Material sources on the history of ancient Greece. written sources. Periodization of the history of ancient Greece
Lecture 1. Introduction to the history of Ancient Greece.
Lecture questions:
1. Periodization and sources of the history of Ancient Greece.
2. Historiography of the history of Ancient Greece
3. Geographic conditions Balkan Greece and Crete.
Introduction: Antiquity.
Russian word « antiquity" comes from the Latin "antiquus" - "ancient". In the Renaissance, antiquity in Europe was understood as all antiquity known then - “Greco-Roman”. Later, European scientists began to discover other "antiquities": Egyptian, Babylonian, Sumerian and others. Since then, the concepts of "antiquity", "ancient world" have been used in a narrower sense, to refer to the history and culture of ancient Greece and Rome.
Ancient civilization was born in the Mediterranean basin. The natural and climatic conditions of the region left an indelible imprint on it. The economy was largely determined by the cultivation of the "Mediterranean triad" - cereals, olives and grapes. Moreover, unlike the East, agriculture developed here without the use of artificial irrigation.
Recently, scientists have established a very curious coincidence - the boundaries of the ancient world, even during the period of maximum expansion of the Roman Empire, practically never extended far beyond the boundaries of the area of growth of the vine - a culture without which the Greeks and Romans could not imagine civilized life.
The sea and islands, mountains and valleys largely predetermined not only the way of life of the Greeks, and later the Romans, but also influenced the external appearance and internal appearance of these peoples. Throughout ancient history, the Romans and Greeks remained largely different ethnic groups. But over time, they formed a historical and cultural community, whose representatives were aware of their difference from other peoples.
In the last centuries of the 1st millennium BC. e. two originally different ways of development of ancient society, Greek and Roman, merged into a single Greco-Roman civilization. Its final political form was the Roman Empire, which lasted until the end of the 5th century. n. e.
In the history of antiquity, two major stages are distinguished: Greek and Roman. Greeks or Hellenes, as they called themselves, were the first to create a civilization that spread throughout the Mediterranean. A little later, the Romans entered the historical arena of the Mediterranean. They managed to create a great state that united the entire ancient Mediterranean world for a long time.
Pax Romana arose within its borders - the “Roman world”, which contained the entire late antique civilization. In 476 a.d. e., when the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire was deposed, it ceased to exist. This event is usually taken by historians as the end of ancient history.
I. Periodization and sources of the history of Ancient Greece.
Periodization of ancient Greek history.
The history of Ancient Greece is usually divided into five periods, which are also cultural epochs:
Aegean or Crete-Mycenaean (III-II millennium BC);
Homer, he is also "dark ages" and "prepolis" (XI-IX centuries BC);
Archaic (VIII-VI centuries BC);
Classical (V-IV centuries BC);
Hellenistic (second half of the 4th - the middle of the 1st century BC).
The first three eras are often grouped under the common name preclassical period.
Sources on the history of ancient Greece
Sources on the history of Crete and mainland ("Achaean") Greece III-II millennium BC. e.
The few sources of this time are divided into three main categories: - written monuments written by the so-called. "linear writing";
Data from archaeological excavations of cities and settlements;
written sources. On the island of Crete, the oldest so-called. " linear A» (Eng. Linear script A). The vast majority of inscriptions using it were made on clay tablets. Some of them survived due to the fact that they were burnt during the fire. Some inscriptions are inked on vessels and other objects. The shape of the signs suggests that the main material for writing was not clay, but parchment or similar short-lived material.
After the conquest of Crete by the Achaean Greeks, "Linear A" disappears, supplanted by " Linear B» (Eng. Linear script B). The first tablets containing the signs of this letter were found Arthur Evans in 1901 during excavations in Crete. But only in 1950-1953 they were deciphered by the British Michael Ventris(1922 - 1956) and John Chadwick (1920-1998).
Currently, several thousand tablets are known, written with the letter B. They were found in Crete, during excavations of the cities of Pylos, Mycenae, Thebes, Tiryns in mainland Greece. The vast majority of the tablets date from the 14th-12th centuries. BC e. The inscriptions are very brief and are mainly business accounting documents.
