Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece

Page Contents:

Ancient Greek Trivia

The First Marathon

Historical Myth: The 300 Who Held Thermopylae

Monstors From Greek Mythology

Democracy, Greek Style

Aristotle's Ethics for Everyone

A Bit About Aristotle

Plato

More Plato

Socrates

Ancient Greek Trivia

The ancient Greeks celebrated Mother's Day in spring, like we do. They used to honor Rhea, "mother of the gods" with honey-cakes and fine drinks and flowers at dawn.

In 625 B.C., metal coins were introduced in Greece. They replaced grain--usually barley--as the medium of exchange. Stamped with a likeness of an ear of wheat, the new coins were lighter and easier to transport than grain, and did not get moldy.

Ancient Greeks and Romans believed asparagus had medicinal qualities for helping prevent bee stings and relieve toothaches.

At the height of its power, in 400 BC, the Greek city of Sparta had 25,000 citizens and 500,000 slaves.

The yo-yo is the second oldest known toy in the world (only the doll is older), and was born over 3,000 years ago in the days of ancient Greece.

Traffic engineering was not developed in London, New York or Paris, but rather in ancient Rome. The Romans were noted road builders. The Appian Way stretched 350 miles from the Eternal City to Brundisium. In Rome itself there were actually stop signs and even alternate-side-of-the-street parking.

The tradition of using a baby to signify the new year was begun in Greece around 600 BC. It was their tradition at that time to celebrate their god of wine, Dionysus, by parading a baby in a basket, representing the annual rebirth of that god as the spirit of fertility. Early Egyptians also used a baby as a symbol of rebirth.

HOW POPULOUS WAS ANCIENT ATHENS?
About 300,000 persons lived in the city during the Age of Pericles - slightly less populous than modern Albuquerque, New Mexico, with its 330,000-plus inhabitants.

Were there homosexuals in ancient Greece?

Technically, no. No term existed for "homosexuality" in ancient Greece - there were only a variety of expressions referring to specific homosexual roles. Experts find this baffling, as the old Greek culture regarded male/male love in the highest regard. According to several linguists, the word "homosexual" was not coined until 1869 by the Hungarian physician Karoly Maria Benkert.

Was there really a lot of homosexuality in ancient Greece?
Depends on how you define it - the Greek's couldn't, as they had no word for it. Oddly, no term existed for "homosexuality" in ancient Greece - there were only a variety of expressions referring to specific homosexual roles. Experts find this baffling, as the old Greek culture regarded male/male love in the highest regard. According to several linguists, the word "homosexual" was not coined until 1869 by the Hungarian physician Karoly Maria Benkert

Why are we happy Plato was a model student?
Socrates, one of the most famous Greek philosophers, never wrote down a single word of his teachings. The only knowledge we have of his thinking today comes from the notes taken by his great student, Plato.

What do we know about Homer?
The life of Homer, author of the two earliest monuments of Greek literature, “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey,” is a mystery. His name, date and place of birth, and very existence have been disputed since late antiquity. Most scholars agree that he lived, if at all, in the latter part of the eighth century B.C., around 725-700 B.C.

HOW WAS THE GREEK PARTHENON DESTROYED?
The occupying Turks stored gun powder there and blew it up in 1687.

Why do we say that someone who has revealed secret information has "spilled the beans?"

The ancient Greeks were some of history's first bean counters, especially when it came to selecting members for their many secret societies. They voted on new candidates by putting a bean in a jar. A white bean meant "yes," and a black one meant you were, well, black-balling (black- beaning?) the unlucky aspirant. Occasionally, some klutz reached over to drop his bean but managed to knock over the jar instead, spilling the beans and exposing how the secret vote was going.

But how did the expression get into English? We don't know: that's still Greek to us. Source: WHY YOU SAY IT by Webb Garrison

The First Marathon

Elite racers can cover the 26.2 miles of the marathon in just over two hours. Ordinary folks take longer, if they finish at all. Of course, the ancient Greeks ran their Marathon in full battle armor, against an onslaught of Persian arrows raining down from the sky. And that's our story for today.

