Ancient Greece: A History From Beginning to End (Ancient Civilizations), by Hourly History.

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ANCIENT GREECE: A HISTORY

FROM BEGINNING TO END

(ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS),

HOURLY HISTORY.

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One expects to find more of Greek history when opening this book to read. But it's do far from that, author omits mention of even Alexander, the most famous Greek, and his exploits and conquests. Excusing this by calling him Macedonian is about as reasonable as omitting George Bernard Shaw from list of great authors in English literature and giving the technical excuse of his Irish origin.

Instead, there's a smorgasbord of summing up of everything known and thought about the Greek heritage of Western knowledge, thought, literature, art, philosophy et al.

There are some obvious mistakes, too, such as crediting "looking a gift horse in the mouth" to Homer's account of Trojan War and Trojan Horse.

And there are serious lapses, too, such as failure in explaining why the Greek symbol of "the snake-entwined staff of Asclepius" represents the discipline of medicine or healing.

Or presumptions, such as concluding that the reports about Colossus straddling the harbour, or Hanging Gardens, must have been untrue.

Author fails to explore the obvious connection of thought, philosophy and science of Greeks with the richest culture of antiquity, India, via Silk Road trade and via seafaring Levant through Indian Ocean to Southwest coast of India.

But then, author never mentions the Egyptian heritage of Greece either.

So - an excellent effort by, say, a high school student from the bible belt, but if the author is any better than that, seriously this volume deserved a better effort by a better author.

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"In August of 2016, a runner carried a torch into a newly built stadium amidst great celebration. The flame, which had been set alight four months and thirty-eight thousand kilometers previously, started out in Olympia, Greece and relayed runner to runner through thousands of honorary torchbearers until it reached its destination. The torch was passed to a waiting official, and the ceremonial cauldron was lit with the flame. The arrival of the torch marked the beginning of the thirty-first modern Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

"The torch, and the spirit of the Olympics are based on a celebration of athleticism that began thousands of years ago in Greece. The games were a sacred festival. Ongoing wars were halted in honor of the games so that all athletes and all nations were able to participate. Class was not a factor in the games. No matter the athlete’s social status, all male athletes were able to compete. However, this moment of equality was fleeting and was certainly not complete. Women were not permitted to partake in the contests, and married women were not even allowed into the stadium.

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"The games were celebrated to honor the Greek gods, who lived on Mount Olympus, and particularly the king of the gods, Zeus. The first documented occurrence of the games that we know about took place in 775 BCE, in Olympia, Greece. These first games consisted of only one event, a footrace. More contests were added that celebrated the arts of hunting and war; wrestling, javelin throws and chariot racing. When the Olympic Games were resurrected in modern times in 1896, new sports were added, and a tradition of moving the location of the games began. This was also the occasion for the first Olympic marathon. Since then, the Olympics have taken place all around the world; including recent celebrations in London, Seoul, Tokyo, Sydney, and Beijing.

"As grand and inspiring as they are, the Olympic Games are only one example of the influence of ancient Greece on our culture today. Greek tradition has been leading the way in politics, philosophy, art, literature, and science. The torch has been passed to a new global society, and the flame burns as brightly as ever."

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"The perfect panoramic view of the ancient Olympic festivities in Olympia, Greece, was imagined to be had from Mount Olympus, towering nearby. The Greeks believed that Mount Olympus was the home of the gods, so it was fitting they have the best seats at the games held in their honor.

"Mount Olympus is the highest point in Greece, rising 2917 meters from sea level. Several cities were built at its base during ancient times, and these locations are being excavated today. Archaeological evidence shows that the sites were in use for thousands of years, both by Greeks and Romans.

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"Zeus was the ruler of these Olympian gods. He was a sky god with the power of lightning at his command. The group of gods who called the mountain their home were known as the Olympians. The group included Zeus’ wife and sister, Hera. She was the goddess of married women and childbirth, and continuously enraged by Zeus’ fascination with mortal women. Zeus’ brother Poseidon was the god of the sea. His children also shared the mountain home. Ares was the brash and bloody god of war. Apollo, god of the sun and also of music was the twin brother of Artemis, goddess of the woodlands and the hunt. Demeter was the mother goddess of grain and agriculture. Athena, who was said to be born—fully grown and armored—from her father Zeus’ head, was the goddess of war and knowledge. Aphrodite was the goddess of love and beauty, who would figure strongly in the stories of mortal men.

"Aphrodite was unhappily married to Hephaestus, god of the forge and master craftsman to the gods. Hermes was the messenger god who flew on winged sandals to do the bidding of the gods on Earth. Hestia was the goddess of hearth and home with sacred fires burning in her temples. Dionysus was the wild god of the vine, wine, and debauchery whose festivals might be as insanely dangerous as they were pleasurable. Hades was the solemn god of the dead, gray ruler of the underworld.

"The Greek vision of the afterlife saw a dark river barring the crossing of lost souls. The place of punishment for the evil spirits was known as Tartarus. One spirit in Tartarus was said to have been set the task of rolling a large boulder to the top of a hill. At the end of his strenuous effort, as success seems within reach, the rock tumbles inexorably back to the base of the hill. Another tortured soul must endure constant thirst and hunger while standing in water and surrounded by grape vines, both of which are just beyond his desperate grasp. Lessons in futility harshly taught by gods as flawed as their worshippers."

Said by church followers, because being born guilty is a flawless doctrine, of course?

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"The joyful world for deserving spirits was known as the Elysian Fields, a land of endless summer and plenty. Persephone was the beautiful daughter of Demeter whom Hades kidnapped and forced to be his bride and Queen of the dead. Persephone had her own dual nature. While she resided in hell she was Queen of the dead, and her mother’s grief causes the plants in the fields to wither and die, and the days to grow short and dark. However, when she returned to the world above, she was the joyful spirit of spring and life again returning to the earth.

"The Greek gods greatly influenced Western civilization. The Romans adopted the Olympians wholesale, giving them Roman names and building Roman temples for their worship. The culture of the Renaissance held ancient deities in the highest regard, and the rebirth of knowledge brought many of the tales of the gods to popular audiences. The Greek gods brought a deep level of anthropomorphism to their spiritual beliefs. The gods seemed to act out of anger, jealousy, love, or sorrow, and in the same unpredictable manner as humans do.

