Jana Ghandour Assignment 1 11930192

Ancient Greek
Background:
Classics is the name given to the study of Ancient Greeks and Romans. Nowadays
it is an umbrella term covering all aspects of the field, from art history through
philosophy to demography and archaeology, but the label was originally applied to
literary texts alone. Ancient Greek did not think of themselves as belonging to a
single country however, there were small city states or polis each with its own
government. Ancient Greek Culture began with the Minoan civilization in around
2700 BC and ends with the collapse of the Hellenistic period in 150 BC. Greek
civilization was concentrated in what is today Greece and islands along the western
coast of Turkey, also Greeks Settled down gradually and colonized Italy, North
Africa and France. But, Ancient Greek colonists established cities all around the
Mediterranean and along the coast of the Black Sea. Therefore, Greeks living in
Athens considered themselves as Athenian first and Greek second.

Important cities in Ancient Greece:

Some of the most important city-states were Sparta, Athens, Thebes, Corinth, and
Delphi. Of these, Athens and Sparta were the two most powerful city-states.
Athens was a democracy that refers to a system in which every person has the right
to participate, but Sparta had two kings and an oligarchic system which refers to a
small group of people who govern a nation together. However, both were
important in the development of Greek society and culture.

Sparta:
Sparta is located near the river Evrotas in Southern Greece. In the city-state of
Sparta the citizens had little say in the decisions made by the government but, at
the time, this was the structure that existed. The History of Sparta goes back to
very ancient times, as excavations have revealed that the area was inhabited since
the end of the Neolithic period. Sparta became a region on the Peloponnesian
peninsula known as Laconia with the only professional army as a result of, the
domination of the entire Peloponnese area as an aristocratic, oligarchic and
military state. This caused the city to reach the height of its power in 404 B.C.
However, within a few decades, after a defeat against the Thebans at the Battle of
Leuctra, the city found itself reduced to a "second-rate power," a status from which
it never recovered. The Spartans gave up an emphasis on comfort and culture for a
more disciplined military approach. This approach led to battles which eventually
turned Sparta into a deadly war machine. Over the years, the Spartans’ ruthless and
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brutal reputation in war grew, so that other nations and city-states chose not to
attack Sparta. Even though the Spartan army was not larger than 8000 men, these
men trained rigorously and progressed through this training system from age of 7
until the age of 20 when they were allowed to join a communal mess. Hence
become a full citizen of the community. Each member of the mess was expected to
provide a certain amount of foodstuffs and to keep training rigorously. Therefore
the professional and well-trained Spartan hoplites with their distinctive red cloaks
and long hair were the most feared fighters in Greece, so it became one of the most
important city-states in ancient Greece for its military prowess.
Sparta with fixed and unchanging system of government, it developed a system of
dual kingship meaning two kings ruling at once. One from each of the two
founding families, Agaidai and Eurypontidae. Their power was counter-balanced
but had different roles, Agaidai Kings was the war leader and Eurypontidae kings
was the political leader. The Spartan kings weren't believed to be supernaturally
strong or sacred, either. Their role in Spartan life was shouldering certain
magisterial and juridical responsibilities. Although this made them relatively weak
kings and there was always input from the other pieces of the government on most
of the decisions they made, most of the kings were fierce and acted independently
most of the time.
Athens:
Athens is another important city in Ancient Greece and it known as the largest
Greek poleis. Athens was named as Athena, the goddess of wisdom and wafare.
Many of Classical civilization’s intellectual and artistic ideas originated from
Athens and is generally considered to be the birthplace of Western civilization.
Athens is known to be the capital of Greece though, it wasn’t always that way.
Nafplio was the first capital during and after the War of Independence from 1821
till 1834, then came Athens. Therefore, Athens was chosen as the Greek capital for
historical and sentimental reasons, not because it was large city there are few
buildings in Athens from the 18th century. After being inhabited for over 3,000
years it reached the zenith of its glory during the 5th century B.C. Under the rule of
Pericles, often referred to as the Golden Age which came to an end when Sparta
declared war on Athens. During the middle Ages, the city experienced decline and
then recovery under the Byzantine Empire, and was relatively prosperous during
the Crusades, benefiting from Italian trade. After a long period of decline under the
rule of the Ottoman Empire, Athens re-emerged in the 19th century as the capital
of the independent Greek state.
Moreover, Athens represents millennia of architectural styles. As a city dating back
to antiquity, Athens is an interesting case study of architecture and is home to a
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variety of styles, from Greco-Roman to Neoclassical to modern. For example,

Athens has the 148 theatrical stages which is the most in the world and is more
than the West End and Broadway combined. The Tradition of theater goes back to
the time of Athens’ first democracy. Second, the Hotel Grande Bretagne is the
oldest hotel in the city and it was used as royal guesthouse in the 19th century and
served as Nazi headquarters during German occupation of Athens in World War II.
Lastly, the marathon event was created for the modern Olympic Games was held in
Athens and reported victory against the Persians in 490 B.C. but, the ancient
Olympic games were never held there. The First Olympic Games were held in 776
B.C. in Peloponnese, but city-state of Athens also had its own games, called the
Panathenaic Games, since 566 B.C.
Pericles is where art became inseparable from life and gave the funerary speech.
Athens’s population was relatively small compared to other Greek Cities, but the
symbol of freedom, art, and democracy in the conscience of the civilized world
undoubtedly changed the world. In addition, Athenians contributed greatly to the
fields of philosophy and science; they also maintained one of the most well
documented democratic systems of ancient times.

