Humanities: Journeys from the Paleolithic to Postmodernism: Early Humanities to 1600
Edition: 1
Copyright: 2018
Pages: 412
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$92.61
This book informs the student or any reader about the importance of the humanities. The book uses comprehensive terminology, but every term is specifically defined, and as long as the individual is willing to learn, the definition of terms will prove helpful in a variety of courses even if the individual does not have a background in the humanities. The book explores the cultural tradition of the humanities over a long time span, beginning with the Paleolithic period (Old Stone Age) and concluding with the 14th century Renaissance. The focus is primarily on the Western tradition, but influential formative periods of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt are included as backdrops informing the Western tradition. Additionally, the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic are discussed as the periods preceding civilization, and it is from those shadowy recesses before the beginning of recorded history that a gestation period arose that eventually propelled the human race toward the abandonment of a hunter-gatherer subsistence level toward the attempt at mastery of the natural world, and the spread of the arts and great cities and technologies worldwide
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1 The Prehistoric World
Learning Objectives
Paleolithic Era
Paleolithic Art
Mesolithic Era
Mesolithic Art
Neolithic Era
Stonehenge
Gobekli Tepe
Neolithic Art
Catal Hoyuk
Summary
Discussion Questions
References
CHAPTER 2 Origin of Cities and Writing
Learning Objectives
Mesopotamia
Sumer
Cuneiform Script
Sumerian Religion
Sumerian Cosmology and Cosmogony
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Plot Summary
Ancient Egypt
Historical Egyptian Periods
Pre-dynastic Period
Early Dynastic Period Dynasties I-II
Old Kingdom Dynasties III-VI
First Intermediate Period Dynasties VII-X
Middle Kingdom Dynasties XI-XII
Second Intermediate Period Dynasties XIII-XVII
New Kingdom Dynasties XVIII-XX
Greco-Roman Period 332 BC–395 CE
Egyptian Art
Old Kingdom c.2649–2130 BC
Middle Kingdom c.2008–1650 BC
New Kingdom c.1550–1050 BC
Egyptian Religion and Myth
Egyptian Creation Myth
The Major Gods
Summary
Afterword
Discussion Questions
References
CHAPTER 3 Glories of Ancient Greece
Learning Objectives
Beginnings of Greek Civilization
The Greek City State
Greek Philosophy and Science
Pre-Socratic Philosophers
Thales
Pythagoras of Samos
Heraclitus of Ephesus
Logos
Flux
Unity of Opposites
World as Ever-living Fire
War as Father of All
The Soul
Parmenides
Empedocles
Democritus
Socrates
Plato
Plato’s Forms
Aristotle
Aristotle’s Science
Aristotle’s Metaphysics
Ethics
Architectural and Artistic Contributions
Greek Sculpture
Greek Literature
Hesiod
Greek Drama
Greek Tragedy
Greek Comedy
Satyr Play
Greek Religion and Mythology
Summary
Discussion Questions
References
CHAPTER 4 The Roman Empire
Learning Objectives
Beginnings of Roman Civilization
Rome’s Origin
From Kingdom to Republic
Julius Caesar and the End of the Republic
The First Triumvirate
Crossing the Rubicon
Augustus Returns to Rome
The Second Triumvirate
The Battle of Philippi
Achievements of Augustus
Moral Reforms
Religious Reforms
Rome Transformed to a City of Marble
Ten Emperors: The Good and the Bad
The Five Good Emperors
Nerva
Trajan
Hadrian
Antoninus Pius
Marcus Aurelius
Five of the Bad Emperors
Architectural and Engineering Marvels of the Roman Empire
Roman Triumphal Arches
Roads: Paving the Way for Empire
Aqueducts: The Flow of Living Water
Monumental Buildings for Life and Death
Pantheon
Maison Carrée
Temple of Baalbek
Nimes Amphitheatre
Roman Colosseum
Art of the Roman Empire
Etruscans
Roman Painting
Pompeii Imperial Period
Roman Republic 509-27 BC
Roman Literature
Philosophers
Poetry
Catullus
Horace
Ovid
Virgil
Roman Mythology
Fall of the Roman Empire
Summary
Discussion Questions
References
CHAPTER 5 Middle Ages
Learning Objectives
Middle Ages
Divisions of the Middle Ages
St. Augustine of Hippo
Constantine I
Byzantine Empire
Justinian I
The Catholic Church
Jesus
Major Developments of the Canon of the Church
First Council of Nicaea
First Council of Constantinople
