The most honorable man of Athens according to Herodotus: Aristides. His sense of morality, justice, and prudence, made him famous all over the Greek world. He was reputed to be so fair-minded, that he was known to everyone as Aristides ‘the Just’ (dikaios). He was so scrupulously honest that, in spite of the wealth that passed through his hands, he remained poor. Now, sometime in … Continue reading Ostracism & Aristides
THALES (624-546 BC) Born in Miletus. One of the ‘Seven Sages’. He is considered to be no less than the father of Philosophy. He believed that all natural phenomena should be explained using scientific methods, and even managed -using astronomical observations- to predict a solar eclipse! PYTHAGORAS (570-496 BC) Born in Samos island. He believed that the only way to discover the secrets of the … Continue reading Ten Ancient Greek Philosophers you should definitely know
The Stoa of Attalos is the only example of a fully restored ancient shopping arcade. It was built by and named after Attalos II, King of Pergamon, as a gift to the city that gave him his higher education. It’s an impressive two-storey building, 116 m x 19.4 m (381 ft x 63 ft 8 in), with a Doric colonnade on the ground floor, and … Continue reading Stoa of Attalos
Our democracies today are representative. We elect politicians, politicians govern us. In Ancient Athens, you were ruling yourself. Participation was seen as a fundamental element of Democracy. Athenians that behaved as ‘private citizens’ were seen through a negative eye and actually the Greek word for private citizen is “idiotes”, which is where the word ‘idiot’ comes from! Plato wrote that ‘one of the penalties … Continue reading Influencing the vote
Have you ever wondered where does the word ‘museum’ come from? No? Ok… I’ll tell you anyway: It’s connected with the Muses! The Nine Muses were deities who ruled over the arts and sciences and gave humans the necessary inspiration for creation. According to Hesiod, Zeus slept with the young and beautiful Mnemosyne. Mnemosyne (the Greek word for ‘memory’) held a special importance in ancient … Continue reading The Nine Muses
In a lesser known book of Plato, we find Socrates in the Athenian Agora coming across Euthypro – a soothsayer he knew well – and the two men engage in a short conversation just outside the Royal Stoa. After sharing their news, the two men engage in an argument about morality. Their conversation ended abruptly after Euthyphro felt a bit cornered and found an excuse … Continue reading What makes us moral? (The Euthyphro Dilemma)
Stories told in Greek Mythology are just that: stories. They’re not parables. You can read it or hear it and then you draw your own conclusions. Maybe even change your mind later. You may conclude that the moral of a myth applies well to your own concerns but this may not be the case for someone else. The reader / listener is never presented with … Continue reading The Flight of Icarus
