Sunday, December 29, 2019

Bronze Age Greece

When Was the Greek Bronze Age?: Put Bronze Age Greece in Perspective: Major Intervals in Ancient History The Aegean Bronze Age, where Aegean refers to the Aegean Sea where Greece, the Cyclades, and Crete are situated, ran from about the beginning of the third millennium to the first, and was followed by the Dark Age. The Cyclades were prominent in the Early Bronze Age. On Crete, Minoan civilization -- named for the legendary king Minos of Crete, who ordered the building of the labyrinth -- is divided into Early, Middle, and Late Minoan (EM, MM, LM), which are further subdivided. Mycenaean civilization refers to late Bronze Age culture (c.1600 - c.1125 B.C.). Bronze Age - Glossary Entry The following paragraphs describe important terms to learn connected with the Greek Bronze Age. Cyclades: The Cyclades are islands in the south Aegean circling the island of Delos. During the Early Bronze Age (c. 3200-2100 B.C.) pottery, marble, and metal goods were produced that wound up in grave sites. Among these are the marble female figurines that inspired 20th century artists. Later in the Bronze Age the Cyclades showed influence from Minoan and Mycenaean cultures. Minoan Bronze Age: British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans began excavating the island of Crete in 1899. He named the culture Minoan and divided it into periods. In the early period newcomers arrived and pottery styles changed. This was followed by the great palace-building civilization and Linear A. Catastrophes destroyed this civilization. When it recovered, there was a new style of writing known as Linear B. Further catastrophes marked the end of the Minoan Bronze Age. Early Minoan (EM) I-III, c.3000-2000 B.C.Middle Minoan (MM) I-III, c.2000-1600 B.C.Late Minoan (LM) I-III, c.1600-1050 B.C. Minoan Bronze AgeDark Age Greece Knossos: Knossos is a Bronze Age city and archaeological site in Crete. In 1900, Sir Arthur Evans bought the site where ruins had been found, and then worked on restoring its Minoan palace. Legend says King Minos lived at Knossos where he had Daedalus build the famous labyrinth to house the minotaur, the monstrous offspring of King Minos wife Pasiphae. KnossosThe Palace of Minos - Kris Hirst - Archaeology at About.comLabrysMinotaurDaedalus Mycenaeans: The Myceaneans, from mainland Greece, conquered the Minoans. They lived in fortified citadels. By 1400 B.C. their influence extended to Asia Minor, but they disappeared between about 1200 and 1100, at which time the Hittites also disappeared. Heinrich Schliemanns excavations of Troy, Mycenae, Tiryns, and Orchomenos revealed Mycenaean artifacts. Michael Ventris probably deciphered its writing, Mycenaean Greek. The connection between Myceaneans and the people described in the epics attributed to Homer, The Iliad and The Odyssey, is still debated. Who Were the Mycenaeans? Schliemann: Henirich Schliemann was a German maverick archaeologist who wanted to prove the historicity of the Trojan War, so he excavated an area of Turkey. Schliemann Linear A and B: Just as Schliemann is the name associated with Troy and Evans with the Minoans, so there is one name connected with the deciphering of Mycenaean script. This man is Michael Ventris who deciphered Linear B in 1952. The Mycenaean tablets he deciphered were found at Knossos, showing contact between Minoan and Mycenaean cultures. Linear A has not yet been deciphered. Linear A - Kris Hirst - Archaeology at About.comLinear B - Kris Hirst - Archaeology at About.com Graves: Archaeologists learn about the culture of ancient peoples by studying their remains. Graves are a particularly valuable source. At Mycenae, wealthy warrior chieftains and their families were buried in shaft graves. In the Late Bronze Age, warrior chieftains (and family) were buried in decorated Tholos tombs, round stone subterranean tombs with vaulted roofs. Shaft GravesTholos Tombs Bronze Age Resources: Crete The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature. Ed. M.C. Howatson and Ian Chilvers. Oxford University Press, 1996. Neil Asher Silberman, Cyprian Broodbank, Alan A. D. Peatfield, James C. Wright, Elizabeth B. French Aegean Cultures The Oxford Companion to Archaeology. Brian M. Fagan, ed., Oxford University Press 1996. Lesson 7: Western Anatolia and the Eastern Aegean in the Early Bronze Age

