| The course is a cultural and historical survey of Western Civilization from its Bronze Age Origins to Early Modern Times, that is, from around the 3rd millennium BC to the Baroque period, 1650 AD in Western Europe. The purpose of the course is to introduce the student to the flow of history, that, beginning in Mesopotamia and the eastern Mediterranean basin, gave rise to what is today called Western Civilization. The main historical text assigned to the student will be supplemented by several original texts that stand as cultural symbols of the civilization in which they were written, and which have also become symbols in modern civilization because of the understanding they convey to us about the nature of man and civilization. In reading and discussing a particular text, the student is expected to see in it a reflection of the culture's aspirations and vision of human possibilities, as well as the great problems besetting the human condition as understood by that culture. It is hoped that by the end of the course the student will see where we began history and through what we have gone in order to be where we are, so that he/she might better see where we are going. Another goal of the course is that the student will better understand the evolution of new forms and ideas as they grow from earlier forms and ideas in the historical process of cultural transmission and transformation. Underlying the complexity of history there in a simple unity owing to the oneness of man: culture is many, but man is one. Our cultural and intellectual origins begin in the Ancient Near East, more precisely in the Fertile Crescent formed by the Mesopotamian river valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates in what is today Iraq, and the Nile river valley in Egypt. This early period of civilization is traditionally called the "Ancient Period" of the Western Civilizational experience. From the fertile Crescent and Egypt the early roots of Western civilization extend to Greece. The earliest phase of the Greek experience is called the "Archaic Period," or "Homeric" after the famous poet Homer. The succeeding phase in the formation of Western Civilization is called the "Classical Period," or the "Greco- Roman Period." With the advent of Christianity as the religion of state of the Roman Empire, followed soon by the invasions of Germanic tribes from north of the Danube Basin into the Western half of the Empire, another period is marked off in the historical formation of Western Civilization. This is called the Medieval, that is, the Middle Ages: Middle in the sense it falls between the Ancient/Classical periods of earlier times and Modern Period of later times. The Medieval Period or Middle Age, is usually divided into three distinct periods:
2 - the Middle: 1000-1300 3 - and the late, or High Medieval Period (1300-1500), The Renaissance in a sense initiates the Modern Period of the West, it being remembered the West refers at the time to the few European countries from Italy westward, the Western fringe of the vast Eurasian continent. It should be kept in mind that when the term "modern" is used at this time, it applies only to a tiny fraction of the globe. The modern period initiated in Western Europe by the Renaissance was further shaped by the "Age of Overseas Discovery" which occurred during the Renaissance Period and which was the beginning of a Western European dominated world; and then by the Protestant Reformation and its attendant wars of religion that divided Europe between Catholics and Protestants, at which point this course in Western Civilization ends. We will in the process of our study learn something of the style of these successive periods in history, and in so doing we will learn of the intellectual genesis of our own present civilization, and of the inspiring ideas that give, or should give, intellectual sustenance to our lives as civilized people. Indeed, it is in the shared knowledge of this heritage by which a society and its individual members are civilized. It is though knowledge of our civilized heritage that we come to know ourselves. TEXTS TO BE PURCHASED: Western Civilization, Lerner, Meacham, Burns, vol. I, Norton Study Guide for Western Civilizations. Epic of Gilgamesh, Penguin. Oedipus the King And Antigone, Sophocles, ed. Arnott, Crofts Classics. The Prince Machiavelli, ed. Bergin, Crofts Classics. GRADING: There will be three exams, each counting 30%. Class performance will count 10% of your final grade. Class performance means answering oral questions in class, asking questions, adding comments, and generally participating in class discussions. Attendance: The success of this course will depend on your active participation. Consequently, regular attendance is essential. Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class. If you have any problems that will affect your attendance or performance (financial, medical, personal), please let me know about them at the time that they occur. PART I: ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA AND EGYPT. Course Introduction and the beginnings of Civilization Themes of discussion: What is History? What is Civilization? Readings: Chapter 1 & 2 of Western Civilizations. Beginnings of Civilization: Mesopotamia. Nature of Mesopotamian Civilization; historical chronology, 3000 BC - 500 BC. Discussion of Mesopotamian Civilization based on Chapter 2. Be prepared to answer questions on contribution of Mesopotamian Civilization to world civilization. I. A Mesopotamian Myth: The Epic of Gilgamesh. (Introduction is recommended but optional.) Themes to be discussed: a) Meaning of Relationship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu b) Significance of the Harlot. c) Significance of Siduri women. d) Psychological Development of Gilgamesh. e) What did myth mean to the Mesopotamians? f) What is myth in general? II. Egyptian Civilization. Reading: Ch. 3 Western Civilization. Themes to be discussed: a) Nature of Egyptian Civilization and Historical chronology. b) Probable Causes for the big difference in style between Mesopotamian and Egyptian Civilizations. c) Egyptian religion compared and contrasted with Meopotamian. Hebrew and Early Greek Civilizations The Hebrews. Reading: Ch. 4. Themes to be discussed: a) How the Hebraic perception of the divine differed from the Mythical. b) Hebraic law and code of Hammurabi compared. Minoan and Mycenean Civilizations: precursors to classical Greek Civilization. Themes to be discussed: a) what distinguishes Minoan and Mycenean civilization as unique from Egyptian and Mesopotamian. b) Contributions of Minoan and Mycenean Civilizations. FIRST CLASS EXAM PART II: CLASSICAL GREECE AND ROME. Classical Greek Civilization Reading: 1) Ch. 5, Western Civilization. Themes for discussion: a) Greek idea of the Polis. b) Rise of Athenian democracy. c) Reasons for arrested development of democracy in Sparta and the curious system of Spartan government. d) Cause of Peloponnesian War. e) The Pre- Socratics as the world's first philosophers and scientists: How did their vision of the universe differ from the Mythic vision? f) Socrates, Plato and Aristotle: What idea did each of them have that was a unique contribution to man's self understanding and his understanding of the universe? g) The Greek Style and Greece's contribution to World Civilization. Greek Tragedy I. Reading: Oedipus The King, Sophocles. Themes for discussion: What is meant by "The Tragic Life?" What kind of a man is Oedipus? (Think of him in terms of his interaction with the blind prophet, Creon, and his previous actions years before, that is, just prior to his becoming king). At what point does he first suspect the blind prophet might be right about him? At what point is he sure? Where do we find irony in the story and how does it play into the tragic character of Oedipus? How is the Oracle that destines Oedipus to commit his crime to be interpreted? II. Reading: Sophocles Antigone. Themes of discussion: a)What is the problem that brings Creon and Antigone into conflict? b) Antigone's character, and that of Creon. How do they exemplify the tragic hero? c) What does the dialogue between Haemon and Creon reveal of their characters? Hellenistic Civilization Readings: 1) Ch. 6, Western Civilizations, pp. 143-157. Themes of discussion: a) Rise of Persian Empire, Zoroastrianism. b) Reasons for Alexander's conquest of the Persian Empire; his perception of Persian and Near Easterners and their civilization. c) The transformation of thinking be underwent once he had conquered Iran. d) The reasons for his success in conquest. e) The fundamental differences between classical Greek Civilization and Hellenistic with respect to: 1) Political organization: from Polis to kingdom; 2) The individual; 3)Increase in international trade and its effect on society. The Cultural Achievements of Hellenistic Civilization Readings: 1) Finish Ch. 6, Western Civilizations. Themes discussion: a) Religion during Hellenistic times: Fertility Cults, Iranian Mazdaism Christianity. b) Philosophy: Stoicism and Epicureanism. c) What was it about the style and tempo of life in Hellenistic times that made the above religious and philosophies popular? d) To what type of people could stoicism and Epicureanism appeal and why? e) What could be said about life in Hellenistic society that the mystery religious with their promise of life after death would be so popular? f) Realist individualism in Hellenistic art. g) In what ways could the Hellenistic period be compared to our own period? The Romans: From earliest history to the end of the Republic Readings: 1) Chapter 7, Western Civilization. Themes of discussion: 1) The Rise of Rome, the Etruscans and the Early Republic: What affect did the early history of Rome have on the political attitudes of its citizens? 2) Early Roman Law: the 12 Tables. Patricians and plebes. 3) Political organization and institutions: Senate and assembly. 4) Reasons for early Roman expansion: Italian Peninsula; Punic Wars: Sicily and North Africa, to 146 BC; Causes for Roman conquest of Spain and Hellenistic East, 60 BC. 5) Effect expansion had on Roman society: Social struggles: the Brothers Gracchi and social reform. 6) Loss of political control and intervention of the military during Late Republican Period: Marius and Sulla; Julius Ceasar and Pompey. 