Minoan Civilization: the highly advanced civilization of ancient
Crete (3400-1200 BC). |
Heroic Age: the era of the Homeric poems and of the rise of
early Greek civilization (1200-700 BC). |
Classical Period: the era the rise of the polis, of Athenian
ascendancy, and of Greek architectural, literary, and artistic triumphs
(700-300 BC). |
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Alcibiades (450-404 BC): controversial Athenian general--a notorious
public celebrity and playboy aristocrat. |
Aristophanes (457?-385 BC): greatest of the ancient comic dramatists
and blistering opponent of the Peloponnesian War. |
Aristotle (384-322 BC): encyclopedic philosopher whose authority
and enormous influence covered everything from logic and poetry to biology
and politics. |
Aspatia (5th century BC): scandalous Athenian hetaire and society
hostess, later married to Pericles. |
Euripides (484-406 BC): Athenian tragic dramatist known for
his flair for controversy and his challenging themes. |
Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC): protracted military struggle
between Sparta and her allies and Athens and hers, with disastrous long-term
consequences for Greek political power and culture. |
Pericles (495-429 BC): Athenian statesman, political leader
during the so-called "Golden Age" of the classical period. |
Plato (429-347 BC): greatest of the Greek philosophers--student
and chronicler of Socrates and founder of his own philosophical Academy. |
Pythagoras (6th century BC): Greek philosopher, mathematician,
cult leader, and "equal rights" advocate. |
Sappho (620BC-?): lyric poet of ancient Lesbos renowned for
her tragicomic images of sexual passion and jealous love. |
Socrates (469-399BC): famed Athenian teacher and philosopher. |
Xantippe (5th century BC): wife of Socrates, reportedly a notorious
shrew. |
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Achilles: wrathful Greek warrior and hero of Troy, a figure
of insolent pride and determination. |
Adonis: handsome youth beloved of Aphrodite; hence an icon and
byword of masculine beauty. |
Agamemnon: leader of the Greeks at Troy; upon his return home
was slain by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus. |
Alcestis: wife of Admetus who agreed to give up her life for
his; hence symbol of wifely self-sacrifice and devotion. |
Aphrodite: Greek goddess of love and beauty. |
Apollo: god of the sun, patron of song and poetry. |
Athene: goddess of justice and wisdom, patron goddess of Athens. |
Artemis: goddess of the moon and twin sister of Apollo; a virgin
goddess associated with nature and hunting, equivalent to the Roman Diana. |
Calypso: beautiful nymph who promised to make Odysseus immortal
if he would stay with her and become her husband. |
Circe: a mythical enchantress; in book 10 of the Odyssey,
she turns Odysseus's men into swine. |
Clytemnestra: vengeful wife and slayer of Agamemnon. |
Demeter: goddess of the grain and harvest; an "earth mother"
figure symbolizing female fecundity and life-giving power. |
Dionysus: god of wine; his cult was associated with orgiastic
religious frenzy and with the origins of tragedy. |
Diotima: wise priestess or hetaire (possibly historical, but
more likely a literary creation) who instructs Socrates's on the nature
of love in the Symposium. |
Eros: son of Aphrodite; god of love associated with the Roman
Cupid. |
Gaia: goddess of the Earth; associated with early fertility/earth-goddess
cults. |
Helen: most beautiful woman in Greece; her abduction by the
Trojan prince Paris was the immediate cause of the Trojan War. |
Hera: wife and consort of Zeus; icon of female majesty and shrewishness. |
Hercules: son of Zeus; powerful hero and image of male strength
(and dull-wittedness). |
Hestia: goddess of the hearth; image of female modesty and domesticity. |
Medea: mythical sorceress; symbol of female resourcefulness,
occult power, vindictiveness, and irrationality. |
Medusa: beautiful maiden ravished by the god Poseidon and transformed
by Athene into a snake-haired monster. |
Odysseus: the bold, resourceful, and adventurous hero of Homer's
Odyssey; renowned for his courage and guile. |
Pandora: the original woman; according to ancient myth, her
curiosity and impulsiveness were responsible for introducing all ills and
inconveniences into the world. |
Penelope: wife of Odysseus; icon of female patience, devotion,
and virtue. |
Silenus: a dwarfish, round-bellied satyr; Greek families often
used statuettes in his image as repositories for their valuables. |
Tiresias: blind seer and prophet of Greek myth. |
Zeus: king of the Olympian deities; image of male dominance,
potency, and promiscuity. |
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Agape ("charity" or "devotion"): Greek word signifying
a particularly selfless and altruistic form of love. |
Anagnorisis ("tragic recognition or insight"): according
to Aristotle, a moment of fatal insight or understanding in the mind of
the tragic hero. |
Arete: Greek word for "excellence" or "virtue." |
Dialectic: in Plato, a logical process involving continual interrogation,
redefinition, and cross-examination of opposing views; theoretically, this
process leads to a higher level of understanding and a gradual discovery
of truth. |
Eros ("desire"): the Greek term for sexual attraction
or romantic love. |
Hamartia ("tragic error"): in Aristotle's theory of tragedy,
a fatal error or simple mistake on the part of the protagonist that leads
on to the final catastrophe. |
Hetaire: literally, "a companion"; any of the high-class,
socially sophisticated, artistically accomplished prostitutes who provided
intellectual and cultural entertaiinment as well as sexual favors to Athenian
aristocrats |
Peripateia ("plot reversal"): in Aristotle's formula
for tragedy, a pivotal or crucial action on the part of the protagonist
that reverses his fortune from good to bad. |
Philia ("friendship"): Greek term for a love relationship
based on mutual admiration and respect rather than sexual attraction. |
Stergo ("natural affection"): Greek word for love based
a natural bond; e.g, the love between a brother and sister or a parent
and child. |
Thesmophoria: a Greek religious festival in honor of
the goddess Demeter; it involved secret rituals and was attended only by
women. |