Stages of development of ancient culture. Stages of development of Greek ancient philosophy

Further ideas ancient philosophy formed the basis medieval philosophy and are considered the main sources of development of European social thought.

In ancient philosophy there are 4 main periods: Natural philosophical (pre-classical) stage (7-5 ​​centuries BC, Classical stage (5-4 centuries BC), Hellenistic-Roman stage (4th century BC .c. – 3rd century AD), final stage (3rd-6th centuries AD).

Pre-classical ancient philosophy arose in the ancient Greek city-states (polises): Miletus, Ephesus, Elea, etc. It is a collection of philosophical schools named after the corresponding policies. Natural philosophers (translated as philosophers of nature) considered the problems of the universe in the unity of nature, gods and man; Moreover, the nature of the cosmos determined the nature of man. The main question of pre-classical philosophy was the question of the fundamental principle of the world.

Early natural philosophers highlighted the problem of cosmic harmony, to which harmony must correspond human life(cosmological approach).

U late natural philosophers the contemplative approach is combined with the use of logical argumentation, and a system of categories emerges.

Natural philosophers include:

Classical stage (5th-4th centuries BC)

The heyday of ancient philosophy. At this stage, the center of philosophical thought was Athens, which is why it is also called Athenian. Main features of the classical stage:

• systematized teachings (original philosophical systems) appear;
• switching the attention of philosophers from the “nature of things” to questions of ethics, morality, problems of society and human thinking;

The most famous philosophers of the classical period are the ancient Greek thinkers Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, as well as the sophistic philosophers.

Sophists (in translation from Greek - “sages, experts”) - a group of ancient Greek enlighteners from the mid-5th to first half. 4th centuries BC They can be called professional philosophers, since the sophists taught logic, oratory and other disciplines to those who wanted them for a fee. They attached particular importance to the ability to convince and prove any position (even incorrect ones).

Features of the philosophy of the Sophists:

• a turn from natural philosophical problems to man, society and everyday problems;
• denial of old norms and experiences of the past, critical attitude towards religion;
• recognition of man as the “measure of all things”: free and independent of nature;

The Sophists did not create a single philosophical teaching, but they sparked an interest in critical thinking and human personality.

The senior sophists include (2nd half of the 5th century BC): Gorgias, Protagoras, Hippias, Prodicus, Antiphon, Critias.

The younger sophists include: Lycophron, Alcidamont, Thrasymachus.

Socrates (469-399 BC) - considered the founder of classical philosophy. Like the Sophists, he made man and his inner world, however, he considered their teaching sterile and superficial. He questioned the existence of gods and put reason, truth and knowledge at the forefront.

The main ideas of Socrates:

• Self-knowledge is both the search for knowledge and virtue.
• Admitting your ignorance encourages you to expand your knowledge.
• There is a higher Mind, spread throughout the Universe, and the human mind is only an insignificant part of it.

The essence of Socrates' life was his conversations with his students and discussions with his opponents. He believed that the way to comprehend the truth was maieutics (a method he invented, in Greek means midwifery) - the search for truth through dialogue, irony and collective reflection. Socrates is also credited with the invention of the inductive method, leading from the particular to the general.

Since the philosopher preferred to present his teachings orally, its main provisions have come to us in the retellings of Aristophanes, Xenophon and Plato.

Plato (Athenian) real name - Aristocles (427-347 BC). A student and follower of Socrates, he preached the moral meaning of his ideas all his life. He founded his own school, called the Academy, in the suburbs of Athens, and laid the foundation for an idealistic movement in philosophy.

The basis of Plato’s teachings is made up of three concepts: “one” (the basis of all being and reality), mind and soul. The main question his philosophy is the relationship between being and thinking, material and ideal.

According to Plato's idealistic theory, the world is divided into 2 categories:

• world of becoming- a real, material world in which everything is changeable and imperfect. Material objects are secondary and are only a semblance of their ideal images;
• world of ideas, or “eidos” - sensory images that are primary and comprehended by the mind. Each object, thing or phenomenon carries its own idea. The highest idea is the idea of ​​God, the creator of the world order (demiurge).

As part of his philosophy, Plato also developed the doctrine of virtue and created the theory of the ideal state.

Plato presented his ideas mainly in the genre of letters and dialogues (mainly actor which Socrates is). His works include 34 dialogues in total. The most famous of them: “The Republic”, “Sophist”, “Parmenides”, “Theaetetus”.

Plato's ideas had a huge influence both on subsequent philosophical schools of antiquity and on thinkers of the Middle Ages and Modern times.

Aristotle (384 – 322 BC). Aristotle was a student of Plato and spent twenty years at his Academy. After the death of Plato, he served as tutor to Alexander the Great for eight years, and in 335-334. BC founded his own educational institution in the vicinity of Athens, the Lyceum, where he taught together with his followers. He created his own philosophical system based on logic and metaphysics.

Aristotle developed the basic principles of Plato's philosophy, but at the same time criticized many of its aspects. Let’s say he believed that it is not the contemplation of abstract “ideas” that leads to the highest truth, but the observation and study of the real world.

