LibGuides: Ancient Civilizations: Ancient Greece

People of Greece

Alcibiades (BCE 450 - 404): Topic Page Athenian statesman and general. Of the family of Alcmaeonidae, he was a ward of Pericles and was for many years a devoted attendant of Socrates.
Alexander the Great (BCE 356 - 323): Topic Page King of Macedon, who conquered Greece (336), Egypt (331), and the Persian Empire (328), and founded Alexandria.
Archimedes (BCE 287 - 212): Topic Page Greek mathematician, physicist, and inventor. He is famous for his work in geometry (on the circle, sphere, cylinder, and parabola), physics, mechanics, and hydrostatics.
Aristophanes (BCE 448 - 388): Topic Page Greek playwright, Athenian comic poet, greatest of the ancient writers of comedy.
Aristotle (BCE 384 - 322): Topic Page Greek philosopher, b. Stagira.He tutored Alexander the Great and founded the Peripatetic School.
Democritus (BCE 460 - 370): Topic Page Philosopher; particularly made his mark in the application of his theories of the universe to everyday morality and the simple goal of living a good life.
Diadochi: Topic Page The Macedonian generals and administrators who succeeded Alexander the Great.
Epicurus (BCE 341 - 270): Topic Page Greek philosopher; defined philosophy as the art of making life happy and strictly subordinated metaphysics to ethics, naming pleasure as the highest and only good.
Euclid (BCE 4th Century): Topic Page Greek mathematician (fl. 300 B.C.) whose works, and the style in which they were presented, formed the basis for all mathematical thought and expression for the following 2,000 years (although they were not entirely without fault).
Euripides (BCE 485 - 406): Topic Page Greek tragic dramatist, ranking with Aeschylus and Sophocles. Born in Attica, he lived in Athens most of his life, though he spent much time on Salamis.
Herodotus (BCE 485 - 425): Topic Page Called the Father of History. ?485-?425 BC, Greek historian, famous for his History dealing with the causes and events of the wars between the Greeks and the Persians (490-479).
Homer (BCE 8th Century): Topic Page Principal figure of ancient Greek literature; the first European poet. Two epic poems are attributed to Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey.
Pericles (BCE 495 - 429): Topic Page Athenian statesman and leader of the popular party, who contributed greatly to Athens' political and cultural supremacy in Greece.
Plato (BCE 427 - 347): Topic Page Greek philosopher. Plato's teachings have been among the most influential in the history of Western civilization.
Praxiteles (BCE 370 - 330): Topic Page A Greek late Classical sculptor from Athens, Praxiteles was the foremost representative of the Attic School in the middle years of the 4th century B.C.
Pythagoras (BCE 582 - 507): Topic Page Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher, founder of the Pythagorean school, best known for two teachings: the transmigration of souls and the theory that numbers constitute the true nature of things.
Sappho (BCE 7th Century): Topic Page From The Cambridge Guide to Women's Writing in English Female poet who lived and wrote on the Aeolian island of Lesbos in the 7th century B.C.
Socrates (BCE 469 - 399): Topic Page Greek philosopher of Athens. Famous for his view of philosophy as a pursuit proper and necessary to all intelligent men, he is one of the great examples of a man who lived by his principles even though they ultimately cost him his life.
Sophocles: (BCE 496 - 406) Topic Page Greek tragic dramatist, younger contemporary of Aeschylus and older contemporary of Euripides, b. Colonus, near Athens.
Xenophon (BCE 430 - 355): Topic Page Greek historian, b. Athens. He was one of the well-to-do young disciples of Socrates before leaving Athens to join the Greek force (the Ten Thousand) that was in the service of Cyrus the Younger of Persia.

Geography

Thrace: Topic Page The Thracian Bronze Age was similar to that of Mycenaean Greece, and the Thracians had developed high forms of music and poetry, but their savage warfare led the Greeks to consider them barbarians.
Knossos: Topic Page Middle and Late Bronze Age settlement, 8 km/5 mi south of present-day Iraklion, Crete.
Crete: Topic Page Gr. Kríti, island, SE Greece, in the E Mediterranean Sea, c.60 mi (100 km) from the Greek mainland.
Acropolis: Topic Page The Acropolis of Athens was a ceremonial site beginning in the Neolithic Period. The area was adorned during the time of Cimon and Pericles with some of the world's greatest architectural and sculptural monuments.
Athens: Topic Page The site was first inhabited about 3000 BC with Athens (named after its patron goddess Athena) as the capital of a united Attica before 700 B.C.
Delphi: Topic Page It was the seat of the Delphic oracle, the most famous and most powerful of ancient Greece.
Macedon: Topic Page Ancient country, roughly equivalent to the modern region of Macedonia. In the history of Greek culture Macedon had its single significance in producing the conquerors and armies who created the Hellenistic empires and civilizations.
Sparta: Topic Page City of ancient Greece, capital of Laconia, on the Eurotas (Evrótas) River in the Peloponnesus.
The Parthenon: Topic Page Temple sacred to Athena, on the acropolis at Athens. Built under Pericles between 447 B.C. and 432 B.C., it is the culminating masterpiece of Greek architecture.