"Tales from Greek mythology may seem strangely familiar. To anyone with the common phobia involving fear of spiders, the story of a proud young girl may hold special meaning. Arachne bragged about her weaving skill, saying her talent rivaled that of Athena, goddess of crafting. As punishment, the girl was transformed into a spider, doomed to forever weave her web. It is from this story that the arachnid class takes its name.

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"Another story from the mythology of the ancient Greeks was the tale of the Minotaur and the labyrinth. The Minotaur was a terrible creature, half man, and half bull. King Minos had the labyrinth built by Daedalus, a legendary inventor, in order to hide the Minotaur from view. The monster fed on the youths who were sacrificed to it. The Athenian hero, Theseus was eventually able to solve the riddle of the labyrinth with help from Princess Ariadne. He was then able to find and kill the Minotaur. The Palace of Knossos in Crete was identified by archaeologist Arthur Evans as the site of the mythic labyrinth because of its complex architecture. The Minoan culture has been associated with this legend ever since. It has also been suggested that the Minoan civilization may have been the inspiration for the legends of the lost city of Atlantis. This theory hinges on a volcanic eruption that occurred in ancient times that destroyed the island of Santorini, opposite Crete in the Mediterranean. It appears a massive tidal wave caused extensive damage to the coast at some point in the past.

"The stories that have been passed to us from the Greeks continue to intrigue and surprise historians. Interpretations of old documents shed light on the relations of these stories and the reality of the ancient world. One aspect of the Grecian religious life that remains mysterious to us today was even known as a “mystery cult.” Historians believe that a cult like the one of the Eleusinian Mysteries revealed a belief in an afterlife and granted initiates the knowledge to reach it. There is some evidence that the mystery cult object that was presented as the symbol of eternal life would have been represented by an ear of corn. What the actual message of these cults was, and how the mystery affected the ancient Greek worshippers may never be known.

"With the resurgence of familiarity with the Greek gods and Greek mythology in general that occurred during the Renaissance, the tales of gods and goddesses, of heroes and terrible monsters were retold for a new generation. The beauty of Aphrodite, the blood red menace of Ares, and the muscular heroism of Herakles became the inspiration for great works of art once more. The Olympian gods reclaimed their immortal influence on Western culture."

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"The Olympian gods did not remain aloof on their mountain. Their involvement with the mortal world was a part of everyday life. Nowhere is this more apparent than with the patron deities of the various Greek city states, or polis.

"Greece was not always the unified country as it is today. The population settled in groups, creating cities and city governments. The cities were known as “polis,” or city states. This is the origin of our English word politics. The city states would band together on occasion for common goals, but would also fight each other for superiority.

"In legend, two gods vied to win the alliance of a great city. Athena and Poseidon granted favors to the people of the city. Poseidon called a beautiful horse from the sea, and Athena caused an olive tree to spring up in the fertile soil. Though both gifts were magnificent, the people chose Athena as their patron goddess, and the city of Athens has been under her protection ever since. It comes as no surprise that her brother Ares, god of war, stood as the patron of the rival city, Sparta.

"In more mundane terms, the polis were the centers of government; each city had its own focus and style of government. In his work, The Republic, Plato looked at the polis as a means of illustrating what the ideal form of government might be, and what structures and values would be essential in a just society. The word polis came to mean the people of that region, even more than the city itself.

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"The distinct cultures of the numerous city-states entailed that many separate modes of government were in place in each town. Some monarchs and tyrants held the power of the state in the hands of the individual. In other places, there were oligarchies in which the control befell a select few, the aristocratic noble class, and then there were democracies, in which every male citizen had the right to vote on issues concerning the city. The variety of intertwined political systems occurring in such close proximity created a vast arena of study for philosophers considering the problem of the ideal society.

"Macedonia and Epeiros were governed by monarchs supported by an assembly of officials. Sparta had a surprising system of two kings, one of which was always available as a war leader. Tyrants held power in Syracuse, Athens, and Cyprus, meaning an individual expressly ruling for their own interests rather than the good of the people or state.

"The system known as democracy is considered to be one of ancient Greece’s greatest legacies. The people of Athens overthrew an oppressive tyrant and turned to exiled aristocrat Cleisthenes for help in crafting a system of government that housed power in the hands of the citizens. It was determined that people would be classified by their living location, rather than by their hereditary tribe. Candidates for political office were chosen by lot for set terms, meaning that more people were included in civic duties.

"In the evolution of the governments of the Greek city states, forms of political systems took shape which underpin much of society in the world today. The idea that these systems can be improved upon has influenced changes in politics of today."

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""We alone consider a citizen who does not partake in politics not only one who minds his own business but useless."

"—Thucydides"

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"The rivalry between the city-states of Athens and Sparta was a memorable, time-honored tradition.

"Athens was the first to embrace democracy. After the replacement in 1066 BCE of the last king of Athens with a new high official, the archon, a new stable system of government was needed to replace the old monarchy. An experiment began, which relied on the citizens of the community to serve in their government, as well as to participate in building it. All male citizens had the right to vote on matters of state. These same citizens had freedom of speech, which guaranteed the right to argue issues that were to be put to the vote. Votes were counted by means of raised hands. For particular votes, written tallies were kept using broken pieces of pottery called ostraka. This was done on occasions when a person was to be ostracized and exiled from Athens.

"Athens prided itself as a center of learning and the arts. Schools for the teaching of philosophy were started, like Plato’s Akademia. His student, Aristotle also headed a school known as the Lyceum. The theater was an important part of the Athenian culture. Athens held a yearly festival for drama, called the Dionysia, in honor of the god Dionysus. Winners were chosen in the areas of comedy and tragedy, two specific forms of play. The competition was fierce, and it was considered a high honor to be crowned the winner.

"Masks were a huge part of the drama, and different characters wore different masks, so the audience could follow the story easily. The masks of comedy and tragedy used on the stage and Athens are a familiar symbol of the theater that we still use today. Famous playwrights like Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Herakleides are all known to have won the Dionysia.