Basic principles of Aristotle's philosophy:

• at the basis of any thing are: matter and form (the material essence and idea of ​​the thing);
• philosophy is the universal science of being, it provides justification for all sciences;
• the basis of science is sensory perception (opinion), but true knowledge can only be achieved with the help of reason;
• the search for the first or final cause is crucial;
• the main reason for life is soul- the essence of being of any thing. There are: lower (vegetative), middle (animal) and higher (reasonable, human) soul, which gives meaning and purpose to human life.

Aristotle rethought and generalized the philosophical knowledge of all previous ancient thinkers. He was the first to systematize the existing sciences, dividing them into three groups: theoretical (physics, mathematics, philosophy), practical (among which one of the main ones was politics) and poetic, regulating the production of various objects). He also developed theoretical foundations ethics, aesthetics, social philosophy and basic structure philosophical knowledge. Aristotle is the author of the geocentric system in cosmology, which existed until the heliocentric system of Copernicus.

Aristotle's teaching was the highest achievement of ancient philosophy and completed its classical stage.

Hellenistic-Roman stage (4th century BC – 3rd century AD)

This period takes its name from the Greek state of Hellas, but also includes the philosophy of Roman society. At this time, in ancient philosophy there was a refusal to create fundamental philosophical systems and a transition to problems of ethics, meaning and values ​​of human life.

Final stage (3rd-6th centuries AD)

Period from 3rd to 6th centuries AD includes the philosophy of not only the Greek, but also the Roman world. At this stage, there was a crisis in Roman society, which was reflected in social thought. Interest in rational thinking faded, the popularity of various mystical teachings and the influence of Christianity grew.

The most influential teaching of this period was Neoplatonism, the most famous representative of which was Plotinus (205-270 AD).

Representatives of Neoplatonism interpreted Plato's teachings and criticized all subsequent movements. The main ideas of Neoplatonism were:

• Everything lower flows from the Higher. The highest is God, or some kind of philosophical principle. The Supreme cannot be comprehended by reason, only through mystical ecstasy.
• The essence of knowledge is the knowledge of the divine principle, which embodies the authenticity of being.
• Good is spirituality, liberation from the body, asceticism.

Useful sources

1. "Philosophy. Course of lectures” / B.N. Bessonov. – M.-LLC “AST Publishing House”, 2002
2. "Philosophy. Short course" / Moiseeva N.A., Sorokovikova V.I. – St. Petersburg-Petersburg, 2004
3. “Philosophy: a textbook for universities” / V.F. Titov, I.N. Smirnov - M. graduate School, 2003
4. "Philosophy: a textbook for higher education students educational institutions» / Yu.M. Khrustalev - M.: Publishing Center "Academy", 2008.
5. “Philosophy: a textbook for higher educational institutions” / executive editor, Ph.D. V.P. Kokhanovsky - Rostov n/a: “Phoenix”, 1998

Ancient philosophy: stages of development, representatives and features updated: October 30, 2017 by: Scientific Articles.Ru

Introduction

Ancient philosophy is a consistently developing philosophical thought and covers a period of over a thousand years - from the end of the 7th century. BC up to the 6th century. n. e. Despite all the diversity of views of thinkers of this period, ancient philosophy is at the same time something unified, uniquely original and extremely instructive. She did not develop in isolation - she drew wisdom Ancient East, whose culture goes back to deeper antiquity, where even before the Greeks the formation of civilization took place: writing, the beginnings of the science of nature were formed, and philosophical views themselves developed. This applies to countries such as Libya, Babylon, Egypt and Persia. There was also influence from more distant countries of the East - Ancient China and India. But the various instructive borrowings of Greek thinkers in no way detract from the amazing originality and greatness of ancient thinkers.

Early period of ancient philosophy

Philosophy originated in Ancient Greece in the 7th-5th centuries. BC e. As in other countries, it arose on the basis of mythology and for a long time maintained a connection with it in the history of ancient philosophy. It is customary to distinguish the following periods

Table 1 - Origin of ancient philosophy

Table 2 - Main periods of development of ancient philosophy

Ancient Greek philosophy, originating on the basis of mythology, maintained a connection with it for a long time. In particular, throughout the history of ancient philosophy, terminology that came from mythology was largely preserved. Thus, the names of the Gods were used to designate various natural and social forces: called Eros or Aphrodite, wisdom - Athena, etc.

Naturally, a particularly close connection between mythology and philosophy took place in the early period of the development of philosophy. From mythology we inherited the idea of ​​the four main elements from which everything that exists is composed. And most philosophers of the early period considered one or more elements to be the first principle of being (for example, Water in Thales).

The origin and first stages of development in ancient Greek philosophy took place in Ionia, an area in Asia Minor where there were many Greek colonies.

The second geographic center for the development of philosophy was the so-called Magna Graecia, where many Greek city-polises were also located.

Currently, all philosophers of the early period are called Pre-Socratics, i.e. the predecessors of Socrates, the first major philosopher of the next, classical period.

School classification

Ionian philosophy

Milesian school

Thales Anaximander Anaximenes

Ephesus school

Heraclitus of Ephesus

Italian philosophy

School of Pythagoras

Pythagoras Pythagoreans

Eleatic school

Xenophanes Parmenides Zeno

Athenian philosophy

Anaxagoras

Milesian school

Thales ( OK. 625-547 BC e.) - ancient Greek sage. He was the first in Greece to predict the complete solar eclipse, introduced a calendar of 365 days divided into 12 thirty-day months, with the remaining five days placed at the end of the year. He was a mathematician.

