Introduction


Socrates

Sophocles

Sappho
It is difficult for the modern mind to understand why Socrates chose death by drinking hemlock instead of exile from Athens, but in his choice lies the essence of Ancient Greece. Individuality meant little to the Greeks, but the state—in the form of the city-state—meant everything. Although there were many Greek city-states, Athens in its golden age was the embodiment of what we refer to as Classical Greece. It was here that the Greeks argued philosophy with Socrates and Plato, wrote and performed the first great comedies and tragedies such as Oedipus Rex, and developed the concepts of democracy and humanism upon which much of modern society is based.

Essential Facts

  1. There were over 1,500 Ancient Greek city-states, but only a few had major populations. Athens, the largest, had 200,000 people.
  2. Athens is known as the first democratic state, but of its 200,000 residents only 35,000 qualified as citizens who could vote in the democratic process. The rest were slaves, women, children, and foreigners.
  3. Greek religion centered on the twelve Olympian gods led by Zeus, as described by Homer in the Iliad and the Odyssey. Worship of these gods was entwined in everyday life and was part of a citizen’s civic duty to the state. It was because he encouraged his students to question their beliefs in the gods that Socrates was sentenced to either death or exile by the magistrates of Athens.
  4. The modern Olympic marathon comes from the legend of Pheidippides, the messenger who ran 26 miles from the coastal city of Marathon to Athens. He was sent to bring tidings of the Greeks’ surprise victory over the Persians. The story says he ran the distance, gave his message, and immediately collapsed, dead from exhaustion.
  5. Although Socrates was sentenced to death by the Athenian government, his ideas were influential in inspiring an emperor. Socrates’ most famous pupil was Plato, whose most famous pupil was Aristotle. Aristotle went on to teach and inspire Alexander of Macedon, who became Alexander the Great and created a Hellenistic empire, spreading Greek culture and thought throughout the known world.
 

Recommended Resources

  1. Ancient Greece Lesson Plan (Journaling Through History)
  2. Aristotle Criticism
  3. Greek Mythology Criticism
    Incredible and detailed overview of Greek mythology
  4. History by Location: Greece (ancient)
  5. Literature by Location: Greece (ancient)
  6. Plato's Republic Summary & Essays - Plato
  7. Time Line of Ancient Greece: Salem on History

All Resources

Display as: Categories, List
  1. Acastus: Myths and Legends of the World
  2. Achilles: Myths and Legends of the World
  3. Adonis: Myths and Legends of the World
  4. Aeneas: Myths and Legends of the World
  5. Aeneid, The: Myths and Legends of the World
  6. Aeolus: Myths and Legends of the World
  7. Ajax Character Analysis
  8. Ajax Summary & Essays - Sophocles
  9. Ajax: Myths and Legends of the World
  10. Ancient Greece Lesson Plan (Journaling Through History)
  11. Ancient Greek Athletics Review - Stephen G. Miller
  12. Antigone eText
  13. Antigone Lesson Plan
  14. Antigone Summary & Essays - Sophocles
  15. Archilochus Criticism
  16. Aristophanes Acharnians Criticism
  17. Aristophanes Biography / Profile
  18. Aristotle Criticism
  19. Aristotle: Encyclopedia of Science and Religion
  20. Aristotle: Slavery Primary Sources
  21. Aristotle: West's Encyclopedia of American Law
  22. Democritus Criticism
  23. Electra Character Analysis
  24. Electra Review - Sophocles
  25. Electra Summary & Essays - Sophocles
  26. Elgin Marbles: The Oxford Dictionary of Art
  27. Empedocles Criticism
  28. Epicurus Criticism
  29. Euclid Criticism
  30. Euripides Alcestis Criticism
  31. Euripides Criticism
  32. Greece, Ancient: Encyclopedia of Food & Culture
  33. Greek Historiography Criticism
  34. Greek Mythology Criticism
    Incredible and detailed overview of Greek mythology
  35. Greek Theater Criticism
  36. Helen of Troy: Myths and Legends of the World
  37. Herodotus Criticism
  38. History by Location: Greece (ancient)
  39. Literature by Location: Greece (ancient)
  40. Lysistrata Summary & Essays - Aristophanes
  41. Odyssey Criticism
  42. Oedipus Rex Lesson Plan
  43. Oedipus Rex Summary & Essays - Sophocles
  44. Parmenides Criticism
  45. Pericles Biography
  46. Plato Biography
  47. Plato Biography / Profile
  48. Plato's Republic Summary & Essays - Plato
  49. Plato's Republic Summary & Essays - Plato
  50. Plato: Encyclopedia of Science and Religion
  51. Plotinus Criticism
  52. Pythagoras Criticism
  53. Rhetoric Criticism
  54. Salem on History: Ancient Greece
  55. Sappho Criticism
  56. Slavery in Ancient Greece and Rome: Slavery Almanac
  57. Socrates Biography / Profile
  58. Socrates Criticism
  59. Sophocles Ajax Criticism
  60. Sophocles Biography / Profile
  61. Sophocles Oedipus Tyrannus Criticism
  62. Sparta in Literature Criticism
  63. The Acharnians Character Analysis
  64. The Odyssey Study Guide (eNotes) - Homer
  65. Theocritus Criticism
  66. Thespis Criticism
  67. Thucydides Criticism
  68. Time Line of Ancient Greece: Salem on History
  69. What Was The First Advanced Civilization In Europe? - History Fact Finder
  70. What Were The Dark Ages Of Ancient Greece? - History Fact Finder
  71. Which Classical Greeks Influenced Western Civilization? - History Fact Finder
  72. Who Was Plato? - History Fact Finder
  73. Why Is Aristotle Considered One Of The Greatest Minds In Western History? - History Fact Finder
  74. Why Was Socrates Condemned To Death? - History Fact Finder
  75. Why Was The Macedonian King Alexander Known As "The Great"? - History Fact Finder
  76. Women of Trachis: Trachiniae Study Guide (eNotes) - Sophocles
  77. Xenophon Criticism