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Greek Civilization and Platonic Love

Jeffrey L. Richey, Ph.D.

GSTR 220-BWestern Traditions I

Berea College

Fall 2003

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FOUNDATIONS OF GREEK CIVILIZATION

• Minoan civilization (Crete, c. 2800-1450 BCE): Mediterranean island kingdom

• Mycenaean civilization (Peloponnesus, c. 1600-1100 BCE): coalition of small, warlike communities

• “Dark Age” civilization (Ionia, c. 1100-750 BCE): famine and war lead to colonization of Mediterranean islands and Turkish coast – age of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey

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THE RISE OF THE POLIS• By 700s BCE, polis (settlement and

its surrounding countryside) becomes most important unit of Greek civilization

• Each polis was governed by free adult males (other residents: women, children, slaves, and resident aliens)

• By 500s BCE, replacement of aristocratic dictatorships (“tyranny”) with government by randomly-chosen male representatives of local districts (“democracy”)

• One polis in particular, Athens, rises to prominence following its defeat of Persian (Iranian) invaders (c. 490-470 BCE)

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PRELUDE TO PLATONISM• Pre-5th century BCE Greek

worldview:1. Agonistic – social status (arête)

based on individual competition2. Agricultural – concern for

fertility of soil and people 3. Fatalistic – value of accepting

events in one’s life without complaint

4. Patriarchal – society ruled by propertied male warrior class

5. Polytheistic – multiple gods control universe and must be appeased through sacrifices and festivals (e.g., Olympic Games)

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5th CENTURY BCE ATHENS• Athens’ power, stability, and wealth

enables artists and intellectuals to thrive:

1. Drama (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes)

2. Architecture (The Parthenon)3. Sculpture 4. Philosophy (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle)• 3 cardinal values emerge:1. Humanism -- Is there anything more

wonderful on earth, our marvelous planet, than the miracle of man? (Sophocles)

2. Naturalism – The chief good is life according to nature. (Zeno of Citium)

3. Skepticism -- The unexamined life is not worth living. (Socrates)

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PLATO (429-347 BCE)• Born into aristocratic Athenian family• Student of Socrates (469-399 BCE),

Athenian philosopher executed for corrupting youth

• Wrote numerous dialogues in which Socrates appears as both historical figure and mouthpiece for Plato’s views

• Hoped to improve society by uniting philosophical sophistication and political power in the person of a “philosopher-king”

• Founded “The Academy,” a philosophical school in Athens in which many young men (including Aristotle, 384-322 BCE) studied

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THE PLATONIC UNIVERSE

• Cosmic dualism:1. The World of Forms (perfect,

eternal, real expression of ideals – e.g., beauty or truth)

2. The World of Senses (imperfect, temporary, unreal manifestation of ideals – e.g., beauty as captured in sculpture, truth as grasped by Socrates)

3. “Allegory of the Cave” – cave residents see shadows cast by objects and sunlight outside cave and mistake them for reality

• Social stratification:1. Naturally oriented toward

hierarchical divisions (e.g., male/female, free/slave, ruler/subject)

2. Ideally meritocratic (opportunity and power given to those most intellectually capable of wielding it responsibly)

3. Necessarily limited in terms of freedom (because only the wise can be free, since they alone do what is good out of love for the good, not fear of punishment)

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PLATONIC LOVE• Male-female relationships:1. Service-oriented (e.g., childbearing,

prostitution)2. Fundamentally unequal (most men

intellectually superior to most women)• Male-male relationships:1. Exchange-oriented (e.g., lover’s wisdom

for beloved’s beauty)2. Not necessarily sexual, and never

exclusively so3. Transformative (e.g., beloved grows in

arête)• Marriage indispensable, but usually

arranged, seldom for love• Romance (for men) found with female

prostitutes and young men

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