Friday, December 20, 2019

Republic Of Haiti Influences On Texas Immigration Policy

Republic Of Haiti Influences on Texas Immigration Policy In order to understand Haiti we must first put ourselves in their shoes. At one stage or another, every man, woman, or child will be faced with at least one issue that is now happening in Haiti. The issues involving Haiti has been a popular topic for the past two years. Since January twelfth two-thousand and ten. There are many factors which influenced the development of Haiti. Many people have abandoned Haiti over the past years. They have also given up hope for Haiti. Haiti is heralded by economic issues both political and social, foreign issues, military issues (minustah), presidential issues, and the recent earthquake. I plan to explain each of these factors in detail and give†¦show more content†¦Cube, Jamaica, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico are also in the apart of the Caribbean islands. Haiti is west of the Dominican Republic. Jamaica is West of Haiti. Cuba is Northwest of Haiti. The offshore Islands of Tortuga and Gonave belong to Haiti. This village, named Isabella, became the first outpost of the Spanish Empire. One of these new ideas for governing was the use of native slave labor on plantations. This was the beginning of the long history of slavery that Haiti is known for. The placement of Hispaniola as the gateway to the Caribbean region made it a highly wanted location. Sir Francis Drake, along with other buccaneers, made several attacks against the island. Although they were never successful, these battles slowly deteriorated the dominance of Spain. French residents from the island of Tortuga noticed this decline in power, and started to move into Hispaniola. By the mid-eighteenth century, a territory largely neglected under Spanish rule had become the richest colony in the Western Hemisphere. The mixture of races that eventually divided Haiti into a small, mostly mulatto elite and an impoverished black majority started with the white slave owners reproducing with the African women. I n 1791, there was a slave rebellion led by Francois-Dominique Toussaint Louverture. They killed every white person they seen. They put every white house or building that the white people owned on fire. The burnings of the

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Antigone-Analysis of Creons speech free essay sample

