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COMENIUS MULTILATERAL

2011-2013

The birth of Democracy

wealth & civilisation

11th High School of Acharnes, Greece

13-16 March 2013

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COMENIUS MULTILATERAL 2011-2013

“The time machine, now & then”

Partners

IES Antoni Maura, Spain

IIS Caterina da Siena, Italy

John Scottus Secondary School, Ireland

Melek Ozen, Turkey

11th High School of Acharnes, Greece

11th High School of Acharnes

Heroon Polytechniou & Diomedous 2,

136 75 Acharnes, Greece

Tel & Fax: 0030210 2444321,

mail@11gym-acharn.att.sch.gr

http://blogs.sch.gr/11gymach/

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COMENIUS PROGRAMME IN ACHARNES 13-16/3/2013

WENDSDAY 13-3

9.00-10.30

Assembly to the

school and

presentation of the

“Birth of Democracy

in Athens”.

10.30-11.30 Coffee

11.30 Departure

for the National

Archaeological

Museum

12.30-14.00

Guided visit

15.15-17.30

Sightseeing of the

center of Athens.

17.30-19.00 Come

back to the hotel

19.00-22.00 Walk

around Acropolis and

dinner

THERSDAY 14-3

8.00 Departure for Mykenae 10.30-12.00 Guided tour at the archaeological area. 12.00 Departure for Epidaurus 12.300-14.00 Guided tour at the Theater and the Asklepiion. 14.30-16.00 Lunch 16.00 Departure for Nafplion 16.30-18.30 Tour in the town and coffee 18.30 Departure for Athens

FRIDAY 15-3

8.15 Departure for Lavrion. 10.00-13.00 Attend the programme “the sources of silver”. 14.00-15.00 Lunch 15.30-17.00 Sounio and the Temple of Poseidon 17.30 Departure for Athens 19.00 Arrival at the hotel 19.30- 20.30 Coordinators meeting 21.00 Dinner

SATURDAY 16-3

8.30-14.30 Guided tour at the New Acropolis Museum, the theater of Dionisus, Asklepiion, Theater of Herodium, Acropolis and the ancient agora. 15.00 Lunch 16.30 Back to the hotel 17.30 Departure for the school 18.30 Activities 20.00 Dinner party

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Index

Introduction .....................................................................................................................4 THE MUNICIPALITY OF ACHARNAI- OUR PLACE ................................................................5

From the past to the present ........................................................................................5 EDUCATION IN GREECE.....................................................................................................7

Secondary education ....................................................................................................7 THE ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY ............................................................................................9

Demos ..........................................................................................................................9 Assembly. ...................................................................................................................10

WEDNESDAY 13/3/2013 .................................................................................................12 The National Library of ...............................................................................................13 The University of Athens.............................................................................................13 The Bank of Greece ....................................................................................................14 The Catholic Cathedral of Saint Dionysius ...................................................................14 Iliou Melathron ...........................................................................................................14 The old Parliament building ........................................................................................14 Syntagma Square ........................................................................................................15

THURSDAY 14-3-2013 .....................................................................................................16 Megara .......................................................................................................................16

The Iliad ..................................................................................................................17 Decline and collapse ...............................................................................................17 Religion and Art ......................................................................................................17 The Theatre ............................................................................................................19

FRIDAY 15/3/ 2013 ........................................................................................................20 SATURDAY 16/3/ 2013....................................................................................................22

The acropolis museum ................................................................................................22 The theatre of Dionysus ..............................................................................................23 The Acrpopolis of Athens ............................................................................................24 Ancient agora .............................................................................................................26 The art during the archaic and the classical period .....................................................26

Drama .....................................................................................................................27 History. ...................................................................................................................28 Philosophy ..............................................................................................................28

THE GREEK ALPHABET SOME WORDS YOU HAVE HEART DURING YOUR VISIT ................31

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Introduction

Dear partners,

The Time Machine is an extraordinary learning experience for all of us!

Our trip started out from the East, where we learnt how the history of our neighboring people of Turkey began. Then we moved to the West, to Italy, the heart of the Renaissance and met one of the most fascinating figures in the history of Art, Leonardo da Vinci. Next, the Time Machine took us to the North, to Ireland, where Christianity was preserved by bold monks and led the expansion of the Greco-Roman culture into the rest of Europe.

At this very moment we are in the South, in Greece. Now it is time to look at the roots of our own culture, that is to say the beginning of the scientific thought. We are going to walk around the places where people, for the first time in history, disputed mythological interpretations and tried to explain the world using logical arguments and move from personal and partial to universal and ecumenical concepts.

Our planned visits and activities aim to highlight the social and economic factors that led to the birth of democracy. We will trace the process by which a person becomes a citizen, he realizes his role, develops social activities and feel free. We will also try to look at how the democratic way of life influenced the every-day life of Athenians as well as the development of their philosophy, history, drama, art, rhetoric, law and everything we usually call the theoretical sciences and humanities.

We hope you all have a good time and enjoy the exchange visit in Athens.

Anastasia Kelesakou and Amalia Alexatou Comenius Coordinators 13th March 2013

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THE MUNICIPALITY OF ACHARNAI- OUR PLACE

From the past to the present

The ancient municipality of Acharnes was the largest ancient municipality in Athens.

In Thucydides’s history is confirmed as Acharnes and was represented in the Athenian

Parliament with 22 deputies, more than all the other

regional municipalities. Acharnes also had a big

number of soldiers and horsemen who fought in the

side of Athenians during the Peloponnesian War.

The residents of Acharnes, owed their prosperity in

the cultivation of fertile plain between Acharnes and

Athens and in the trade of coal they made (they

were known as coal merchants) thanks to their

neighborhood with the mountain of Parnitha. The

king of Sparta Archidamos with his army invaded

repeatedly in the first six years of Peloponnesian

War in this fertile plain of Acharnes. Here had properties a lot of rich Athenians among

who Pericles, in the region of current Kamatero. Many ancient writers are also reported

in the municipality of Acharnes: Paysanias, Thucydides,Lucian, Seneca, Pindarus,

Aristophanes, Plutarch, Xenophon, Demosthenes, Isocrates, etc.

For the origin and the interpretation of name “Acharnai” the opinions vary. According to

a pun of a comical poet of antiquity the word emanates from “acharna” or “acharnos”

which means bassfish, because the

plain of Acharnes had the form of

this fish. The name “Acharnai”, in

another opinion, emanates from a

homonym fabulous hero, founder

of city, from who they took their

name, as it also happened with a lot

of other ancient cities. Most likely,

however, is that the name is Pre-

Hellenic.

The older ancient evidences in the

region where the ancient municipality of Acharnes was developed, are dated back in the

Neolithic years.

But most of the discoveries, are dated in classic and Hellenistic years (5th-2nd century

B.C.) and in their majority emanate from cemeteries that were excavated in all the

extent of current Acharnes, parts from the road network of city, parts of pipes that

belonged to the “archanian sewer”, an important hydraulic work of 4th century which

Part of an ancient theater that has recently discovered in Acharnes

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supplied with water Acharnes and all the around municipalities. Also, by the road

network of this era a lot of discoveries were saved.