7) The effect slaves had on Roman Society. Themes for discussion: 1) Agustus' reorganization of Rome: An empire disguised as a Republic: The Principate. What was the principate meant to express and how did Augustus accomplish it? 2) The Hellenistic influence on Roman Civilization: Stoicism and Epicureanism. 3) The relationship between empire, slavery and popular amusements (circuses at the Collosseum). 4) Roman Law and the place of women. 5) Reasons for decline and fall or Rome. 6) Roman contribution to World Civilization. Transformation of the Roman Empire from Paganism to Christianity Readings: Chapter 8. Themes for discussion: 1) How was it that a religion which preached forgiveness, love, non-violence and the poverty of anti-materialism was able to accommodate itself as the state religions of an empire whose values were quite the opposite of Christianity, namely, war, conquest, materialist wealth, rule, power? Compare and contrast the Sermon on the Mount to St. Augustine's interpretation of Christian values. 2) If Constantine intended Christianity to be a unifying factor in the Empire, how successful then was his religious policy in the 4th and 5th Centuries? 3) Germanic Invasions and fall of the Empire: a) Reasons for German success; b) Consequences of Invasions. 4) Early Christian Thought: Jerome, Ambrose, Augustine, and Boethius. 5) The Emperor Justinian (527-565) as the last of Great Emperor-: a) Conquests; b) Codification of Law; c) Aya Sophia, Christianity's first great cathedral. SECOND CLASS EXAM PART III: THE MIDDLE AGES. Beginning of the Middle Ages The three medieval Empires that evolved from the Old Roman Empire: 1) Byzantium, 2) Islam, and 3) Latin Christendom. Readings: Western Civilization, ch. 9, pp. 249-270; Themes for discussion: I) Byzantium: Successor State of The Roman Empire: a) The style of Byzantine Civilization: b) contributions and significance of Byzantines. Political, social, economic and religious life. (Ceasaropopism, Iconsclasm, conversion of slaves); c) The role of women; II) Islamic Civilization: a) reasons for ease of Islamic conquests from France to central Asia, and formation of the Islamic Empire: Umayyid and Abbasid Dynasties; b) Islamic religion: its relationship to Judaism and Christianity. Islamic Civilization. Readings: Western Civilization, pp. 270-278; Themes of discussion: 1) The nature of Islamic religion in comparison and contrast to Christianity and Judaism. 2) The character of Islamic society. 3) place of Jews and Christians in Islam. 4) Islamic contributions to Civilization: a)Philosophy and science, and the Hellenistic inheritance of Islam; b) The universal nature of Islamic science and philosophy; e) al-Farabi, ibu Sina (Avicenna) ion Maymun (Maimonides) and ion Rushd (Averroes). 6a) Islamic Contributions in Mathematics, Optics Alchemy and medicine. III) The Rise of the Latin West 500-1200. Themes for discussion: 1) Rise of Western Latin Monarchy from Roman precedents: a) Clovis and the Merovingian Kingdom: Reasons for decline and extinction; b) Rise of the Carolingian Empire of Charles Martel and Charlemagne; c) Significance of Charlemagne; d) Carolingian Renaissance; e) Reasons for Decline of Charlemagne's Empire. High Middle Ages in Latin Christendom 1050-1300 -- Development of Western Civilization -- Reading Chapter 10, Western Civilizations. I. Reasons for advancement, economic, agricultural and technology; shift in geographical area of cultivation. 3)Economic, Social and Political Institutions upon which High Medieval Latin Civilization was based: Feudalism and Manoralism: a)The nature of the relationship between vassal and lord in the organization of feudalism; b) Economic structure of the Manorial Estate; e) Living conditions of Serfs: Were serfs slaves? (Refer also to relevant readings in Study Guide.) II. The Medieval Intellectual Revival: Chapter 11, Western Civilizations, up to p. 355. The Later Middle Ages 1300-1500 Reading: Western Civilizations, finish Chapter 11 and all of Chapter 12. Writing Assignment on the Middle Ages. PART IV: EARLY MODERN WESTERN EUROPE Renaissance Civilization and Overseas Expansion and Discoveries, 1350-1550 Readings: Western Civilizations, chapter 13 and 14 up to p. 476. Machiavelli, The Prince, pp. xiii-xiv; 1-9, 12-13, 16- 31, 33-45, 47-53, 61-64, 71-78. Themes for discussion:1) What is Machiavelli's attitude toward: a)the common people; b)toward the nobles; c)toward mercenaries? 2)What is a prince's primary duty? 3)What is his strongest defense? 4)What was his view on cruelty? 5)Is there any underlying moral principle in The Prince? Directions for the Prince Essay The Protestant Reformation and the Religious Wars of Europe in the 16th and 17th Centuries, up to the end of the Thirty Years War, 1648 Western Civilizations, finish chapter 14 and read chapter 15 up to page 526, The Treaty of Establish ending the Thirty Years War, 1648. Tragedy: Sophocles' Oedipus and Antigone The Hellenistic Era Chapter 7: Flysheet for Roman Republican Empire Chapter 8: Christianity and Transformation of the Roman World Chapter 9: Three Successor States from the Roman Empire Chapter 10: The High Middle Ages (1050-1300) in Western Latin Christendom Chapter 11: The High Middle Ages 1050-1300, Religious and Intellectual Developments Chapter 12: Later Middle Ages 1300-1500. Online version of Thucydides' History of the Peloponesian War |