In 490 BC, it didn't take an oracle to see that Greece was in danger. The King of Persia, Darius I, already ruled an empire that spanned the Middle East. Now he wanted Greece, too. By fall, 20,000 to 30,000 Persian troops had landed on the beach at Marathon, about 26 miles (42 km) from Athens. A force of just 10,000 Athenians marched out to meet them.

The situation looked grim. The Athenians had sent a messenger to Sparta, Greece's most militarized city, asking for help, and the Spartans had answered that they would come--but not until after the next full moon. With only a thousand reinforcements from the city-state of Plataea, the Athenians were seriously outnumbered.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, the Athenians did enjoy advantages in leadership, tactics, and equipment. The Persians had good archers, but the Athenian heavy infantry (called "hoplites") wore heavy bronze armor that greatly reduced any arrow's effectiveness. And the Athenians' long bronze pikes gave them better reach and more killing power than the Persians' short swords and spears.

When the time came to attack, the Greeks fought with great discipline. They approached the Persians in a tightly packed formation called a "phalanx," in which each man's shield helped protect the soldier to his left. An approaching phalanx looked like a moving wall of shields, bristling with long pikes. And the Greeks didn't just plod their way up through the hail of Persian arrows--they attacked in a running charge.

As the two armies met, the Persians pushed their way inward against the Athenian center. The Athenians' flanks closed in like pincers. Nearly surrounded, the Persians broke ranks and fled back to their beached ships. The Athenians pursued and slaughtered them in droves. According to the Greek historian Herodotus (who might have embellished a bit), 6,400 Persians died, and just 203 Greeks.

Though the Persians would later return, the Greek victory at Marathon helped preserve Greek democracy and usher in ancient Athens's golden age. Of course, it also gave birth to the modern marathon. Legend has it that, after the battle, a messenger named Pheidippides was ordered to run the approximately 26 miles back to Athens, bearing news of the great victory. He supposedly staggered into the city, shouted "Nike!" (meaning "Victory!"), collapsed, and died.

It's a great story, but probably only that. It first shows up in the writings of Plutarch, who lived 500 years after the battle. According to Herodotus, who wrote just a few years after Marathon, Pheidippides was the messenger dispatched to Sparta to ask for help before the battle--and his feat was, if anything, even more remarkable. He reportedly ran the 150 miles (240 km) in two days. Now that's a long run.

Jeffery Vail

Historical Myth: The 300 Who Held Thermopylae

by Robert Wilde

The Myth:
The narrow pass of Thermopylae was held for three days against a vast Persian army by just 300 Spartans, 299 of which perished.

The Truth:
Although there were 300 Spartans present at the defence of Thermopylae, there were at least 4000 allies involved on the first two days and 1500 men involved in the fatal last stand. Still a tiny figure compared to the forces against them, but more than the legend which forgets some contributors.

The Background:
Having raised a vast army operating on the limits of supply and command √ perhaps 100,000 strong √ the Persian King Xerxes invaded Greece in 480 BCE intent on adding the city states to an Empire which already spanned three continents. The Greeks responded by putting aside traditionally enmity, allying and identifying a place to check the Persian advance: the land pass of Thermopylae, already fortified, was just forty miles away from a narrow sea strait between Euboea and the mainland.

Here smaller Greek forces could block the armies and fleet of the Persians at the same time and hopefully protect Greece itself.

The Spartans, a brutal people with arguably the most militaristic culture in history (Spartans could only reach manhood once they'd killed a slave) agreed to defend Thermopylae. However, this agreement was given in the first half of 480 and, as the Persians advanced proceeded inorexibly but leisurely, months passed. By the time Xerxes had reached Mount Olympus it was August.