Famous People in Ancient Greece:

Ancient Greece has probably one of the richest cultural histories of all civilizations
because of those who worked hard to build the legacy that we know today. Behind
this rich cultural history stands great philosophers, kings, and rulers. Two of the
most important people of Greece is Alexander the Great and Plato.

Alexander the Great:

One of the great leaders who ruled Greece during ancient times is Alexander the
Great, also known as Alexander of Macedonia. He was a king of Macedonia who
conquered an empire that stretched from the Balkans to modern-day Pakistan. He
was born in 356BC to the Macedonian king Phillip II and his wife, Olympias in
Pella. However, many Greeks believe that Alexander was actually the son of God
named Zeus.

His father Phillip was a brilliant military leader and politician who turned
Macedonia into a military and cultural powerhouse, which was the backwoods of
Greece. When Alexander was 12, his father was offered a horse from a dealer. No
one succeeded in taming the horse but him and the story of Bucephalus started. In
addition, at age of 13, Alexander was personally tutored by Aristotle. He fostered a
curiosity in the young Alexander, so he taught him philosophy, medicine, politics
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and art where he discarded the belief to establish his short lived empire. In 340BC,
Phillip went off to attack Byzantium and left young Alexander in charge and he
used the opportunity to prove that even in a young age, he could be a great leader
and gathered the army for attack against the Maedi. After 2 years, Alexander led a
successful war against a coalition of Greek city-states, this victory gave him a new
height if popularity with Macedonian military. Alexander then faced Persian King
Darius III's army near the Grancius River; Darius' forces were swiftly defeated, he
declared himself the king of Persia after capturing Darius and making him a
fugitive. Later that year, Alexander defeated the Persians at the Battle of
Gaugamela. With the collapse of the Persian army, Alexander became King of
Babylon, King of Asia, and King of the Four Quarters of the World. Alexander
planned many more invasions from Egypt to eastern Iran to northern India.
In conclusion, Alexander led his army as far as 11,000 miles taking over 70 cities
creating the biggest empire. This empire spread across 3 continents spreading the
Greek Civilization to the Middle East to India. However, when considering the
conquests of Carthage and Rome, Alexander the Great died of malaria in Babylon
which is now known as Iraq, on June 13, 323 B.C. After his death at age 32, his
empire collapsed and the nations within it battled for power. Over time, the
cultures of Greece and the Orient thrived as a side effect of Alexander's empire,
becoming part of his legacy and spreading the spirit of Panhellenism.
Plato:
The Ancient Greeks tried out democracy, started the Olympic Games and left new
ideas in science, art and philosophy. Political philosophy began with the Greeks
and Classical Philosophy began with Plato. Plato was a classical Greek philosopher
born in Athens in 428-7 BC. Along with being a philosopher he was a
mathematician.

Plato was born during the final years of the Golden age of Pericles’ Athens.
Therefore, grew up during the Peloponnesian War (431-404) and came of age
around the time of Athens’ final defeat by Sparta. As a young man, Plato met the
great Greek philosopher Socrates. Socrates's methods of dialogue and debate
impressed Plato so much that he soon became a close associate and dedicated his
life to the question of virtue and the formation of a noble character. After begin a
student of Socrates, Plato spent 12 years travelling in southern Italy, Sicily and
Egypt, studying with other philosophers including mystic mathematician
Pythagoras, Theodorus of Cyrene and Archytas of Tarentum and Echecrates of
Phlius.
Jana Ghandour Assignment 1 11930192

Around 385BC, age of 40 Plato returned to Athens and founded his philosophical
school known as Academy, in the grove of the Greek. One of the first institutions
of higher learning in the Western world. In establishing the Academy Plato moved
beyond the precepts of Socrates, who never founded a school and questioned the
very idea of a teacher’s ability to impart knowledge. Over its years of operation,
the Academy's curriculum included astronomy, biology, mathematics, political
theory and philosophy. Plato hoped the Academy would provide a place for future
leaders to discover how to build a better government in the Greek city-states.
Aristotle arrived from northern Greece to join the Academy at age 17, studying and
teaching there for the last 20 years of Plato’s life. Therefore, making Plato one of
the most important figures of Ancient Greek world and most widely read and
studied philosophers, was a student of Socrates and a teacher of Aristotle. This trio
laid the fundamentals of Western philosophy.
Platos’ concern was in the meaning of justice, the right kind of life and the
meaning of knowledge. Therefore, through his writings he explored justice, beauty
and equality, also contained discussions in aesthetics, political philosophy,
theology, cosmology, epistemology and the philosophy of language. Plato believed
in a world of Idealism, and considered this world as a reflection of ideas and the
only thing that is real is an idea and in order to understand the truth you need to
understand the idea. Nevertheless, Plato's final years were spent at the Academy
around 348BC and with his writing. The reason behind his work is to develop a
more fair and justice in the society that is focused on the equality of individuals
and established the foundation for modern democracy.
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