Classical Greek Historians

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Classical Greek Historians

• - Emily

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Classical Greek Historians

• History lt historiai inquiries, research
• Herodotus Thucydides
• Founders of Western historical writing
• Systematic investigations of the past
• More rationalistic
• Topics like war, politics, peoples, customs

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Herodotus (ca. 485-425BC)

• The Histories
• Persian War (470-479BC)
• The cyclical rise and fall of empires
• Father of history
• (or the father of lies)

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Herodotus (ca. 485-425BC)

• Research
• Public records
• Interviews
• Interesting stories
• Own interpretations commentary

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Thucydides (ca. 455-397BC)

• The History of the Peloponnesian War
• Human nature/psychology
• Disastrous effects of war

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Thucydides (ca. 455-397BC)

• Strict factual accuracy
• Searching for and (carefully) checking sources
• Rejecting implausible explanations
• Own observations ( understanding)

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Sources

• King Ch 4 History. pg. 75-77
• TCE Ch 3 Historical Thought and Writing. pg.
  100
• Damen, Mark. SECTION 2 Herodotus and the
  Persian Wars. lthttp//www.usu.edu/markdamen/1320h
  istciv/chapters/02herod.htmgt

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from Kate Beatons Hark! A Vagrant
lthttp//www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id30gt
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Rationalism

• The theory that the exercise of reason, rather
  than the acceptance of empiricism, authority, or
  spiritual revelation, provides the only valid
  basis for action or belief and that reason is the
  prime source of knowledge and of spiritual truth.

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Quiz 1

• Write down the names of all the
  cultures/civilizations that we've covered so far
  (as many as you can remember).
• Then for each, write down two -specific-
  influences they've had on other (and/or later)
  cultures / the more modern "West".

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Quiz 1

• Not very good answer
• Archaic/Classical Greek politics and architecture
• Much better answer
• The idea the Greeks had that it was a citizen's
  duty to be involved in politics is still present
  in modern America, where there is a somewhat
  similar (though maybe less strong) concept of the
  importance of political activism.
• Greek styles of architecture, for example, the
  Ionic, Doric, and Corinthian columns around the
  front of buildings, are still used today,
  especially for buildings that are associated with
  things like politics, law, philosophy, etc. that
  are considered legacies of Ancient Greece.