Outline of ancient Greece

Last updated
The Acropolis of Athens E Akropole apo ten Pnuka.jpg
The Acropolis of Athens

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to ancient Greece:

Contents

Ancient Greece

Geography of Ancient Greece

Regions of Ancient Greece

Regions of ancient Greece

Government and politics of ancient Greece

Ancient Greek law

Ancient Greek law

Military history of ancient Greece

Greek hoplite and Persian warrior fighting, depicted on an ancient kylix, 5th century BC Greek-Persian duel.jpg
Greek hoplite and Persian warrior fighting, depicted on an ancient kylix, 5th century BC

Military history of ancient Greece

Military of ancient Greece

Military powers and alliances

Military conflicts

Achilles tending Patroclus wounded by an arrow (Attic red-figure kylix, c. 500 BC) Akhilleus Patroklos Antikensammlung Berlin F2278.jpg
Achilles tending Patroclus wounded by an arrow (Attic red-figure kylix, c. 500 BC)
Alexander Mosaic showing the Battle of Issus; from the House of the Faun, Pompeii Battle of Issus.jpg
Alexander Mosaic showing the Battle of Issus; from the House of the Faun, Pompeii

General history of ancient Greece

Death mask, known as the Mask of Agamemnon, 16th century BC, probably the most famous artifact of Mycenaean Greece MaskOfAgamemnon.jpg
Death mask, known as the Mask of Agamemnon, 16th century BC, probably the most famous artifact of Mycenaean Greece

Ancient Greek history, by period

Ancient Greek history, by region

Bust of Pericles, marble Roman copy after a Greek original from c. 430 BC Pericles Pio-Clementino Inv269 n2.jpg
Bust of Pericles, marble Roman copy after a Greek original from c. 430 BC

Ancient Greek History, by subject

Ancient Greek historiography

Works on ancient Greek history

Culture of ancient Greece

Statues at the "House of Cleopatra" in Delos, Greece. Man and woman wearing the himation Delos House of Cleopatra.jpg
Statues at the "House of Cleopatra" in Delos, Greece. Man and woman wearing the himation
Kylix, the most common drinking vessel in ancient Greece Kylix-MCH 3315-IMG 7509-black.jpg
Kylix, the most common drinking vessel in ancient Greece
The Parthenon, shows the common structural features of Ancient Greek architecture: crepidoma, columns, entablature, and pediment O Partenon de Atenas.jpg
The Parthenon, shows the common structural features of Ancient Greek architecture: crepidoma , columns, entablature, and pediment
Ancient Greek theatre in Delos Ancient Greek theatre in Delos 01.jpg
Ancient Greek theatre in Delos
Odeon of Herodes Atticus Athen - Philopapposdenkmal und Odeon Herodes Atticus - panoramio.jpg
Odeon of Herodes Atticus
Portrait of Demosthenes, statesman and orator of ancient Athens Demosthenes orator Louvre.jpg
Portrait of Demosthenes, statesman and orator of ancient Athens

Culture of ancient Greece

Architecture of ancient Greece

Architecture of ancient Greece

Art in ancient Greece

Croatian Apoxyomenos (detail), bronze statue from the 2nd or 1st century BC Croatian Apoxyomenos Louvre n09.jpg
Croatian Apoxyomenos (detail), bronze statue from the 2nd or 1st century BC
Two youths feasting in a vineyard. Attic black-figure kylix, ca. 530 BC Symposion vineyard Staatliche Antikensammlungen 2082.jpg
Two youths feasting in a vineyard. Attic black-figure kylix, ca. 530 BC
Tondo of a red-figure kylix depicting Herakles and Athena, by Phoinix (potter) and Douris (painter),
ca. 480-470 BC Athena Herakles Staatliche Antikensammlungen 2648.jpg
Tondo of a red-figure kylix depicting Herakles and Athena, by Phoinix (potter) and Douris (painter),
ca. 480–470 BC
Bust of Homer, author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems which are the central works of ancient Greek literature Bust Homer BM 1825.jpg
Bust of Homer, author of the Iliad and the Odyssey , two epic poems which are the central works of ancient Greek literature