Terminology

Ancient Greece: Topic Page Ancient civilization that flourished 2,500 years ago on the shores of the Ionian and Aegean Seas (modern Greece and the west coast of Turkey).
Delian League: Topic Page Confederation of Greek city-states under the leadership of Athens.
Skepticism: Topic Page [Gr.,=to reflect], philosophic position holding that the possibility of knowledge is limited either because of the limitations of the mind or because of the inaccessibility of its object.
Democracy: Topic Page Term originating in ancient Greece to designate a government where the people share in directing the activities of the state, as distinct from governments controlled by a single class, select group, or autocrat.
Stoicism: Topic Page School of philosophy which taught that only by putting aside passion, unjust thoughts, and indulgence and by performing duty with the right disposition can people attain true freedom and rule as lords over their own lives.
Eleusinian mysteries: Topic Page Ceremonies in honour of the Greek deities Demeter, goddess of corn, and her daughter Persephone, queen of the underworld, celebrated in the precincts of the temple of Demeter at Eleusis, in the territory of Athens.
Olympic games: Topic Page Held in honor of Zeus in the city of Olympia for four days every fourth summer, the Olympic games were the oldest and most prestigious of four great ancient Greek athletic festivals.
Tragedy: Topic Page The earliest tragedies were part of the Attic religious festivals held in honor of the god Dionysus (5th cent. B.C.).

Cultures

Cycladic culture (Wikipedia)
Minoan civilization: Topic Page Ancient Cretan culture representing a stage in the development of the Aegean civilization.
Mycenaean civilization: Topic Page An ancient Aegean civilization known from the excavations at Mycenae and other sites.

Language

Linear A/Linear B From Encyclopedia of Archaeology: History and Discoveries The Linear B script was in used in Minoan Crete and Mycenaean greece in the period between 1450 and 1200 b.c.

History

Peloponnesian War: Topic Page War fought 431-404 BC between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies, involving most of the Greek world from Asia Minor to Sicily and from Byzantium (present-day Istanbul, Turkey) to Crete.
Trojan War: Topic Page The mythical Trojan War probably reflected a real war (c.1200 B.C.) between the invading Greeks and the people of Troas, possibly over control of trade through the Dardanelles.

Greek DVD

Inside the National Archeological Museum of Athens by BBC
Publication Date: 2012
Ancient Greece: Traditions of Greek Culture by Zinon Ramos Filmed on location across Greece, present the religion, architecture, art and customs of Greek culture which have survived throughout its 4,000 year history. The programs give the modern viewer many facets of ancient Greek culture.
Call Number: DF78 .A53 2005
ISBN: 9780769780269
Publication Date: 2005
Greek accomplishments by Ron Meyer It has been said that all western art and science is but a footnote to ancient Greek accomplishments. In this program, the story is told of how Greek thinkers laid the foundation for architecture, painting, sculpture, history, philosophy, medicine, literature, zoology, botany, mathematics, astronomy, theater, and finally, the western scientific methodology. It is a history of a series of brilliant Greek thinkers from Homer in 700 B.C. to Ptolemy in 150 A.D.
Call Number: DVD DF77.G74 2007
Publication Date: 2007
The Greek city-state and democracy by Ron Meyer During the golden age of the Greek city states 2500 years ago, the ancient Greeks gave to the world something much more valuable than architectural wonders or material wealth. It was the ideas of democracy, liberty, freedom of speech and the pursuit of truth for truth's sake. This DVD is the history of how a group of people invented self-rule based on citizenship, at a time when they were surrounded by tyrants and despots. The invention of these concepts of self rule and citizenship is the most improbable event in all of ancient history.
Call Number: DVD DF82.G74 2007
Publication Date: 2007
The Greeks: crucible of civilization by Cassian Harrison The Greeks built an empire that laid the foundations for modern science, politics, warfare, and philosophy, and produced some of the most breathtaking art and architecture the world has ever seen. This series documents the rise and fall of the Greeks.
Call Number: DVD DF77.G7447 1999
ISBN: 9781415711095
Publication Date: 1999
The true story of Alexander the Great by Steven D. Smith Throughout the course of history, there are few who can claim the notable feat of having conquered the known world by the relatively tender age of 25 -- but then again not even the greatest military leaders of the 21st century can compare their lives or careers to that of Alexander the Great -- one of history's most notorious and debated conquerors. It was in the year 334 B.C. that the then-20-year-old King Alexander of Macedonia swore that he would bring the farthest reaches of the world under one domain, and over the course of the next decade he nearly accomplished his goal before succumbing from wounds sustained in battle at the age of thirty-two. Featuring state-of-the-art computer graphics combined with meticulously researched reenactments and the expertise of the world's most renowned scholars, this look into the life of Alexander the Great goes where no previous documentary has dared to journey. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Call Number: DVD DF234.T78 2005
ISBN: 9780767077095
Publication Date: 2005