After the war between Oedipus’ two sons Eteocles and Polyneices killed both brothers, Creon, their uncle, ascended to the throne as the nearest kinsman. This speech is Creon’s first as king and its main aims are to explain his legitimacy, outline his political ideals and justify his proclamation regarding the treatment of Polyneices. Being an astute speaker, Creon’s speech contained effective usage of the art of persuasion, showing his shrewdness, inflexibility and arrogance. By contrasting Antigone’s earlier decision, it plays in important role in plot development, bringing out the central theme of conflict, creating tension and building up the rising action. Regarding the overall structure of Creon’s speech, the order of his choice of topics masks his rash decision under a justified appearance, reflecting the great care taken into detailed planning. He starts off with a conventional opening, crediting the gods dutifully for their continuous guardianship of Thebes with the commonly used ship-of-state metaphor, â€Å"Gentlemen, after tossing the life of our city on the great waves of the ocean, the gods have safely righted it once more. † This displays Creon’s loyalty to the gods as any good king would, presenting an appealing image of himself. The traditional element is pleasing to most conservative elders, providing them with a sense of security under the new king’s rule, and hence, his later judgments, however unusual it may be. Creon intentionally did not start by announcing his proclamation at the beginning as its unconventional nature tends to be frowned upon to say the least, or even be rejected by the conservative elders. Creon is very well aware of this and delays his announcement, addressing the conventional first. Afterwards, Creon moves onto flattering the chorus (elders), recounting their faithful service under King Laius, Oedipus, and his descendants, â€Å"I know that you always respected†¦ and again†¦ and when he died, you still stood by his children with unwavering loyalty† before affirming the legitimacy of his own rule. Here, Creon uses flattery as a reminder that the elders’ loyalty lie with the king, and hints that as he is now king, they should serve as him as true heartedly as they did his precedents. Again, he cleverly applies the elders’ sense of responsibility to gain their support. He then continues on with outlining his principles (lines168- 180), and only after that does he announce his proclamation regarding the treatment of Polyneices. By this order, Creon was able to first gain the elders’ support, then show that his actions were â€Å"in accordance with† his principles, making his judgment appear to be a sound argument based on valid political ideals. Creon’s masterful technique in masking absurdity with reason fully reflects that he is politically astute and a calculating man. Moreover, the crafty use of pronouns exhibits Creon’s ability to convince. As the first person plural â€Å"we† appeals to the public (chorus), it provides a sense of unity among the audience, being reminded that they should cooperate with Creon in governing Thebes, and that they should strive towards a common goal, Creon’s goal, in making this city â€Å"great†. As they are responsible for abiding by these principles, it would only be appropriate that they agree with Creon’s proclamation based on these principles. Another effective use of the third person pronoun â€Å"it† is seen in â€Å"it has been proclaimed to the city†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , where instead of â€Å"I†, the active agent (Creon) being mentioned, any biased personal opinion of Creon himself is presented as impersonal and of good judgment, further enhancing the credibility of the proclamation. Once again, Creon is able to appeal to his audience’s emotions and takes the utmost care even in the choice of pronouns, being very persuasive speaker. Meanwhile, Creon is also able to manipulate the elders’ emotions and prejudices to achieve his goal of justifying his actions. Inflated language (hyperbole), most notably, the superlative adjective â€Å"greatest† used to describe Eteocles gives the audience an exaggerated heroic image and thus his respectful treatment of the noble dead seems only reasonable. In stark contrast to this was the treatment of Polyneices’ body, which wasn’t even given a proper burial. The juxtaposition of the polarized extremes with syntactic patterningtwo sentences paralleling each other, effectively contrasts the praise for the hero (Eteocles) and condemnation for the traitor (Polyneices). The heroic image of Eteocles adds up to the emphasis on the crimes of the traitor, hence making Creon’s treatment of him reasonable, as it is suited for a criminal. Also, the role of gothic imagery should not be undermined. Being a demagogue, a political leader who appeals to the popular desires and beliefs of the people, Creon paints gory visual images where Polyneices is said to be â€Å"burning down† Thebes, â€Å"drinking† the blood of his brother, almost vampire-like and â€Å"throwing† the people into slavery in order to repulse the audience, evoking their anger and fear. However in reality, this is just an exaggerated assumption, the elders’ emotions being toyed with, falling in line with Creon’s expectations. Here, Creon exhibits strong persuasive skills, being a manipulative speaker, striving to achieve his ultimate aim at the cost of others. On the other hand, the choice of wordings and use of language effectively enhances the absolute tone of this speech, meanwhile revealing Creon’s fatal flaw—his arrogant, impulsive character. Emphatic declaratives are used in outlining Creon’s principles, for example, â€Å"I know this†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"†¦ I will make this city great†, showing Creon’s excessive confidence in his own judgments. Along with absolute language like â€Å"A man who†¦ is worthless† â€Å"†¦ I say he is nothing†, the over-confident, definite words of Creon’s speech adds a bluntness to his tone, showing his inflexible and headstrong character. It also acts as a reflection of his arrogance, a characteristic shortcoming that will eventually lead to punishment by the gods and his ultimate downfall as he challenges the gods’ authority. Not only did Creon’s speech reflect his personalities, it also contributes a good deal in building up tension for the rising action in the play. Firstly, the order in which Creon’s speech is presented is of great importance. It is positioned immediately after Antigone speaks of her decision to bury Polyneices in a secret discussion with Ismene. Both parties hold strong determination in their respective decisions, and as one is revealed directly after the other, and Creon is unaware of Antigone’s decision, it leads the audience to wonder: what will happen next? They anticipate the upcoming conflict between the two opposing forces and hence, suspense is created. At the same time, Antigone and Creon’s basic values are juxtaposed, the former professing her faith in traditional bonds of kinship (philos), the latter holding his beliefs in loyalty to the state (polis). Each represents fundamental ideological differences, deeming the two incompatible. Thus, ensuing clashes during confrontation will be expected. Moreover, this speech itself, spoken by a demagogue, is fueled with passion and bold determination, a demonstration of Creon’s unyielding personality. Equally as steadfast and unwavering is Antigone with her choice to go against the king’s word. Hence if a head-on collision between Antigone and Creon is set in due course, it would be expected to be not only a heated debate but a fight with ghastly consequences. Overall, Creon is a skilled demagogue who crafted his speech with great care, making an abundant usage of rhetorical techniques to pursue his ultimate aim of justifying his proclamation. Hence, he is shown to be shrewd and manipulative, a confident leader with his tone reflecting his arrogance. However it is later known that this is far from the truth, as his insecurity, cruelty and impulsiveness are concealed. This speech plays a significant role in introducing the central theme of conflict, presenting polis in contrast with philos, heating up the situation and its tension quickly building up the rising action, conflict ready to break out any second.