Ancient Civilizations by Credo Reference: Notable People

Athenian statesman and general. Of the family of Alcmaeonidae, he was a ward of Pericles and was for many years a devoted attendant of Socrates.

King of Macedon, who conquered Greece (336), Egypt (331), and the Persian Empire (328), and founded Alexandria.

Greek mathematician, physicist, and inventor. He is famous for his work in geometry (on the circle, sphere, cylinder, and parabola), physics, mechanics, and hydrostatics.

Greek playwright, Athenian comic poet, greatest of the ancient writers of comedy.

Greek philosopher, b. Stagira.He tutored Alexander the Great and founded the Peripatetic School.

Philosopher; particularly made his mark in the application of his theories of the universe to everyday morality and the simple goal of living a good life.

The Macedonian generals and administrators who succeeded Alexander the Great.

Greek philosopher; defined philosophy as the art of making life happy and strictly subordinated metaphysics to ethics, naming pleasure as the highest and only good.

Greek mathematician (fl. 300 B.C.) whose works, and the style in which they were presented, formed the basis for all mathematical thought and expression for the following 2,000 years (although they were not entirely without fault).

Greek tragic dramatist, ranking with Aeschylus and Sophocles. Born in Attica, he lived in Athens most of his life, though he spent much time on Salamis.

Called the Father of History. ?485-?425 BC, Greek historian, famous for his History dealing with the causes and events of the wars between the Greeks and the Persians (490-479).

Principal figure of ancient Greek literature; the first European poet. Two epic poems are attributed to Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey.

Athenian statesman and leader of the popular party, who contributed greatly to Athens' political and cultural supremacy in Greece.

Greek philosopher. Plato's teachings have been among the most influential in the history of Western civilization.

A Greek late Classical sculptor from Athens, Praxiteles was the foremost representative of the Attic School in the middle years of the 4th century B.C.

Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher, founder of the Pythagorean school, best known for two teachings: the transmigration of souls and the theory that numbers constitute the true nature of things.

From The Cambridge Guide to Women's Writing in English
Female poet who lived and wrote on the Aeolian island of Lesbos in the 7th century B.C.

Greek philosopher of Athens. Famous for his view of philosophy as a pursuit proper and necessary to all intelligent men, he is one of the great examples of a man who lived by his principles even though they ultimately cost him his life.

Greek tragic dramatist, younger contemporary of Aeschylus and older contemporary of Euripides, b. Colonus, near Athens.

Greek historian, b. Athens. He was one of the well-to-do young disciples of Socrates before leaving Athens to join the Greek force (the Ten Thousand) that was in the service of Cyrus the Younger of Persia.

c.83 B.C.–30 B.C., Roman politican and soldier. Rival of Octavian (later Augustus) and lover of Cleopatra.

First Roman emperor, a grandson of the sister of Julius Caesar. Named at first Caius Octavius, he became on adoption by the Julian gens (44 B.C.) Caius Julius Caesar Octavianus (Octavian).

Roman general and dictator, considered Rome's most successful military commander. He formed with Pompey the Great and Marcus Licinius Crassus (the Elder) the First Triumvirate in 60 B.C.

Roman statesman and moralist. He fought in the Second Punic War and later served as quaestor (204), aedile (199), praetor (198), consul (195), and censor (184).

Ancient Roman family, of the plebeian Licinian gens. It produced men who achieved great note in the 2d cent. and 1st cent. B.C.

Roman historian. Livy's history reflects his admiration for the civilization of early Rome, and his belief that the importance of history was its applicability to contemporary life.

(Publius Ovidius Naso) Latin poet, b. Sulmo (present-day Sulmona), in the Apennines. Although trained for the law, he preferred the company of the literary coterie at Rome.

(Cnaeus Pompeius Magnus), Roman general, the rival of Julius Caesar. Sometimes called Pompey the Great, he was the son of Cnaeus Pompeius Strabo (consul in 89 B.C.), a commander of equivocal reputation.

Or Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro)both: Roman poet, b. Andes dist., near Mantua, in Cisalpine Gaul; the spelling Virgil is not found earlier than the 5th century.

Foremost Greek hero of the Trojan War. Achilles, the object of widespread hero worship, is the main character of Homer's epic The Iliad.

In Greek mythology, a victim of slander who was sent against the monstrous chimera, which he killed with the help of Pegasus, a winged horse.

In Greek mythology, the most beautiful of women; daughter of Leda and Zeus , and sister of Castor and Pollux and Clytemnestra.

In Greek mythology, an immortalized hero (Roman Hercules); son of Zeus and Alcmene; and famed for his strength.

In Greek legend, son of Laius, king of Thebes, and his wife, Jocasta. When Oedipus was grown, he learned from the Delphic oracle that he would kill his father and marry his mother.

From Bloomsbury Dictionary of Myth
Two brothers in Roman myth, Numitor and Amulius, ruled the town of Alba Longa, founded twelve generations before by Trojan settlers led by Ascanius, son of Aeneas.

In Greek mythology, a hero of Attica , who was believed to have united the states of the area under a constitutional government.