This was a bad time for the Spartans, for they were to hold both their Olympics and Carneia. To miss either was to offend the Gods, something the Spartans cared passionately about. A compromise was needed between sending a full army and keeping their divine favour: an advance guard of 300 Spartans, led by King Leonidas would go. Instead of taking the Hippeis, his 300 strong bodyguard of the best young men, Leonidas departed with 300 veterans.

The (4)300:
There was a little more to the compromise. The Spartan 300 weren't supposed to be holding the pass by themselves; instead their absent army would be replaced by troops from other states. 700 came from Thespiae, 400 from Thebes. The Spartans themselves brought 300 Helots, basically slaves, to assist. At least 4300 men occupied the pass of Thermopylae to fight.

Thermopylae:
The Persian army did indeed arrive at Thermopylae and, after their offer of free passage to the Greek defenders was refused, they attacked on the fifth day. For forty-eight hours the defenders of Thermopylae held out, defeating not just the poorly trained levies sent to dull them, but the Immortals, the Persian elite. Unfortunately for the Greeks, Thermopylae held a secret: a small pass by which the main defences could be outflanked. On the sixth night, the second of the battle, the Immortals followed this path, brushed aside the small guard and prepared to catch the Greeks in a pincer.

The 1500:
King Leonidas, undisputed head of the Greek defenders, was made aware of this pincer by a runner. Unwilling to sacrifice the entire army, but determined to keep the Spartan promise to defend Thermopylae, or perhaps just act as a rearguard, he ordered everyone bar his Spartans and their Helots to retreat. Many did, but the Thebans and Thespians stayed (the former possibly because Leonidas insisted they stay as hostages). When battle commenced the next day there were 1500 Greeks left, including 298 Spartans (two having been sent on missions). Caught between the main Persian army and 10,000 men to their rear, all were involved in fighting and wiped out. Only Thebans who surrendered remained.

Legends:
It is entirely possible the above account contains other myths. Historians have suggested the full force of Greeks may have been as high as 8000 to begin with or that the 1500 only stayed put on the third day after being trapped by the Immortals. The Spartans may have only sent 300, not because of the Olympics or Carneia, but because they didn't wish to defend so far north, although it does seem unusual they would have sent a King, if so.

Monsters From Greek Mythology

Cerberus

The hound of Hades is sometimes shown with two heads and various body parts, but the most familiar form is the three-headed Cerberus. While Cerberus, one of Echidna's children, is said to be fierce enough that the gods fear him, and flesh-eating, he is a watchdog in the land of the already dead. I have to wonder how much damage he can still inflict on mortals.

One of Hercules' tasks was to fetch Cerberus. Unlike the monsters that devastated the countryside, Cerberus did not have to be killed first, and was instead returned to his guard post.

Cyclops

In the Odyssey, Odysseus and his men find themselves in the land of the children of Poseidon, the Cyclopes (Cyclops). These giants with one round eye in the center of their foreheads consider humans as food. Odysseus eventually figures a way out of the cave in which he and his men have been imprisoned that involves blinding the Cyclops Polyphemus, by poking out his eye with a stick.

Harpies

The Harpies appear in the story of Jason and the Argonauts. The blind King Phineas of Thrace is harrassed by these bird women who pollute his food every day until they are driven away. The harpies also show up in Vergil's Aeneid

Hydra

The Hydra was one of the many offspring of half-woman and half-serpent Echidna and 100-headed Typhon. The Lernaean Hydra was a many headed serpent who lived in the swamps. One of the heads was impervious to weapons. Its other heads could be cut off, but then one or two would grow back in its place. The breath or venom of the Hydra was deadly. It devoured animals and people in the countryside.

Hercules was able to put an end to the depredations by having his friend Iolaus cauterize the stump of each head that Hercules cut off. When only the head impervious to weapons was left, Herules tore it off and buried it. From the stump, poisonous blood stilloozed, so Hercules dipped his arrows in the Hydra's blood, making them lethal.