Contrary to the rarity of built-up elements from the classic period, a lot of residues from

the Roman and Post-Roman era are saved: graves, residences, rural and workshop

installations, baths, etc.

The habitation of area during the Post-Roman and Byzantine years is supplemented by

big country-houses. Moreover, the importance of

region from a military side declares also the

abundance of fortifications in the hills around

Acharnes. The habitation of Acharnes was also

continued in the years that followed. The

uninterrupted continuity of habitation in the

region until the newer years is confirmed by a lot

of temples of Acharnes and Parnitha which are

dated back in the Byzantine and post Byzantine

years.

Acharnes was the most main built-up and

economic centre after the city of Athens during

Ottoman domination. In the municipality was

organized a revolutionary headquarters and began

the armed action with an important military body.

The first community was founded in 1835 according to Royal Decree and was established

by indigenous residents. Following then, the community was strengthened by Albanians,

people form Aegean Sea, Cretans, Thessalians, Macedonians, Epirotes, repatriated Pont's

inhabitants from the Soviet Union, Homogenous people from North Epiros, economic

immigrants, etc. Nowadays, Acharnes is one of the biggest in extent municipalities of

prefecture. We should also point out that the demographic movement which the region

presents is particularly dynamic, in a level that in our days the population of Acharnes

reaches the 120.000 residents.

The vaulted Mycenaean tomb founded in Acharnes

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EDUCATION IN GREECE

The Greek educational system is mainly divided into three levels, primary, secondary

and tertiary, with an additional post-secondary level providing vocational training.

Primary education is divided into kindergarten lasting one or two years, and primary

school spanning six years (ages 6 to 12). Secondary education comprises two stages:

Gymnasio (variously translated as Middle High School), a three-year school, after which

students can attend Lykeion (an academically-oriented High School) or Vocational

training. Higher Tertiary education is provided by Universities and Polytechnics and

Technological Educational Institutes. Undergraduate courses typically last 4 years (5 in

polytechnic schools and 6 in medical schools), postgraduate (MSc level) courses last from

1 to 2 years and doctorates (PhD level) from 3 to 6 years.

All schools, regardless of level, are overseen by the Ministry of Education. The Ministry

has the control over state schools, by prescribing the curriculum, appointing staff and

controlling funding. Private schools also fall under the mandate of the Ministry, which

exercises supervisory control over them. Tertiary institutions are nominally autonomous,

but the Ministry is responsible for their funding.

Secondary education

Γυμνάσιο (Gymnasium - Middle / Secondary School)

1st grade, age 12 to 13, 2nd grade, age 13 to 14, 3rd grade, age 14 to 15.

Lessons start on September 11 and ends on June 15 to 18. The lessons end in the second

week of May so that the students will

be able to study for their

examinations between May and June.

The classes start at 8.15 and end

from 13.45 to 14.15. Classes last 45

min. and there are breaks of 10 and 5

minutes between them. Every month

each school is obliged to take the

students for a walk and an

educational excursion to a museum

or theater etc. In the end of the year

each school is obliged to organize I or 2 school trips. The schools usually organize trips to

islands or even abroad in European cities.

There are 7 types of gymnasiums in Greece: General Gymnasium (entering there from

the primary school is automatic), Athletic Gymnasium, Musical Gymnasium, Art

Gymnasium, Experimental Gymnasium, Church Gymnasium and the Special Gymnasium.

The 11th Gymnasium of Acharnes

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The subjects in the Greek Gymnasiums are:

Subjects Hours/week

Modern Greek Language 3 (for year 1) 2 (for years 2 and 3)

Modern Greek Literature 3

Ancient Greek Language 3

Ancient Greek Literature Homer Odyssey- 1st Year Homer Iliad-2nd Year Euripides Helen-3rd Year

2 2 2

Mathematics 4

Physics 2 (only for years 2 and 3)

Chemistry 1 (for years 2 and 3)

Biology 2 (for years 1 and 3)

Physical Education 3 (for years 1 & 2) 2 (for year 3)

Social and Political Studies 2 (only for year 3)

Art 1

Music 1

History 2 (for years 1 & 2) 3 (for year 3)

Religion 2

Computer Studies 1

Technology 1

English 2

2nd foreign language: German, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Turkish

2

School Vocational Guidance 1 (for year 3)

Economics 1 (for year 1) 2 (for year 2)

Geography 2

The 11th High School of Acharnes is a general gymnasium.

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THE ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY

The Athenian democracy, developed in the Greek city-state of Athens, comprised the

central city-state of Athens and the surrounding territory of Attica, around 550 BC.

Athens is one of the first known democracies. Other Greek cities set up democracies,

even though most followed the Athenian model, none were as powerful, stable, nor as

well-documented as that of Athens.

It remains a unique experiment in direct democracy, a political system in which people

do not elect representatives to vote on their behalf but vote on legislation and executive

bills in their own right.

Solon (594 BC), Cleisthenes (508/7 BC) and Ephialtes (462 BC) all contributed to the

development of Athenian democracy. It is most usual to date Athenian democracy from

Cleisthenes, since Solon's constitution fell and was replaced by the tyranny

of Peisistratus.

The greatest and longest lasting democratic leader was Pericles; after his death,

Athenian democracy was twice briefly interrupted by oligarchic revolution towards the

end of the Peloponnesian War.

The word "democracy" (Greek: δθμοκρατία) combines the elements dêmos (δῆμοσ,

which means "people") and krátos (κράτοσ, which means "force" or "power).

Demos. Estimates of the population of ancient Athens vary. During the 4th century BC,

there may well have been some 250,000–300,000 people in Attica. In the mid-5th

century the number of adult male citizens was

perhaps as high as 60,000, but this number fell

during the Peloponnesian War. From a modern

perspective these figures may seem small, but

in the world of Greek city-states Athens was

huge: most of the Greek cities could only

muster 1000–1500 adult male citizens and

Corinth, had at most 15,000. The non-citizen

component of the population was divided

between resident foreigners (metics) and slaves,

with the latter perhaps somewhat more numerous. Around 338 BC the orator Hyperides

(fragment 13) claimed that there were 150,000 slaves in Attica.

Only adult male Athenian citizens who had completed their military training

as ephebes had the right to vote in Athens. The percentage of the population that

actually participated in the government was about 20%. This excluded a majority of the

Pnika as it is today

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population, namely slaves, freed slaves, children, women and metics. The women had

limited rights and privileges and were not really considered citizens

Assembly. The central events of the Athenian democracy were the meetings of

the assembly (εκκλθςία, ekklêsia). Greek democracy created at Athens was direct, rather

than representative: any adult male citizen could take part, and it was a duty to do so.

The officials of the democracy were in part elected by the Assembly and in large part

chosen by lot. The assembly had four main functions: it made executive pronouncements

(decrees, such as deciding to go to war or granting citizenship to a foreigner), it elected

some officials, it legislated and it tried political crimes. As the system evolved these last

two functions were shifted to the law courts. The standard format was that of speakers

making speeches for and against a position followed by a general vote (usually by show

of hands) of yes or no. Voting was by simple majority. With thousands of people

attending, counting was impossible. In the 5th century BC, there were 10 fixed assembly

meetings per year, one in each of the ten state months, with other meetings called as

needed.

