Differences in Societies in Different Epochs: BCE and CE

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Table of Contents

A Comparison
Medea
References

A Comparison

There are big differences between societies in 5000 BCE to 3000 BCE and 476 to 500 CE are dramatic. The first time frame is pre-Christian while the second is a Christian era in full swing.

The first recorded history begins around 5000 BCE when the first calendar made by the Egyptians is used. It was regulated by the sun and the moon and had 360 days. Each of the twelve months had 30 days. The first Jewish calendar appears shortly thereafter with the first year being -3760.

Daily life between 5000 BCE and 3000 BCE includes the use of white-painted pottery made in Egypt and Southern Europe. In the Russian region and China multicolored ceramics are popular. Prior to 4000 BCE was the Paleolithic and Neolithic era where society consisted of hunter-gatherer groups of 20-30 people each. They moved from one place to another in search of food and shelter. Men did most of the hunting while women did most of the gathering because of the need to nurse infants and care for young children. Women normally stayed near camp (Hunt, p5-7). “Technological innovation helped Paleolithic people increase their chances for survival; an important innovation was the control of fire, which helped people stay warm in cold climates and allowed indigestible wild plants to be cooked and made edible and nutritious food (Hunt, p5).

Cities begin to form with the Sumerians settling in the city of Babylon. This period of time is the height of Sumerian civilization. In the area of Mesopotamia, floods create havoc. Semitic tribes occupy Assyria and Neolithic settlements appear in Crete.

Technology begins to affect daily life. The Bronze Age is in a swing in Bohemia were masons and smiths begin to create useful wares. Wheeled vehicles appear in Sumeria. Mesopotamians are using a potter’s wheel by this time. The economy of this time is primarily agricultural-based. In Egypt, the people plowed, used manure to fertilize, and raked their fields. Wrestling is the first popular sport.

Sumerians use clay tablets to write on and use pictographs to express language. Later, writing appears in the form of wedge shapes (cuneiform).

By the time of the second period of this comparison the Huns have withdrawn from Europe, Venice had been established by refugees from Attila’s Huns. Anglo-Saxons of this period are now wearing shirts, tunics, and coats.

Religion continues to be an important element in people’s lives except that Christianity has taken hold in many parts of the Middle East and Europe. By this time frame, the first plans of the Vatican Palace (Rome) had been developed. Philosophy and learning have also taken hold with Shinto Shrines in Japan, the Platonic Academy in Athens, and St. Benedict becoming the patriarch of monasticism in the West.

For the first time, period writing was just becoming popular as a way to record history and religion. By the time of the second period in this comparison poets and poetry were becoming popular. Johannes Stobias, a Macedonian, issued an anthology of Greek literature. Writing has transformed from recording history to being used for poetry and literature in general.

Mathematical developments were also taking place during this time frame. Aryabhata, a Hindi astronomer, and mathematician had drafted the powers and roots of numbers. The clepsydra was developed. It was an instrument that was used to measure time by the flow of water (a chronometer).

Cultural development was also taking place in the Americas. The Mississippi Valley culture was in full swing in North America (American Indian culture) and pre-Inca culture was evident in Tiahuanco, Peru.

Trade was an important feature of all cultures of this time frame. Trade between India and China made tea popular in China (Tea from India). The Alemanni (Germanic tribes) began using wooden coffins and wooden tools to bury their dead rather than just burying their dead in the ground. This custom quickly became the norm among those in Western Europe.

Medea

The author of this text is Euripides of Athens. He lived during the period 484-406 BCE. He wrote 92 plays of which 17 survive. Medea is set in Corinth around 431 BCE. The characters of the play include the nurse of Medea, The attendant for her children, the chorus of Corinthian women, Creon (the king of Corinth, Jason, Aegus (king of Athens), and the messenger. The story of Medea is actually a collection of stories that Euripides heard (folk tales).

The Theme of this play is about a woman (Medea) who has been abandoned by her husband (Jason). Medea has also been left with their two children who Jason claims he no longer loves (Medea or the children). The King of Corinth banishes Medea from the city when he fears a possible plot to kill Glauce (Jason’s new wife) and Jason. This story is considered a tragedy because in the end Glauce (Jason’s new wife) and her father died after receiving a poisoned gift of a dress and coronet from Medea. Her distraught father died because he hugged her while she was dressed in the gift. Medea also kills two children thus leaving Jason with no one in the end.

As a period play, Medea lets us in on what things were like back in 431 BCE. The play shows how the sanctity of an oath can be broken by simply taking another wife. Jason’s taking a new wife brought him more power and prestige. In doing so Jason neglects his responsibility to Medea that he pledged when they were married. The play gives the impression that Jason’s taking a new wife was just part of life. At the end of the play, Jason curses his wife for murdering Glauce and the King but Medea gives a statement that clears her: “What heavenly power lends an ear, To a breaker of oaths, a deceiver?”. She has summed up Jason’s position. He is a breaker of an oath and he has lost all.

It is interesting to note that during that time frame women were tasked with bearing young, raising children, and doing housework. They had little, if any, power over their day-to-day lives. Yet, in this play, Madea has great power over Jason. She ruins all that he had. She committed four revenge killings. She killed Glauce, Glauce’s father, and her own two children thus leaving Jason with no one. She did win in the end but only by not winning. She too lost two sons.

This play gives another example of the true nature of mankind. Despite the passage of time much of the same is expected today. Marriage is an oath meant not to be broken. Marriage is “till death do us part”. Jason broke that oath and suffered for it. Although, today, Madea would be in prison possibly on death row in the United States for causing the deaths of four individuals. If Madea had been played out on the modern stage then Madea would have been a divorced mother of two looking for a new suiter. Jason would have been a happily married man paying child support. Abandonment seems okay back in 431 BCE but not so today.

The timeframe of these plays was toward the end of the Peloponnesian War and during the time of tyrannic rule. It was shortly after this timeframe that Socrates was executed (399 BCE) (Hunt, p93-95). “However, intellectual life continued to flourish, and Plato and Aristotle founded schools in Athens. Although Sparta won the Peloponnesian War, the longstanding rivalries between the Greek city-states persisted, and for decades after the war, they continued to fight amongst themselves for dominance.” (Hunt, p93-95)

References

Bernard Grun, The Timetables of History, New York, Simon and Shuster, 1979. 2-3, 30-31.

Euripedes of Athens. Medea. Translated by E.P. Coleridge. 431 BCE. Web.

Lynn Hunt. The Making of the West: People and Cultures, A Concise History, Vol 1. 2007 Bedford/StMartin’s.

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Differences in Societies in Different Epochs: BCE and CE

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