Medusa

Medusa, at least in some accounts, was once a beautiful woman who attracted the attention of Poseidon. When the god chose to mate with her, he was in the temple of Athena. Athena was furious and got revenge by turning Medusa into a monster so horrible that a single glance at her face would turn a man to stone. Even after Perseus, with Athena's help, separated medusa from her head -- an act that allowed her unborn child, Pegasus, to emerge from her body -- the head continued to exert its power.

The head of Medusa is often described as being covered with snakes instead of hair.

Minotaur

The minotaur was a fearful man-eating beast who was half-man and half-bull. He was born to Pasiphae, the wife of King Minos of Crete. To prevent the minotaur from eating his own people, Minos had the minotaur shut up in a complex labyrinth designed by Daedalus, who had also built the contraption that had permitted Pasiphae to be impregnated by the white bull of Poseidon.

To keep the minotaur fed, Minos ordered the Athenians to send over 7 young men and 7 young women each year. When Theseus heard the wails of the families on the day on which the young people were to be sent as feed, he volunteered to replace one of the young men. He then went to Crete where, with the help of one of the king's daughters, Ariadne, he was able to solve the labyrinthine maze and slay the minotaur.

Nemean Lion

The Nemean Lion was one of the many offspring of half-woman and half-serpent Echidna and her husband, the 100-headed Typhon. It lived in Argolis terrifying people. The skin of the lion was impenetrable, so when Hercules tried to shoot it from a distance, he failed to kill it. It wasn't until Hercules used his olive-wood club to stun the beast, that he was then able to strangle it to death. Hercules decided to wear the Nemean Lion skin as protection, but couldn't skin the animal until he took one of the Nemean Lion's own claws to rip up the skin.

Sphinx

The sphinx is mostly familiar from ancient Egypt, but shows up in Greek myth in the story of Oedipus. The sphinx asks passers-by to solve a riddle. If they fail, she destroys or devours them. Oedipus got by the sphinx by answering her question. Presumably that destroyed her, and that is why she doesn't re-appear in Greek mythology.

Democracy, Greek Style

Every time there's a free election, we say, "Three cheers for democracy! And three cheers for the people of Athens, who came up with the idea of democracy more than 2,500 years ago!" But democracy wasn't always the rule in Athens. Here's how it got elected.

During the 7th century BC, an oppressive aristocracy called the "eupatridae" governed the city. This small group of rich landholders controlled Athens economically and politically. In some cases, they went so far as to sell whole families into slavery for failing to pay their debts.

Eventually, the poor people of Athens demanded reforms. First, they sensibly demanded that the laws be published, so everyone would know what they were. The eupatridae gave in and called on one of their own, an aristocrat named Draco, to publish the Athenian law code as it stood in 621 BC. The code was so harsh that we still use the word "draconian" to refer to rules that seem severe.

In other Greek city-states, such conditions led to the rise of "tyrants"--leaders who held power by force but who were, in some cases, quite popular. In Athens, it led to the rise of Solon. Though an aristocrat himself, Solon condemned the eupatridae for their dishonesty and greed. Around 594 BC, he became archon ("chief magistrate") and launched a reform.

He freed those who had been enslaved for debt and made debt-slavery illegal. And he divided Athenian society into four legal groups, each with different rights and powers. The wealthiest Athenians maintained the greatest influence, but all citizens were granted certain rights--including the right to participate in the election of magistrates.

Solon didn't create an actual democracy, but he did pave the way for one. Before he finished his reforms, many in Athens were clamoring for him to take over as tyrant. In an act of legendary statesmanship, Solon simply demanded that everyone swear an oath to uphold his reforms, and then left the city he had served so well.

The Athenians stood by their promise to uphold Solon's reforms--but not for long. Even before Solon died, an old ally of his, Peisistratus, seized power as a popular tyrant. Athens got two decades of prosperity and growth, but no more reforms. Only after Peisistratus died and his son was forced into exile did an aristocrat named Cleisthenes emerge to side with the people against would-be oligarchs.