Council of Ephesus
The Monastic Tradition
Notable Monks and Nuns
Bede
Hildegard of Bingen
Charlemagne and the Carolingian Empire
Charlemagne
Carolingian Renaissance
Islam the Rise of a New Faith
Five Pillars of Islam
Medieval Crusades
The First Crusade (1096–1099)
Second Crusade (1147–1149)
Third Crusade (1189–1192)
The Later Crusades (1198–1291)
Medieval Architecture
Byzantine Architecture
Romanesque Architecture
Gothic Architecture
Medieval Art
Byzantine Art
Carolingian Art
Gothic Art
Medieval Literature
Beowulf
Song of Roland
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
The Canterbury Tales
The Divine Comedy
Summary
Discussion Questions
References
CHAPTER 6 Renaissance
Learning Objectives
Renaissance Background
Renaissance and the Middle Ages
Humanism
Characteristics of Humanism
Cosimo de’ Medici
Renaissance Philosophy
Aristotelianism
Platonism
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola
Paracelsus
Desiderius Erasmus
Michel de Montaigne
Thomas Hobbes
Niccolo Machiavelli
Renaissance Religious Influences
John Calvin
Renaissance Scientific Contributions: The Scientific Revolution
Francis Bacon and Empirical Reason
Nicolaus Copernicus
Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler
Johann Gutenberg
Renaissance Artistic Contributions
The Early and High Renaissance in Art
Sandro Botticelli
Domenico Ghirlandaio
Paolo Uccello
Piero della Francesca
High Renaissance in Art
Leonardo da Vinci
Michelangelo
Raphael
Other Notable Renaissance Artists
Titian
Jan van Eyck
Hieronymus Bosch
Renaissance Literary Contributions
Italian Literary Figures
Petrarch
Ludovico Ariosto
French Literary Figures
Spanish Literary Figures
Miguel de Cervantes
Garcilaso de la Vega Poet
Garcilaso de la Vega
English Literary Figures
Thomas Wyatt
Thomas More
Ben Johnson
Thomas Kyd
Christopher Marlowe
Edmund Spenser
William Shakespeare
Shakespeare as Lyric Poet
Shakespeare as Playwright
Renaissance Musical Contributions
Genres
Instruments
Musical Periods
Renaissance Architectural Contributions
Filippo Brunelleschi
Leon Battista Alberti
Andrea Palladio
Lorenzo Ghiberti
Summary
Discussion Questions
References
APPENDIX A List of Rulers of the Roman Empire
APPENDIX B Early Byzantium Emperors
GLOSSARY
INDEX
This book informs the student or any reader about the importance of the humanities. The book uses comprehensive terminology, but every term is specifically defined, and as long as the individual is willing to learn, the definition of terms will prove helpful in a variety of courses even if the individual does not have a background in the humanities. The book explores the cultural tradition of the humanities over a long time span, beginning with the Paleolithic period (Old Stone Age) and concluding with the 14th century Renaissance. The focus is primarily on the Western tradition, but influential formative periods of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt are included as backdrops informing the Western tradition. Additionally, the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic are discussed as the periods preceding civilization, and it is from those shadowy recesses before the beginning of recorded history that a gestation period arose that eventually propelled the human race toward the abandonment of a hunter-gatherer subsistence level toward the attempt at mastery of the natural world, and the spread of the arts and great cities and technologies worldwide
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1 The Prehistoric World
Learning Objectives
Paleolithic Era
Paleolithic Art
Mesolithic Era
Mesolithic Art
Neolithic Era
Stonehenge
Gobekli Tepe
Neolithic Art
Catal Hoyuk
Summary
Discussion Questions
References
CHAPTER 2 Origin of Cities and Writing
Learning Objectives
Mesopotamia
Sumer
Cuneiform Script
Sumerian Religion
Sumerian Cosmology and Cosmogony
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Plot Summary
Ancient Egypt
Historical Egyptian Periods
Pre-dynastic Period
Early Dynastic Period Dynasties I-II
Old Kingdom Dynasties III-VI
First Intermediate Period Dynasties VII-X
Middle Kingdom Dynasties XI-XII
Second Intermediate Period Dynasties XIII-XVII
New Kingdom Dynasties XVIII-XX
Greco-Roman Period 332 BC–395 CE
Egyptian Art
Old Kingdom c.2649–2130 BC
Middle Kingdom c.2008–1650 BC
