Cultural Snapshots: Greek Drama, Etruscan Women

World Civilization 1 Dr. Logan 28 September, 2020 Allison Brown Homework Assignment #2 1. From the documentary: How did the chorus function in Ancient Greek drama? As shown in the BBC documentary, “The Greeks: The Greatest Show on Earth”, the chorus in Ancient Greek drama functioned as commentators on the main plot of the play. This could be done with dancing, singing, reciting lines, comic relief, and many other ways to make the play seem more inclusive of the audience and entertaining. Similar to all other performers on stage, the chorus wore masks to disguise their faces and allow them to take form in their performing role. 2. From the documentary: How were Etruscan women’s lives different from that of Ancient Greek and Roman women? As the documentary states, “There's no doubt that Etruscan women compared with Greek and Roman women were extraordinarily free”. From owning their own property to drinking wine alongside men, Etruscan women lived a life with more autonomy than that of their “sisters” in Greek and Roman society. Greek women kept mostly to the rear quarters of their homes to do the spinning/weaving and “women’s things” and Roman women traditionally could not take part in “public life”. But Etruscan women, at least the aristocratic women, had a high status in society. An obvious example of this was life with banquets, the social events allowed women in Etruscan society to move freely and dine and relax with any man, some burials excavated were found with women having their own banqueting vessels. Additionally, Etruscan’s societies “sexual experiences” differed from that of the Greek and Romans, with Etruscans sharing all of their women and their society raising the children that are born as a result without being entirely sure of their paternal lines. 3. From the additional reading: How did Philip II pave the way for Alexander’s victories? An example of Philip II paving the way for his son Alexander is allowing him to use his father’s army and even his idea to invade the Persian Empire, without Philip Alexander, would not have had the numbers to be victorious in the invasion. Philip’s path to this army was not simple, with his implementation of cash bonuses and land grants in invaded lands and later his advancements like the sarissa, Philip could allow Alexander to utilize his army, which was fundamental for Alexander’s career moving forward. Kottaridi, who is the archaeologist interviewed in the article states that “ … This [Philip’s army] is an incredible achievement for someone they dismissed as a barbarian, and very important for Alexander”. 4. From the additional reading: How did Philip arrange for Alexander to have the best education possible? Alexander’s formal education began at the age of thirteen when Philip summoned the renowned philosopher Aristotle to his Macedonian Court. Tensions were high between the pair when at court, six years before, Philip had razed Aristotle’s home of Stagira and sold most of its citizens into slavery. In order for Aristotle to educate Alexander, Philip was to rebuild Stagira and try to repopulate it. Their agreement allowed for Alexander to be educated in “... biology, ethics, literature, mathematics, medicine, philosophy, politics, rhetoric and zoology”. However, Kottaridi argues with modern archaeological evidence that Alexander and his peers learned how to fight in a recently discovered gymnasium and learned a combination of traditional schoolings and military preparation. 5. From the additional reading: How did Augustus maintain the Pax Romana? The Pax Romana is the “largely peaceful” period of two centuries during which Rome experienced, after Augustus’ somewhat violent ascension to power, with the assassination of his greatuncle Julius Caesar and the suicide of Mark Antony. The reading states that during the Pax Romana Augustus established order in the empire, and in Roman-seized lands that became conflictless and taxpaying. Conflict only occurred if they sparked a rebellion. Augustus also maintained peace internally by developing infrastructure such as roads, aqueducts, baths, and amphitheaters to make “complacent” Roman citizens.