In 508 and 507 BC, Cleisthenes and his compatriots began a series of reforms to make Athens a democracy. They reorganized the city around what they called "demes," geographic entities like districts or precincts, rather than around hereditary or socioeconomic groups. Representatives from each deme made up the Council of Five Hundred, which set the city's political agenda.

It was direct democracy, not a republic. An assembly of all citizens convened regularly. And representatives to the Council of Five Hundred weren't elected--they were drawn by lot each year. The same went for juries, which could range from a few hundred to a few thousand citizens in size. In Athens's democracy, all citizens--all free, Athenian-born men of military age--had to be prepared to govern themselves.

Steve Sampson
Copyright © 2006 Every Learner, Inc. All rights reserved.

Aristotle's Ethics for Everyone

For Aristotle, there's really nothing mysterious about ethics. People do what they do because they want to be happy. If only they were a little wiser, they might actually get what they want--by doing what's right.

Aristotle was an empiricist. Unlike his teacher, Plato, he rejected the idea that philosophy should be based mainly on theoretical investigations. Instead, Aristotle argued that you should start by taking a good, hard look at the world and derive your theories from what you find.

Aristotle's primary assumption is that everything has a purpose, or telos. An excellent object is one that fully achieves its purpose. A knife's purpose is to cut, so an excellent knife is one that cuts well. A human being's purpose--the thing that separates us from other animals--is rationality. So an excellent person is one who is fully rational.

Of course, Aristotle realized that we can't just sit around rationalizing all day. We have to use our heads to make real-world decisions, including ethical ones. Aristotle called this "practical wisdom": the capacity to react appropriately to changing circumstances.

People get better at practical wisdom as they gain life experience. Children, for example, often desire bad things until parents teach them what's good. Adults, on the other hand, ought to be able to judge for themselves. Of course, even adults sometimes want bad things, but practice makes perfect. Aristotle thought that by habitually doing good, you can align your desires with what wisdom says is right.

So what's right? According to Aristotle, the most important human desire is for eudaimonia, a Greek term that literally means "having a good god." The term is usually translated as "happiness," but a better translation might be "success" or "fulfillment." Wanting eudaimonia makes perfect sense, Aristotle says--as long as you understand that it isn't some fleeting emotion. Rather, such "fulfillment" is a by-product of living your life right. It's the ultimate perk of virtuous living.

Every virtue, Aristotle argues, is a "golden mean" between deficiency and excess. Courage, for example, is a happy medium between cowardice and foolhardiness. People who can't find such "golden means" are neither virtuous nor truly happy. They can't reach eudaimonia. Only the virtuous can.

Aristotle also said that we humans are intrinsically political beings. Our lives take on moral purpose through our interactions with other people--our families, friends, and fellow citizens--and no truly virtuous act benefits an individual at the expense of the community. Rather, virtuous folks find fulfillment within societies they fashion together.

Since we develop practical wisdom and virtue through constant practice, society clearly plays a key role in moral education. But instruction alone is never enough. "With regard to virtue," Aristotle writes, "it is not enough to know, but we must try to have and use it."

--Mark Diller

A Bit About Aristotle

For centuries, Aristotle's ideas were dominant throughout the western world, and they're still influential in many fields today.

Aristotle was born in 384 BC, in Stagira, a small town in what's now northern Greece. His father had been court physician to the Macedonian king and may have trained his young son in medicine. In any case, Aristotle had a lifelong interest in biology.

Both of his parents died while Aristotle was still a child, and from the age of ten he lived with an uncle, who had him educated in Greek, rhetoric, and poetry. When Aristotle was
17 or 18, he headed for Athens to enroll at the Academy, the school of philosophy founded by Plato.

Aristotle studied with Plato for twenty years. By all accounts, his appetite for learning was insatiable. In addition to medicine and biology, he is known to have studied anatomy, ethics, astronomy, politics, metaphysics, geography, geology, psychology, rhetoric, meteorology, physics, theology, literature, and zoology.