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"The city-state of Sparta, located in the South, was a culture of warriors. Everything in the life of a Spartan citizen revolved around physical and mental strength and readiness for battle. The lack of luxury in their lives has resulted in the adjective spartan in English to be used as a description of plain and utilitarian. Spartan boys were taken from their mothers at the age of seven to begin their military training. They would live in the barracks and continue to train for the next twenty years.

"Boys were not given enough food and were so in a way encouraged to steal in order to survive. If they were caught stealing, however, they were severely punished. One story is told of a young Spartan boy who had captured a fox cub and was intent on keeping it for himself. When his group was called to stand at attention, he hid the creature inside his tunic. Before the end of the review, the boy fell to the ground, dead. It was discovered that the fox had bitten and clawed into his stomach, desperate to escape the captivity. The boy had shown no sign of the agonizing pain this must have caused until at last, it killed him. This was Spartan discipline.

"An important ritual that marked the completion of a young man’s training as a Spartan soldier was the murder of a helot. The helots were a people subjugated by the Spartans and forced into slavery. The manual labor needed to support a culture devoted to war and the training of warriors was performed by the helots. The young Spartan soldier was required to kill one of these unfortunates without being caught. Clandestine operations were as important a part of the training as the battle formations, and killing techniques. The Spartans truly were the elite special forces of the ancient Greek world. A familiar scene in Sparta was a young man’s mother sending him off to war and handing him his shield, saying, “With this or on it.” This meant the young man was to return home victorious and in possession of his shield, or as a corpse carried on the shield by his surviving compatriots. This was Spartan honor.

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"The unmatched skill and courage of the Spartan warriors have been forever immortalized in history by the events of the battle of Thermopylae in 480 BCE. This was the second Persian War. Xerxes, prince of Persia, lead the largest army ever seen at this point in history towards Greece.

"A plan was formed to block the invaders on land and sea simultaneously. The army of foot soldiers would defend the narrow path on the coast known as Thermopylae. In English, the name means “hot gates.” The inspiration for this was the tightness of the pass between the sea and the cliffs of Kallídhromon, and the nearby hot sulfur springs. It would come to have a darker meaning after the desperate hellish battle to protect the gateway to the Grecian mainland.

"The Spartan king Leonidas led the army, gathered from Thespia and Thebes, along with the three hundred Spartan warriors that were his personal retinue. This group of perhaps seven thousand soldiers who had likely stood against one another in previous battles now waited in the narrow pass by the sea for the army of the common enemy.

"The army managed to stop the Persian onslaught for seven days; including three days of battle. After two full days standing against the full might of the massive Persian army, the Persian dead were piled in front of the Greek forces, and they had not been able to break the Greek line, headed by the phalanx of the Spartan warriors with their bronze shields, swords, and spears. After the second day’s battle, the Greeks were betrayed by a local man who informed Xerxes of a small pass through the mountains that would allow a force to maneuver behind the Greeks on the beach. The Greek forces would be surrounded and doomed.

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"King Leonidas realized that his position of strength had been betrayed. He sent the allied Greek forces to retreat, maintaining the blocked path with a total force of approximately thirteen hundred men, including the three hundred Spartans. These warriors fought to the last man, pushing back the invading force to allow their comrades to retreat and rally to fight again. The main forces of Sparta were soon also able to come to the fight, having been delayed in observance of a traditional religious festival.

"At the same time, the Greek naval forces under Athenian General Themistocles were fighting their own battle against overwhelming odds. Themistocles was an Athenian senator and a perfect example of the new democratic Athens. He was not born into an aristocratic family, and in previous years would have had no opportunity to gain power and recognition in the elitist society. He fought in the first Persian War against Darius the Great, along with all the able-bodied citizens of Athens. The Greek forces were able to defeat the Persian army under Darius at the battle of Marathon. It was after this desperate struggle that a Greek messenger, Pheidippides ran the twenty-six miles from Marathon to Athens in order to inform the Athenians of the victory and also warn that the Persian fleet was maneuvering into position to attack the city. After the historic run, Pheidippides died of exhaustion. These events were the inspiration for the marathon races that are run in so many places around the world today.

"After the battle, when his fellow citizens were celebrating, Themistocles was preparing for future battles. He convinced the Athenian Senate to spend the gains from a newly discovered silver vein on building new ships instead of splitting the profits amongst the citizens. This decision would make Athens the prime naval power in Greece prior to Xerxes’ invasion ten years later.

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"The Greek warships were “triremes,” meaning they had three banks of oars. This style of ship was the dominant kind in the Mediterranean by the early fifth century BCE. Offensively, the idea was to ram the reinforced prow of the ship into the side of the enemy ship. The maneuverability granted by the multiple rows of oars was the principal advantage of this style ship. Triremes made up the majority of the Athenian fleet built at the urging of Themistocles.

"While the Spartans and their allies fought their bloody battle at the “hot gates,” an allied group of naval forces met the Persian fleet in the straits of Artemisia, off the coast of Euboea. The Persian navy had weathered a terrible storm during its journey, and many ships had been lost before they even reached the Greek fleet. When part of the Persian forces split off in an attempt to outflank the Greek ships, the unprotected ships in open water were destroyed in another freak storm, thus saving the Greek from suffering a similar fate to their allies at Thermopylae.

"Once Themistocles was given the news of the defeat of the forces under the Spartans, he ordered the navy to withdraw, conceding this battle as well. The Persian ground troops now ran uncontested into Greece and burned the city of Athens to the ground. Luckily, the majority of Athenian citizens had fled or joined the battle when it was evident the Persians would not be stopped. The strategic retreat eventually lead to the Persian fleet following into the straits of Salamis, where the Greek navy was able to trap and defeat the Persians. With the defeat of the navy causing his ground army to be vulnerable to being stranded, Xerxes was forced to withdraw the bulk of his army. The following year, the remaining Persians were defeated at the battle of Plataea, and the Persian invasion was put to an end.

