For Essay-History 121- – Flashcards

If I was to compare Zoroastrianism to any other religious concepts that I have seen so far, I would compare it to the Aryan religion. Cross-cultural influences were part of the development of the Persian religion. Persians actually have come from the family of people who spoke the Indo-European languages and their earliest religion closely resembled that of the Aryans of India. Then later the new faith Zoroastrianism emerged. The Aryan religion and Zoroastrianism can be compared because they shared a sort of similar faith. One is that the Persians recognized the same gods as the ancient Aryans. Also their priests performed sacrifices similar to those conducted by the Brahmins in India. The priests even made ceremonial use of a hallucinogenic agent called haoma in the same way that the Aryans used soma, and indeed the two concoctions were probably the same substance. Like the Aryans, the ancient Persians glorified strength and martial virtues, and the cults of both peoples sought principally to bring about a comfortable material existence for their practitioners. Zoroastrianism grew from this concept. It was also comparable to the fact that both had an importance of the composition of hymns. With the Aryans it was with the Vedas and with Zoroastrianism, it was with the Gathas. Zoroastrianism is different because it emphasized more on the duality of good and evil and the role of individuals in determining their own fate. Zoroastrianism was influential to other religions with their values and beliefs. These religions are Christianity and Islam. The idea that a purely evil being worked against the creator of god, the conviction that the forces of good will ultimately prevail over the power of evil after a climatic struggle, etc. Basically the teachings influenced these religions.

Ancient Greeks were much known for philosophy, which brought the power of reason to bear on human issues as well as the natural world. There were three great Greek philosophers, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, then later on the Hellenistic philosophers. They all shaped the world in some way. Socrates posed questions that encouraged reflection on human issues, particularly on matters of ethics and morality. He suggested that human beings could lead honest lives and that honor was far more important than wealth, fame, or other superficial attributes. Plato's philosophy focused on his theory of forms and ideas. He developed his belief that the world we live was not the only world; it was not the world of genuine reality, but only a pale and imperfect reflection of the world of Forms or Ideas. Only by entering the world of Forms or Ideas was it possible to understand the true nature of virtue and other qualities. Though abstract, his thought had important political and social implications. Plato advocated an intellectual aristocracy: the philosophical elite would rule, and other, less intelligent, classes would work at functions for which their talents best suited them. Aristotle came to distrust the Forms and Ideas theory. He believed philosophers could rely on their senses to provide accurate information about the world and then depend on reason to sort out its mysteries. He also wrote on biology, physics, astronomy, psychology, politics, ethics, and literature. For the Hellenistic philosophers the most popular were the epicureans, skeptics, and stoics. The epicureans identified pleasure as the greatest good meaning, a state of quiet satisfaction that would shield them from the pressures of the Hellenistic world. Skeptics refused to take strong positions on political, moral, and social issues because they doubted the possibility of certain knowledge. Rather than engage in fruitless disputes, they sought equanimity and left contentious issues to others. Lastly the Stoics, they did not consider all human beings members of a universal family. Stoics did not seek to withdraw from the pressures of the world. Stoics believed that individuals could avoid anxieties caused by the pressures of Hellenistic society by concentrating their attention strictly on the duties that reason and nature demanded them. Stoics sought ways to bring individuals to a state of inner peace and tranquility

Monotheism is the belief in only one god. This was a rare and unusual religious view in the ancient world. People of the ancient world believed in many things. Most religious views incorporated gods who they worshipped for different matters. For example the Romans, they had different gods. There was the god of war, the god of love, the god of wisdom, etc. Monotheism focused and revolved around just one god. Those who did not have any religious views believed in things like nature spirits inhabited in trees, rocks, and mountains and they honored various deities as patrons or protectors of whatever clan they were in. Also because neighboring peoples shared some gods, if a set of peoples believed in monotheism, conflicts were to erupt.

Pyramids originated from the Egyptians. They expressed a worldwide view of the Egyptians. First of all, they were symbols of the pharaoh's authority and divine status. It reflects hierarchical status. In the Egyptian society there were slaves, the commoners, the pharaohs. If you were to put them in order the top of the pyramid would the pharaohs below them the commoners, then slaves and so forth. The most important one would be on the top which is the pharaohs. Also it was a testimony of the pharaoh's ability to marshal Egypt's resources. They were also used for tombs. Their worldview was very religious too, because the pyramids were a symbol of a gateway of the next life. This is seen as inside the pyramids the Egyptians buried with the pharaohs divine things like vases and lots of arts. The belief was that they could take these material things with them in the afterlife.

Athens and Spartans were both famous poleis of Greece. Athenians and Spartans were both very war-like always fighting each other. In terms of culture, Spartans came not by wealth or social status, but by prowess, discipline, ad military talent. On the other hand Athenians were all about the wealth. Spartans didn't have much patience with frivolous Athenian pursuits like writing poetry, unless it was poetry in praise of war. Spartan women were expected to keep fit and exercise so that they could produce strong children, in addition to running everything while the men were away. Athenian women were supposed to stay at home and run their households and spend a lot of time weaving, and not go out except to take part in religious festivals. Athens was a democracy having a government, whereas Sparta had two kings, one to lead the army and the other to run things at home. Because by the end the Spartans gave into wealth as they had a taste of it, the Spartans sought to maintain public order and discourage rebellion by the helots by creating a military state that could crush any threat. Basically Athens transformed into a democratic state. Athens became the most sophisticated of the poleis, with a vibrant community of scientists, philosophers, poets, dramatists, artists, and architects.