Study Guide

First Test

Western Humanities: from Origins to Greece

Instructor: Eric V. Snow

Western Humanities 404

Mesopotamia (pp. 4-12):

Neolithic

civilization

Fertile Crescent

Sumerians

cuneiform

Ziggurat

Gilgamesh

Hammurabi

Assyria

Babylon

Zoroastrianism

Egypt (pp. 12-27):

Nile

pharaoh

pyramids

Sphinx

hieroglyphics

Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten

Tutankhamen

Hyksos

Greece (pp. 31-47, 54-71, 86-90):

Early to Classical Greek Civilization (pp. 31-40, 42-45, 59): Minoan

Mycenaean

Homer

Hesiod

Athens

Draco

Cleisthenes

Pericles

Religion & gods (pp. 41-42): Poseidon

Athena

Zeus

Dionysus

Orphism

Battles (pp. 40-41, 60, 67-68): Marathon

Thermopylae

Salamis

Peloponnesian War’s dates: 431-404 b.c.

Thucydides

Alexander the Great

Greek playwrights (pp. 61-66): Aristophanes

Aeschylus

Euripides

Sophocles

hubris

Philosophy (pp. 68-71): Pythagoras

Heraclitus

Sophists

Socrates

Apology

Plato

Republic

rationalism

Forms

Aristotle

teleology/enteleche

syllogism

empiricism

Short answer questions hints:

1. Be able to compare and contrast Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations specifically.

2. Be able to answer why business majors should take a humanities/history class by quoting in full statements by Socrates and George Santayana.

Essay questions: Choose one of the following two questions to answer. A proper answer will have full essay form, including an introduction, a thesis statement, two or more body paragraphs that explain/defend the thesis, and a conclusion in the last paragraph that restates the thesis. Put the number of the question you're answering at the beginning of what you write.

(40 possible points)

A. How and why was ancient Greek civilization different from other ancient civilizations, such as those of Egypt, India, or Mesopotamia? Think about such factors as geography, etc. for the "why" part. Think about specific values, practices, and philosophical beliefs of the Greeks as compared to other civilizations when answering the "how" part.

or

B. What are the beliefs and values of Greek civilization that still affect modern Western society today? Name specific discoveries, beliefs, political practices, values, philosophical concepts, etc. that the Greeks had that modern Western people tend to have as a result.

Comment: Notice the overlap between the “how” part of Question A above and Question B. What made Greek civilization different from other civilizations anciently often is what contemporary Western Civilization inherited from the Greeks (and often makes it different presently from much of the rest of the world to the extent it isn’t westernized).