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"Delphi was another prominent city-state in Greece that played a role in the politics and warfare of ancient Greece. Known as the belly button, or omphalos of the ancient world, the temple at Delphi was built on the side of Mount Parnassus. The temple housed the most famous oracle of Apollo. Apollo was the Greek god of the sun, prophecy, and music. The oracle at Delphi was consulted in all matters of political import, as well as in personal affairs. The oracle herself was a young Greek girl who had been dedicated to the service of Apollo. She was given the title of the Pythia. She would sit over a chasm in the earth from which fumes rose to surround her. She would give answers to petitioners’ queries, which would, in turn, be interpreted by the priests of Apollo. The prophecies provided by the oracle are famed as being ambiguous, and thus easily misinterpreted. Many stories told in Greek tragedies involve the futile attempts to avoid fulfillment of prophecy.

"According to the great Greek historian, Herodotus, the Spartans traditionally consulted the Delphic oracle when they made decisions of state. When they consulted the oracle upon news of the Persian invasion under Xerxes, the Oracle gave the Spartan messengers the following prophecy:

"“O ye men who dwell in the streets of broad Lacedaemon! Honor the festival of the Carneia!! Otherwise, either your glorious town shall be sacked by the children of Perseus, or, in exchange, must all through the whole Laconian country mourn for the loss of a king, descendant of great Heracles.”"

"The interpretation of this prophecy resulted in the Spartans not sending the main Spartan army against Xerxes’ forces, in order to honor the Carneia. King Leonidas and his force of three hundred went instead. The prophecy also meant that Leonidas, as one of Sparta’s kings and a “descendant of great Heracles,” believed that he was going to his death when he marched from Sparta that last time, and so did the men with him.

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"When the Athenians sent to Delphi to gain the wisdom of the Oracle in the battle against the Persian forces of Xerxes, the response was dismal indeed: “far-seeing Zeus grants to Athena that the wooden wall alone will remain unbroken to guard her and her children.” Many Athenians believed this meant the wooden walls atop the Acropolis, where the holy temple of Athena, their patron goddess stood, would somehow survive the Persian attack. Themistocles, from his perspective of a naval commander, believed instead that the wooden walls that would protect Athens were the wooden ships of the Athenian fleet. As it turned out, the city was completely destroyed, even the holy Acropolis. The few Athenians who placed their faith in the first interpretation of the Oracle’s words and sought refuge behind these wooden walls were also killed. The Athenian ships, however, did survive to battle against the Persian navy and finally pushed Xerxes’ forces out of Greece. The desperate victory was so remarkable and so slim that it had only been won by coming together as allies against the invaders.

"Alliances between rivals, however, would not last long. Decades of fighting, known as the Peloponnesian Wars pitted Athens and her empire against the Spartan lead Peloponnesian League. The Athenians were able to dominate the coast with their great navy, but this ended in a disastrous attack against Syracuse. The great Athenian Navy was eventually destroyed at Aegospotami, and Athens was defeated. With Athens’ submission, Sparta became the dominant power in the area for many years to come. Though other cities demanded harsh punishment including the enslavement of the citizens of Athens, the Spartans did not allow this to happen.

"It was after these great battles that Greece began moving toward a united country instead of a scattered group of geographically adjacent strangers. The losses incurred during the years of war were so vast that none were immune. A shared history and consciousness of being Greek, rather than merely a citizen of an isolated town, grew as a result."

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"“Sing, goddess, the anger of Peleus’ son Achilles and its devastation, which put pains thousand fold upon the Achaeans, hurled in their multitudes to the house of Hades strong souls of heroes.”

"—Homer"

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"The ancient Greeks were storytellers. Before they developed the alphabet which would allow their tales to be recorded, they carried stories for hundreds of years in oral tradition. The best known of these narratives are those attributed to Homer, a blind bard who supposedly lived in the eighth century BCE. The Iliad and the Odyssey tell the story of the Greeks and the Trojans, great rivals of the Mediterranean. The Trojan War, fought for the sake of Helen, whose beauty caused the launch of a thousand ships is a story that has been told and retold for millennia. The conclusion of the long war, as described in the Iliad, involves a clever trick on the part of the Greeks led in the scheme by crafty Odysseus with the support of the goddess of Warcraft herself, gray-eyed Athena.

"Their ruse resulted in the use of the term “Trojan Horse” to mean any subterfuge where a seemingly innocuous and even beneficial package is used to conceal an attack. This is standard terminology involving viral attacks on computer systems that occur all too often in today’s world. Similar exhortations have survived in pieces of common wisdom such as “beware of Greeks bearing gifts,” and “look a gift horse in the mouth.” They encourage us to think twice when something appears too good to be true."

Actually, the last mentioned is from the more mundane cheating experienced at old style horse markets in old days, when looking at teeth would give a better estimate of the horse's age, and doing so was routine.

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"Ironically, it is also a story that changed the way we look at ancient texts and consider that we might have been given more than we bargained for as far as ancient evidence. For centuries, the Iliad and the Odyssey were assumed to be myths—simple fantasies of epic adventure and divine intervention. However, in 1871, amateur archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann set out to test his belief that Homer’s famous works were based on real locations and occurrences. By following lines in the story, he determined that the lost site of the destroyed city of Troy was to be found in modern-day Turkey. He actually did discover what is agreed to be the site of Troy. A burn layer was observed in the archaeology that is accepted as evidence of the fabled destruction, familiar to so many as described in the Iliad. Faced with the ruined walls of this city, historians were also confronted with a question; what else in these fantastic tales, passed down like a legacy for centuries, had been built on a foundation of truth?"

Far more than West is willing to contemplate, especially in case of ancient literature of India.

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"In the Odyssey, our hero Odysseus faces terrible creatures, endures the wrath of the sea god, Poseidon, and resists the charms of a powerful witch, Circe. The word, odyssey, originally meaning the story of Odysseus has come in modern language to mean a grand voyage of discovery, fraught with trial. It often implies a spiritual journey of self-discovery even more than actual travel.

"The next time life seems to become overly dramatic; we can remember that we have the ancient Greeks to thank. A very Greek form of storytelling, the word drama comes from the Greek word meaning action. Classic Greek drama took two forms. The first was tragedy, a word we are all too familiar with. The characters in these stories were confronted with tragic circumstances beyond mortal control that often resulted in the death of the hero. The second form was comedy, which for the ancient Greeks meant a play with a happy ending. Some of the comic plays also strayed into realms of the bizarre and ridiculous in their imaginative tales.