In addition to the tablets found in the palace archives, inscriptions have been preserved, consisting of abbreviations of individual words, applied with paint or scratched on the walls of clay vessels, individual letters on seals placed on clay corks and tags.
Archaeological excavations. The most important results were obtained by studies of vast palace complexes: at Knossos and Phaistos on the island of Crete, at Mycenae and Pylos on the Peloponnese peninsula.
Works of ancient authors. The earliest written sources are the poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey", the author of which is traditionally attributed to Homer. It is generally accepted that they were created in the IX-VIII centuries. BC e., but contain many realities of the previous time. Quite a variety of data are also contained in the legends and myths of the Greeks - about the Athenian hero Theseus, about Hercules, about the voyage of the Argonauts and many others.
In the works of ancient authors of the 5th century BC. e. and subsequent centuries, separate memories of the past of the Hellenes, the power of the Cretan king Minos, the creation of a vast power by him, and the high culture of that time have been preserved. A small amount of data, mainly on the foreign policy situation of the Cretan and mainland Greek states, is contained in ancient Eastern monuments, primarily Hittite and Egyptian.
Crete-Mycenaean period. linear letter "B", found in 1953 by Evans, lists of slaves are contained there, and households. Lists. In addition to the tablets found in the palace archives, inscriptions have been preserved, consisting of abbreviations of individual words, applied with paint or scratched on the walls of clay vessels, individual letters on seals placed on clay corks and tags.
Written sources are all kinds of works, including literary works of the era under study, inscriptions of various contents that have come down to us; One of the most important sources are the writings of ancient Greek historians. Historians strive to give a true story, to pick up real facts. The first Greek historians were the so-called logographs, of which the most famous are Hecateus (540-478 BC) and Hellanicus (480-400 BC).
The first proper historical study was the work of Herodotus (485-425 BC), who was called in ancient times the "father of history." Dark vaka The first Greek literary monuments - Homer's epic poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey" - are practically the only sources of information about the dark ages of the XII - VI centuries. BC e., i.e.
In his work, which is commonly called "History", Herodotus described the course of the war between the Greeks and Persians. This is genuine treatise, since already in the first lines the author formulates a scientific problem that he is trying to investigate and substantiate. But the main merit of Herodotus is that, through his work, a source appeared in the hands of scientists, where the core of the described events is historical time and consciously introduced historicism.
Thucydides (c. 460-396 BC). He was born into a noble family, took part in the Peloponnesian War, but due to the fact that he could not protect the city of Amphipolis from the Spartans, he was expelled from Athens. In exile, where he spent almost two decades, Thucydides decided to describe the history of the Peloponnesian War. The historian is interested in all the events of which he was a contemporary. But in order to find historical truth, Thucydides conducts a strict critical selection of historical sources, using only those that contain reliable information. For all subsequent generations of researchers, Thucydides laid the foundation for understanding the meaning of historical development and human actions. His work is a valuable historical source, in which the events described are as objectively as possible covered.
The genre of historical research was further developed in the 4th century. The unfinished "History" by Thucydides, which ended at the description of the events of 411 BC. e., continued literally from the last phrase in his "Greek History" Xenophon (c. 445-355). But in his presentation of the material more clearly than in Thucydides, the personal position of the author, who came from a wealthy family, received an aristocratic upbringing and was a student of Socrates, is manifested. A supporter of the Spartan state system, Xenophon was critical of Athenian democracy .. However, his "Greek History", describing the events from 411 to 362 BC. e., remains the most important source for studying the difficult era of acute struggle between the policies and the crisis of the classical Greek policy.
An outstanding philosopher was Plato (427-347 BC). For historians, his treatises "The State" and "Laws" are of great interest, where the author, in accordance with his socio-political views, suggests ways for a just reorganization of society and gives a "recipe" for an ideal state system.
Plato's student Aristotle (384-322 BC) tried to explore history and political structure over 150 states. Of his works, only the Athenian polity has survived, which systematically describes the history and state structure Athenian polis. Based on the study of the life of the Greek policies, Aristotle created a generalizing theoretical work "Politics" - about the essence of the state. His provisions, Aristotle based on an analysis of the real processes of the historical development of Hellas, predetermined the further development of political thought in ancient Greece.