Main works. “On Principles”, “On Solstice”, “On Equiaction”, etc.

Philosophical views. ORIGINAL. F. considered the beginning of being water. Everything arose from water, everything began from it, and everything returns to it.

Anaximander(c. 610-546 BC) - ancient Greek sage.

Main works. “About Nature”, “Map of the Earth”, etc.

Philosophical views. Anaximander considered the fundamental principle of the world apeiron-eternal. From it two pairs of opposites stand out: hot and cold, wet and dry; This gives rise to four elements: Air, Water, Fire, Earth.

The origin of life and man. The first living beings were born in water. Man originated and developed inside huge fish, then came out onto land.

Anaximenes(c. 588-525 BC) - ancient Greek philosopher.

Philosophical views. Chose the beginning of existence air. When the air is rarefied, fire is formed, and then ether; when condensed - wind, clouds, water, earth, stones.

Ephesus school

Heraclitus(c. 544-480 BC) - ancient Greek sage.

Philosophical views. Heraclitus believed that the origin of all things was Fire. Fire is the material of everything eternal and living; moreover, it is intelligent. Everything in the world arises from fire, and this is the “path down” and the “lack” of fire:

According to Plutarch (I-II centuries)

The doctrine of the soul. The human soul is a combination of fire and moisture. The more fire in the soul, the better it is. The human mind is fire.

Pythagoreanism

Pythagoreanism is a philosophical movement whose founder was Pythagoras. This movement lasted until the end of the ancient world.

Pythagoras(c. 580 - 500 BC) - ancient Greek philosopher.

Philosophical views. He considers ideal essences to be the origin of existence - numbers.

Cosmology. At the center of the world is the earth, everything celestial bodies moving in the Ether around the Earth. Each planet, when moving, produces a monotonous sound of a certain pitch; together these sounds create a melody that can be heard by people with particularly sensitive hearing, for example, like Pythagoras.

Pythagorean Union

The Pythagorean Union was a scientific, philosophical school and political association. It was closed organization, and his teaching is secret.

Periods of development

Early VI-IV centuries. BC e. – Hippasus, Alcmaeon

Middle IV – I centuries. BC e. – Philolaus

Late 1st – 3rd centuries. BC e. - Numnius

Only free people, both women and men, were accepted into it. But only those who have undergone many years of testing and training (test of long silence). The Pythagoreans had common property. There were numerous lifestyle requirements, food restrictions, etc.

The fate of the teaching. Through Neoplatonism, Pythagoreanism had a certain influence on all subsequent European philosophy based on Platonism. In addition, the Pythagorean mysticism of numbers influenced Kabbalah, natural philosophy and various mystical movements.

Eleatic school

The school received its name from the city of Elea, where its largest representatives mainly lived and worked: Xenophanes, Parmenides, Zeno.

The Eleatics were the first to try to rationally explain the world using philosophical concepts ultimate generality, such as “being”, “non-being”, “movement”. And they even tried to prove their ideas.

The fate of the teaching. The teaching of the Eleatics had a significant influence on Plato, Aristotle and all subsequent European philosophy.

Xenophanes(c. 565 - 473 BC) - ancient Greek philosopher.

Philosophical views. Xenosphon can be called a spontaneous materialist. He has the first principle of all things Earth. Water is an accomplice of earth in the generation of life; even souls are composed of earth and water.

The doctrine of the gods. Xenophanes was the first to express the idea that it is not the gods who create people, but the people of the gods, in their own image and likeness.

The true God is not like mortals. He is all-seeing, all-hearing, all-knowing.

Parmenides(c. 504, time of death unknown.) - Ancient Greek philosopher.

Philosophical views. BEING AND NOTHINGING This truth can only be known with the help of reason. He proclaims identity of being and thinking .

Zeno of Elea(c. 490 - 430 BC) - ancient Greek philosopher.

Philosophical views. He defended and defended the doctrine of Parmenides about the One, rejected the reality of sensory existence and the multiplicity of things. Developed by aporia(difficulties) proving the impossibility of movement.

Empedocles(c. 490 - 430 BC) - ancient Greek philosopher.

Philosophical views. Empedocles is a spontaneous materialist – a pluralist. He has everything four traditional elements the beginning of the universe. Everything that happens in the world is explained by the action of two forces - Love and Enmity.*

Changes in the world are the result of the eternal struggle of Love and enmity, in which one or the other force wins. These changes occur in four stages.

Origin of the organic world. The organic world arises at the third stage of cosmogenesis and has four stages: 1) individual parts of animals arise; 2) separate parts of animals are randomly combined and both viable organisms and non-viable monsters arise; 3) viable organisms survive; 4) animals and people appear through reproduction.

Epistemology. Main principle– like is known by like. Since man also consists of four elements, the earth in the external world is known thanks to the earth in human body, water - thanks to water, etc.

The main medium of perception is blood, in which all four elements are most evenly mixed.

Empedocles is a proponent of the theory of transmigration of souls.

Anaxagoras(c. 500 - 428 BC) - ancient Greek philosopher.

Philosophical views. The origin of existence is GEOMETRY. Any thing contains geometries of all kinds.

