of King Laios
pythia
pollution
Tiresias tells Oedipus he is the problem: Oedipus becomes _____ with Tiresias and accuses him of ________ with Kreon.
angry
plotting
his burst of anger is reflective of the Homeric trait, defending his _____, and above all else, Oedipus still ___________ the city.
honor
prioritizes
Kreon attempts to guide Oedipus through ______; Sophocles is capturing the contemporary intellectualism in ______, reflecting the democratic systems of Athens with subtlety.
reason
Athens
Jokasta relates the prophecy given to Laios; Oedipus begins to connect Laios’ death with killing a group of men where the _____ highways meet.
three
Jokasta realizes that Oedipus is her own ___ when the messenger from _______ relates that baby Oedipus had _________ feet.
son
Corinth
punctured
Jokasta _____ herself, and Oedipus ______ himself. He reflects on the gods and fate, before leaving he gives thought to his ________. Chorus have the _____ words of the play, words of wisdom for the audience.
kills
blinds
children
final
Thucydides was an elite Athenian born c. 460 BC
- he was a _______ in the Northern Aegean at Amphipolis during the Second Peloponnesian War, but exiled in 424 BC.
general
-Unlike Hesiod & Homer, Thucydides was not concerned with ____ or myth: very human centric view.
- He utilized a mix of textual, material, and eyewitness sources (ex. debate in the ________ assembly).
- utilization of factually based, yet _________ speeches.
gods
Athenian
fictional
Causes of the Second Peloponnesian War
- renewed hostilities: the Aegean is divided into ___ larger hostile camps, the pro-__________ vs. the the pro-_________.
- 435-433 BC: the democratic faction of Epidamnus, the colony of Corcyra, which was in turn the colony of _______, asks for help from Corcyra
two
pro-oligarchic, pro-democratic
Causes of the Second Peloponnesian War Continued
- 435-433 BC: the democratic faction of Epidamnus, the colony of Corcyra, which was in turn the colony of _______, asks for help from Corcyra, but it declined. Epidamnus appeals to _______ instead. Corcyra allies with ______, ultimately earning victory over _______.
Corinth
Corinth
Athens
Corinth
-433-432 BC: Tensions continue between Athens & Corinth. Athens orders that Potidaea dismiss their ___________ magistrates, and submit. The Athenian siege of Potidaea takes until 430 BC.
Corinthian
432 BC- ______ bars _______, a member of the Peloponnesian League, from all Delian League ports, known as the _________ decree.
Trigger of the war: Thebes, member of the Peloponnesian League, attacks _______, considered a heinous attack on a Panhellenic heritage site.
Sparta & Athens go to war, Sparta justifying that they’re fighting to “free Greece” from the Athenian empire
Athens, Megara
Megarian
Plataea
The Archidamian War (431-421 BC)
- The Peloponnesian League invades Attica
- _______’ plan: Athenian citizens take refuge in ______, and use the navy to hassle the cities along the Peloponnesian coast.
Pericles’
Athens
A devastating ______ befalls Athens, accounting for the death of / of the Athenian population, including ________ in 429 BC.
plague
1/3
Pericles
The death of ________ ushers in the rise of demagogues, similar to that of a tyrant, except they work within a _________ instead of an _________. An example would be _____ in the 420s BC.
Pericles
democracy, oligarchy
Cleon
Revolt of Mytilene (Delian League member) & other cities on Lesbos (427 BC): The Athenian assembly votes to ____ all men and ____ all women and children into slavery. The decision is ultimately reversed, only the ringleaders are killed. Cleon _________ the first decision, believing the new decision was soft (better to enforce a bad law consistently, than enforce a good law loosely).
kill
sell
supported
424 BC: Athenian garrison at Pylos traps 420 Spartan hoplites on the island of Sphacteria. Cleon taunts the strategos ______, leading the Athenians to victory and capturing 292 Spartan war hostages.
-Brasidas, Spartan general, takes Amphipolis
422 BC: After a one year armistice, the Spartans & Athenians meet in battle at Amphipolis, where both ________ and _____ die in battle.
Nicias
Brasidas and Cleon
421 BC: Peace of ______ is proposed, where Athens retains its empire before the war and regain Amphipolis; Sparta would regain Pylos, Cythera, and prisoners of war. However, ______’s allies deny the treaty, seeing that no substantial damage had been dealt to the Athenian Empire.
Nicias
Destruction of _____ (416 BC): the Athenian leader __________ persuades the Athenians to coerce _____ to join the Delian league, the assembly agrees. Melos looks to _____ for help, but they don’t. Consequently, Athens puts all men to death, and sells all women & children on _____ into slavery. Unlike Mytilene, _____ was a neutral state; thus, the attitude towards Athens is negatively impacted.
Melos
Alcibiades
Melos
Sparta
Melos
Melos
The Sicilian Expedition (415-413 BC): The Athenian ally Segesta in Sicily asks for support against Selinous, who’re backed by Syracuse and Corinth; Alcibiades is ___ war, Nicias is _______ war.
- Alcibiades supposed to go to war as strategos, but he’s recalled for mutiliating the _____ the night before the expedition. He defects to ______.
for, against
herms
Sparta
Sicilian Expedition = massive _______
- One strategos is killed, leaving just Nicias
- Segesta has little support to offer
- Nicias moves the Athenian fleet to Syracuse harbor, attempts a blockade. The Athenian land forces fail (mostly due to Spartan help from general Gylippus), and the fleet delays leaving for Athens.
-Fleet is destroyed, and 40,000 Athenian survivors are captured by Syracuse.
failure
-The failed Sicilian Expedition greatly reduces Athens’ ________ strength and finances, creating an _________ for revolt in Delian League subjugates.
-Alcibiades returns to Athens, promises “_______ gold” from the satrap Tissaphernes in the South, doesn’t come to fruition.
- 411 BC: the ________ and _____ are dissolute; creation of the new ruling body of the _______ of ____ _______.
military
incentive
Persian
assembly and boule
Council of Four Hundred
-Council of _,___ follows the Council of Four Hundred, recalling exiled oligarchs
-_________ is temporarily restored in 410 BC, members of the _,___ are still influential
5,000
Democracy
5,000
End of the War (407-404 BC)
- Battle of Arginusae (406 BC): Athenians defeat the Spartans, however, the Athenian strategoi fail to save floating casualties in the water, these generals were _________ for their incompetence back home.
-Battle of Aegospotami (405 BC):
Spartan general ________ leads the Spartan fleet in capturing most of the Athenian navy and land force.
executed
Lysander
End of the War Continued
-Lysander sails to _______, and he supports __________ coups in Delian League cities; Athens is defeated
- Athens is spared destruction, but new treaty cripples them: they’re prohibited from having a _____, they must tear down the “____ _____”, and installation of pro-Spartan oligarchy known as the ______ _______.
Piraeus
oligarchic
fleet
“Long Walls”
Thirty Tyrants
