Dr.

Christoph Greger
Humanities 41A
Fall 2019
Study Guide for Unit 2:
The Early Greeks
The Early Greeks

 The Minoans and Mycenaeans – who they were and what some of their art looked like (Minoan art, anyway).

 The Palace of Knossos.

 Myths of Minos and the Minotaur and Daedelus

 The “Bronze Age Collapse” and the subsequent “dark age.” Know what these terms refer to.

 Know the general story of the Trojan War, and its key players: Helen, Agamemnon, Achilles, Odysseus, Hector.

 Know a bit about Homer and his role in Greek Culture.

 Know some key Greek myths: Echo and Narcissus, myths surrounding the Trojan war.

 Have something to say about the roles of the gods in early Greek society, based on the Greek myths we’ve
looked at and the selections from Homer.

 Greek black and red figure pottery – what it is, what it looks like.

 How early Greek sculpture evolves and differs from Egyptian and that of earlier civilizations.

Classical Greek Arts: Pottery and Sculpture

 Know what Greek pottery was used for.

 Know the difference between black-figure and red-figure pottery.

 Be able to identify different stages in the development of Classical Greek sculptural style, from the early
“Kouros” figures to the works of Praxiteles and Myron (the Doryphoros and Discobolus);

 Be able to contrast Greek sculptural styles from those of Egypt which we looked at.

 Be able to identify the Greek love of the “ideal” in sculpture.

The Greek Polis – Athens and Sparta

 Be able to identify some of the necessary elements of the Greek ideal of the Polis.

 Be able to identify some of the chief features of the Spartan Polis, as described by Plutarch in his description of
the life of Lycurgus.

 Be able to identify some of the chief features of the Athenian Polis, as set forth by Pericles in his funeral
oration.