Geometries themselves are passive. As driving force A. introduces the concept Nus(World mind), which not only moves the world but also cognizes it.

Epistemology. Everything is known by its opposite: cold by warm, sweet by bitter, etc. Sensations do not give truth, geometries are known only by the mind.

The fate of the teaching. Anaxagoras's teaching about the Mind was developed in the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle. The doctrine of geometries remained unclaimed until the 20th century.

Features of ancient philosophy

The development of ancient philosophy is the most important stage in the historical dynamics of the subject philosophical knowledge. Within the framework of ancient philosophy, ontology and metaphysics, epistemology and logic, anthropology and psychology, philosophy of history and aesthetics, moral and political philosophy are highlighted.

Ancient philosophy(first Greek and then Roman) cover more than a thousand-year period from the 6th century. BC e. to VI century AD e. Ancient philosophy originated in the ancient Greek (city-states) with a democratic orientation and its content, methods and purpose differed from the eastern methods of philosophizing, the mythological explanation of the world characteristic of early ancient culture. Formation philosophical view the world was prepared by ancient Greek literature and culture (the works of Homer, Hesiod, gnomic poets), where questions were raised about the place and role of man in the universe, the skills of establishing the motives (reasons) of actions were formed, and artistic images structured according to feelings of harmony, proportion and measure.

Early Greek philosophy uses fantastic imagery and metaphorical language. But if for myth the image of the world and real world were no different, then philosophy formulates as its main goal the desire for truth, a pure and selfless desire to get closer to it. Possession of the complete truth, according to ancient tradition, was considered possible only by the gods. Man could not merge with “sophia” because he was mortal, finite and limited in knowledge. Therefore, only an unbridled desire for truth is available to a person, which has never been fully completed, active, active, passionate desire for truth, love for wisdom, what the concept itself expresses "philosophy". Being was associated with a multitude of constantly changing elements, and consciousness was associated with a limited number of concepts that restrained the chaotic manifestation of the elements.

Search for the fundamental principle of the world in the changing circulation of phenomena is the main cognitive goal of ancient Greek philosophy. Therefore, ancient philosophy can be understood as doctrine of "first principles and causes". According to his method, this historical type philosophy seeks to rationally explain existence, reality as a whole. For ancient philosophy, reasonable evidence, logical argumentation, rhetorical-deductive rationality, and logos are significant. The transition “from myth to logos” created a well-known vector of development of both spiritual culture and Europe.

The main stages of the development of ancient philosophy

In the development of ancient philosophy there are four main stages(you can see the detailed division of philosophical schools in the table below).

First stage – 6-5 centuries BC e. "pre-Socratic" . The philosophers who lived before Socrates are called pre-Socratics. These include the sages from Miletus (Miletus school - Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes), Heraclitus from Ephesus, the Eleatic school (Parmenides, Zeno), Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans, atomists (Leucippus and Democritus). Natural philosophers deal with the problem of arche (Greek arhe - beginning) - the unified basis of the universe (senior physicists) and the problems of the integral unity of multiple worlds (junior physicists).

The central subject of knowledge in ancient Greek natural philosophy acts space, and the main form of philosophical teaching is cosmological models. The central question of ontology - the question of the essence and structure of the world - is highlighted from the perspective of the question of its origin.

Second stage – approximately mid 5th – late 4th centuries BC. e. – classical. The emergence of classical philosophy marks a radical turn to logical-epistemological, socio-political, moral-ethical and anthropological issues. This turn is associated with the sophistic tradition and with the figure of Socrates. Within the framework of mature classics, perfect examples of systemic abstract theoretical and philosophical concepts are developed, defining the canon of the Western European philosophical tradition (Plato and Aristotle).

Third stage - end of 4th-2nd centuries. BC e. usually called Hellenistic. In contrast to the previous one, associated with the emergence of significant, deep in content and universal in theme, philosophical systems, various eclectic competing philosophical schools are being formed: peripatetics, academic philosophy (Plato’s Academy, Stoic and Epicurean schools, skepticism). All schools are united by one feature: the transition from commenting on the teachings of Plato and Aristotle to the formation of problems of ethics, moralistic frankness in the era of the decline of Hellenistic culture. Then the works of Theophrastus, Carneades, Epicurus, Pyrrho and others became popular.

Fourth stage – 1st century BC e. – 5-6 centuries on. e. - the period when Rome began to play a decisive role in antiquity, under whose influence Greece also fell. Roman philosophy was formed under the influence of Greek, especially Hellenistic. There are three schools of thought in Roman philosophy: Stoicism (Seneca, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius), skepticism (Sextus Empiricus), Epicureanism (Titus Lucretius Carus). In the 3rd-5th centuries. n. e. Neoplatonism arises and develops in Roman philosophy, a famous representative of which is the philosopher Plotinus. Neoplatonism significantly influenced not only early Christian philosophy, but all of it.

Used literature:

1. World Encyclopedia: Philosophy / Main. scientific ed. and comp. A. A. Gritsanov. - M.: AST, Mn.: Harvest, - Modern writer, 2001. - 1312 p.