The Vouli. The second important institution was the vouli, or Council of Five Hundred.

The vouli was a group of 500 men, 50 from each of ten Athenian tribes, who served on

the Council for one year. Unlike the ekklesia, the

vouli met every day and did most of the work of

governance. It supervised government workers and

was in charge of things like navy ships (triremes)

and army horses. It dealt with ambassadors and

representatives from other city-states. Its main

function was to decide what matters would come

before the ekklesia. In this way, the 500 members

of the vouli dictated how the entire democracy

would work. Positions on the vouli were chosen by lot and not by election. This was

because, in theory, a random lottery was more democratic than an election: pure

chance, after all, could not be influenced by things like money or popularity. The lottery

system also prevented the establishment of a permanent class of civil servants who

might be tempted to use the government to advance or enrich themselves. However,

historians argue that selection to the vouli was not always just a matter of chance. They

note that wealthy and influential people--and their relatives--served on the Council

much more frequently than would be likely in a truly random lottery.

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The Dikasteria. The third important institution was the popular courts, or dikasteria.

Every day, more than 500 jurors were

chosen by lot from a pool of male citizens

older than 30. Of all the democratic

institutions, Aristotle argued that the

dikasteria “contributed most to the

strength of democracy” because the jury

had almost unlimited power. There were

no police in Athens, so it was the demos

themselves who brought court cases, argued for the prosecution and the defense, and

delivered verdicts and sentences by majority rule. (There were also no rules about what

kinds of cases could be prosecuted or what could and could not be said at trial, and so

Athenian citizens frequently used the dikasteria to punish or embarrass their

enemies.)Jurors were paid a wage for their work, so that the job could be accessible to

everyone and not just the wealthy (but, since the wage was less than what the average

worker earned in a day, the typical juror was an

elderly retiree). Since Athenians did not pay

taxes, the money for these payments came from

customs duties, contributions from allies and

taxes levied on the metoikoi. The one exception

to this rule was the leitourgia, or liturgy, which

was a kind of tax that wealthy people

volunteered to pay to sponsor major civic

undertakings such as the maintenance of a navy ship (this liturgy was called the

trierarchia) or the production of a play or choral performance at the city’s annual

festival.

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WEDNESDAY 13/3/2013

The National Museum of Athens. The National Archaeological Museum houses some

of the most important artifacts around Greece, from prehistory to late antiquity. It is

considered one of the great museums in

the world and contains the richest

collection of artifacts from Greek

antiquity worldwide. It is situated in

the center of Athens. The museum has a

neoclassical design which was very

popular in Europe during the 19th

century and it is n full accordance with

the classical style artifacts that it houses. The collections: The prehistoric collection

displays objects from the Neolithic era (6800-3000 BC), Early and Mid- Bronze age (3000-

2000 BC and 2000 to 1700 BC), There are ceramic finds from Dimini, Sesclo, Boeotia,

Attica and some objects from Heinrich Schliemann excavations in Troy. Famous marble

figurines from Aegean Islands of Delos and Keros that resemble so much modern art,

came from the 3rd millennium BC old cemeteries of Aegean islands. Mycenaean

civilization is represented by stone, bronze and

ceramic pots, ivory, glass and faience objects, golden

seals and rings from the vaulted tombs in Mycenae

and other locations in Peloponnese. Among the finds

of Schliemann from the circle A graves is the famous

golden funeral mask of Agamemnon. The Sculptures

Collection, which shows the development of ancient

Greek sculpture from the seventh to the fifth

centuries BC with unique masterpieces. The Vase

and Minor Objects Collection, which contains representative works of ancient Greek

pottery from the eleventh century BC to the Roman period and includes the Stathatos

Collection, a corpus of minor objects of all periods. The Metallurgy Collection, with many

fundamental statues, figurines and minor objects.

Metsovio Polytechio. The National Technical University of Athens is the oldest and

most prestigious educational institution of Greece in the field

of technology and has contributed greatly to the scientific,

technical and economic development of the country since its

founding in 1836. It is closely connected with the struggle of

Greece for independence, democracy and social progress. The

1873 installed in a group of buildings in the center of the

capital, at Patission Street and was named Metsovio in honor

of benefactor G. Averof, whose birthplace, northwestern Metsovo, was a small historic

town in Greece, and the birthplace of many national benefactors.

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The National Library of Greece ( Εκνικι Βιβλιοκικθ) is situated in the of city of

Athens. It was designed by the Danish architect Theophill Hansenand was built under

the supervision of Ernst Ziller, as part of the

famous Trilogy of neo-classical buildings including

the Academy of Athens and the the Athens

University. It was founded by Ioannis

Kapodistrias. Construction of the National Library

started in 1887 and was completed fifteen years

later. Theophil Hansen died in 1891 and would

never see the building completed.

The library holds 4,500 Greek manuscripts which is one of the greatest collections of

Greek scripts. There are many crysobulls and archives of the Greek Revolution. Among

the library's holdings are a codex of the four Gospels, Rigas’ Chart by Rigas Velestinlis

and the first publication of Homer’s epics and hymns.

The University of Athens, inaugurated on 3rd May 1837, was first housed in a

neoclassical residence, on the

northeastern side of the Acropolis,

renovated today and operating as the

University Museum.

In 1841 the administrative services and

education units were transferred to the

"main building" of the University of

Athens which, was officially named

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, in honour of the first governor of

Greece, after the nation's independence. Today, this building houses the Rectorate, the

Senate, the Great Hall of Ceremonies and important central services. Its forecourt,

the propylaeum, is socio-historically significant as it has been served as a main site for

political rallies and demonstrations by students and other social groups involved in social

rights movements.

The Academy of Athens forms part of the "Neoclassical Trilogy" of the City of Athens:

Academy- University - Library. It consists of distinct parts that form a harmonic ensemble

of built mass. A corridor connects the two

lateral wings to the main body of the

building, which has an Ionian-style entrance

and a big pediment. The entrance has

elements originating from the eastern side

of Erechtheion on Acropolis. The material

on the facets is marble. Overall, the

building is a characteristic example of

mature Neoclassicim. It was built on studies of the Danish architect Theophile Hansen

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and it is believed to be his most exquisite work in Greece. The main donator to finance

the construction was the family of the Baron Simon Sinas, Ambassador of Greece in

Vienna, Berlin and Munich. The main purpose of the Academy is the cultivation of the

Sciences, Humanities and Fine Arts, and the conduct of scientific research and study.

The Bank of Greece (Greek Τράπεηα τθσ

Ελλάδοσ, short ΤτΕ) is the national central

bank of Greece, located in Panepistimiou

Street, with several branches across the

country. It was founded in 1927. Its operations

started officially in 1928. It is member of the

European system of Central Banks.

