The Western humanities / Roy T. Matthews and F. Dewitt Platt

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preface A Humanities Primer: How to Understand the Arts Introduction: Why Study Cultural History? 1. PREHISTORY AND NEAR EASTERN CIVILIZATIONS Prehistory and Early Cultures / The Civilizations of the Tigris and Euphrates River Valley: Mesopotamia / Personal Perspective: ?A Sumerian Father Lectures His Son? / The Civilization of the Nile River Valley: Egypt / Personal Perspective: ?Egypt: The Instruction of Amenemope? / Heirs to the Mesopotamian and Egyptian Empires / The Legacy of Early Near Eastern Civilizations / Windows on the World: 5000?500 B.C. 2. AEGEAN CIVILIZATIONS: THE MINOANS, THE MYCENAEANS, AND THE GREEKS OF THE ARCHAIC AGE Prelude: Minoan Civilization, 3000?1300 B.C. / Beginnings: Mycenaen Civilization, 1900?1100 B.C. / Interlude: The Dark Ages, 1100?800 B.C. / The Archaic Age, 800?479 B.C. / The Emergence of Greek Genius: The Mastery of Form / Personal Perspectives: Solon, ?Political Verses: The Ten Ages of Man?; Sappho, ?He Seems to Be a God? / The Legacy of Archaic Greek Civilization 3. CLASSICAL GREEK CIVILIZATION: THE HELLENIC AGE General Characteristics of Hellenic Civilization / Domestic and Foreign Affairs: War, Peace, and the Triumph of Macedonia / The Perfection of the Tradition: The Glory of Hellenic Greece / Personal Perspective: Xenophon, ?Secrets of a Successful Marriage? / The Legacy of Hellenic Civilization / Windows on the World: 500?300 B.C. 4. CLASSICAL GREEK CIVILIZATION: THE HELLENISTIC AGE The Stages of Hellenistic History / The Cities of Hellenistic Civilization / Personal Perspective: Theocritos, ?A Street Scene in Alexandria? / The Elaboration of the Greek Tradition: The Spread of Classicism to the Hellenistic World / The Legacy of the Hellenistic World 5. ROMAN CIVILIZATION: THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CENTURIES The Colossus of the Mediterranean World / The Style of Pre-Christian Rome: From Greek Imitation to Roman Grandeur / Personal Perspective: Marcus, Son of Cicero, ?Letter to Tiro, Secretary to Cicero Senior? / The Legacy of Pre-Christian Rome / Windows on the World: 300 B.C.?A.D. 500 6. JUDAISM AND THE RISE OF CHRISTIANITY Judaism / Personal Perspective: Flavius Josephus, ?The Destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem? / Christianity / Personal Perspective: Vibia Perpetua, ?Account of Her Last Days Before Martyrdom? / The Legacy of Biblical Judaism and Early Christianity 7. LATE ROMAN CIVILIZATION The Last Days of the Roman Empire / Personal Perspective: Paulina, ?Epitaph for Agorius Praetextatus? / The Transition from Classical Humanism to Christian Civilization / Personal Perspective: St. Jerome, ?Secular Education; The Fall of Rome? / Why Did Rome Fall? / The Legacy of Late Roman Civilization 8. THE SUCCESSORS OF ROME: BYZANTIUM, ISLAM, AND THE EARLY MEDIEVAL WEST The Eastern Roman Empire and Byzantine Civilization, 476?1453 / The Islamic World, 600?1517 / The Early Medieval West / Personal Perspectives: Anna Comenena, ?The Arrival of the First Crusade in Constantinople?; Usamah, ?The Curious Medicine of the Franks?; Liudprand of Cremona, ?A Mission to the Byzantine Court? / The Legacy of Byzantium, Islam, and the Early Medieval West / Windows on the World: 500?1000 9. THE HIGH MIDDLE AGES: THE CHRISTIAN CENTURIES Feudalism / Medieval Christianity and the Church / Personal Perspective: Hildegarde of Bingen, ?Scivias? / The Age of Synthesis: Equilibrium between the Spiritual and the Secular / The Legacy of the Christian Centuries / Windows on the World: 1000?1300 10. THE LATE MIDDLE AGES: 1300?1500 Hard Times Come to Europe / The Cultural Flowering of the Late Middle Ages / Personal Perspective: Henry Knighton, ?Chronicle? / The Legacy of the Late Middle Ages / Windows on the World: 1330?1500 11. THE EARLY RENAISSANCE: RETURN TO CLASSICAL ROOTS, 1400?1494 The Renaissance: Schools of Interpretation / Early Renaissance History and Institutions / The Spirit and Style of the Early Renaissance / Personal Perspective: Laura Cereta, ?Defense of the Liberal Instruction of Women? / The Legacy of the Early Renaissance / Suggestions for Listening 12. THE HIGH RENAISSANCE AND EARLY MANNERISM: 1494?1564 The Rise of the Modern Sovereign State / Economic Expansion and Social Developments / From High Renaissance to Early Mannerism / Personal Perspective: Giorgio Vasari, ?Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects? / The Legacy of the High Renaissance and Early Mannerism / Suggestions for Listening 13. NORTHERN HUMANISM, NORTHERN RENAISSANCE, RELIGIOUS REFORMATIONS, AND LATE MANNERISM: 1500?1603 Northern Humanism / The Northern Renaissance / The Breakup of Christendom: Causes of the Religious Reformations / Personal Perspective: Albrecht Dürer, ?On Luther? / Late Mannerism / The Legacy of Northern Humanism, Northern Renaissance, Religious Reformations, and Late Mannerism / Suggestions for Listening / Windows on the World: 1500?1600 14. THE BAROQUE AGE: GLAMOUR AND GRANDIOSITY, 1600?1715 Absolutism, Monarchy, and the Balance of Power / Personal Perspectives: Louis XIV, ?On Justice?; Samuel Pepys, ?On the Great Fire of London? / The Baroque: Variations on an International Style / The Legacy of the Baroque Age / Suggestions for Listening / Windows on the World: 1600?1700 15. THE BAROQUE AGE II: REVOLUTIONS IN SCIENTIfiC AND POLITICAL THOUGHT, 1600?1715 Theories of the Universe before the Scientific Revolution / The Magical and the Practical in the Scientific Revolution / Personal Perspective: Johannes Junius, ?Secret Letter to His Daughter? / The Revolution in Political Thought / European Exploration and Expansion / Responses to the Revolutions in Thought / The Legacy of the Revolutions in Scientific and Political Thought 16. THE AGE OF REASON: 1700?1789 The Enlightenment / The Great Powers during the Age of Reason / Cultural Trends in the Eighteenth Century: From Rococo to Neoclassical / Personal Perspective: Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, ?Letter to Wortley, Avignon, 25 March 1744? / The Legacy of the Age of Reason / Suggestions for Listening / Windows on the World: 1700?1800 17. REVOLUTION, REACTION, AND CULTURAL RESPONSE: 1760?1830 The Industrial Revolution / Political Revolutions, 1760?1815 / Reaction, 1815?1830 / Revolutions in Art and Ideas: From Neoclassicism to Romanticism / Personal Perspective: Hector Berlioz, ?This Harmonious Revolution? / The Legacy of the Age of Revolution and Reaction / Suggestions for Listening 18. THE TRIUMPH OF THE BOURGEOISIE: 1830?1871 The Political and Economic Scene: Liberalism and Nationalism / Personal Perspectives: Charlotte Brontë, ?On the Crystal Palace?; Hippolyte Taine, ?Derby Day Races, 28 May 1861? / Nineteenth-Century Thought: Philosophy, Religion, and Science / Cultural Trends: From Romanticism to Realism / Personal Perspectives: Gustave Flaubert, ?Letter to Jules Cloquet, January 16, 1850?; Feodor Dostoevsky, ?Winter Notes on Summer Impressions? / The Legacy of the Bourgeois Age / Suggestions for Listening / Windows on the World: 1800?1900 19. THE AGE OF EARLY MODERNISM: 1871?1914 Europe?s Rise to World Leadership / Personal Perspective: Lady Constance Lytton, from Prisons and Prisoners / Early Modernism / The Legacy of Early Modernism / Suggestions for Listening 20. THE AGE OF THE MASSES AND THE ZENITH OF MODERNISM: 1914?1945 The Collapse of Old Certainties and the Search for New Values / Personal Perspective: Elie Wiesel, from Night / The Zenith of Modernism / The Legacy of the Age of the Masses and High Modernism / Suggestions for Listening / Windows on the World: 1900?1945 21. THE AGE OF ANXIETY AND BEYOND: 1945? From a European to a World Civilization / The End of Modernism and the Birth of Post-Modernism / Personal Perspective: Toni Morrison and Bill Moyers, ?A Conversation, 1989? / A Summing Up / Suggestions for Listening / Windows on the World: 1945? In each chapter: Key Cultural Terms Suggestions for Further Reading Appendix: Writing for the Humanities: Research Papers and Essay Examinations Glossary Credits Index