2. History of philosophy: A handbook for a high school. - Kh.: Prapor, 2003. - 768 p.

antique archaic culture

The following stages are distinguished in the development of ancient Greek culture:

• - Creto-Mycenaean or Aegean (named after the Aegean Sea) - III millennium BC. e. - XII century BC;
• - Homeric period - XI-IX centuries. BC;
• - Archaic period - VIII-VI centuries. BC;
• - Classical period - from the end of the 6th century. - until the last third of the 4th century. BC;
• - Hellenistic period - from the last third of the 4th century. - until the middle of the 2nd century. BC

Aegean (Crito-Mycenaean) culture is the direct predecessor of Greek antiquity. It developed on the islands of the Aegean Sea (the most striking monuments have been preserved on the island of Crete) and in mainland Greece (the most studied monuments are in Mycenae and Tiryns). Archaeologists are exploring palaces in Knossos (Cyprus), Mycenae and Tiryns, where remarkable wall paintings, the richest grave goods in the royal tombs, various utensils, sculptures, etc. Written monuments have been preserved, some of which have not yet been deciphered (in particular, the so-called Phaistos Disc). The memory of the Aegean culture is preserved in Greek mythology. Thus, the legendary King Minos is considered the owner of the Knossos Palace; the dungeons of this palace are the famous labyrinth where the terrible Minotaur lived. The labyrinth was built at the request of Minos by the great inventor, builder, master Daedalus. The Minotaur was killed by a hero named Theseus, who was helped by Minos’ daughter Ariadne (“Ariadne’s thread”). This culture faded in the 13th-12th centuries. BC in connection with the invasion of the Dorians and natural disasters (volcanic eruptions, tsunamis).

Back in the 21st century. BC conquerors from the steppes of Eurasia, the Hellenes, fell on the land of Greece, who brought here Greek. The country received the self-name Hellas.

The Hellenes were nomads, raising horses, sheep and goats. Their clothes - women's (peplos) and men's (chiton) - were made of undyed wool, dishes - of gray clay. The Achaeans, who were part of the Hellenic tribes, were the first to adopt local high-quality agriculture and began to grow grapes and olive trees. They mastered stone construction, bronze casting, and adopted pottery and seafaring skills from the pre-Hellenic aborigines. The Achaeans began to master the political and economic achievements of the local population.

It was the Achaeans in the 19th century. BC founded Mycenae, the first Greek protopolis, where a king ruled. In the 16th century BC The Achaeans occupied about. Crete. And in the 15th century. BC There are already several hundred protopolises in Greece, including Thebes and Athens. All of them were protected by powerful fortifications, they had palace complexes and necropolises, and the royal power, the basileia, also operated.

In the 12th century. BC Hellas was again conquered by newcomers from the North - the Dorians. The Dorians were nomads, their culture was much lower than that of the Hellenes, they were very warlike and extremely cruel. Mycenae, Athens, Tiryns, Pylos - all Hellenic protopolises were destroyed. The cities were deserted, artisans, artists and scientists fled. Hellenic culture suffered severe damage: literacy almost disappeared, it even began to be persecuted as an occupation black magic. Sea communications ceased, roads and bridges fell into disrepair, and houses began to be built from wood and unbaked bricks. Pottery became simpler, painting on pottery vessels gave way to archaic geometric patterns. The royal power disappeared, the priesthood disappeared. The culture of Hellas was thrown back centuries.

The only thing in which the Dorians were clearly ahead of the Hellenes was military affairs. The Dorians used iron weapons, came up with a special military formation, later called the phalanx, and they had cavalry.

The ensuing period is usually called Homeric (pre-polis, also mythological), named after the legendary poet-singer Homer. In it, as in ancient times, an oral epic tradition was again established and heroes performed feats. Homer described many events of these centuries. The Iliad and Odyssey contain a wealth of information about Greek culture of this era.

The economic culture was based on Bronze Age technology. Developed agriculture included cattle breeding (cattle, horses, pigs, sheep, goats...) and agriculture (cereals, viticulture, horticulture, horticulture). High pottery skills (amphoras and other vessels with geometric patterns) were inherited from the Aegean (Crito-Mycenaean) culture. They were built in the Homeric period from mud bricks, the columns were made of wood: the art of stone architecture was lost.

People lived in tribal communities, which again turned into early (archaic) forms of polis (pre-polis). Each such policy was a small state, completely independent. This determined political culture. The early policies (pre-polises) were governed either by the king or by the people's assembly together with a council of elders and several basilei - aristocrats, like kings, and real power belonged to the latter. There were also slaves in early policies, who were used primarily as domestic workers and servants. Slaves were captives (as a result of military clashes, robbery, piracy). Slaves were considered members of the family, and the attitude towards them was patriarchal.

During the Homeric period, the system of Greek myths - the famous mythology - mainly developed. A hierarchy of Olympian (who lived on Mount Olympus) gods developed. Zeus began to be considered the supreme god, his wife Hera was revered as the patroness of marriage and the goddess of the sky. Poseidon became the god of the sea, Demeter became the goddess of fertility. The children of Zeus were also highly revered: Athena - the goddess of wisdom, Apollo - the god of light and art, Hephaestus - a blacksmith and inventor, the god of craftsmanship. Memory of ancient gods was preserved in the figures of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty (the hypostasis of the Great Mother), and Dionysus, the god of viticulture and winemaking.