The Catholic Cathedral of Saint Dionysius (Greek Διονφςιοσ ὁ Αρεοπαγίτθσ).

Dionysius was a judge, who, as related in the Acts of the Apostles was converted to

Christianity by the preaching of the Apostle

Paul. According to Dionysius of Corinth, this

Dionysius then became the first Bishop of

Athens. The construction of the church, which

is a three-aisled basilica with both Renaissance

and early-Christian elements, began in 1853.

Impressive marble steps lead up to the church

while the Renaissance-style porch, also is interesting. The porch has three entrances to

the three aisles of the church. Today the church is well known for the simplicity of its

architectural lines. The vitro of the windows came from a Bavarian studio.

Iliou Melathron was the residence of Heinrich Schliemann, the German archaeologist

and great friend of Greece. The building, built in

1879, is surrounded by a garden embracing its

three sides. The facade is decorated by rows of

Ionian style columns. The interior has been

garnished by "Pompeian" wall paintings and

other decorative wall and ceiling illustrations. It is

considered to be the best Renaissance-style work

of Hernest Ziller. The building is a representative

sample of the mature Greek Neoclassicism and was once the most luxurious private

edifice of Athens -a huge amount of money was spent back then for its construction.

The old Parliament building (Greek Παλαιά Βουλι) at Stadiou street in Athens,

housed the Greek Parliament between the years 1875 and 1932. It now houses the

country's National Historical Museum. After Athens became the capital of Greece in

1833, King Otto selected it as temporary residence. After the 3 September 1843

Revolution, which forced King Otto to grant a constitution, the National Assembly

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convened here. In October 1854, however,

the house burned down in a fire.

Construction of a new building then began in

1858, with the foundation laid by Queen

Amalia. In 1961 the building underwent

extensive restoration and became the seat of

the National History Museum.

The Hellenic Parliament. The first national parliament of the independent Greek

state was established only in 1843, after the September 3rd Revolution, which

forced King Otto to grant a constitution .In 1911, a revision of the constitution resulted

in stronger human rights and in the modernization of institutions. After seven years

of military dictatorship, on 8 December 1974, a referendum was conducted to decide

about the nature of the form of government. By a majority of 69, the Greeks decided

against a constitutional monarchy and for a parliamentary republic.

The current parliament, a neoclassical three-floor structure, was built in 1843 and served

as a palace for the Greek monarchs.

After suffering fire damage in 1909, it

entered a long period of renovation.

The king and the royal family moved

to what is known as the "New

Palace", one block to the east

on Herodou Attikou Street. The Tomb

of the Unknown Soldier, guarded

round the clock by the Evzones of the

Presidential Guard, is located in the formal forecourt of the building.

Syntagma Square (Constitution Square) is the heart of moderm Athens. It is a huge

public plaza stretching out in front of the Parliament Building, the scene for many

celebrations and all demonstrations during

the political history of Greece. The Square

is named after the Constitution that King

Otto was forced to grant to the people,

after a popular and military uprising

on September 3, 1843. It is the oldest and

socially most important square of Athens, at

the epicentre of all commercial and

politically activity throughout the nineteenth and the twentieth century. The eastern

side of the square is higher than the western, and dominated by a set of marble steps

leading to Amalias Avenue. The square was once Queen Amalia's private gardens.

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THURSDAY 14-3-2013

On our way to Mycenae we will pass by some important places. These are:

Eleusis (Greek Ἐλευςίσ ) is a town and municipality in West Attica. It is situated about

18 km northwest from the centre of Athens. It is located in

the Thriasian Plain, at the northernmost end of the Saronic

Gulf. It is best known for having been the site of

the Eleusinian Mysteries, one of the most famous religious

events of the ancient Greek religion. These Mysteries

revolved around a belief that there was a hope for life after

death for those who were initiated. Eleusis was also the

birthplace of Aeschylus, one of the three great tragedians of

antiquity. Today Eleusis is a major industrial center, with the

largest oil refinery in Greece.

Megara (Greek Μζγαρα) is an ancient city in Attica. It lies in the northern section of

the Isthmus of Corinth opposite the island of Salamis, which belonged to Megara in

archaic times, before being taken by

Athens. Megara was also a trade port,

specialized in the exportation of wool and

other animal products including horses. In

the late 7th century BC Theagenes

established himself as tyrant of

Megara. During the second Persian invasion

of Greece (480-479 BC) Megara fought alongside the Spartans and Athenians at crucial

battles such as Salamis and Plataea.

Corinth or Korinth (Greek Κόρινκοσ) was a city- state (polis) on the Isthmus of Corinth,

the narrow stretch of land that joins the

Peloponnesus to the mainland of

Greece, roughly halfway between

Athens and Sparta. Neolithic pottery

suggests that the site of Corinth was

occupied from at least as early as

6500BC, and continually occupied into

the Early Bronze Age. The name

Korinthos, derive from a pre-Greek,

“Pelasgian” language. According to

myth, Sisyphus was the founder of a

race of ancient kings at Corinth. It was also in Corinth that Jason, the leader of the

Argonauts, abandoned Medea. During the Trojan War, the Corinthians participated

under the leadership of Agamemnon. In the 7th century BC, when Corinth was ruled by

A part from the archaeological area of Korinthos

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the tyrants Cypselus and Periander, the city sent forth colonists to found new

settlements: Syracuse, Ambracia, and with Corcyra, Apollonia

and Anactorium. The city was a major participant in the

Persian Wars, but afterwards were frequently an enemy of

Athens and an ally of Sparta in the Peloponnesian League. In

431 BC, one of the factors leading to the Peloponnesian War

was the dispute between Corinth and Athens over the

Corinthian colony of Corcyra. The city was noted for its

wealth, for the luxurious and immoral habits of the people.

Paul first visited the city (AD 51 or 52) and became

acquainted with Aquila and Priscilla. Paul's First Epistle to the

Corinthians reflects the difficulties of maintaining a Christian community in such a

cosmopolitan city. During Alaric's invasion of Greece, in 395–396, Corinth was one of the

cities he despoiled, selling many of its citizens into slavery.

The Mycenaean civilization refers to a Bronze Age civilization on mainland Greece,

inhabiting the area from around 1600-1100 BCE. The name "Mycenaean" refers to the

city of Mycenae, which was excavated by Heinrich Schliemann beginning in 1876.

Mycenaean Greece is the period in which the Iliad and Odyssey are set. The Mycenaeans

quite possibly lived under Minoan dominance until around 1400, when they conquered

Crete.

The Iliad. The Classical poet called Homer wrote the Iliad and Odyssey in the 8th or 7th

century BCE, long after the Mycenaeans had

vanished as a recognizable civilization. Because of

this centuries-long gap in time, most scholars agree

that Homer's epics cannot be viewed as accurate

accounts of Mycenaean culture. Homer's works

would more likely reflect the culture of his day

instead. It has been verified, however, that many of

the places referred to in the Iliad and Odyssey were

actual Mycenaean sites, including Troy.