New Kingdom c.1550–1050 BC
Egyptian Religion and Myth
Egyptian Creation Myth
The Major Gods
Summary
Afterword
Discussion Questions
References
CHAPTER 3 Glories of Ancient Greece
Learning Objectives
Beginnings of Greek Civilization
The Greek City State
Greek Philosophy and Science
Pre-Socratic Philosophers
Thales
Pythagoras of Samos
Heraclitus of Ephesus
Logos
Flux
Unity of Opposites
World as Ever-living Fire
War as Father of All
The Soul
Parmenides
Empedocles
Democritus
Socrates
Plato
Plato’s Forms
Aristotle
Aristotle’s Science
Aristotle’s Metaphysics
Ethics
Architectural and Artistic Contributions
Greek Sculpture
Greek Literature
Hesiod
Greek Drama
Greek Tragedy
Greek Comedy
Satyr Play
Greek Religion and Mythology
Summary
Discussion Questions
References
CHAPTER 4 The Roman Empire
Learning Objectives
Beginnings of Roman Civilization
Rome’s Origin
From Kingdom to Republic
Julius Caesar and the End of the Republic
The First Triumvirate
Crossing the Rubicon
Augustus Returns to Rome
The Second Triumvirate
The Battle of Philippi
Achievements of Augustus
Moral Reforms
Religious Reforms
Rome Transformed to a City of Marble
Ten Emperors: The Good and the Bad
The Five Good Emperors
Nerva
Trajan
Hadrian
Antoninus Pius
Marcus Aurelius
Five of the Bad Emperors
Architectural and Engineering Marvels of the Roman Empire
Roman Triumphal Arches
Roads: Paving the Way for Empire
Aqueducts: The Flow of Living Water
Monumental Buildings for Life and Death
Pantheon
Maison Carrée
Temple of Baalbek
Nimes Amphitheatre
Roman Colosseum
Art of the Roman Empire
Etruscans
Roman Painting
Pompeii Imperial Period
Roman Republic 509-27 BC
Roman Literature
Philosophers
Poetry
Catullus
Horace
Ovid
Virgil
Roman Mythology
Fall of the Roman Empire
Summary
Discussion Questions
References
CHAPTER 5 Middle Ages
Learning Objectives
Middle Ages
Divisions of the Middle Ages
St. Augustine of Hippo
Constantine I
Byzantine Empire
Justinian I
The Catholic Church
Jesus
Major Developments of the Canon of the Church
First Council of Nicaea
First Council of Constantinople
Council of Ephesus
The Monastic Tradition
Notable Monks and Nuns
Bede
Hildegard of Bingen
Charlemagne and the Carolingian Empire
Charlemagne
Carolingian Renaissance
Islam the Rise of a New Faith
Five Pillars of Islam
Medieval Crusades
The First Crusade (1096–1099)
Second Crusade (1147–1149)
Third Crusade (1189–1192)
The Later Crusades (1198–1291)
Medieval Architecture
Byzantine Architecture
Romanesque Architecture
Gothic Architecture
Medieval Art
Byzantine Art
Carolingian Art
Gothic Art
Medieval Literature
Beowulf
Song of Roland
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
The Canterbury Tales
The Divine Comedy
Summary
Discussion Questions
References
CHAPTER 6 Renaissance
Learning Objectives
Renaissance Background
Renaissance and the Middle Ages
Humanism
Characteristics of Humanism
Cosimo de’ Medici
Renaissance Philosophy
Aristotelianism
Platonism
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola
Paracelsus
Desiderius Erasmus
Michel de Montaigne
Thomas Hobbes
Niccolo Machiavelli
Renaissance Religious Influences
John Calvin
Renaissance Scientific Contributions: The Scientific Revolution
Francis Bacon and Empirical Reason
Nicolaus Copernicus
Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler
Johann Gutenberg
Renaissance Artistic Contributions
The Early and High Renaissance in Art
Sandro Botticelli
Domenico Ghirlandaio
Paolo Uccello
Piero della Francesca
High Renaissance in Art
Leonardo da Vinci
Michelangelo
Raphael
Other Notable Renaissance Artists
Titian
Jan van Eyck
Hieronymus Bosch
Renaissance Literary Contributions
Italian Literary Figures
Petrarch
Ludovico Ariosto
French Literary Figures
Spanish Literary Figures
Miguel de Cervantes
Garcilaso de la Vega Poet
Garcilaso de la Vega
English Literary Figures
Thomas Wyatt
Thomas More
Ben Johnson
Thomas Kyd
Christopher Marlowe
Edmund Spenser
William Shakespeare
Shakespeare as Lyric Poet
Shakespeare as Playwright
Renaissance Musical Contributions
Genres
Instruments
Musical Periods
Renaissance Architectural Contributions
Filippo Brunelleschi
Leon Battista Alberti
Andrea Palladio
Lorenzo Ghiberti
Summary
Discussion Questions
References
APPENDIX A List of Rulers of the Roman Empire
APPENDIX B Early Byzantium Emperors
GLOSSARY
INDEX