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"The most well-known writer of comedy in ancient Greece was Aristophanes of Athens. While we know he wrote 40 plays, only 11 survived to modern age. He used his plays to ridicule societal behaviors and specific well-known individuals. Plato believed Aristophanes’ play, “The Clouds,” influenced opinion in the trial and execution of Socrates. His play The Knights, with its mockery of a powerful politician, Cleon, is one of the earliest examples of political satire.

"Alternately, the “Father of Tragedy,” was a poet named Aeschylus. Although he was a prolific writer, having written an estimated 80 odd plays in his lifetime, only seven have survived to modern times. Beyond the powerful emotional content of his work, he made innovations to the traditional theater that were essential to the art form. Aeschylus was the first to add more than one character to interact with the traditional narrating Chorus. He may also have introduced the use of stage scenery in plays.

"His most famous existing work is a trilogy known collectively as The Oresteia. The three plays were; Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and The Eumenides. Each of the three stories detailed a compelling story of sorrowful fate, and combined to form an overarching tragic vision. Aeschylus’s play, The Persians is unique, in that the author fought in the battle of Salamis, the battle described in the story. It is also interesting that it is told from the viewpoint of the defeated Persians, rather than the Athenians in the original audience. This structure made the play a study in how we handle both victory and defeat."

It's only hubris that made West label Homer's work as imaginary, rather than documented history, despite two separate authors having created works of literature around the character of Agamemnon.

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"The remaining works of other tragedians added to our knowledge of ancient Greek theater. The most prominent were Euripides and Sophocles. Euripides plays include Hippolytus and the Bacchae, Medea, and Hecuba. Sophocles was a consistent winner of the Dionysia. He won first place eighteen times, and never placed lower than second. His famous works include Oedipus the King, Antigone, and The Women of Trachis.

"Whether in the adventures of our favorite action heroes, the tear-jerker ending of the latest romance, or the dry wit of a comedy talk show host, much of modern entertainment has a precedent in Greek storytelling traditions. It seems fitting that storytellers in the movie world have taken on ancient Greek stories in recent films, including the 2004 film Troy, based on the events in Homer’s Illiad, the 2006 movie 300, detailing the Spartan battle at Thermopylae, and 2012’s Wrath of the Titans. The telling and retelling of these stories continue once again into a new millennium."

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"“Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is opinion.”

"—Democritus"

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"Philosophy is the study of fundamental life issues, like the meaning of existence, logic, reason, and modes of thought. The very word philosophy is based on the Greek words meaning “love of wisdom.” The modern disciplines of metaphysics, ethics, and epistemology are examples of philosophical pursuits.

"Thales, who is often credited as the first philosopher in the Western world, stands at the beginning of a long tradition leading to Stoics and Skeptics, and other schools of thought. These traditions of ancient Greek philosophy gave us a framework and language to speak about knowledge itself. This was the beginning of the historical, intellectual tradition in the West.

"Traditionally, there has been a desire for a life of rational thought. This desire to make sense out of the world in a way that was more comprehensible and predictable than the whims of the gods would eventually lead to the scientific discoveries of today. For example, Democritus believed in the existence of the atom as the invisible building block of the material world, thousands of years before modern scientists developed linear particle accelerators to explore subatomic particles. ... "

Actually, Greeks received works from India via manuscripts copied by Arab traders, who valued them, and were in a position to do so, as thry were plying the Silk Road and, too, seafaring to Southwest coast of India for trade.

" ... Socrates brought a debate about what entailed a good life, and the purpose of our lives. Plato’s Atlantis was a vision of an advanced society that once had existed; a lost world of prosperity and enlightenment, swallowed by the sea as punishment for prideful behavior. Explorers are still searching for the site of the mythic drowned civilization in waters around the world."

Again, it's hubris labelling it myth, while being credulous regarding everything preached on weekly basis from a pulpit is evidence of a mindset terrified by inquisition into accepting everything despite evidence and logic to the contrary.

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"Plato’s student, Aristotle, is one of our richest sources regarding ancient philosophical ideas. He wrote treatises on issues like the investigation of the natural world, basic biology, and zoology. His Republic is a pioneering text of societal development that echoes in modern politics.

"More philosophical movements were developed by various groups, including the Epicureans, the Cynics, the Stoics, and the Skeptics. The lifestyle recommendations espoused by these groups are still a part of our vocabulary today. People are skeptical, cynical, self-indulgent like the Epicureans, or strictly unaffected like the Stoics. These labels and terms we use to describe ourselves and our outlook on life were first envisioned by the great thinkers of ancient Greece.

"New ways of thinking take time to be accepted. Traditions and comfortable views take time to change. Unsurprisingly, the philosophers who criticized established thought patterns came into conflict with authorities often. Socrates was put to death for his so-called heresies against the gods. Aristotle only narrowly escaped execution himself by fleeing Athens. In spite of the persecution, new ways of thinking continued to push the boundaries of convention, a trend that we can easily see still carries on every day."

................................................................................................

"“Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is painting that speaks.”

"—Plutarch"

................................................................................................

"The Seven Wonders of the ancient world are sites around the Mediterranean rim that were considered to be marvels of human achievement. The original list was compiled by Greek travelers, so it is little wonder that five of the seven wonders are Greek in origin. This obvious bias does not diminish the scope and unusual nature of the wonders and their impact on Western culture. The only one of the ancient monuments that still exists is the Great Pyramid of Giza, which stands in Egypt.

"The other foreign wonder to make the list was the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, supposedly built by King Nebuchadnezzar for his young wife. Scholars today are uncertain as to the actual location of the hanging gardens, and it is argued that they may never have actually existed. ... "

Why not use that logic regarding a man whose tomb isn't located in two millennia, but instead believe that he was seen rising with body to heaven, just because accounts approved by church say so?

Do the manuscripts discovered in recent decades, preserved by desert for two millennia and thus saved destruction by church, say so?

" ... In Greece, tourists would not want to miss the other wonders on the list. These monuments to human achievement were wonders in their own time, and must also highlight any review of artistic and architectural accomplishments.

................................................................................................

