Explore every episode of the podcast YALE - Introduction to Ancient Greek History

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Overview

In this lecture, Professor Kagan addresses what scholars call the Homeric question. He asks: what society do Homer's poems describe? He argues that in view of the long oral transmission of the poems, the poems of Homer probably reflect various ages from the Mycenaean world to the Dark Ages. More importantly, close scrutiny of the poems will yield historical information for the historian. In this way, one is able to reconstruct through the poems, to a certain extent, the post-Mycenaean world. Finally, Professor Kagan says a few words on the heroic ethic of the Greek world.

Lecture Chapters

1. The Importance of Homeric Poems [00:00:00]
2. The Society Described in Homer's Poems [00:13:08]
3. Political Structures [00:35:49]
4. Ethics and Values [00:52:26]

Assignment

Pomeroy, Burstein, Donlan and Roberts. Ancient Greece. Oxford University Press: New York, 1999, pp. 40-71.

Kagan, Donald. "Problems in Ancient History." In The Ancient Near East and Greece. 2nd ed., vol. 1. Prentice-Hall: New York, 1975, chapter 1.

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Overview

In this lecture, Professor Donald Kagan explores the earliest history of Greek civilization. He demonstrates how small agricultural enclaves eventually turned into great cities of power and wealth in the Bronze Age, taking as his examples first Minoan Crete and then Mycenaean Greece. He also argues that these civilizations were closely related to the great monarchies of the ancient Near East. He points out that the Mycenaean age eventually came to an abrupt end probably through a process of warfare and migration. Reconstructing the Mycenaean age is possible through archaeological evidence and through epic poetry (Homer). Finally, he provides an account of the collapse of the Mycenaean world, and explains how in its aftermath, the Greeks were poised to start their civilization over on a new slate.

Lecture Chapters

1. The Minoan Civilization [00:00:00]
2. Mycenaean Language and Writing [00:08:58]
3. The Citadel, Farmland, Burials and the Oil Trade [00:16:07]
4. Cultural Unity, Agriculture, Religio us Authority [00:26:29]
5. Society and Economy [00:33:41]
6. Theories about the Fall of the Mycenaean World [00:39:05]
7. Results of the Fall [00:56:52]

Assignment

Pomeroy, Burstein, Donlan and Roberts. Ancient Greece. Oxford University Press: New York, 1999, pp. 40-71.

Kagan, Donald. "Problems in Ancient History." In The Ancient Near East and Greece. 2nd ed., vol. 1. Prentice-Hall: New York, 1975, chapter 1.

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Overview

Professor Donald Kagan explains why people should study the ancient Greeks. He argues that the Greeks are worthy of our study not only because of their vast achievements and contributions to Western civilization (such as in the fields of science, law, and politics) but also because they offer a unique perspective on humanity. To the Greeks, man was both simultaneously capable of the greatest achievements and the worst crimes; he was both great and important, but also mortal and fallible. He was a tragic figure, powerful but limited. Therefore, by studying the Greeks, one gains insight into a tension that has gripped and shaped the West and the rest of the world through its influence. In short, to study the Greeks is to study the nature of human experience.

Lecture Chapters

1. Ancient Greece as the Foundation of Western Civilization [00:00:00]
2. The Judeo Christian Tradition [00:13:06]
3. Problems Posed by the Western Tradition[00:24:50]

Assignment

Pomeroy, Burstein, Donlan and Roberts. Ancient Greece. Oxford University Press: New York, 1999, pp. 1-40.