The number of sources relating to this time increases compared to the previous period, new categories of sources appear, for example, documents written on papyri, which were discovered during excavations in Egypt.
Of the historical writings that give a coherent account of the events of Hellenistic history with a certain author's concept, with verification of the facts, as far as it was then possible, the works of Polybius and Diodorus are of the greatest importance. Polybius (200-118 BC) is one of the prominent Greek historians. In his youth he was active political activity in the Achaean Union, after the defeat of Macedonia at Pydna in 168 BC. e. he was transferred to Rome as a hostage and lived there until his death. In Rome, Polybius became close to a number of major politicians, in particular with Scipio Aemilianus, and was aware of all public affairs of the Roman Republic, that is, the entire Mediterranean. Polybius traveled widely. He was in Egypt, Asia Minor, Roman Africa, Spain, traveled all over the Atlantic coast of Africa and Spain. Polybius was a well-informed historian, had access to state archives, met with many eyewitnesses of historical events. His work details the history of the Greek and Roman world from 220 to 146 BC. e., contains valuable information about public finances, military affairs, socio-political clashes, about the structure of many states. The author developed in his work a well-thought-out theory of historical development in the form of recurring cycles in which a natural and logical degeneration of the main state forms takes place (monarchy into aristocracy, aristocracy into democracy).
In the "Historical Library" of Diodorus Siculus (I century BC), consisting of 40 books, books I - V, XVIII - XX are completely preserved, in which, in addition to the history of classical Greece (V - IV centuries BC), AD) describes in detail the struggle of the Diadochi, the history of the reign of the tyrant Agathocles in Sicily, and other events of early Hellenistic history (before 30 BC). Diodorus used reliable sources, and his factual material is of great value. Along with military-political events, Diodorus also covers the economic situation of the warring parties, such as Egypt and Rhodes, and briefly reports on social clashes.
The richest information of the most varied content is given in Strabo's "Geography" (64/63 BC - 23/24 AD). Strabo's work is not so much geography in the conventional sense, but an encyclopedic guide for practical needs. government controlled. Therefore, Strabo most carefully describes not only geographical position, climate, Natural resources, but also the features of the economic life of each region, the state structure, the most significant political events, cultural attractions. Most of Strabo's voluminous work (12 books out of 17) is devoted to the description of the Greek world. In the books of Strabo there is quite a lot of information relating to the archaic and classical times, but the most information is given just for the Hellenistic period of Greek history.
Of great value to early Hellenistic history are the writings of Plutarch, especially his biographies of major Greek and Roman politicians of the 3rd-1st centuries. BC e. In total, Plutarch gives a description of the biographies of 9 prominent Greeks, including Alexander and Pyrrhus. Plutarch gives a biography of both the Hellenistic kings and politicians of various Greek policies. The biographies of Plutarch are compiled on the basis of numerous, carefully selected sources, many of which have not survived to our time, and contain the richest material on political history, religion and culture of the early Hellenistic era. In general, the biographies of Hellenistic figures are written by Plutarch with greater care and accuracy than the biographies of the Greeks of the archaic and classical periods.
Unique in its richness of material for recreating the history of Greek culture of all eras, including archaic, classical and Hellenistic, is the work of Pausanias (II century AD) "Description of Hellas". The work of Pausanias consists of 10 books, inscriptions of historical content edited by Tod, also a collection of historical inscriptions edited by Moretti (in 1967-1975) and a number of other publications. Collections of inscriptions from some regions have been published, for example, a collection of Greek and Latin inscriptions from the Northern Black Sea region, prepared by V.V. Latyshev in 1885-1916, vol. I, II, IV. The numismatic material is constantly replenished, numbering up to several hundred thousand different coins. Hundreds of archaeological expeditions from many countries of the world are conducting intensive and fruitful excavations of various centers of Hellenistic societies.
