Library: Classics by Credo Reference: Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece: Topic Page

Ancient civilization that flourished 2,500 years ago on the shores of the Ionian and Aegean Seas (modern Greece and the west coast of Turkey).
Delian League: Topic Page
Confederation of Greek city-states under the leadership of Athens.
Eleusinian mysteries: Topic Page
Ceremonies in honour of the Greek deities Demeter, goddess of corn, and her daughter Persephone, queen of the underworld, celebrated in the precincts of the temple of Demeter at Eleusis, in the territory of Athens.
Greek architecture: Topic Page
The art of building that arose on the shores of the Aegean Sea and flourished in the ancient world.
Greek art: Topic Page
Works of art produced in the Aegean basin, a center of artistic activity from very early times.
Olympic games: Topic Page
Held in honor of Zeus in the city of Olympia for four days every fourth summer, the Olympic games were the oldest and most prestigious of four great ancient Greek athletic festivals.
Tragedy: Topic Page
The earliest tragedies were part of the Attic religious festivals held in honor of the god Dionysus (5th cent. B.C.).

Greek Places

Acropolis: Topic Page
The Acropolis of Athens was a ceremonial site beginning in the Neolithic Period. The area was adorned during the time of Cimon and Pericles with some of the world's greatest architectural and sculptural monuments.
Athens: Topic Page
The site was first inhabited about 3000 BC with Athens (named after its patron goddess Athena) as the capital of a united Attica before 700 B.C.
Delphi: Topic Page
It was the seat of the Delphic oracle, the most famous and most powerful of ancient Greece.
Macedon: Topic Page
Ancient country, roughly equivalent to the modern region of Macedonia. In the history of Greek culture Macedon had its single significance in producing the conquerors and armies who created the Hellenistic empires and civilizations.
Sparta: Topic Page
City of ancient Greece, capital of Laconia, on the Eurotas (Evrótas) River in the Peloponnesus.
The Parthenon: Topic Page
Temple sacred to Athena, on the acropolis at Athens. Built under Pericles between 447 B.C. and 432 B.C., it is the culminating masterpiece of Greek architecture.

People of Greece

Alcibiades (BCE 450 - 404): Topic Page
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.
Alexander the Great (BCE 356 - 323): Topic Page
King of Macedon, who conquered Greece (336), Egypt (331), and the Persian Empire (328), and founded Alexandria.
Archimedes (BCE 287 - 212): Topic Page
Greek mathematician, physicist, and inventor. He is famous for his work in geometry (on the circle, sphere, cylinder, and parabola), physics, mechanics, and hydrostatics.
Aristophanes (BCE 448 - 388): Topic Page
Greek playwright, Athenian comic poet, greatest of the ancient writers of comedy.
Aristotle (BCE 384 - 322): Topic Page
Greek philosopher, b. Stagira.He tutored Alexander the Great and founded the Peripatetic School.
Democritus (BCE 460 - 370): Topic Page
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.
Diadochi: Topic Page
The Macedonian generals and administrators who succeeded Alexander the Great.
Epicurus (BCE 341 - 270): Topic Page
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.
Euclid (BCE 4th Century): Topic Page
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).
Euripides (BCE 485 - 406): Topic Page
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.
Herodotus (BCE 485 - 425): Topic Page
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).
Homer (BCE 8th Century): Topic Page
Principal figure of ancient Greek literature; the first European poet. Two epic poems are attributed to Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey.
Pericles (BCE 495 - 429): Topic Page
Athenian statesman and leader of the popular party, who contributed greatly to Athens' political and cultural supremacy in Greece.
Plato (BCE 427 - 347): Topic Page
Greek philosopher. Plato's teachings have been among the most influential in the history of Western civilization.
Praxiteles (BCE 370 - 330): Topic Page
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.
Pythagoras (BCE 582 - 507): Topic Page
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.
Sappho (BCE 7th Century): Topic Page
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.
Socrates (BCE 469 - 399): Topic Page
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.
Sophocles: (BCE 496 - 406) Topic Page
Greek tragic dramatist, younger contemporary of Aeschylus and older contemporary of Euripides, b. Colonus, near Athens.
Xenophon (BCE 430 - 355): Topic Page
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.