"The colossal 43-foot-high statue of Zeus at Olympia by the great sculptor Phidias, whose method for shaping ivory has never been recreated, remained in its proud seat at the temple for centuries. The sculpture was ornamented with ebony, ivory, gold, and jewels. In one hand the statue held an inlaid scepter, and in the other, a statue of Nike, representative of victory. The impressive size of this sculpture was what truly won its place as a world wonder. Geographer Strabo described the figure, saying, "It seems that if Zeus were to stand up, he would unroof the temple.”

"Many of Phidias’ other works survive either in the original, or in copies made by later Roman sculptors, and are some of the finest examples of classical Greek sculpture. He was also engaged to create the cult statue of Athena in her great temple, the Parthenon of Athens. The Parthenon is an architectural marvel in its own right. Athena’s temple has inspired many buildings in the classical style around the world.

"The Colossus of Rhodes was the tallest statue the world had ever seen to this point and reached as high as the Statue of Liberty. It was supposed in legend to have stood straddling the harbor at Rhodes. This pose was the inspiration for Shakespeare’s description of Julius Caesar as bestriding the world like a colossus. Most scholars agree that this would not have been possible structurally and suggest instead that the Colossus was built standing to one side of the harbor entrance. ... "

Did those scholars know and understand everything about seas rising as a result of oceans warming, for example?

" ... It may have been constructed on the frame of a defeated war machine.

"The machine had been brought against the city in the war with Cyprus; it was called the Helepolis, meaning destroyer of cities. The Helepolis was a tower on wheels, built of wood and covered with iron shielding on the front face, bristling with levels of pikes and arrow slots. The Rhodians had managed to get behind the metal armor and set the wooden frame in flames. The remains of this machine would have made a robust and appropriate base for the triumphal monument, dedicated to their protector god, Helios.

"The statue is thought to have stood for only 50 years before the city was hit by an earthquake, during which much of the harbor was destroyed and the statue crumbled at the knee. The massive pieces lay scattered on the ground for nearly eight centuries, a tourist attraction in their own right.

................................................................................................

"The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus was the inspiration for the funereal monuments of this name. The site of the mausoleum, Halikarnassos, was on the coast of the Mediterranean, in what is now Turkey. This enormous and extravagant tomb was built by King Mausolus and his sister Artemisia II of Caria. The two would spare no expense and hired imaginative architects, Satyros and Pythius, to design the structure. The tomb was multiple stories tall, with the burial chamber in the base. Every bit of it was decorated with carved friezes and ornate statues of the royal couple, along with figures of gods and heroes of myth. At the top was a full-size statue of Mausolus and Artemisia driving a chariot and team of four horses. The tomb stood intact for over a thousand years and is the second longest lasting of the original seven wonders. It was eventually destroyed when, in 1522, the knights of St. John used the stones from the tomb to reinforce their own castle at Bodrum, and ground down the irreplaceable ancient marble statues to make plaster."

Does one need any other evidence, of which there are plenty, to know that this and later abrahmic creeds are destructive of culture and knowledge?

................................................................................................

"The next Greek wonder of the world was a temple to Artemis, goddess of the hunt, the moon, and the forest. Antipater of Sidon, the ancient Greek writer, described his experience at the temple of Artemis at Ephesus by saying:

""I have seen the walls and Hanging Gardens of ancient Babylon, the statue of Olympian Zeus, the Colossus of Rhodes, the mighty work of the high Pyramids and the tomb of Mausolus. But when I saw the temple at Ephesus rising to the clouds, all these other wonders were put in the shade."

"Antipater was not the only one impressed. Pilgrims traveled from all over the Mediterranean area to worship the goddess in her prize temple. The famous writer, Pliny the Elder, also praised the great temple. He recorded the temple as 425 feet in length and 225 feet high. The roof, he wrote, was held by 125 marble columns that were themselves 60 feet tall. It was built entirely of marble, but the wooden roof supports would be the temple’s literal downfall when they were purposefully set aflame, and the temple was destroyed in 268 CE."

Why does author refrain from mentioning the identity of exactly who was it that "temple was destroyed" by?

................................................................................................

"The Pharos lighthouse of Alexandria was both an architectural and technological marvel of the day. It has been argued that the lighthouse was the only one of the Seven Wonders of the World to have a practical purpose. Built on the island of Pharos at the mouth of Alexandria’s busy harbor, it was supposed to have been 450 feet tall, and its light was said to be visible to ships as far as 100 miles out to sea. A fire burned at the top of the tower, and the light from the flames was reflected outward by a large bronze mirror. It was rumored that the beam of light emanating from the mirror could be directed and used as a defensive weapon, setting enemy ships on fire at a distance. This wonder of the world had stood for over 1500 years before it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1303. The ruins were recently discovered at the bottom of the sea. Enormous stones and fragmented marble statues litter the seafloor in a tantalizing archaeological puzzle, and they are a glimpse of the wonder that once was.

................................................................................................

"Of course, Greek art and architecture had many more noteworthy achievements that did not meet the epic, grandeur, and inspiration commemorated in the top seven. The naturalistic and yet still idealized portrayal of the human form was a new style in sculpture. The concentration on the nude displayed the appreciation of the human shape in its simplest, intimate state. Monumental statues were carved in marble or cast in bronze. Fewer bronze statues have survived the ages, as they were frequently melted down in order to reuse the metal for other purposes. A few extremely fragile statues in terracotta have also been discovered. Remnants of paint reveal that the figures would have been brightly colored.

"Rare examples of painting that survive show similar innovations in style. The relative wealth of ancient pottery that has been discovered shows a unique style of painting as epitomized by the black-figure style and later red-figure style that were used for centuries.

"The respectful treatment of the human body is one that can be seen repeated in art throughout history. Neoclassical architecture can be found in capital cities throughout Europe and North America. The move by Grecian vase painters into an ornamental symbolic style is one that echoes in textile fashions through the years.

................................................................................................

"The Greeks used marble in their public buildings. Greek architects created three orders of architecture, named primarily for the style of columns used in each. The Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders were entirely Greek inventions. Architects made innovations in many different types of structures. The construction of temples, with the obvious opportunity for grand scale and ornate columns, became an iconographic or Greek style. Theaters were significant buildings, a mainstay of the community. History was made with the advent of the open-air amphitheater. These were built in a raised semi-circle, often incorporated into the side of a hill to take advantage of natural acoustics. Town planning was updated with the use of the stoa, lined colonnades, roofed or even semi-enclosed to define a meeting place, market area or town square. Greek architects also organized areas like this with a standard style, so the area was a consistent, planned city-center or community.