At the same time, the most important features of the mentality of the ancient Hellenes were fully defined: a sense of inner freedom and competition (agonism, from the Greek agon - competition). Competitiveness was accompanied by the highest sensitivity to the praise and blame of fellow citizens, to glory and shame. The desire to get ahead of others, to be the first, was evident among the Greeks in everything; they organized competitions in plowing, crafts, poetry, drinking wine, etc. Competitions were held in male beauty. The competition had to be noble and honest. Even the Olympic gods organized competitions: in the famous myth of the origins Trojan War Three goddesses - Hera, Athena and Aphrodite - did not consider it shameful to compete for the title of the most beautiful. The most obvious manifestations of competition are known from numerous sports games, without which ancient Greek holidays are unthinkable. The most important were the Olympics, held every four years in honor of Zeus. During the Panhellenic Games, wars stopped throughout Hellas.

In the same era, around the 11th century BC, the Greek alphabet arose. The Greeks based it on the Phoenician writing system, adding letters for vowel sounds; it underlies all European alphabets, including Russian.

The archaic period (VIII-VI centuries BC) in ancient Greece is characterized by the rapid flourishing of all spheres of life. In these centuries, in fact, the “Greek miracle” arose and the main directions of a cultural breakthrough were outlined. Even the term “archaic revolution” was proposed.

One of the most important results of this breakthrough was the dominance of private property relations. This ensured high rates of growth in market-oriented production of all types of crafts. Rapid population growth began, patriarchal slavery was replaced by classical slavery. Combined with the energy and inner freedom of the Hellenes, all this led to the growth foreign trade and to the great colonization: numerous Greek cities began to appear on the shores of the Mediterranean, Aegean, Marmara, and Black Seas. The coasts of southern Italy and Sicily were completely populated by Greeks, and they began to be called Magna Graecia. Many wealthy Greek cities appeared on the coast of Asia Minor. On the Black Sea, almost all cities today are located on the site of former Greek colonies.

Cities in the archaic period become classical policies; this is one of the most important achievements of ancient political culture. Such a polis is a state, often small, the center of which is a well-fortified city. Agriculture is carried out on the adjacent lands. The Polis conducted brisk trade. Policies were administered in different ways; It is noted that all conceivable forms of government and organization of public life were tested in them. Highest value For us, democracy has been developed in detail in many city-states, especially in Athens. The most important feature life in the polis can be considered an orientation towards justice in relations between citizens. All citizens were considered equal before the law, but the individual had to submit to the decisions of the majority. The most important role in the life of the polis was played by the agora - the market square, essentially a public center, where all the townspeople regularly met and passed general meetings citizens of the policy. The most famous and influential polis for a long time became Athens, around which the polis of Attica (central Greece) united.

The most important, fundamental changes in the archaic era occurred in spiritual life. The principles of freedom and competition continued to apply. Man occupied an important place in ideas about the world, “space”. Protagoras formulated the famous thesis “Man is the measure of all things that exist, that they exist, and those that do not exist, that they do not exist.” The main virtues were considered valor, glory, beauty of body and soul. The concept of kalokagathia - perfection of soul and body - was born. People appeared in the policies who spent a lot of time thinking, including on abstract topics. These were the wise men. Somehow they began to think using reflection, that is, observing the thinking process itself. Therefore, the Greek sages learned to prove their theses and mastered the art of inference, especially in mathematics.

Mathematical texts of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt are collections of solutions to individual problems, each problem is unique, and the study of mathematics was reduced to memorization ready-made solutions. The Greek sages began to formulate decision rules, look for general patterns calculations, prove theorems, draw conclusions, etc.

The sages thought about everything, including the cosmos, the structure of the world, and the origin of all things. The fame of the insight of this or that sage spread throughout Greece; there are lists of seven sages of that time. In the 7th century BC. The sages began to think more and more about the essence of the world, and philosophers appeared, the first of whom is usually called Thales of Miletus. Philosophy became an independent pursuit. Pythagoras was a philosopher who studied mathematics intensively and tried to explain the world on the basis of mathematical constructions (“the world is a number”). At the same time, the theater appeared, Aeschylus became the first playwright. In architecture, the famous architectural orders arose - Doric and Ionian. Around the 8th century BC Homer created his poems, and in the 7th century. BC the second great epic poet, Hesiod, wrote the poems “Theogony” and “Works and Days”. In the eyes of the Hellenes, the authors of works of art were no different from artisans, potters or shoemakers. Poetry, sculpture, architecture, music, rhetoric were even designated by the same word as craft - “techne”.

The cultural achievements of the archaic period became the basis for the rise in the next era, the classical one.

The classical period (5th century BC - three quarters of the 4th century BC) is so named because in these centuries the culture of Greek antiquity reached its top level. The policy system played a major role in this. Works of art were created that are considered unsurpassed examples; formed in general outline the current system of sciences; a number of philosophical schools emerged; Philosophers have studied democracy and other forms of government. Athens remained the largest cultural, economic and political center of ancient Greece.

Hippocrates, considered the founder of medicine, worked in the classical era. Herodotus and Thucydides were the first historians. The achievements of philosophers - Socrates, Plato, Aristotle - are amazing. Aristotle, in addition, became the founder of physics, psychology, and ethics; his authority among European philosophers of the Middle Ages was so high that in books they often did not call him by name, but simply wrote “Philosopher.”

The most famous masterpieces of artistic culture.