Different categories of sources complement each other. For example, the history of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom is largely known on the basis of numismatic materials and archaeological excavations. The discovery of such interesting and rich cities as Dura-Europos on the Euphrates and Ai-Khanoum in northern Afghanistan (the ancient name of this city is unknown), expanded our knowledge of the history of urban planning, military fortification, urban life and economy, social and political relations, "culture Seleucid state, although there is practically no evidence of these cities in literary sources.
A new category of sources for the study of Hellenistic history, especially the Ptolemaic kingdom of Egypt, are the numerous papyri texts. To date, more than 250 thousand different papyrus finds from Egypt are known, and a special scientific discipline, papyrology, is engaged in their processing. Among the papyrological documents, whole historical and artistic works were found, for example, Aristotle's treatise "Athenian polity"; historical essay describing the Greek history of the first half of the 4th century BC. BC e. (the so-called Oxyrhynchus historian), many comedies by Menander, texts by Homer, etc. The content of this huge collection of papyri is unusually diverse: royal orders, laws, literary works, accounts, business contracts, marriage contracts, correspondence, student exercises, petitions, religious texts, decrees of various assemblies, etc. The papyri characterize the inner life of Ptolemaic Egypt with such completeness that we do not have for any Hellenistic society. At present, the Egyptian papyri have been collected and published in multi-volume series. The largest are the multi-volume collections of papyri from Tebtyunis, Oxyrhynchus, Gibelen, the publication of Zeno's archive, and many others.
In general, numerous and diverse sources on the history of various periods of Greek history make it possible to show the main directions in the development of ancient Greek society - from the initial stages of the formation of a class slave society and state to the conquest of Greek policies and Hellenistic states by Rome.
The history of Ancient Greece has an extensive source base. These are, first of all, written sources. From the Cretan-Mycenaean era, tablets written in syllabary A (in Crete) and B (in Balkan Greece) have been preserved. The syllabary A has not yet been deciphered, and the syllabary B was deciphered in 1953 by the English scientist M. Ventris. These plates are business reporting documents. Homer's poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey" are an important source. Each poem consists of 24 books. In the Iliad, Homer gives a detailed description of the military operations of the Greeks and Trojans during the Trojan War, the organization of the military camp and weapons, the control system, appearance cities, religious beliefs of the Greeks and Trojans, everyday life. In the poem "Odyssey" Homer characterizes economic activities, the life of the royal palace and estate, the relationship between those in power and the poor, customs, particulars of everyday life. For the archaic era, important sources are the poems of Hesiod and the Greek lyricists (Archiloch, Theognis, Solon, Alcaeus, Sappho and others). Modern scientists, with the help of their works, are trying to solve issues of the specifics of the social psychology of the archaic period. History emerges in Greece as a science. The historical works of Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, which have come down to us in full, fragments of the works of other historians give a holistic, although sometimes subjective picture of the events of the archaic and, mainly, the classical periods. Great importance have the works of late writers, Hellenistic and Roman times: Diodorus Siculus, Strabo, Plutarch, Pausanias, Athenaeus, Aulus Helius and many others. They conveyed to us the ancient tradition, most of which has been lost. The written sources also include the speeches of Greek orators, scientific and philosophical works, works of tragedians and comedians. As a result of excavations, inscriptions were found on hard materials (stone, metal, ceramics). These inscriptions are devoted to various aspects of the public, religious and private life of the Greeks. Working with this category of sources requires special professional training. Of great importance for the study of the history of Ancient Greece are material monuments that are discovered as a result of archaeological excavations. Since the 30s of the 19th century, archaeological excavations have been carried out in Greece. From the very beginning, scientists from different countries(France, England, Germany, USA and others). The largest archaeological excavations were carried out in Athens, Olympia, Delphi, Delos, on the western coast of Asia Minor (Turkey). Remains of remarkable architectural monuments were unearthed, numerous household items and art monuments were found, finds of Greek ceramics were especially significant in quantitative terms. Excavations were carried out in almost all places of residence of the Greeks: in southern Italy and Sicily, southern France, in the Black Sea region. In the Northern Black Sea region, which was part of Russian state, were excavated by domestic archaeologists. As a result of the excavations of G. Schliemann in Mycenae in the 70s years XIX century, Mycenaean Greece was discovered. A. Evans' excavations at Knossos on Crete in 1900 led to the discovery of the Minoan civilization. Excavations continued actively throughout the 20th century. Particularly significant were the excavations of the Greek scientist S. Marinatos on the island of Thera, who discovered the remains ancient city on the territory of Europe, which died as a result of a volcanic eruption 3.5 thousand years ago.