"In the grandest of buildings, and in the tiniest neighborhood market, the art and architecture that was first developed in ancient Greece are apparent in much of modern Western architecture. The grace and beauty of the Greek marble statuary or the ruins of a columned temple have had a profound impact on the sense of Western aesthetics."

................................................................................................

"“Men who wish to know about the world must learn about it in its particular details.”

"—Heraclitus"

................................................................................................

"In the technology-driven world of today, it may be surprising that some of our most prized modern inventions have their roots with the scientists of ancient Greece. From innovations in medicine to computer technology, the ancient Greeks invented and used advanced technology.

"The Greeks were skilled healers. Their medical knowledge and technology were advanced. The healing art was celebrated as a gift from the gods. The Greek god of healing, Asclepius, was worshiped in shrines all around Greece. People suffering from ills of injury would journey to these shrines in hopes of being healed. It was believed that a night spent sleeping in the temple would bring the healing presence of the god in a dream. Of course, skilled human physicians also served at these shrines, and tended to the worshippers. Ritual offerings have been discovered of stone-carved body parts that were dedicated to the god, in hopes of receiving specific healing. ... "

Surely patients and their families did not wait for carvings in stone before seeking help? Those must have been offerings in gratitude by the cured, if they could afford the extra bit.

" ... The caduceus, the snake-entwined staff of Asclepius, is a symbol associated with medicine today."

Why West does not question that very concept, "the snake-entwined staff of Asclepius" as symbol for medicine, can only be due to church seeking yo obliterate knowledge.

Church, with its theology and thought received from an earlier abrahmic culture, sees serpents and snakes as symbol of evil manipulation. But that, precisely, makes no sense in relation with this concept of healing.

India on the other hand has very different thinking and understanding of both - serpent or snake on one hand, and matters related to human bring on the other.

And the said Greek symbol of "the snake-entwined staff of Asclepius" is immediately obvious if - and only if - one is conversant with Indian philosophy and more, but makes no sense whatsoever in context of a biblical culture on the other hand.

................................................................................................

"One of the most influential medical scholars of ancient times was Galen of Pergamum. Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus was born in 129 AD, in Pergamum. He was to become a prominent Greek physician, surgeon, and philosopher in the Roman Empire. Galen was perhaps the most accomplished of all medical practitioners of the ancient world. ... "

Read that "western ancient world", since the author seems ignorant about the rest.

" ... Galen influenced the development of multiple scientific disciplines, including anatomy, pharmacology, philosophy, physiology, pathology, logic, and neurology.

"The son of a wealthy architect, Galen received a comprehensive education that prepared him for a successful career as a physician and philosopher. Galen traveled around the Mediterranean, studying a broad range of the medical theories and discoveries of the day. Galen settled for a time in Rome, where he served prominent members of Roman society and eventually was given the honored position of private physician to several emperors."

Hence the fame.

"Galen's understanding of structure and medicine was primarily influenced by the then-current theory of humorism. People believed that a surplus or lack of these vital bodily fluids, or humors, were the cause of most illness. The humors included black bile, yellow bile, blood, and phlegm.... "

It does seem to stem from Aayurveda of India, albeit he changes it to four and deletes Vaata.

" ... Galen’s work dominated and influenced European medical science for even more than 1300 years. His anatomical reports, based mainly on dissection of monkeys and pigs, as human dissection was illegal in Rome, stayed uncontested until 1543."

................................................................................................

"Galen's theory of the physiology of the circulatory system was the primary medical belief on the subject until 1628 when William Harvey established that blood circulates with the heart as a pump. Galen's writings continued to be studied by medical students until well into the nineteenth century. The currently accepted theory that the brain controls all the motions of the muscles by means of the cranial and peripheral nervous systems was one that Galen would have found familiar. He documented research and many experiments that provided evidence for this interpretation.

"Galen’s wrote that “the best physician is also a philosopher,” revealing that he saw himself as both. Galen had been involved in the argument between the rationalist and empiricist medical sects. His use of direct observation, through dissection in addition to vivisection, represents an intricate middle ground between these two opposing opinions. Many of his works are actually preserved in their original Greek, despite the fact that many documents of the time were destroyed.

................................................................................................

"In medieval Europe, Galen's writings on anatomy were the mainstay of the medieval physician's university programs. By that time, his theories had suffered greatly from the stasis and intellectual stagnation of the Dark Ages. Some of Galen's ideas were incorrect. He never had the critical opportunity to dissect a human body, and neither did the lecturers who followed and simply accepted his work.

"Galen's surviving original Greek texts gained renewed prominence during the early modern period. In the sixteenth century, Belgian anatomist and physician Andreas Vesalius succeeded in translating many of Galen's most influential texts into Latin. Vesalius' most famous work, De Humani Corporis Fabrica, was greatly influenced by both the content of Galen’s writing and his writing style.

"Although Galen is the most famous of the medical theorists in the ancient world, one man was working years before him. Herophilus is known as the Father of Anatomy. He was working in Alexandria, Egypt when the great Library of Alexandria was the center for learning in the known world. Egypt, with its ancient practice of mummification, did not outlaw the dissection of human corpses at this time, and Herophilus was able to study the human body more intimately than Galen was ever able to do. If the treatises he is known to have written had not been lost when the library was burned, the science of medicine might have advanced more quickly, and modern physicians might have even greater innovations available in the treatment of their patients."

Wasn't the said library destroyed by Christians, seeking to impose their creed as the only thing to be respected, and shunning of all knowledge?

................................................................................................

"The spirit of exploration and discovery was what drove the work of Greek geographer and geologist, Strabo. His writing on the characteristics of different parts of the known world, as well as the species of plants and animals typical of each, is an early scientific review. His observations on history and the civilization of his own time give us invaluable insight into the beliefs that inspired these ancestors.