Greek sculptors of the classical period achieved remarkable skill in conveying the beauty of the human body, movements, and mental states. For sculptors and architects, the most important criteria were harmony, proportionality, and naturalness. Everyone knows, for example, Myron’s sculpture “Disco Thrower,” depicting an athlete at the moment of a throw. The works of Polykleitos, Phidias, Praxiteles, Lysippos and Praxiteles have survived. On the initiative of Phidias, a complex of temples was erected in Athens on a rocky hill - the Acropolis, the most famous of which was dedicated to Athena and was called the Parthenon. His remains still amaze today with their harmony and beauty, being, along with the statues of ancient gods and heroes, a unique symbol of ancient art.

In dramaturgy, Sophocles and Euripides (Euripides), who wrote tragedies, and Aristophanes, the first comedian, became famous. The lyrical poems of Sappho and Pindar have been preserved, and the name of Anacreon is known.

The Hellenistic period (IV-I centuries BC) is associated with the name of Alexander the Great and his conquests. Greece at this time was actually subordinated to Macedonia. Alexander's eastern campaign (334-325 BC) led to the creation of a gigantic empire from the Adriatic to India. Alexander's empire, after his sudden early death (323 BC), was divided among his fellow generals and fellow conquests (diadochi). In particular, Ptolemy became king of Egypt, Seleucus - of Syria. A situation arose when numerous kingdoms in Africa, Asia Minor, and the Middle East were ruled by Greek dynasties, although the population was local. The borders of the policies expanded to the limits of the entire Middle Eastern ecumene (inhabited lands).

This created the conditions for the synthesis of Hellenic culture brought by Greek rulers with the achievements of local cultures. Sculptors, architects, highly educated scientists and other carriers of culture increasingly began to follow the invitations of the Hellenistic monarchs and move from country to country. People appeared who owned not only the culture of their people, but also the Greek one. In Judea they began to call themselves Hellenists.

The results of Hellenistic cultural synthesis were impressive. In the III - II centuries BC. e. Natural science, philology, mathematics, and technology developed rapidly. Scientific centers arose in many cities (Pergamon, Antioch).

Athens, although Greece had lost its wealth and political influence, were famous for their high culture and especially for their philosophical schools.

There, at the turn of the IV-III centuries. BC e. Two new philosophical schools arose: Stoic and Epicurean. The Stoics believed in the equality of all people in social and ethical terms. They believed in the possibility of creating an ideal "world state" governed on reasonable principles. The Epicureans saw the essence of happiness in the absence of suffering, calling it pleasure. Therefore, needs must be limited: “those who have fewer needs have more pleasure.” At the same time, one should not give up spiritual pleasures, and especially the highest of them - love. The third school is skeptical, founded by Pyrrho in Elis. Skeptics considered things completely unknowable. They recommended refraining from judgment altogether.

The most famous was the Museion scientific center in the Egyptian city of Alexandria. Its heart was a giant library. There is information that more than 700 thousand books were stored in it. The library had a real scientific town where scientists were invited to work. For example, Archimedes studied there, Euclid and Heron of Alexandria worked for a long time, and the astronomer and mathematician Ptolemy created his system there. Hellenistic monarchs organized expeditions to unknown lands and encouraged the creation of more advanced geographical maps. Eratosthenes, who at one time headed the Library of Alexandria, compiled his own detailed description the then ecumene. For the first time, he quite accurately determined the length of the meridian, introduced the division into North and South, parallels and meridians. He is the founder of geography. Astronomical observations carried out at the Alexandria Observatory made it possible to clarify the calendar. At the same time, the old Babylonian division of day and night into hours, hours into 60 minutes, minutes into 60 seconds came into general use. Aristarchus put forward a hypothesis about the rotation of the Earth and other planets around the Sun (1800 years before Copernicus!).

Technology developed, primarily military technology. Siege weapons were built (for example, catapults that threw cannonballs, stones and huge beams at the besieged). Archimedes invented various effective machines to protect his native Syracuse from the Romans besieging the city. Heron of Alexandria described all the achievements of ancient mechanics, he himself built a prototype of a steam turbine, range finders, and levels. Various types of pumps, a hydraulic organ, and the first water turbine were invented.

It was discovered in medicine nervous system, its role and significance are described. True, many of medical discoveries were forgotten, so in modern times they had to be made anew.

The achievements of artistic culture of the Hellenistic period are high. In 334 BC. By order of Alexander the Great, a temple to Athena, comparable to the Parthenon, was erected in Priene. On the site of the Temple of Artemis burned by Herostratus in Ephesus, a new, no less beautiful one was built. The Mausoleum was also built in Halicarnassus, the decoration of which was attended by the best sculptors of that time - Scopas, Praxiteles, Lysippos. Their works were noticeably different from the work of their predecessors. Skopas tried to convey not only the movement of the body, but also violent feelings. His sculpture of a maenad - a participant in the Dionysian mystery - is unusually dynamic. Praxiteles also sought to depict the feelings and moods of a person. He owns, for example, Aphrodite of Cnidus and the statue of Hermes with the baby Dionysus, where the god is depicted as an ordinary earthly man. The most famous creations of Lysippos include “Apoxiomenos” - an athlete who cleanses his body of sweat and dust after a competition, and “The Fight of Hercules with the Nemean Lion”. In the same era, sculptures of the Nike of Samothrace and Venus of Melos (Milo) were created.