Decline and collapse. Sometime around 1100, a tribe from the north known as the

Dorians invaded the Peloponnesus and destroyed the Mycenaean civilization. Greece

was subsequently thrown into a Dark Age, from which it took several centuries to

recover. The written Mycenaean language was completely forgotten, forcing the Greeks

to reinvent their writing system centuries later.

Religion and Art. Not a great deal is known about the Mycenaean religion. Many of

the Mycenaean gods are recognizable to us as the well-known Classical gods, such as

Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Ares, Athena, Dionysus, and Hermes. Apollo, Aphrodite, and Hades

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are notable absences. Mycenaean artwork was influenced, like nearly all other aspect of

their civilization, by the Minoans. Pottery, statues, and paintings make up the majority of

Mycenaean art. Mycenaeans developed advanced bronze working techniques, creating

swords, shields, and suits of armor.

Architecture. In contrast to the Minoans, the Mycenaean leaders built fortresses —

enormous walled structures that contained

a megaron like the Minoan palace, but were

primarily fortifications for defense. The walls of

these structures often stood forty or fifty feet high,

and were composed of enormous blocks of stone

weighing two to three tons, fitted together without

mortar. Fortresses at Tiryns and at Mycenae are

considered the best examples of these military

structures. A Mycenaean common house has been

located and identified. It consists of a long, narrow

building of posts with wattle-and-daub curtain walls and likely a thatched roof. The

interior was divided into two rooms, the aforementioned sleeping area farthest from the

entrance, and a living area that contained a rudimentary hearth and a food-preparation

area.

Language. The written language of the Mycenaeans was known as Linear B (in contrast

to the Minoan script, Linear A). Linear B was

deciphered in 1951, and proved to be an ancient

form of the Modern Greek language. This form o f

writing, however, was forgotten during the Dark

Ages, leading the Greeks of the classical era to

redevelop a system of writing from a Phoenician

model, allowing the alphabetic system to come into

use.

Epidaurus ( Επίδαυροσ, Epidavros) was a small city (pollis) in ancient Greece, at

the Saronic Gulf. Epidaurus was

independent of Argos and not

included in Argolis until the time of

the Romans. Reputed to be the

birthplaces of Apollo's son Asclepius,

the healer, Epidaurus was known for

its sanctuary situated about five

miles (8 km) from the town, as well

as its theater, which is once again in

use today. The asclepoeion at

Epidaurus was the place where ill people went in the hope of being cured. To find out

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the right cure for their ailments, they spent a night in the enkoimeteria, a big sleeping

hall. In their dreams, the god himself would advise them what they had to do to regain

their health. Found in the sanctuary, there was a guest house for 160 guestrooms. There

are also mineral springs in the vicinity which may have been used in healing. Fame and

prosperity continued throughout the Hellenistic period. In 87 BC the sanctuary was

looted by the Roman general Sulla, and in 67 BC, it was plundered by pirates. In the 2nd

century AD, the sanctuary enjoyed a new upsurge under the Romans, but in AD 395

the Goths raided the sanctuary. Even after the introduction of Christianity and the

silencing of the oracles, the sanctuary at Epidauros was still known as late as the mid 5th

century, although as a Christian healing center.

The Theatre. The prosperity brought by the Asklepieion enabled Epidaurus to construct

civic monuments too: the huge theatre that delighted Pausanias for its symmetry and

beauty, which is used once again for

dramatic performances, the ceremonial

Hestiatoreion (banqueting hall), baths and a

palestra. The theater was designed

by Polykleitos the Younger in the 4th

century BC. For centuries the monument

remained covered by thick layers of earth.

Systimatic excavations started in 1881

under the direction of P. Kawadias. The

excavation brought in light quite well preserved apart from the tiers at the edges and

the retaining walls. On the contrary, the stage was found in ruins leveled to the ground.

Nafplio ( Ναφπλιο) is a seaport town in the Peloponnese in Greece that has expanded

up the hillsides near the north end of the Argolic Golf . The town was the capital of

the First Hellenic Republic, from the start of the Greek Revolution in 1821 until 1834.

Nafplio is now the capital of the regional unit of Argolis. The area surrounding Nafplio

has been inhabited since ancient times, but few signs of this remain visible. The town

seems to be mentioned on an Egyptian inscription of Amanophis as 'Nuplija'. Nafplio

was taken in 1212 by the French crusaders of the Principality of Achaea and then in 1388

was sold to the Republic of Venice. The city surrendered to the Ottamans in 1540, who

renamed it Mora Yenişehri and established it as the seat of a sanjak.

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The Venetians retook Nafplio in 1685 and strengthened the city by building the castle

of Palamidi, which was in fact the last major construction of the Venetian empire

overseas. However, only 80 soldiers were assigned to defend the city and it was easily

retaken by the Ottomans in 1715. Palamidi is located on a hill north of the old town.

During the Greek War of Independence, Nafplio was a major Ottoman stronghold and

was besieged for more than a year. The town finally surrendered because of starvation.

After its capture, because of its

strong fortifications, it became the

seat of the provisional government

of Greece Count Ioannis

Kapodistrias, in 1829. He was

assassinated on 9 October 1831 on

the steps of the church of Saint

Spyridon in Nafplio. After his

assassination, a period of anarchy

followed, until the arrival of

King Otto and the establishment of

the new Kingdom of Greece. Nafplio remained the capital of the kingdom until 1834,

when King Otto decided to move the capital to Athens. Nafplio enjoys a very sunny and

mild climate, even by Greek standards, and as a consequence has become a popular day

or weekend road-trip destination for Athenians in winter time. Nafplio is a port, with

fishing and transport ongoing, although the primary source of local employment

currently is tourism.

FRIDAY 15/3/ 2013

Lavrion. The history of Lavrion mines, lost to the depths of the time, is directly

connected with the history of Greece. The first underground excavations began around

3000 BC establishing Lavrion mines as the

oldest in Europe. The Lavrion silver mines

soon became the principal source of

wealth for the Athenian State. Hundreds

of tons of silver that had been initially

stored in the Parthenon treasury were

liquefied in order to erect several of the

city’s architectural monuments. The

construction of an enormous war and trade fleet with a hegemonic presence in the

Eastern Mediterranean region was financed. Fine Arts and Sciences (philosophy,

mathematics, astronomy, drama, history etc.) flourished. The tetradrachmon, which was

constructed from the silver, became the dominant currency of the ancient world. The

decline of the mines came during the Peloponnesian War, a 30 year civil war between

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Athens and Sparta. In 413 BC, the Spartans captured Lavrion and the excavations in the

mines ceased. Some decades later,

Athenian economy recovered and

silver production recommenced.

However, Macedonia under Philip II

(Alexander’s father) was now the

dominant power in the Hellenic

region and the silver Athenian

tetradrachmon was surpassed by the

golden Macedonian drachma. The works in Lavrion mines will continue, but with

decreased rates, until the first Byzantine Period, 6th century AC.