Over the years, Plato and Aristotle formed a close relationship. They did have their differences, though. "Plato is dear to me," Aristotle reportedly said, "but dearer still is truth." In fact, the two had very different philosophical methods. Plato believed that abstract contemplation was the best method for finding truth. Aristotle was more like modern scientists. He started with empirical observation and tried to derive general truths from what he saw.

When Plato died in 347 BC, Aristotle might have expected to be appointed director of the Academy. Instead, the job went to Plato's nephew, and Aristotle hit the road. First he
traveled to the city of Assus, in what's now Turkey. There he founded a school, got married, and had a daughter.

Then he was summoned back to Macedonia by King Phillip II, who hired him to tutor his 13-year-old son, Alexander (the soon-to-be-Great). The relationship was mutually beneficial. Alexander learned mental discipline from one of history's greatest thinkers, and Aristotle got money to build an enormous private library.

When Alexander succeeded his father and set off to conquer the world, Aristotle went back to Athens. There he opened his own school of philosophy: the "Lyceum." Like Plato, Aristotle wrote philosophical dialogues, but only fragments of these survive. Most of the works we attribute to Aristotle today were probably lecture notes or texts used by his Lyceum students. Many were revised by later hands, and most probably weren't intended for general consumption--which explains why they can be hard to read.

Aristotle's time in Athens ended in 323 BC, when word reached Greece that Alexander had died. Anti-Macedonian sentiment ran high, and Aristotle became a target. When charges of impiety were brought against him--the same charges for which Socrates had been executed--Aristotle left, saying he didn't want Athens to "sin a second time against philosophy." He died just a year later.

--Mark Diller
KnowledgeNews is brought to you by Every Learner, Inc., an independent small business dedicated to supporting lifelong learners. Copyright © 2008, Every Learner, Inc. All rights reserved.

Plato

"The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition," said the philosopher Alfred North Whitehead, "is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato."

What makes Plato so important? His work stands at the center of classical Greek philosophy. Socrates was his teacher, but Socrates never wrote anything down. In fact, much of what we know about Socrates, we learned from Plato. Aristotle was Plato's student, and defined his own work in part through contrast with his teacher's--thereby beginning Whitehead's "series of footnotes."

Plato was born in 428 or 427 BC, the scion of a prominent Athenian family. His given name was Aristocles. Plato was a nickname meaning "broad" (presumably in reference to his build). At the time, Athens' government was a free-wheeling democracy, and Plato's early education was intended to prepare him for a career in politics.

Philosophy intervened, as Plato became an avid follower of Socrates, the "gadfly" who wandered around Athens trying to get people to examine their ideas more closely. (After all, "the unexamined life is not worth living.") So it was a staggering event when Socrates was executed in 399 on charges of impiety and corrupting the city's youth. By his own account, Plato was in the audience when Socrates defended himself against these charges--a rhetorical performance Plato later reproduced in his famous "Apology."

After Socrates' death, Plato traveled in Greece, Italy, and Egypt. This was probably when he began writing. Plato's most famous works are dialogues--quasi-fictional accounts of conversations in which real people like Protagoras debate philosophical questions with Socrates. Scholars argue endlessly over which ideas in the dialogues were actually Plato's and which belonged to Socrates, but the general consensus is that Plato's early works were largely a record of what he remembered from his master's teachings.

By 387, Plato had returned to Athens. He bought land and founded a school, which came to be known as the Academy. The Academy featured courses on astronomy, biology, rhetoric, mathematics, philosophy, and political theory. Many prominent intellectuals studied there, including Aristotle, and the school outlived Plato by nearly 900 years.

In his later writings, Plato began advancing ideas of his own. His most widely-read work is the "Republic," a book-length dialogue on the nature of justice. Basically, Plato argues that a just man is one in whom every component of personality harmoniously plays its proper role, while reason is paramount. He goes on to argue that a just society would be one in which every segment of the population played its proper role, while a rational "philosopher king" ran the show.