Art in ancient Greece

Literature in ancient Greece

Literature in ancient Greece

Philosophy in ancient Greece

The School of Athens, a famous fresco by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael, with Plato and Aristotle as the central figures in the scene Vaticano 2011 (88).JPG
The School of Athens , a famous fresco by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael, with Plato and Aristotle as the central figures in the scene

Philosophy in ancient Greece

Ancient Greek schools of philosophy

Platonism: Plato's Academy mosaic from the Villa of T. Siminius Stephanus in Pompeii MANNapoli 124545 plato's academy mosaic.jpg
Platonism: Plato's Academy mosaic from the Villa of T. Siminius Stephanus in Pompeii
Roman copy in marble of a Greek bronze bust of Aristotle by Lysippus, c. 330 BC Aristotle Altemps Inv8575.jpg
Roman copy in marble of a Greek bronze bust of Aristotle by Lysippus, c.330 BC

Philosophers of ancient Greece

Language in ancient Greece

Early Greek alphabet on pottery NAMA Alphabet grec.jpg
Early Greek alphabet on pottery

Ancient Greek

Religion in ancient Greece

Zeus, king of the Olympian gods Zeus Altemps Inv8635.jpg
Zeus, king of the Olympian gods
The Muses Clio, Euterpe, and Thalia, the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts in Greek mythology (by Eustache Le Sueur, oil on panel, c. 1650s) Eustache Le Sueur - The Muses - Clio, Euterpe and Thalia - WGA12611.jpg
The Muses Clio, Euterpe, and Thalia, the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts in Greek mythology (by Eustache Le Sueur, oil on panel, c.1650s)
A votive plaque known as the Ninnion Tablet depicting elements of the Eleusinian Mysteries, discovered in the sanctuary at Eleusis (mid-4th century BC) NAMA Mysteres d'Eleusis.jpg
A votive plaque known as the Ninnion Tablet depicting elements of the Eleusinian Mysteries, discovered in the sanctuary at Eleusis (mid-4th century BC)

Religion in ancient Greece

Sport in ancient Greece

Boxer at Rest, finest example of bronze Hellenistic sculpture Thermae boxer Massimo Inv1055.jpg
Boxer at Rest , finest example of bronze Hellenistic sculpture

Sports

Equipment

Stadiums

Training facilities

Economy of ancient Greece

Ancient Greek pottery KX Painter - ABV 25 22 - padded dancers - Athens NM 528.jpg
Ancient Greek pottery

Economy of ancient Greece

Health in ancient Greece

Science of ancient Greece

Technology of ancient Greece

Ancient Greek technology

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delian League</span> Association of ancient Greek city-states under Athenian hegemony

The Delian League was a confederacy of Greek city-states, numbering between 150 and 330, founded in 478 BC under the leadership (hegemony) of Athens, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Persian Empire after the Greek victory in the Battle of Plataea at the end of the Second Persian invasion of Greece. The League functioned as a dual –offensive and defensive– alliance (symmachia) of autonomous states, similar to its rival association, the Peloponnesian League. The League's modern name derives from its official meeting place, the island of Delos, where congresses were held within the sanctuary of the Temple of Apollo; contemporary authors referred to the organization simply as "the Athenians and their Allies".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peloponnesian War</span> War between Athens and Sparta (431–404 BC)

The Peloponnesian War was an ancient Greek war fought between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Greek world. The war remained undecided for a long time, until the decisive intervention of the Persian Empire in support of Sparta. Led by Lysander, the Spartan fleet, built with Persian subsidies, finally defeated Athens and started a period of Spartan hegemony over Greece.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">5th century BC</span> One hundred years, from 500 BC to 401 BC

The 5th century BC started the first day of 500 BC and ended the last day of 401 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pericles</span> Athenian statesman, orator and general (c. 495 – 429 BC)

Pericles was a Greek politician and general during the Golden Age of Athens. He was prominent and influential in Ancient Athenian politics, particularly between the Greco-Persian Wars and the Peloponnesian War, and was acclaimed by Thucydides, a contemporary historian, as "the first citizen of Athens". Pericles turned the Delian League into an Athenian empire and led his countrymen during the first two years of the Peloponnesian War. The period during which he led Athens, roughly from 461 to 429 BC, is sometimes known as the "Age of Pericles", but the period thus denoted can include times as early as the Persian Wars or as late as the following century.