In painting, the technique of encaustic is being developed - burning wax paints. It made it possible to obtain bright, rich colors and was very durable.

The idea of ​​the “seven wonders of the world” was formed, and some of them (the Colossus of Rhodes, the Lighthouse of Alexandria) were created precisely in these centuries.

At the same time, the Romans came into close contact with Greek culture.

One of the most important achievements of Hellenistic culture was the emergence of Christianity in Judea.

History of Antiquity - component history ancient world- studies the origin, flourishing and crisis of social and government structures that arose on the territory of Ancient Greece and Rome. It begins at the turn of the 3rd - 2nd millennium BC. - Since the emergence of the first state associations on the island. Crete, and ends in 476 AD. E - The Fall of the Western Roman Empire.

This period in human history takes its name from the Latin term " antiqua"(antiquity) and has its own specific development features in comparison with ancient societies:

1. Ancient society was characterized by a faster pace of communal relations.

2. In classical developed ancient states (Athens, Rome) there was no internal (debt) slavery. Laws 594 It was forbidden to sell one's fellow tribesmen for debts in Athens, and the law Petelia 326 Eliminated debt slavery in Ancient Rome.

3. If ancient states were military-bureaucratic monarchies, then the main type government system ancient countries had a republic in the form of a polis.

For a long time under the term "policy" historians understood the "city-state". However, not every city was a state and not every state had the appearance of a city. For example, an Attic city Piraeus- the sea gates of Athens - has never been a state, although in its size, number of inhabitants and appearance not inferior Thebes, Megare or Corinth. And vice versa, one of the largest policies of Ancient Greece, Sparta, looked like an ordinary rural settlement.

Therefore, it would be more correct to understand the term “polis” as a civil community, that is, a collective of full-fledged citizens who inhabited a certain territory and had a republican form of government.

4. The specific form of ownership in ancient policies was communal private property, and the second part was mediated by the first. Namely: the rights of private ownership of land were enjoyed only by full-fledged members of the civil community and deprivation of civil rights led to the loss of ownership of the land.

5. The pace of cultural development of ancient civilization was much faster than the cultural evolution of ancient Eastern societies.

All modern culture grew out of the culture of antiquity. Without knowledge of ancient history, it is impossible to understand many institutions of historical periods, art history, architectural styles, theater, modern political and scientific terms, incl. terms “history”, “philosophy”, “culture”, etc. Antiquity in all its diversity appears at every step, both in the public and private life of modern man.

Begins the ancient era in the history of Ancient Greece. Over a period of almost two thousand years, the Greeks created a developed economic system, a classic polis organization with a republican structure, high culture, significantly influenced the development of world civilization.

All ancient Greek history It is customary to divide it into 5 large stages:

1. Aegean or Cretan-Mycenaean(III millennium - XII centuries BC) - formation of early state associations on the island. Crete and Achaean Greece.

2. Beforepolisny or Homeric(XI - IX centuries BC) - the dominance of tribal relations in Greece.

3. Archaic(VIII - VI centuries BC) - formation of state associations in the form of policies.

4. Classical(V - first half - IV centuries BC) - the heyday of ancient Greek society, the polis structure, and Greek culture.

5. Hellenistic(second half of the 4th century - 30th pp. 1st century BC) - the formation of new Hellenistic societies based on the interaction and unification of Greek and Eastern principles.

Since the first and last stages of Greek history were decisive, they are usually divided into separate periods.

The Aegean or Cretan-Mycenaean stage has 3 periods depending on the degree social development, and these periods did not coincide for the history of Crete and the history of mainland Greece. Cretan history (or Minoan, from the name of the legendary king Minos) divided into:

A) early Minoan(XXX - XXIII centuries BC) - dominance of tribal relations;

b) Middle Minoan(XXII - XVIII centuries BC) - the period of old palaces, the formation of the first states, the emergence of the first social groups, writing, unification of Crete;

V) Piznyominoyan(XVII - XII centuries BC) - the period of new palaces, the heyday of the Cretan state and its conquest by the Achaeans.

Chronology of the Mycenaean stage (mainland Greece):

A) early Hellenic period(XXX - XXI centuries BC) - the dominance of primitive communal relations, the pre-Greek population;

b) Middle Helladic period(XX - XVII centuries BC) - penetration and settlement of the Achaean Greeks in the southern part of Balkan Greece and the beginning of the decomposition of tribal relations;

V) piznyoelladskiy or Mycenaean period (XVI - XII centuries BC) - the emergence of early state associations, the emergence of writing, the flourishing of the Mycenaean civilization and its fall.

The Hellenistic stage of ancient Greek history is also divided into the C period:

A) eastern campaigns of Alexander the Great and the creation of a system of Hellenistic states(30th pp. IV - 80th pp. III century BC);

b) the rise of Hellenistic societies and states(80s pp. III century - mid-II century BC);

V) crisis of the Hellenistic system and the conquest of the Hellenistic states by Rome in the West and Parthia in the East(mid-2nd century - 30th pp. 1st century BC). Interests in Rome in 30 BC The last Hellenistic state of the Egyptian kingdom meant only the end of the long development of ancient Greek civilization and its culture.