CHAPTER 4: HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

The Historical Overview is a narrative history of ancient Greece and the Golden Age of Athens in the fifth century B.C. Highlighted words and phrases in the text are linked to the primary text sources, images, maps, and plans that comprise Perseus. Use the Historical Overview to investigate interrelated items from a historical context.

Click the Historical Overview icon on the Gateway to open this resource.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The Historical Overview is divided into six major sections:

Introduction

Clash Between Greeks and Persians

Athenian Empire in the Golden Age

Athenian Religious and Cultural Life in the Golden Age

Continuity and Change in Athenian Social and Intellectual History

The Peloponnesian War and Athenian Life

The Table of Contents (figure 4.1) shows the organization of topics within each section in outline form.

Figure 4.1 Historical Overview Table of Contents

Click a heading in the Table of Contents to read that topic.

To follow along with the example described in this guide, click topic III A.5, The Rebellion of Thasos.

TOPICS

Each topic in the Historical Overview appears on a separate card. Topic III A.5, The Rebellion of Thasos, is depicted below (figure 4.2).

Figure 4.2 Topic III A.5, The Rebellion of Thasos

Each topic card is titled "The Golden Age of Athens in the Fifth Century BC." The topic's location in the outline is shown above the narrative. Below the main title bar are two buttons, Table of Contents and Hide Links/Unlock Text.

Location in outline
The topic you selected and its location in the outline are shown above the narrative. The location is indicated by the major topic headers preceding the topic you have selected. In the example of figure 4.2, topic III A.5 is preceded by the more general topics III A and III.

Click III A, The Establishment of an Athenian Empire, to go directly to that topic.

Click the right arrow in the Navigator several times to move forward to topic III A.5.

In this example, you must click the right arrow six times to progress from topic III A to topic III A.5.

Table of Contents
Click Table of Contents to return to the list of headings.
Linked Text and Locked Text
A toggle button changes the state of the text between shown and hidden links and between locked and unlocked text. This button is named Hide Links/Unlock Text or Show Links/Lock Text, depending on the state of the toggle.

Narrative in the Historical Overview is linked thematically to other Perseus resources. Linked text is underlined in gray and appears when the text field is locked. Text may also be unlocked so that you can use the text select tool (indicated by an I-beam cursor) to select text. After selecting text, you can use the Links Menu to find connections in other resources or the Perseus Menu to add the card to a Perseus path. For more information, see chapter 2, "Basics," on the Links Menu and chapter 9, "Utilities," on Paths.

Click Hide Links/Unlock Text to remove the gray underline from the text and disable the links to other Perseus resources.

Note that the name of the button changes (toggles). When text is unlocked, you can change as well as select the text on the screen. These changes are not permanent, and they disappear when you leave the card.

Click Show Links/Lock Text to show the gray underline in the text and enable the links.

In figure 4.2, the phrase "case of the city-state of the island of Thasos" is linked to other parts of Perseus.

Use an existing link
Hold the mouse button down on an underlined phrase to see a pop-up menu of the links from that word.

To follow the example here, hold the mouse button down on the phrase "case of the city-state of the island of Thasos."

Links in the Historical Overview are coded according to category. Links to other parts of Perseus include the Atlas, site plans, texts, and views. Links to primary texts are indicated by the standard system of abbreviations, which includes the author, work, and references to the book, chapter, and line, as applicable. Appendix C contains the standard system of abbreviations used in the Historical Overview links.

A pop-up menu for the linked text is depicted below (figure 4.3). The phrase in this figure is linked to a primary text reference, a site plan, and a view.

Figure 4.3 Pop-up menu for linked text

Release the mouse button on a link from the pop-up menu.

Try each available link in this example.

Click the Go Back icon on the Navigator to return to the Historical Overview card.

Try your own link
As with almost all of the Perseus resources, you can explore the relations of narrative, primary texts, maps, and images by using the Links Menu.

Click Hide Links/Unlock Text on the same topic described in the above example (III A.5, The Rebellion of Thasos).

Select the word "Thasos."

Hold the mouse button down on the Links Menu, and release it on Sites.

Because you have activated this choice on the Links Menu while a word was selected in your current location, Perseus goes to the selected resource (the Sites catalog) and searches for Thasos. Within seconds, you will see a catalog entry for the site Thasos.

Click the Go Back icon on the Navigator to return to your place in the Historical Overview.

Try other types of links, such as links with other art and archaeology catalogs, the philological tools, and the word searches.