| A | B |
|---|
| Pre-socratic philosophers | Chiefly concerned with the natural universe and atoms. Example: Democritus taught that feelings and senses could be explained by the movements of atoms in the brain |
| Sophists | Traveling wise men who were paid to teach young men how to debate. Asked "how do we know what we think we know," and focused on the human mind and its weaknesses. Committed to humanism, a focus on the actions of human beings. |
| Socrates | Despised all things Sophist except their penchant for debate. Employed the dialectic method. Believed that through inductive reasoning it was possible to understand ideals to which humans should aspire. In the end, he was condemned for "corrupting Athenian youths" |
| Plato | Socrates' greatest student. Plato's philosophy is a brand of idealism - it seeks the eternal perfection of ideas, untainted by reality. Believed that all reality was a mere reflection of a higher spiritual truth that we see only via philosophical contemplation. In The Republic, Plato outlines his ideal state, and in it is the Allegory of the Cave, which basically says that philosophers have 'seen the light' and returned into the cave to help those who haven't. Another dialogue was Symposium; basically a drinking party. |
| Aristotle | Student of Plato who disagreed wit him. Believed we could come to know truths only by observing the material world |
| Epicurus | Greek philosopher who taught in Athens. Believed that fear (especially fear of death) was the reason for unhappiness, and that the gods played no part in human affairs. All things driven by atoms swirling through space - at death, atoms simply disperse. |
| Stoicism | By submitting one's emotion to the tranquility of mind. Example: Musonius Rufus. Stoicism and Cynicism were both generally more universalist than other philosophical schools in acceptance of "barbarians" and women. |
| acropolis | the natural citadel of a greek city that served as a fortification or religious center |
| archaic style | early Greek (600-480 BCE) style marked by increased naturalism (which seeks to represent forms as they appear in nature) and seep especially in the kouros and kore |
| kore/kouros | freestanding sculpture of a standing maiden/naked male youth |
| lyric poem | poetry generally written to be accompanied by a lyre |
| contrapposto | weight rests on the left leg, right leg extends forward, bent slightly at the knee |
| dialectic method | (Socratic) process of inquiry/instruction characterized by continuous question and answer dialogue between teacher and student |
| expressionism | the attempt to elicit an emotional response in a viewer |
| hellenistic | period of Greek history that begins with the death of Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE) and extends to roman defeat by Cleopatra (30 BCE) |
| humanism | (Sophists) a focus on the actions (especially political actions) of humans |
| idealism | (Plato) eternal perfection of pure ideas untainted by reality |
| inductive reasoning | (Socratic) moves from specific instances to general principals and from particular truths to universal ones |
| syllogism | (Aristotle) A type of deductive reasoning consisting of two premises from which a conclusion can be drawn |
| muse | one of 9 sister-goddesses in Greek mythology |
| tragedy | type of drama whose base is conflict; often explores physical and moral depths to which human life can descend |
| maenad | frenzied woman who is inspired to ecstatic dance by Dionysus, the god of wine and inspiration |
| classical | refers to art of Greeks in 5th century BCE |
| atrium | an unroofed interior, or walled in courtyard |
| basilica | a large, rectangular building with an apse (rounded extension) at one or both ends |
| Plebian | member of the poorer classes of ancient Rome |
| Sappho of Lesbos | celebrated Aphrodite, followers were a group of young women and poems imply erotic relationships with them. Wrote lyric poetry, sometimes in dactylic hexameter |
| Dactylic hexameter | Poetic verse consisting of six rhythmic feet, each foot being either a dactyl (one long syllable followed by two short syllables) or a spondee (two long syllables) |