WRITTEN SOURCES
All written monuments are the most important historical sources that allow you to restore the course of specific events, find out what worried people, what they aspired to, how relations were built in the state at the social and personal levels. Written sources are divided into literary, or narrative, and documentary.
The earliest that have come down to us literary sources are epic poems Homer"Iliad" and "Odyssey", created at the beginning of the VIII century. BC e. The Homeric epic differs significantly from the mythological and epic works of the peoples of the Ancient East, since, due to the presence of secular, rational aspects, it contains very valuable information. The works of Homer lay the foundations of historical tradition and historical worldview. The memory of the thousand-year era of the Crete-Mycenaean civilization with its events, and above all with the fighting of the Trojan War, outgrew the boundaries of myth and became a historical landmark that determined in the collective memory of the Hellenes not only mythological, like most peoples, but also historical time. That is why the social system, mores, customs, etc. are reflected in artistic images vividly and reliably. At the same time, Homer's mythological picture of the world is widely represented. The world of the gods depicted by the poet (their images, functions) became the basis for the Greek Olympic religion.
An important epic source is the didactic poem of the Boeotian poet Hesiod(border of VIII-VII centuries BC) "Theogony". In the story about the origin of the gods, the poet draws a picture of the development of the world, reflecting the religious and mythological ideas of the Greek society of the archaic era. In this epic, mythological tales of the ancient past already merge with the description of the real history of the contemporary author. In the poem "Works and Days" the poet gives realistic pictures of the life of the peasants of his time. The didactic epic of Hesiod argues that a just order is necessary not only for the world of the gods, but also for the world of people.
By the 7th century BC e. the intensive development of the Greek world left no room for the heroic epic. The most complete reflection of the era of the formation of a new, urban society and the emergence of an active personality are various genres of lyrics. In elegies and iambic Tirtea from Lacedaemon, Solon from Athens Theognis from Megara reflected the complex life of society, riddled with acute political conflicts, in which it is difficult for a person to find peace and happiness. The new self-awareness of the individual was reflected in poetry Archilochus and especially in the work of the Aeolian poets Alcaea And Sappho.
In addition to works of art, you can learn about the life of Ancient Greece from historical writings, official certificates of various kinds. The first documentary records were made in the 2nd millennium BC. e. in Achaean society. With the advent of the alphabet and the approval of policies, documentary evidence becomes much larger. Thus, from the fusion of the historical attitude in poetic creativity with official documentary records in ancient Greece, a historical tradition arose. It was reflected in a special prose genre, the development of which eventually led to the formation history as a science.
The emergence of Greek historical prose dates back to the 6th century. BC e. and is connected with the activity of the so-called logographers. Outlining the plots of distant mythological antiquity, tracing the genealogy of ancient heroes and the history of the cities founded by them, they were close to epic poets. But these were already historical works. Describing the legendary past, logographers introduced documentary materials, geographical and ethnographic information into the text. And although myth and reality are bizarrely intertwined in their works, an attempt at a rationalistic rethinking of the legend is already clearly visible. On the whole, the works of the logographers mark a transitional stage from myth, with its sacred history, to logos, with its scientific study of the past.
The first historical work created Herodotus from Halikartas (c. 485-425 BC), who was called "the father of history" in antiquity. During the political struggle, he was expelled from his native city. After that, he traveled a lot, visited the Greek policies in the Mediterranean and Black Seas, as well as a number of countries of the Ancient East. This allowed Herodotus to collect extensive material about the life of the contemporary world.