Toward the end of his life, Plato tried to put his political ideas into practice. First, he traveled to Sicily to tutor the state's young ruler, Dionysius II. Then, when Dionysius didn't become a philosopher king, he returned to Athens and began his last major work, the "Laws." In it, Plato tried to sketch a political blueprint that could actually be implemented. He was probably still working on it when he died in 347 BC.

The best way to get a sense of Plato's philosophy, of course, is to read his works.

Mark Diller
Copyright © 2006 Every Learner, Inc. All rights reserved.

More Plato

by N. S. Gill

Plato was one of the most famous philosophers of all time. His name is associated with a type of love (Platonic). It is mostly through Plato that we know about the famous philosopher Socrates who drank the cup of hemlock when condemned in Athens for impiety. Plato wrote a parable about Atlantis and founded an institution of learning known as the Academy.

Plato's theory of social structure was tripartite -- with a governing class, warriors, and workers -- as was his parallel theory of the human soul containing reason, spirit, and appetite.

Plato was originally named Aristocles, but was called Plato by one of his teachers because of the breadth of his shoulders or his speech.

Plato was born around May 21 in 428 or 427 B.C. The family of Plato was related to Solon and traced its ancestry to the last legendary king of Athens, Codrus.

Plato was a follower of Socrates until 399 when Socrates died after drinking the cup of hemlock. It is through Plato that we are most familiar with the philosophy of Socrates because Plato wrote dialogues in which his teacher Socrates took part, usually asking leading questions -- the Socratic method. Plato's Apology is Plato's version of the death of Socrates.

When Plato died, in 347 B.C., leadership of the Academy passed not to Aristotle who had been a student and then teacher there for twenty years, but to Plato's nephew Speusippus. The Academy continued for several more centuries.

Plato's Symposium contains ideas of various philosophers on love. Many points of view are entertained in it, including the idea that people were originally doubles, and that, once cut, they spend their lives looking for their other part. This idea "explains" sexual preferences.

Mythical Atlantis appears as a parable in a fragment of Plato's late dialogue Critias.

In the Middle Ages, Plato was known through Latin translations of Arabic translations and commentaries. In the Renaissance, far more scholars studied Plato. Since then he has had an impact on math and science, morals, and political theory.

Instead of following a political path, Plato thought it more important to educate would-be statesmen. For this reason, he set up a school for future leaders. Plato's school was called the Academy, for the park in which it was located. Plato's Republic contains a treatise on education.

Plato is considered by many to be the most important philosopher who ever lived. He is known as the father of idealism in philosophy. Plato's ideas were elitist, with the philosopher king the ideal ruler.

Plato is perhaps best known to college students for his parable of a cave, which appears in Plato's Republic.

Socrates

by N. S. Gill

The Greek philosopher Socrates was born c. 470 B.C., in Athens, and died in 399 B.C.

Socrates is known for such sayings as "The unexamined life is not worth living." and "All I know is that I know nothing."

Socrates wrote nothing, but we still know about him -- from contradictory sources

Socrates was a great Greek philosopher, possibly the wisest sage of all. He is famous for pithy sayings, his method of discussion or dialogue, and "Socratic irony".

Socrates actively participated in Athenian democracy, including military service during the Peloponnesian War. Following his ideals, he ended his life by ingesting poison hemlock, in fulfillment of his death sentence.

Athens was producing the extraordinary art and monuments for which she would be remembered. Beauty, including personal, was vital. It was linked with being good. However, Socrates was ugly, according to all accounts, a fact that made him a good target for Aristophanes in his comedies.

Although we have many details about his death, we know little about the life of Socrates.

Plato provides us the names of some of his family members: Socrates' father was Sophroniscus (thought to have been a stonemason), his mother was Phaenarete, and his wife, Xanthippe (a proverbial shrew). Socrates had 3 sons, Lamprocles, Sophroniscus, and Menexenus. The oldest, Lamprocles, was about 15 at the time his father died.