Sounion. Cape Sounion (Aκρωτιριο Σοφνιο, Capo Colonne ) is a promontory located 69

kilometres (43 mi) SSE of Athens, at the southernmost tip of

the Attica peninsula in Greece. According to legend, Cape Sounion is the spot

where Aegeus, king of Athens, leapt to his death off the cliff, thus giving his name to

the Agean Sea. The story goes that Aegeus, anxiously looking out from Sounion,

despaired when he saw a black sail on his son Theseus’s ship, returning from Crete. This

led him to believe that his son had been killed in his contest with the dreaded Minotaur,

a monster that was half man and half bull. Every year, the Athenians were forced to send

7 men and 7 women to Minors as tribute. Theseus had volunteered to go with the third

tribute and attempt to slay the beast. He had agreed with his father that if he survived

the contest, he would hoist a white

sail. In fact, Theseus had overcome

and slain the Minotaur, but tragically

had simply forgotten about the white

sail. Herodotus tells us that in the

sixth century BC, the Athenians

celebrated a quadrennial festival at

Sounion, which involved Athens'

leaders sailing to the cape in a sacred

boat. The first temple of Poseidon,

was probably destroyed in 480 BC by the Persians during Xerxes I's invasion of Greece.

Although there is no direct evidence for Sounion, Xerxes certainly had destroyed the

temple of Athena, and everything else, on the Acropolis of Athens razed as punishment

for the Athenians' defiance. After they defeated Xerxes in the naval Battle of Salamis, the

Athenians placed an entire enemy trireme (warship with three banks of oars) at Sounion

as a trophy dedicated to Poseidon. The later temple at Sounion, whose columns still

stand today, was probably built in ca. 440 BC. This was during the ascendancy of

Athenian statesman Pericles, who also rebuilt the Parthenon in Athens. In 413 BC, during

the Peloponnesian War against the Spartans, the Athenians fortified the site with a wall

and towers, to prevent it from falling into Spartan hands. However, not long after, the

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Sounion fortress was seized from the Athenians by a force of rebel slaves from the

nearby silver mines of Laurium. The temple is perched above the sea at a height of

almost 60 m. and had a front portico with 6 columns. Only some columns of the Sounion

temple stand today, but intact it would

have closely resembled the contemporary

and well-preserved Temple of

Hephaestus beneath the Acropolis, which

may have been designed by the same

architect. As with all Greek temples, the

Poseidon building was rectangular, with a

colonnade on all four sides. The total

number of original columns was 42: 15

columns still stand today. The columns

are of the Doric Order. They were made of locally-quarried white marble. They were

6.10 m (20 ft) high, with a diameter of 1 m (3.1 ft) at the base and 79 cm (31 inches) at

the top. The temple of Poseidon was destroyed in 399 by Emperor Arcadius.

SATURDAY 16/3/ 2013

The acropolis museum. The Acropolis Museum (Greek: Μουςείο Ακρόπολθσ), is

an archaeological museum focused on the findings of the archaeological site of

the Acropolis of Athens. The museum was built to house every artifact found on the rock

and on its feet, from the Greek Bronze Age to Roman and Byzantine Greece. It also lies

on the archaeological site of Makrygianni where ruins of a part of Roman and early

Byzantine Athens are. The museum was founded in 2003. It opened to the public on

June 21, 2009. Nearly 4,000 objects are exhibited over an area of 14,000 square meters.

The museum is located by the southeastern slope of the Acropolis hill, on the ancient

road that led up to the "sacred rock" in classical times. Set only 280 meters (310 yd), as

the crow flies, away from the Parthenon, and a mere 400 meters (440 yd) walking

distance from it, the museum will be the largest modern building erected so close to the

ancient site, although many other buildings from the last 150 years are located closer to

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the Acropolis. The entrance to the building is on Dionysiou Areopagitoy Street and

directly adjacent to the Acropolis station, line 2 of the Athens Metro. The collections of

the museum are exhibited on three levels. On the first level of the museum there are the

findings of the slopes of the Acropolis. The long and rectangular hall, whose floor is

sloping, resembles the ascension to the rock. Then, the visitor is found at the large

trapezoidal hall which accommodates the archaic findings. On the same floor there are

also the artifacts and sculptures from the other Acropolis buildings such as

the Erechtheum, the Temple of Athena Nike and the Propylaia and findings from Roman

and early Christian Athens. The Parthenon hall has the same orientation with the temple

on the Acropolis and the use of glass allows the natural light to enter .As the museum is

built over an extensive archaeological site, the floor, outside and inside, is often

transparent using glass and thus the visitor can see the excavations below.

The theatre of Dionysus The site of the Theater of Dionysus Eleuthereus, on the south

slope of the Athenian Acropolis, has been known since the 18th century. The Greek

Archaeological Society excavated the remains of the theater beginning in 1838 and

throughout most of the following century. Early remains in the area relating to the cult

of Dionysus Eleuthereus have been

dated to the sixth century BCE,

during the rule of Peisistratus, but a

theater was apparently not built on

the site until the fifth century BCE.

During the sixth century BCE,

performances associated with

the festivals of Dionysus were

probably held in the Athenian agora,

with spectators seated on wooden

bleachers (ikria) set up around a flat

circular area, the orchestra, until the ikria collapsed in the early fifth century BCE, an

event attested in ancient sources. After the collapse of the stands, the dramatic and

musical contests were moved to the precinct of Dionysus on the slope of the

Acropolis.The early theater there must have been very simple, comprising a flat

orchestra, with a few rows of wooden or stone benches set into the hill. The oldest

orchestra in the theater precinct is thought to have been circular (or nearly so) with a

diameter of around 85 feet, although there is some debate as to its original size and

shape. A wooden scene building (skene) was apparently introduced at the back of the

orchestra, serving for the display of artificial scenery and perhaps also to enhance the

acoustics. By the end of the fifth century BCE, some of the wooden constructions had

been replaced with stone. The Theater of Dionysus in its present general state dates

largely to the period of the Athenian statesman Lycurgus (ca. 390-325/4 BCE), who, as

overseer of the city's finances and building program, refurbished the theater in stone in

monumental form.

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The Acrpopolis of Athens (Greek Ακρόπολθ Ακθνϊν) is an ancient citadel located on

a high rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and containing the remains of

several ancient buildings of great architectural and historic significance, the most famous

being the Parthenon. The word acropolis comes from the Greek words ἄκρον (akron,

"edge, extremity") and πόλισ (polis, "city"). Although there are many other acropoleis

in Greece, the significance of the Acropolis of Athens is such that it is commonly known

as "The Acropolis" without qualification. While there is evidence that the hill was

inhabited as far back as the fourth millennium BC, it was Pericles (c. 495 – 429 BC) in the

fifth century BC who coordinated the construction of the site's most important buildings

including the Parthenon, the Propylaea, the Erechtheion and the temple of Athena Nike.

The Parthenon and the other buildings were seriously damaged during the 1687 siege by

the Venetians in the Morean War. The Acropolis was formally proclaimed as the

preeminent monument on the European Cultural Heritage list of monuments on 26

March 2007. Most of the major temples, including the Parthenon, were rebuilt under the

leadership of Pericles during the Golden Age of Athens (460–430 BC). Phidias, a great

Athenian sculptor, and Ictinus and Callicrates, two famous architects, were responsible

for the reconstruction. In 437 BC, Mnesicles started building the Propylaea, a

monumental gate at the western end of the Acropolis with Doric columns

of Pentelic marble. These colonnades were almost finished in 432 BC and had two wings,

the northern one decorated with paintings by Polygnotos.