A great influence on the formation of his own historical concept was exerted on Herodotus by his stay in Athens, where he became close to the leader of the Athenian democracy, Pericles. In his work, which is commonly called "History", Herodotus described the course of the war between the Greeks and Persians. This is a genuine scientific work, since already in the first lines the author formulates a scientific problem that he is trying to investigate and substantiate: “Herodotus of Halicarnassus presents the following research in order ... so that the reason why the war arose between them was not forgotten.” To reveal this reason, Herodotus turns to the prehistory of events. He tells about the history of the ancient Eastern countries and peoples that became part of the Persian state (Egypt, Babylonia, Media, Scythians), and then about the history of the Greek policies, and only after that he proceeds to describe military operations. To find the truth, Herodotus takes a critical approach to the selection and analysis of sources involved. And although the degree of reliability of the information collected by the historian varies, and some episodes in the treatise are fictional, nevertheless, most of the information from the History is confirmed by other sources, and above all by archaeological discoveries. However, the thinking of Herodotus is still traditional: the divine power, which rewards good and punishes evil, acts as a regularity in history. But the main merit of Herodotus is that, through his work, a source appeared in the hands of scientists, where the core of the events described is historical time and deliberately introduced historicism.
The principle of historicism, first used by Herodotus, was developed and made dominant in the scientific treatise by his younger contemporary, the Athenian. Thucydides(c. 460-396 BC). He was born into a noble family, took part in the Peloponnesian War, but due to the fact that he could not protect the city of Amphipolis from the Spartans, he was expelled from Athens. In exile, where he spent almost two decades, Thucydides decided to describe the history of the Peloponnesian War.
The historian is interested in all the events of which he was a contemporary. But in order to find historical truth, Thucydides conducts a strict critical selection of historical sources, using only those that contain reliable information: which he himself was an eyewitness, and what he heard from others, after as accurate as possible investigations regarding each fact taken separately. To do this, he visited the scene, talked with eyewitnesses, got acquainted with the documents. Such an approach to facts allows him, in presenting the course of history, no longer to explain the events taking place by the intervention of the gods, but to find objective reasons events and the reasons that caused them, which helps to identify patterns of historical events. For him, a direct connection between successes in the conduct of hostilities and the stability of the internal political situation in the state is clear. History, according to Thucydides, is made People, acting in accordance with their "nature". Their interests, aspirations and passions are stronger than laws and agreements.
Thucydides played a decisive role in establishing scientific knowledge about the past. He developed a critical method for analyzing historical sources and was the first to reveal patterns of historical development. For all subsequent generations of researchers, Thucydides laid the foundation for understanding the meaning of historical development and human actions. His work is a valuable historical source, in which the events described are as objectively as possible covered.
The genre of historical research was further developed in the 4th century. The unfinished "History" by Thucydides, which ended at the description of the events of 411 BC. e., continued literally from the last phrase in his "Greek History" Xenophon from Athens (c. 445-355). But in his presentation of the material more clearly than in Thucydides, the personal position of the author, who came from a wealthy family, received an aristocratic upbringing and was a student of Socrates, is manifested. A supporter of the Spartan state system, Xenophon was critical of Athenian democracy. This explains a certain bias in the presentation of the material. In addition, Xenophon does not use the sources involved critically enough, sometimes interpreting events to please his predilections, and also paying great attention to individual personalities, does not try to reveal the objective causes of historical events. However, his "Greek History", describing the events from 411 to 362 BC. e., remains the most important source for studying the difficult era of acute struggle between the policies and the crisis of the classical Greek policy.
Xenophon was not only a historian. A number of his treatises reflected his political predilections. In the essay “On the State Structure of the Lacedaemonians”, he idealizes the Spartan order, and in the “Cyropaedia”, dedicated to the upbringing of the founder of the Persian state, Cyrus the Elder, he sympathizes with the idea of \u200b\u200ba monarchical structure of the state. Interesting information about the Persian state, its mercenary army and the life of the peoples on the territory of Asia Minor is contained in the treatise "Anabasis" ("Ascent"). It tells about the participation of Greek mercenaries, including Xenophon, in the internecine struggle for the Persian throne on the side of Cyrus the Younger.
