Summary of Humphrey Davy Findley Kitto's The Greeks

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 The Greeks, who were the first to make this distinction, felt that they were different from any other people. They felt that they were not barbarians, but they were foreigners who did not speak Greek.
#2 The Greeks were the first civilization to create a written law, and they were also the first to develop a sense of freedom. They were ruled by Law, which respected justice. The other civilizations of the East were ruled by absolute rulers who did not respect the rights of their subjects.
#3 The Greeks developed a form of polity that satisfied the higher instincts and capabilities of man. Other forms of political society have been static, while the city-state was the means by which the Greek strove to make the life of the community and the individual more excellent.
#4 I have tried to write about the Greeks as I know them, not as I imagine them to be. I have allowed myself the luxury of writing on points that interest me, instead of covering the whole field in a systematic and probably hurried manner.

Sujets

• Politique
• Europe
• Général

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 13 mars 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669352839
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on Humphrey Davy Findley Kitto's The Greeks
Contents Insights from Chapter 1
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The Greeks, who were the first to make this distinction, felt that they were different from any other people. They felt that they were not barbarians, but they were foreigners who did not speak Greek.

#2

The Greeks were the first civilization to create a written law, and they were also the first to develop a sense of freedom. They were ruled by Law, which respected justice. The other civilizations of the East were ruled by absolute rulers who did not respect the rights of their subjects.

#3

The Greeks developed a form of polity that satisfied the higher instincts and capabilities of man. Other forms of political society have been static, while the city-state was the means by which the Greek strove to make the life of the community and the individual more excellent.

#4

I have tried to write about the Greeks as I know them, not as I imagine them to be. I have allowed myself the luxury of writing on points that interest me, instead of covering the whole field in a systematic and probably hurried manner.

#5

The story of the Ten Thousand is an example of how the Greeks were able to overcome their many differences and march together as an army. They elected a general, Xenophon, an Athenian country-gentleman, and he was as much chairman as he was general.

#6

The word Athens is not a Greek name, and the goddess Athena is non-Greek. The interpretation of legends like these is not a matter of certainty, but it is tempting to see in this one the memory of the collision, in Attica, of an incoming Hellenic people with the indigenous worshippers of Athena.

#7

The Greeks believed that they were the leaders and the metropolis of the Ionian Greeks, and that they were indigenous. But archaeologists have found no evidence that there was an indigenous non-Hellenic population in Attica and the Peloponnese.

#8

The reliability of tradition is demonstrated in the Greek world. The legend of the Minotaur and King Minos’s island-empire of Crete is an example. The name Minotauros, the first half of which is obviously Minos, and the second half tauros, which is the Greek for a bull, was used as a symbol of divinity or authority by the Cretans.

#9

The genealogies of the Greek heroes are a good example of how not to trust historical traditions. They peter out two generations after the Trojan War, which would bring us to the traditional date of the Dorian invasion about 1100 B. C.

#10

The Minoan civilization, which was a dim memory to the historical Greeks, was a vastly different culture that was centered on the island of Crete. It was a late stage of this culture, which was the background of the Iliad, that was destroyed at around 1400 B. C.

#11

The Minoans were a civilization that existed in Crete. They were very elegant and well-off, and their art was very complex. But they left no writings, so we do not know what they thought about life or how they faced its problems.

#12

The Mycenaean culture is the last Cretan culture, and it leads directly into the Greek mainland culture. The typical palace-plan was different. The rooms were less open, and the style achieved a symmetry unlike anything in Cretan architecture.

#13

The Mycenaean culture was made up of artists and craftsmen who abandoned a Crete in decay and settled in a new home, among rude Hellenes. They made art for them. The Mycenaean culture was the higher one, and it was interesting to note that the art and articles of luxury that Homer described were attributed to the Phoenicians, who were simply assumed to be rude conquerors.

#14

The Achaeans were a group of people who invaded Greece and Troy, and the Mycenaean Age came to an end at the end of the twelfth century. The Dorians came down from north-central Greece and conquered the small kingdoms, but they were a destroying flood of men who made a sudden end of a long civilization.

#15

The art of Classical Greece is not entirely new, but rather a Renaissance that reconciles two opposing principles: control and clarity, which are often opposed, and brilliance, imagination, and passion.

#16

The Classical Greek language, and the Classical Greek art that stemmed from it, is characterized by its clarity and control over structure. The Romans, on the other hand, achieved the periodic style by sheer determination and courage.

#17

Greece is a land of great variety. Mediterranean and sub-alpine conditions exist within a few miles of each other, and many an enterprising community of seamen and traders had as neighbors an inland agricultural people that knew little of the sea and commerce.

#18

The Greek states were very diverse, and had a wide variety of soil, climate, and access to the sea. They were therefore self-sufficient, and could enjoy a balanced corporate life.

#19

The Greek world was small, but it was extremely diverse, and this allowed for constant trade and interaction among its states. The climate was also very agreeable, and it was steady.

#20

The Greek climate was also favorable to long life, as evidenced by the list of names I gave above. The Greek medical writings attributed to Hippocrates describe a bleak picture of the Greek climate, but they also describe how the Greeks were prone to long life and sustained energy.

#21

The Greek diet was very different from the one we have today. It was a very frugal diet, consisting of two courses, the first being a kind of porridge, and the second being a kind of porridge. It was a very active out-of-door life that bred a vigorous race of men.

#22

The Greek climate was harsh and cold in the winter, but warm and sunny in the summer. The Greek was able to live with very little equipment because he could spend most of his leisure time outdoors.

#23

The Greeks were a sociable people, who enjoyed spending their leisure time outdoors. They were able to do this because they did not need the things that other people found essential. They were able to sharpen their wits and improve their manners through constant interaction with their peers.

#24

The economic life of this Dark Age was based on agriculture. The Greeks were poor in minerals, but they were well-informed about the culture of the vine. They also had well-tended orchards and gardens.

#25

The land of the Phaeacians has a touch of fairyland about it, but it is a picture of something that Homer has seen. We hear of another vineyard in the last book of the Odyssey, and there is no magic.