The Council of 500 condemned Socrates to death for impiety for not believing in the gods of the city and for introducing new gods. He was offered an alternative to death, paying a fine, but refused it. Socrates fulfilled his sentence by drinking a cup of poison hemlock in front of friends.

Socrates is remembered chiefly as a philosopher and the teacher of Plato, but he was also a citizen of Athens, and served the military as a hoplite during the Peloponnesian War, at Potidaea (432-429), where he saved Alcibiades' life in a skirmish, Delium (424), where he remained calm while most around him were in a panic, and Amphipolis (422). Socrates also participated in the Athenian democratic political organ, the Council of the 500.

The 5th century B.C. sophists, a name based on the Greek word for wisdom, are familiar to us mostly from the writings of Aristophanes, Plato, and Xenophon, who opposed them. Sophists taught valuable skills, especially rhetoric, for a price. Although Plato shows Socrates opposing the sophists, and not charging for his instruction, Aristophanes portrays Socrates as a greedy master of their craft, in his Clouds. Although Plato is considered the most reliable source on Socrates and he says Socrates was not a sophist, opinions differ on whether Socrates was essentially different from the (other) sophists.

Socrates is not known to have written anything and is best known from the dialogues of Plato, but before Plato painted his memorable portrait in his dialogues, Socrates was an object of ridicule, described as a sophist, by Aristophanes. In addition to writing about his life and teaching, Plato and Xenophon wrote about Socrates' defense at his trial in separate works both called Apology.

Socrates is known for the Socratic method (elenchus), Socratic irony, and the pursuit of knowledge. Socrates is famous for saying that he knows nothing and that the unexamined life is not worth living. The Socratic method involves asking a series of questions until a contradiction emerges invalidating the initial assumption. Socratic irony is the position that the inquisitor takes that he knows nothing while leading the questioning.

Why did the Athenians want their great thinker Socrates to die?

There are 3 main contemporary Greek sources on Socrates, his pupils Plato and Xenophon and the comic playwright Aristophanes. From them we know that Socrates was accused of corrupting the young and impiety.

In his Memorabilia Xenophon examines the charges against Socrates:

** "Socrates is guilty of crime in refusing to recognise the gods acknowledged by the state, and importing strange divinities of his own; he is further guilty of corrupting the young."

Xenophon elaborates further on the trouble in which Socrates was embroiled because he followed principles instead of the will of the people. The boule was the council whose job entailed providing an agenda for the ekklesia, the citizen assembly.

** "At one time Socrates was a member of the Council [boule], he had taken the senatorial oath, and sworn 'as a member of that house to act in conformity with the laws.' It was thus he chanced to be President of the Popular Assembly [ekklesia], when that body was seized with a desire to put the nine generals, Thrasyllus, Erasinides, and the rest, to death by a single inclusive vote. Whereupon, in spite of the bitter resentment of the people, and the menaces of several influential citizens, he refused to put the question, esteeming it of greater importance faithfully to abide by the oath which he had taken, than to gratify the people wrongfully, or to screen himself from the menaces of the mighty. The fact being, that with regard to the care bestowed by the gods upon men, his belief differed widely from that of the multitude. Whereas most people seem to imagine that the gods know in part, and are ignorant in part, Socrates believed firmly that the gods know all things -- both the things that are said and the things that are done, and the things that are counselled in the silent chambers of the heart. Moreover, they are present everywhere, and bestow signs upon man concerning all the things of man."

By corrupting the young is meant he encouraged his students down the path he had chosen -- the one that led him into trouble with the radical democracy of the time. Xenophon explains:

** "Socrates cause[d] his associates to despise the established laws when he dwelt on the folly of appointing state officers by ballot? a principle which, he said, no one would care to apply in selecting a pilot or a flute- player or in any similar case, where a mistake would be far less disastrous than in matters political. Words like these, according to the accuser, tended to incite the young to contemn the established constitution, rendering them violent and headstrong. "

** Xenophon Translations by Henry Graham Dakyns (1838-1911) in the public domain.

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