Of great interest from the point of view of the development of philosophical thought and the characteristics of Athenian life is the treatise "Memories of Socrates", which recorded the conversations of the famous philosopher with his students. Xenophon's views on the most expedient methods of managing the economy are reflected in the essay "Economics" (or "Domostroy"), and suggestions on how to improve the financial situation of the Athenian state are reflected in the work "On Incomes". In general, Xenophon's numerous treatises contain diverse and valuable, but not always objective information about the most diverse aspects of the life of the Greek society of his time.
The main merit of Herodotus, Thucydides and Xenophon was the spread of interest in history in Greek society and the establishment historical approach to past events. Some, like Xenophon, and also Kratappus, or the "Oxirinian historian," directly continued the studies of Thucydides, imitating the great historian with varying degrees of success. Others, like Ephor, Theopompus and Timaeus, came "into history" from oratorical schools. But the result was the appearance a large number treatises on the history of Athens, Sicily and Italy, Persia, the reign of King Philip II, etc. They had a huge impact not only on the formation of historical consciousness in Greek society (these works were widely used by scientists of subsequent eras), but also on the formation of historical tradition in neighboring societies.
An important source on the classical era is the ancient Greek dramaturgy - the works of the tragedians Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides and the comedian Aristophanes. As citizens of the Athenian polis, they took an active part in the political events of their time, which was directly reflected in their poetic works. The peculiarity of this type of literary source lies in the fact that here reality is presented through artistic images. But since during this period the Greek theater actively participated in the formation of the polis system of values and democratic morality, the literary images were not the fruit of idle fiction or the interpretation of legendary mythological plots, but were an expression of the dominant civil worldview, objective assessments and judgments of the Athenian society.
Playwright Aeschylus(525-456 BC) was a contemporary of acute internal political clashes during the formation of Athenian democracy and the struggle of the Greeks for freedom in the era of the Greco-Persian wars. A participant in the main battles of the Greeks with the conquerors, he expressed in the tragedy "Persians", written about real historical events, patriotic sentiments of the Hellenes. Even in the works of Aeschylus on mythological subjects (trilogies "Oresteia", "Chained Prometheus", "Seven Against Thebes", etc.), there are constantly allusions to modern events and all the actions of the characters are evaluated from the position of a civil ideal.
The model of an honest citizen is the poet and playwright Sophocles(496-406 BC). In his tragedies "Oedipus Rex", "Antigone", "Ajax" and others, he raises such important issues as the morality of power, the place of wealth in life, and attitudes towards war. But, despite the objective expression of public sentiment, the views of Sophocles are largely traditional, which brings him closer to Herodotus. He sees in events a manifestation of the divine will, before which a person must humble himself. People will suffer inevitable punishment if they dare to violate the world order established by the gods.
tragedy Euripides(480-406 BC) Medea, Petitioners, Electra, Iphigenia in Tauris, and others introduce the public mood of that era, and not only the democratic ideals of the Athenians, their exaltation of friendship and nobility , but also with a negative attitude towards the Spartans, wealth, etc. An important place in the tragedies of Euripides is shown by the everyday life of ancient Athens, including family relationships, in particular between husband and wife.
An interesting source on the political history of Athens are comedies. Aristophanes(c. 445 - c. 385 BC). His work falls on the period of the Peloponnesian War, which was difficult for Athens, and in his plays “Aharnians”, “Horsemen” and “Peace”, he affirms the idea of peace, expressing the anti-war sentiments of the Athenian peasants, who bear the greatest hardships of the war. Shortcomings in the life of the Athenian state (“Wasps”, “Women in the National Assembly”), and newfangled scientific and philosophical theories (“Clouds”) were subjected to caustic satire. The works of Aristophanes are a response to all important events in the life of the Athenian polis. They reflect very accurately real life and the sentiments of Greek society, which are weakly traced according to other sources.