Around the same time, south of the Propylaea, building started on the small

Ionic Temple of Athena Nike in Pentelic marble with tetrastyle porches, preserving the

essentials of Greek temple design. After an interruption caused by the Peloponnesian

War, the temple was finished in the time of Nicias' peace, between 421 BC and 409 BC.

Between the temple of Athena Nike and the Parthenon, there was

the temenos of Artemis Brauronia or Brauroneion. The archaic xoanon of the

goddess and a statue made by Praxiteles in the 4th century BC were both in the

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sanctuary. Behind the Propylaia, Phidias' gigantic bronze statue of Athena

Promachos ("she who fights in the front line"), built between 450 BC and 448 BC,

dominated. The base was 1.50 m (4 ft 11 in) high, while the total height of the statue

was 9 m (30 ft). The goddess held a lance whose gilt tip could be seen as a reflection by

crews on ships rounding Cape Sounion, and a giant shield on the left side,

decorated with images of the fight between the Centaurs and the Lapiths. Other

monuments that have left almost nothing visible to the present day are the Chalkotheke,

the Pandroseion, Pandion’s sanctuary, Athena's altar, Zeus Polieus's sanctuary and, from

Roman times, the circular temple of Augustus and Rome. In the Byzantine period, the

Parthenon was turned into a church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Under the

Latin Duchy of Athens, the Acropolis functioned as the city's administrative center, with

the Parthenon as its cathedral, and the Propylaia as part of the Ducal Palace. A large

tower was added, the "Frankopyrgos" (Tower of the Franks), demolished in the 19th

century. After the Ottoman conquest of Greece, the Parthenon was used as the garrison

headquarters of the Turkish army and the Erechtheum was turned into the Governor's

private Harem. The buildings of the Acropolis suffered significant damage during the

1687 siege by the Venetians in the Morean War. Following the Greek War of

Independence, most post-Byzantine features were cleared from the site as part of

a Hellenizing project that swept the new nation.

Areios pagos. The Areios Pagos (Ancient Greek: Άρειοσ Πάγοσ) is the "Rock of Ares",

north-west of the Acropolis, which in classical times functioned as the high Court of

Appeal for criminal and civil cases. Greek pagos means big piece of rock. Areios could

have come from Ares the god of war.

Later, the Romans referred to the rocky

hill as "Mars Hill", after Mars, the

Roman God of War. Near the Areopagus

was also constructed the basilica

of Dionysius. In pre-classical times

(before the 5th century BC), the

Areopagus was the council of elders of

the city, similar to the Roman Senate. In

462 BC, Ephialtes put through reforms

which deprived the Areopagus of almost all its functions except that of a murder tribunal

in favour of Heliaia. The Areopagus, continued to function in Roman times, and it was

from this location, drawing from the potential significance of the Athenian altar to

the Unknown God, that the Apostle Paul is said to have delivered the famous speech,

"Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. The God

who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not

live in temples built by hands." ( Acts 17:24)

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Ancient agora. The Ancient Agora of Classical Athens is the best-known example of an

ancient Greek agora, located to the northwest of the Acropolis and bounded on the

south by the hill of the Areopagus and on the west by the hill known as the Kolonus

Agoraios, also called Market Hill. The agora was the center of political and public life in

Athens. It was a large open area surrounded by buildings of various functions. The agora

was utilized for commerce, political, religious and military activity. Meetings were held

four times per month to enact legislation, to hear embassies, and deal with defense of

the city-state. In addition, some public forums to discuss ostracism were held in the

agora. The law courts were located there, and anyone who happened to be in the agora

when a case was being heard would probably have been able to view the spectacle,

though only those adult male citizens appointed by lot would have been able to serve as

jurors. The agora was further the location of a temporary theater and of burial sites.

The art during the archaic and the classical period

The Greek Archaik Period (c. 800- 479 BCE) started from what can only be termed

uncertainty, and ended with the Persians being ejected

from Greecefor good after the battles of Plataea and

Mykale in 479 BCE. The Archaic Period is preceded by the

Greek Dark Age (c.1200- 800 BCE), a period about which

little is known for sure, and followed by the Classical

Period, which is one of the better documented periods of

Greek history, with tragedies, comedies, histories, legal

cases and more surviving in the form of literary and

epigraphic sources.

In the Archaic Period there were vast changes Greek

language, society, art, architecture, and politics. These Kouroi of Argos

27

changes occurred due to the increasing population of Greece and its increasing

amount trade, which in turn led to colonization and a new age of intellectual ideas, the

most important of which (at least to the modern Western World) was Democracy. This

would then fuel, in a rather circular way, more cultural changes.

The art and architecture of the Archaic Period also underwent various overhauls; the

earlier geometric style was replaced with an

orientalising style, which in turn was replaced

by black figure pottery. Black figure pottery was

first starting to be used in Cotinth c. 700s BCE,

but the first signed example dates to c. 570 BCE,

when attic black figure pottery was in its heyday

(c. 630- 480 BCE) and is of Sophilos. As this

technique was further developed and explored, it

gave way to Red Figure pottery, which started to

develop c. 530 BCE.

Classical Years. The purpose of art in ancient Greece was for the honor of the gods and

the state, not for the private pleasure of individuals. It was for this reason that art was

displayed publicly and emphasized mythological

subjects. Because Greek art served religious and

civic purposes, it emphasized the dignity and

nobility of its subjects. During the fifth century, an

interest in the human body led to the creation of

more naturally proportioned and anatomically

detailed figures. There was also an attempt to

achieve an idealized image of man out of stone,

using exact mathematical ratios. "The Greeks,"

Charles Crow observes, "saw the human form as

the supreme embodiment of the ideal beauty,

even their gods took the shapes of men. The Greek

sculptor felt, therefore, that he must glorify the

body, a temple of living splendor. Each classic statue represented all men, not a specific

or individual man." (168-169).

Drama. It has been said that Western drama owes it beginnings to the Greeks. The first

Greek drama was said to have been produced in Athens in 534 BC by Thespis, but it was

in the fifth century that this art form reached its peak. Although there were over 4000

plays produced in Athens during Athens "golden period," less than 50 of these have

survived. Dramas during this period were commissioned by the state and presented

during one of the sixty religious festivals held each year. Among the most famous of

these was the Festival of Dionysia, where each spring 15 plays were performed before an

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audience of almost 20,000 persons. These dramas were performed in open air theatres

and typically lasted all day long.

Greek drama always has to do with the sufferings of great individuals (i.e., Agamemnon,

Oedipus), not that of ordinary men and women. Greek drama also focuses on universal

problems rather than contemporary ones. Finally, it uses material that would have been

well familiar to an audience, typically borrowing events and characters from mythology

or the Homeric legends. Three of the most prominent dramatists during the fifth century

were Aeschylus, Sophocles and Aristophanes. Aeschylus (525-456) wrote over 80

tragedies of which only seven survive. These works deal primarily with the heroes and

gods portrayed in Homer's epics, and place a great emphasis on divine retribution for

crimes and the suffering of the innocent. Aeschylus' major works include Agamemnon

and Electra.

