Humanities Final

Ancient Sumerian Poem - Epic of Gilgamesh

2100 BCE

The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia. Often regarded as the first epic work of literature, it details Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, and Enkidu, a wild man created by the gods to stop Gilgamesh from oppressing the people of Uruk.
Numerous scholars have drawn attention to various themes, episodes, and verses, that indicate a substantial influence of the Epic of Gilgamesh on the two epic poems written by Homer.

Ancient Middle Eastern Religion - Zoroastrianism

1770 BCE

Zoroastrianism, although the smallest of the major religions of the world in the number of its adherents, is historically one of the most important. It was the first of the world’s religions to be founded by an inspired prophetic reformer, Zoroaster.
It was influential on Mahayana Buddhism and especially on the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Being the oldest of these three, the religion still remains with mostly dwindling followers in India.

Ancient Greek Philosophy - Cynicism

500 BCE

Cynicism is a school of philosophy from the Socratic period of ancient Greece circa 5th century BCE, which holds that the purpose of life is to live a life of virtue in agreement with nature, which essentially meant that only the bare necessities are needed for the purpose of existing.
Founded by a pupil of Socrates himself, cynics followed a lifestyle devoid of conventional living (hygiene, wealth, etc.) while also being steadfast in the critique of greed.

Ancient Japanese Religion - Shintoism

500 BCE

Starting about 500 BCE, Shintoism originally was an amorphous mix of nature worship, fertility cults, divination techniques, hero worship, and shamanism.
In the past, believers practiced misogi, the washing of their bodies in a river near the shrine. In recent years they only wash their hands and wash out their mouths in a wash basin provided within the shrine grounds.

Ancient Historical Battle - The Battle of Salamis

480 BCE

The Battle of Salamis was a decisive naval battle between the Greek city states and Persia in 480 BCE in the strait between Piraeus and Salamis Island, an island in the Saronic Gulf near Athens.
The Greeks were not in agreement as to how to defend against the Persian army, but Athens under Themistocles used their navy to defeat the much larger Persian navy and force King Xerxes I of Persia to retreat.

Ancient Greek Sculpture - Discobulus (The Discus Thrower)

460 BCE

The Discobolus of Myron is a Greek sculpture that was completed toward the end of the Greek Early Classical period. Depicting an athletic young male partaking in the ancient Greek sport of discus throwing, the bronze original has unfortunately been lost to time but numerous Roman copies, both full-scale and model sizes, exist today.
Discus throwing was one of the events of the ancient Greek pentathlon, which can be dated back to at least to 708 BC.

Greek Performing Arts - Oedipus Rex

429 BCE

Oedipus Rex, also known as Oedipus the King, is an Athenian tragedy by the ancient Greek playwrite Sophocles that was first performed around 429 BCE.
The plot depicting the tragic rise and fall of the King of Thebes Oedipus as well as the power of fate sees Oedipus destined to kill his father and wed his mother.
A powerful play pervading the folly of man, it proceeds to be quite popular today.

Ancient Historical Battle - The Battle of Guagemela

331 BCE

The Battle of Gaugamela took place in 331 BC between Alexander the Great of Macedonia and Darius III of Achaemenid Persia. The battle resulted in a massive victory for the Macedonians.
The majority of the existing satraps were to give their loyalty to Alexander, and be allowed to keep their positions, however, the Persian Empire is traditionally considered to have fallen with the death of Darius III as a result of the battle.

Ancient Philosophy - Stoicism

313 BCE

Stoicism was one of the two principal schools of the Hellenistic era, whose practices included ethical and philosophical training, self reflection, careful judgment and inner calm.
Stoicism was founded by Zeno of Cyprus, who was born in 335 BC and came to Athens around 313 BC which was the time it was initially founded and quickly adopted by a number of Athenian academics.

Ancient Roman Statue - Augusto di Prima Porta

20 BCE

A 2.03 meter high marble statue depicting Augustus Caesar. Augustus is shown in this role of Imperator, the commander of the army and in itself depicting an aura of authority and Roman superiority.
As compared to the Archaic Greek style of sculpture, it is much less rigid and shows a fine example of the Roman appreciation of the human form.
Discovered on April 20, 1863 in the Villa of Livia at Prima Porta, near Rome, it now resides in the New Wings of the Vatican museums.

Classical Italian Literature - The Divine Comedy

Jan 1, 1320

The Divine Comedy is a long narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in 1320. It is widely considered the preeminent work in Italian literature, and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature.
Detailing Dante's journey with the Roman poet Virgil through the afterlife: Hell (Inferno), Purgatory (Purgatorio), and Heaven (Paradiso) on his way to meet his love Beatrice in the kingdom of heaven.

Classical British Performing Arts - Romeo and Juliet

Jan 1, 1595

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately mend together their feuding families.
Being an exemplary piece of a tragedy involving young love, Shakespeare made a significant mark on history with this, as well as Hamlet, being widely appreciated in the modern day what with modern adaptations as well as being used widely throughout schools across the world.