An irreplaceable historical source are philosophical and rhetorical works. At the end of the 5th - the first half of the 4th c. BC. tense political life and the creative spiritual atmosphere in the policies contributed to the development of science, the desire to comprehend all the diversity of society. An outstanding philosopher was Plato(427-347 BC). For historians, his treatises "The State" and "Laws" are of great interest, where the author, in accordance with his socio-political views, suggests ways for a just reorganization of society and gives a "recipe" for an ideal state system.
Plato's Disciple Aristotle(384-322 BC) tried to explore the history and political structure of over 150 states. Of his works, only the Athenian Politia has survived, which systematically describes the history and state structure of the Athenian policy. Extensive and varied information is gleaned from numerous sources, both extant (the works of Herodotus, Thucydides) and almost completely lost (like the Attids - the Athenian chronicles).
Aristotle
Based on the study of the life of the Greek policies, Aristotle created a generalizing theoretical work "Politics" - about the essence of the state. His provisions, Aristotle based on an analysis of the real processes of the historical development of Hellas, predetermined the further development of political thought in ancient Greece.
Texts are a kind of historical source speakers' speeches. Written for pronunciation in a popular assembly or in court, they are, of course, polemically pointed. Political speeches Demosthenes, court speeches Lisia, solemn eloquence Isocrates and others contain important information about various aspects of the life of Greek society.
Oratory had a huge impact both on the development of social thought in Greece and on the stylistic features of written texts. In order to please the laws of rhetoric, the main thing in speech gradually becomes not the accuracy and truthfulness of the presentation, but the external attractiveness and polemical tendentiousness of the speech, in which historical objectivity is sacrificed to the beauty of form.
irreplaceable historical evidence are epigraphic sources, i.e., inscriptions made on a solid surface: stone, ceramics, metal. Greek society was educated, and therefore quite a variety of inscriptions have come down to us. These are state decrees, articles of contracts, building inscriptions, inscriptions on the pedestals of statues, dedicatory inscriptions to the gods, gravestone inscriptions, lists of officials, various business documents (accounts, property lease and mortgage agreements, acts of sale, etc.) , inscriptions during voting in the national assembly, etc. (more than 200 thousand inscriptions have already been found). Both multi-line inscriptions and inscriptions in a few words are of great value, since they relate to all aspects of the life of the ancient Greeks, including everyday life, which is practically not reflected in literary sources. But the main thing is that the inscriptions were made in most cases by ordinary citizens and express their worldview. The German scientist A. Bockh was the first to publish Greek inscriptions back in 1886. The latest collection of Greek historical inscriptions to date was published in 1989 by R. Meiggs and D. Lewis.
This text is an introductory piece. From book Ancient Rus' author Vernadsky Georgy VladimirovichII. Written sources 1. Greek and Latin Agathias, Historiac, ed. Dindorf, HGM, II. Amianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae, J. C. Roife, ed. and trans., 3 vols. Locb Classical Library (Harvard University Press). Annales Bertiniani, see Prodentius "Anonymi Belae regis notarii de Gestis Hungaronim Liber", Renim Hungaricarum Monumenta Arpadiana", ed. S. Endlicher (St. Gallen, 1849; reprint: Leipzig, 1931).Anscarius, see.
From the book Viking Age author Sawyer Peter From the book Ancient Greece author Lyapustin Boris SergeevichWRITTEN SOURCES All written records are the most important historical sources that allow you to restore the course of specific events, find out what worried people, what they aspired to, how relations in the state were built on public and personal
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From the book History of the Persian Empire author Olmsted AlbertElamite and Babylonian Written Sources Having conquered Elam and Babylonia, Cyrus established a connection with a much more ancient and complex civilization. These countries showed their antiquity by the long-standing use of written documents. For twenty-five centuries Babylonia had
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From the book Source Studies author Team of authors2.2. Written historical sources in historical knowledge Let's start with the axiom: we are inside a culture that is characterized by a certain (but not the only possible) type of social memory - casual in content, written in the mechanism of fixation,
From the book Historical Local Lore author Matyushin Gerald NikolaevichChapter 5. Written sources § 1. Manuscripts Brief information about writing. A letter is a means of fixing speech information with the help of images or descriptive signs. The introduction of writing made it possible to store and accumulate the collective memory of mankind. Language
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