Sophocles (496-406) was said to have

written 123 plays, but again, only seven

of these have been preserved for

posterity. His works deal with the power

of destiny in the lives of human beings

and with the essentially tragic nature of

the universe.

Euripides (480 – 406 BC). Euripides is

identified with theatrical innovations

that have profoundly influenced drama down to modern times, especially in the

representation of traditional, mythical heroes as ordinary people in extraordinary

circumstances. He was unique among the writers of ancient Athens for the sympathy he

demonstrated towards all victims of society, including women.

Aristophanes (448-385) primarily wrote comedies that mocked social conventions and

parodied the leading politicians of his day. Among his most famous comedies are The

Lysystrata and The Frogs.

History. The study of history in Greece really began in the 5th century with the writing

of Herodotus and Thucydides. Herodotus (484-425), who is called the father of history,

traveled extensively and acquired much factual knowledge about the lands and people

he visited. His major work, the Histories (of the Persian Wars) demonstrates a flair for

interesting stories and fascinating anecdotes. The scientific study of history begins with

Thucydides (471-400), who improved on Herodotus by trying to be objective in his

approach to history. He wrought the history of the Peloponnisiakos war, between the

Athenians and the Spartans.

Philosophy. The Western philosophical tradition began in ancient Greece in the 6th

century BCE. The first philosophers are called “Presocratics” which designates that they

29

came before Socrates.. Their scientific interests included mathematics, astronomy, and

biology. They emphasized the rational unity of things, and rejected mythological

explanations of the world.

The first group of Presocratic philosophers were from Ionia. The Ionian philosophers

sought the material principle (archê) of things, and the mode of their origin and

disappearance. Thales of Miletus (about 640 BCE) is reputed the father of

Greek philosophy. He declared water to be the basis of all things. Next

came Anaximander of Miletus (about 611-547 BCE), the first writer on philosophy. He

assumed as the first principle an undefined, unlimited substance (to apeiron) itself

without qualities, out of which the primary opposites, hot and cold, moist and dry,

became differentiated. Anaximenis, took for his principle air, conceiving it as modified,

by thickening and thinning, into fire, wind, clouds, water, and earth. Herackitus of

Ephesus (about 535-475 BCE) assumed as the principle of substance aetherial fire. From

fire all things originate, and return to it again by a never-resting process of development.

All things, therefore, are in a perpetual flux. However, this perpetual flux is structured

by logos– which means ‘word, ‘argument,’ ‘logic,’ or ‘reason’ more generally.

The logos which structures the human soul mirrors the logos which structures the ever-

changing processes of the universe.

A new period of philosophy opens with the Athenian Socrates (469-399 BCE). Like the

Sophists, he rejected entirely the physical speculations in which his predecessors had

indulged, and made the thoughts and opinions of people his starting-point; but whereas

it was the thoughts of and opinions of the individual that the Sophists took for the

standard, Socrates questioned people relentlessly about their beliefs. He tried to find the

definitions of the virtues, such as courage and justice, by cross-examining people who

professed to have knowledge of them. His method of cross-examining people,

the elenchus, did not succeed in establishing what the virtues really were, but rather it

exposed the ignorance of his interlocutors.

The starting-point of Plato's philosophical speculation was the Socratic teaching.

Socrates had taught that the only true knowledge is a knowledge by means of concepts.

As used by Socrates, it was taken up by Plato as a principle of Being. If the concept

represents all the reality of things, the reality must be something in the ideal order,

not necessarily in the things themselves, but rather above them, in a world by itself. He

completes the work of Socrates by teaching that the objectively real Ideas are

the foundation and justification of scientific knowledge. Plato then, supposes a world

of Ideas apart from the world of our experience, and immeasurably superior to it. The

task of philosophy consists in the effort to rise from the knowledge . Of all the ideas,

however, the Idea of the beautiful shines out through the phenomenal veil more clearly

than any other; hence the beginning of all philosophical activity is the love and

admiration of the Beautiful.

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The most important among Plato’s disciples is Aristotle of Stagira (384-322 BCE), who

shares with his master the title of the greatest philosopher of antiquity. But whereas

Plato had sought to elucidate and explain things from the supra-sensual standpoint of

the forms, his pupil preferred to start from the facts given us by experience. Philosophy

to him meant science, and its aim was the recognition of the purpose in all things. Hence

he establishes the ultimate grounds of things inductively — that is to say, by a

posteriori conclusions from a number of facts to a universal. In the series of works

collected under the name of Organon, Aristotle sets forth the laws by which the human

understanding effects conclusions from the particular to the knowledge of the universal.

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For further information see: http://www.xanthi.ilsp.gr/filog/

THE GREEK ALPHABET SOME WORDS YOU HAVE HEART DURING YOUR VISIT

Α α άλφα Αγορά agora (market) Κλαςικόσ classic

Β β βιτα Ακρόπολθ acropolis λιμζνασ port

Γ γ γάμα Aκινα Athens λογικι logic, reason[ing]

Δ δ δζλτα Άρειοσ Ράγοσ Arios Pagos λόγοσ ratio

Ε ε ζψιλον Αριςτοτζλθσ Aristoteles λειτουργία function

Η η ηιτα Άγαλμα statue μάρμαρο marble

Θ θ ιτα Αχαρνζσ Acharnes μζκοδοσ method

Θ κ κιτα αρετι virtue μεταλλουργία metallurgy

Ι ι γιϊτα αρμονία harmony μάκθμα lesson

Κ κ κάπα βουλι parliament μφκοσ myth

Λ λ λάμδα γυμναςτιριο gymnasium μετόπθ metope

Μ μ μι δθμοκρατία democracy μουςείο museum

Ν ν νι δράμα drama ναόσ temple

Ξ ξ ξι διμοσ municipality ναυμαχία naval battle

Ο ο όμικρον δικαςτιριο the law court νομοκζτθσ legislator

Ρ π πι ζφθβοσ adolescent νόμοσ law

ρ ρο επιςτιμθ science ορχιςτρα orchestra

Σ ς ςίγμα εκκλθςία assembly Πμθροσ Homer

Τ τ ταυ Ερζχκειο Erechthion ξόανο wooden statue

Υ υ φψιλον Ζρωσ Love Ραρκενϊνασ Parthenon

Φ φ φι Ευρϊπθ Europe παιδεία education

Χ χ χι ικοσ morals πόλισ city

Ψ ψ ψι θκοποιόσ actor πολίτθσ citizen

Ω ω ωμζγα ιρωασ hero πολιτιςμόσ civilization

θκικι ethics Ρλάτωνασ Plato

κζατρο theater Ρερικλισ Pericles

Ιλιάδα Iliad ποίθςθ poetry

Ιδζα idea Φιλοξενία hospitality

Ιςτορία history φιλοςοφία philosophy