Classical (or “early”) Greek philosophy focused on the role of reason and inquiry. In many ways it paved the way both to modern science and to modern philosophy. Clear unbroken lines of influence lead from early Greek philosophers, through early Muslim philosophy to the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and the secular sciences of the modern day. Pre-Socratic Philosophers The history of...
Phaistos – also Phaestos and Phaestus – was an ancient city on the island of Crete. Map of Minoan CretePhaistos was located in the south-central portion of the island, about 3 1/2 miles from the sea. It was inhabited from about 4000 BC. A palace, dating from the Middle Bronze Age, was destroyed by an earthquake during the Late Bronze Age. Knossos and other Minoan sites were also...
was a prominent and influential Greek statesman, orator and general of Athens during its golden age Ð specifically the time between the Persian and Peloponnesian wars. He was descended, through his mother, from the powerful and historically influential Alcmaeonid family. Pericles had such a profound influence on Athenian society that Thucydides, a contemporary historian, acclaimed him as...
The Olympic Games, or Olympics, is an international multi-sport event taking place every four years and comprising summer and winter games. Originally held in ancient Greece, they were revived by a French nobleman, Pierre Fredy, Baron de Coubertin in the late 19th century. The Games of the Olympiad, better known as the Summer Olympics, have been held every fourth year since 1896, with the...
12 Labors of Hercules
Achilles and the Trojan War
Cadmus and the Dragon
Creation Myth
Cyclops
Daedalus and Icarus
Eleusinian Mysteries
Jason, Argonauts and the Golden Fleece
Pandora’s Box
Perseus and the Gorgon
Theseus and the Minotaur
Homer
General references:
Wikipedia
Encyclopedia Mythica
Bulfinch’s Mythology
GREEK GODS
In Greek antiquity, medicine was second to mathematics. Ancient Greek Civilization was at its peak during the 400’s BC. During this period of time, sick people went to the temples dedicated to Asclepius, the Greek god of healing. At this time, a man named Hippocrates began teaching that every disease had only natural causes. He is known as the great ancient Greek physician. In medicine...
Greek mathematics, as that term is used in this article, is the mathematics developed from the 6th century BC to the 5th century AD around the shores of the Mediterranean. It constitutes a major period of the history of mathematics, fundamental in respect of geometry and the idea of formal proof. Greek mathematics also contributed importantly to ideas on number theory, mathematical analysis...
The lyre references music and harmonics. The lyre is a stringed musical instrument well known for its use in Classical Antiquity. The recitations of the Ancient Greeks were accompanied by lyre playing. The lyre is a member of the zither family, and was ordinarily played by strumming with a plectrum, like a guitar, rather than being plucked, like a harp. According to ancient Greek mythology, the...
Classical and Pre-Classical Antiquity This period of Greek literature stretches from Homer until the 4th century BC and the rise of Alexander the Great. English mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead once claimed that all of philosophy is but a footnote to Plato. To suggest that all of Western literature is no more than a footnote to the writings of ancient Greece is an...
The Royal Library of Alexandria was once the largest library in the world. It was a major library and cultural center located on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea in the Egyptian city of Alexandria. It is usually assumed to have been founded at the beginning of the 3rd century BC during the reign of Ptolemy II of Egypt after his father had set up the temple of the Muses, the Musaeum (whence we...