Showing titles in Greece

Considered by many to be the Father of Western Philosophy, the life of this great philosopher is shrouded in mystery. He would study under the renown Plato and along with Socrates is responsible for making the ideas of the late, great philosopher known to the world. Aristotle would ascribe views on science that would be held as gospel throughout the Middle Ages and his thoughts on the nature of existence continue to influence great minds today.

Dominated to this day by the sprawling white marble complex of the Acropolis, Athens is a city which is immensely and rightly proud of its past. For a period of roughly three centuries, the polis of Athens stood, if not in a position of unchallenged supremacy among the cities of Hellas, then at the very least among its three most important polities. Its fledgling empire, though small by the standards later set by Alexander or the Romans, or even by those of its ancient enemy Persia, nonetheless, encompassed cities as far afield as Asia Minor and Southern Italy.

Pericles was a statesmen, general, and speaker during the Golden Age of Athens. His impact on the city-state would be so great that Thucydides, an honored historian, would refer to him as the city's First Citizen. In what would be titled the "Age of Pericles", he would turn the Delian League from an alliance to an Athenian Empire and foster the arts and sciences within his country more than any leader had before him. He is responsible for starting the great projects of Athens, like the Acropolis and Parthenon, which can still be seen in their glory today.

The flowering of Greek civilization was further made possible by an increase of trade between the cities and with other civilizations. Trade became a major occupation on account of the scarcity of agricultural land in the largely mountainous regions of the Balkan peninsula. The polis of Athens, in particular, assumed economic dominance in the Aegean in from the sixth century BC. The consequent increase in wealth, resources, and population made a cultural renaissance possible.

Aunque los dioses y diosas griegos eran seres inmortales y poderosos, estos eran muy similares a los humanos que los adoraban. Los dioses y diosas sufren ataques de celos, se enamoran, se enfadan cuando se sienten engañados, y otorgan bendiciones cuando son honrados. De igual modo, los héroes son de proporciones épicas: su fuerza, velocidad y habilidad los separan de otros mortales; pero, como todos los humanos, sufren de dolores, enfermedades y muerte.

Walk in the steps of King Aegesilus, leader of Sparta and conquerer of Corinth. Cornelius Nepos recounts the life of a man who was loyal when it suited him and merciful when the mood struck him. He was one of the greatest kings Sparta ever had, yet he almost lost the title to another.

Eumenes lived in the shadows of conquerers - Philip and Alexander the Great - until he rose up to claim his own title. He was one of the many who grappled for power in the wake of Alexander's sudden death. Dive into his life and the machinations behind the thrones of ancient Greece and Egypt. Will Eumenes be victorious, claiming a crown of his own, or will he fall prey to the wiles of others?

Timotheus was a great general but was known more for his statecraft. Like an honorable man taken from an ancient version of Game of Thrones, see how he maneuvers through the courts of ancient Greece. Finally, in his old age, politics catch up to him, but his son works to carry on his honor.

Nepos explores the life of Chabrias, a man as mercenary as he was brave. He would develop new methods of fighting that caused enemies to flee before him and be brought on by foreign kings to fight their wars. Eventually, he would lose his life as he lived it, choosing to die rather than flee in battle.

Cimon was forced into prison because of his father's debts, but rescued by his wife. From then, he sought great heights, battling the Persians on land and sea within the same day. His power grew so great he was kicked out of Sparta; would he manage to make a triumphant return?

Pelopidas and Epaminondas' lives are inseperable in history. One's actions would not have been possible without the other by their side. Listen as Pelopidas reclaims his homeland and challenges one of the great Alexanders of history as he seeks his own kleos, or eternal glory.

In the first authoritative biography of Alexander the Great written for a general audience in a generation, classicist and historian John C Martin tells the remarkable life of the great conqueror. The celebrated Macedonian king has been one of the most enduring figures in history.

An examination of ancient Macedonian culture, from its earliest known references to the arrival of the Romans, reveals that the Greeks’ northern neighbors played an integral role in the development of Hellenic civilization. Although many of the traditional Greeks may not have considered the Macedonians to be fellow Hellenes at first, they were forced to accept them due to the Macedonian's superior military strength.

Es difícil encontrar una isla en el mapa más central que Sicilia. Situada en la encrucijada entre Europa y África, y entre el Mediterráneo oriental y occidental, Sicilia rara vez ha sido gobernada como un Estado independiente y unificado. Sin embargo, la isla siempre ha ocupado un asiento de primera fila en algunos de los acontecimientos más importantes de la historia, y en ningún otro lugar es más evidente que en la antigüedad.

Quizás los más famosos poemas épicos jamás escritos, La Ilíada y La Odisea han sido leídos por cerca de 3.000 años, haciendo de ambos, dos de los escritos más antiguos del mundo occidental. Los poemas hicieron fácilmente reconocibles a personajes como Páris, Helena, Odiseo, Aquiles, Héctor, y Áyax, y han influenciado a otros poetas antiguos como Virgilio, cuya Eneida claramente está modelada a partir de ellos. Los poemas épicos literalmente pusieron a Troya en el mapa, motivando a Heinrich Schliemann a buscar y finalmente a encontrar la ciudad de Troya en el siglo XIX.

A lo largo del occidente del Mediterráneo se han descubierto gran número de objetos cuya apariencia o materiales son extraños a las culturas locales, ya sea un amuleto egipcio en Grecia, un vaso griego en África, o miles de extraños amuletos en Gibraltar. Los restos son evidencia de que una gran cantidad de productos fueron alguna vez movidos de un lugar a otro, transportados sistemáticamente y comerciados a lo largo del Mediterráneo por la antigua red comercial de los fenicios.

De todos los pueblos del antiguo cercano oriente, los fenicios están entre los más reconocidos, pero quizás también entre los menos comprendidos. Los fenicios nunca construyeron un imperio como los Egipcios y los Asirios; de hecho, los fenicios nunca crearon un estado fenicio único, en cambio existieron como ciudades-estados que eran reinos independientes, dispersos por toda la región del Mediterráneo.

Hijo de hombre, porque Tiro ha dicho contra Jerusalén: ‘¡Ja, ja! ahí está rota, la puerta de los pueblos; se vuelve hacia mí, su riqueza está en ruinas, por eso así dice el Señor Yahveh: Aquí estoy contra ti, Tiro. Voy a hacer subir contra ti a naciones numerosas, como el mar hace subir sus olas. Derruirán las murallas de Tiro y abatirán sus torres...

Although the armies of the ancient Greek, or “Hellenic”, city-states (poleis, singular polis) included both cavalry (hippeis) and light infantry (psiloi, peltastes, gymnetes), their mainstay was undoubtedly the heavy infantry known today as hoplites. Armed to the teeth with their distinctive round shield (aspis or hoplon), high-crested helmet (corys) and long spear (dory), the hoplites were some of the most efficient soldiers of their time. Most historians believe that the hoplite became the dominant infantry soldier in nearly all the Greek city-states around the 8th century BCE.

The British Museum has two quite different archaeological exhibitions on view at the moment. In some ways, they echo one another. In other ways, they are quite strongly contrasted. The strongest link, of course is that they are about the archaeology of the Mediterranean, and that in addition, they both have ties to the classical Greek and Roman world that is still the main taproot of Western civilization.