"In the field of technology and invention, the great mathematician, Archimedes of Syracuse was famous in his own time. His designs include a mechanical device for raising water from a well or river, which is still used as part of primary water supply in many places today. He formulated a way to accurately measure the volume of objects that is now known as Archimedes’ principle. A story is told that this theory occurred to him when he was bathing, and he leaped from the bath, shouting “Eureka!” and then ran about the town decidedly underdressed.

"When he was in his seventies, the Romans attacked Syracuse and put the city under siege. To help defend his city, Archimedes invented war machines, unlike anything the tech-savvy Romans had seen. One such device was named the Claw of Archimedes. This terrifying instrument could grapple an enemy ship in the harbor, raise it out of the water and then smash the defenseless vessel underwater.

................................................................................................

"Shipwrecks, the few from these ancient seas that have been discovered, have been invaluable sources of information about the daily lives of the Greek people. They were, after all, closely involved with the seas surrounding the many islands scattered off the coasts. Their merchant ships and warships traveled far and wide. Recently, Greek ships, believed to have sunk around 2400 years ago, have been discovered in the Black Sea. The waters of the Black Sea are unique, in that the water in the depths does not contain oxygen, and is poisonous to most agents that typically accelerate decomposition. Because of this deadly solution, the ships have survived in an unusual state of preservation. Details like the knots in the ship’s rigging remain visible. Further exploration of this dark sea may yield much new knowledge in mediums so often lost with time.

"One of the most fascinating treasures ever retrieved from the ocean’s depths was discovered in 1901, offshore the island of Antikythera, in the Mediterranean Sea. Sponge divers found the wreck of a ship that has been dated to the fourth century BCE. In a wooden box, a mass of corroded metal seemed inconsequential when compared to the marble statues and golden coins scattered in the sand, but this device was worth more than any of the rest in terms of its cultural and scientific impact. It has become known as the Antikythera Mechanism, and also as the world’s first computer. After years of study, scientists determined that the mechanism with its overlying bronze gears was created to accurately calculate and predict the movements of the earth and moon and predict eclipses. The interpretation took time because people had difficulty believing that something as advanced as this could have been produced in the distant past. There are still those who contend that the device and what it is purported to do are a hoax. There are also those who view this as evidence that there is still much to learn about our history. Who can say what other treasures wait on the ocean floor, beneath the sand, or encased in ice?"

................................................................................................

"The winner of an event in the ancient Olympic Games was given a wreath of laurels to wear as a crown. The laurel is an aromatic broadleaf evergreen plant. The crown made of the aromatic leaves was a symbol of honor that was also given to winning poets. This symbol, along with so much else in modern culture, has come down to us as a reference to its original Greek meaning. The term now in modern idiomatic usage refers to victory. Ironically, those accused of resting on their laurels are living on triumphs of the past while this language is in itself a reminder of the past.

"Ancient symbols can have powerful impact reinforced with the passage of time. Alpha and Omega make up one example; this pair of Greek letters has come down to our modern language with a sacred significance, the weight of history, the complexities of human personality traits, and a hierarchal pride of place. Layers of meaning have gradually been attached above and beyond their status as the first and last letter of the Greek alphabet; they are the beginning and the end. This is primarily due to the long-time dominance of the Greek language as the language of the elite and intelligent, and the translation into Greek of the Hebrew Bible.

................................................................................................

"At first, it is easy to see the millennia that separate us from the people of Greece. So much has changed. It is easy to see a building like the Parthenon in Athens and view it as the ruin time has made of it, without seeing the shining temple home of the warrior goddess. The surface is not always the whole of the story. In the end, it is also easy to see the influence that Greek culture has had throughout history, and how much it remains a foundation of society in much of the modern world.

"The ritual and ceremony that are an integral part of the Olympic Games is a visible worldwide reminder every four years of the ancient Greeks’ desire for excellence. It is this tradition the modern games were instituted to honor. It has continued to prove an inspiration for excellence in the modern games as well. Olympic athletes are epic heroes of modern times; their achievements bring pride to their homelands. International relations have been challenged by the traditional peace held sacred during the original games. In this real way, the flame of independent spirit, democracy, philosophy, invention, and pride that began with the ancient Greeks continues to burn in new venues, new cities and new centuries."

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Table of Contents

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Introduction

Mount Olympus

Polis

Athens and Sparta

Literature

Philosophy

Art and Architecture

Science

Conclusion

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REVIEW

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Introduction

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December 28, 2022 - December 28, 2022.

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Chapter 1. Mount Olympus

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Said by church followers, because being born guilty is a flawless doctrine, of course?

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December 28, 2022 - December 29, 2022.

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Chapter 2. Polis

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December 29, 2022 - December 29, 2022.

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Chapter 3. Athens and Sparta

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""We alone consider a citizen who does not partake in politics not only one who minds his own business but useless."

"—Thucydides"

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"The rivalry between the city-states of Athens and Sparta was a memorable, time-honored tradition.

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December 29, 2022 - December 29, 2022.

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Chapter 4. Literature

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"—Homer"

................................................................................................

Far more than West is willing to contemplate, especially in case of ancient literature of India.

................................................................................................

It's only hubris that made West label Homer's work as imaginary, rather than documented history, despite two separate authors having created works of literature around the character of Agamemnon.

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December 29, 2022 - December 29, 2022.

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Chapter 5. Philosophy

................................................................................................

"“Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is opinion.”

"—Democritus"

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December 29, 2022 - December 29, 2022.

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................................................................................................

Chapter 6. Art and Architecture

................................................................................................

"“Painting is silent poetry, and poetry is painting that speaks.”

"—Plutarch"

................................................................................................

Why not use that logic regarding a man whose tomb isn't located in two millennia, but instead believe that he was seen rising with body to heaven, just because accounts approved by church say so?

Do the manuscripts discovered in recent decades, preserved by desert for two millennia and thus saved destruction by church, say so?

................................................................................................

Did those scholars know and understand everything about seas rising as a result of oceans warming, for example?

" ... It may have been constructed on the frame of a defeated war machine.

................................................................................................

Does one need any other evidence, of which there are plenty, to know that this and Katerina abrahmic creeds are destructive of culture and knowledge?

................................................................................................

Why does author refrain from mentioning the identity of exactly who was it that "temple was destroyed" by?

................................................................................................

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December 29, 2022 - December 29, 2022.

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Chapter 7. Science