This article concerns the period 469 BC – 460 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of ancient Greece</span>

This is a timeline of ancient Greece from its emergence around 800 BC to its subjection to the Roman Empire in 146 BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ancient Greece</span> Greek civilization from c. 1200 BC to c. 600 AD

Ancient Greece was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity, that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically related city-states and other territories. Most of these regions were officially unified only once, for 13 years, under Alexander the Great's empire from 336 to 323 BC. In Western history, the era of classical antiquity was immediately followed by the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sicyon</span> Ancient Greek city

Sicyon or Sikyōn was an ancient Greek city state situated in the northern Peloponnesus between Corinth and Achaea on the territory of the present-day regional unit of Corinthia. The ruins lie just west of the modern village of Sikyona. An ancient monarchy at the times of the Trojan War, the city was ruled by a number of tyrants during the Archaic and Classical period and became a democracy in the 3rd century BC. Sicyon was celebrated for its contributions to ancient Greek art, producing many famous painters and sculptors. In Hellenistic times it was also the home of Aratus of Sicyon, the leader of the Achaean League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Athens</span> Historical summary of ancient Athens

Athens is one of the oldest named cities in the world, having been continuously inhabited for perhaps 5,000 years. Situated in southern Europe, Athens became the leading city of Ancient Greece in the first millennium BC, and its cultural achievements during the 5th century BC laid the foundations of Western civilization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cimon</span> 5th-century BC Athenian statesman and general

Cimon or Kimon was an Athenian strategos and politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pentecontaetia</span> Greek history period from 479 to 431 BC

Pentecontaetia is the term used to refer to the period in Ancient Greek history between the defeat of the second Persian invasion of Greece at Plataea in 479 BC and the beginning of the Peloponnesian War in 431 BC. The term originated with a scholiast commenting on Thucydides, who used it in their description of the period. The Pentecontaetia was marked by the rise of Athens as the dominant state in the Greek world and by the rise of Athenian democracy, a period also known as Golden Age of Athens. Since Thucydides focused his account on these developments, the term is generally used when discussing developments in and involving Athens.

Ephialtes was an ancient Athenian politician and an early leader of the democratic movement there. In the late 460s BC, he oversaw reforms that diminished the power of the Areopagus, a traditional bastion of conservatism, and which are considered by many modern historians to mark the beginning of the radical democracy for which Athens would become famous. These powers included the scrutiny and control of office holders, and the judicial functions in state trials. He reduced the property qualifications for holding a public office, and created a new definition of citizenship. Ephialtes, however, would not live to participate in this new form of government for long. In 461 BC, he was assassinated, probably at the instigation of resentful oligarchs, and the political leadership of Athens passed to his deputy, Pericles.

The Areopagite constitution is the modern name for a period in ancient Athens described by Aristotle in his Constitution of the Athenians. According to that work, the Athenian political scene was dominated, between the ostracism of Themistocles in the late 470s BC and the reforms of Ephialtes in 462 BC, by the Areopagus, a traditional court composed of former archons. Modern scholars have debated the existence of this phenomenon, with some concluding that Aristotle and his contemporaries invented it to explain Ephialtes' need to limit the Areopagus' powers, and arguing that the lack of concrete measures establishing the Areopagus' dominance shows that the Areopagite constitution is "palpably unhistorical". Other scholars, such as Donald Kagan, have countered that no concrete measures were necessary, as the Areopagus' dominance was established not through actual changes in the laws but through the prestige of its leading members. Aristotle specifically cites the Areopagites' distribution of money to the public as the citizen body prepared to abandon Athens in the face of the advancing Persian army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Classical Greece</span> Period of ancient Greece from 510 to 323 BC

Classical Greece was a period of around 200 years in Ancient Greece, marked by much of the eastern Aegean and northern regions of Greek culture gaining increased autonomy from the Persian Empire; the peak flourishing of democratic Athens; the First and Second Peloponnesian Wars; the Spartan and then Theban hegemonies; and the expansion of Macedonia under Philip II. Much of the early defining mathematics, science, artistic thought, theatre, literature, philosophy, and politics of Western civilization derives from this period of Greek history, which had a powerful influence on the later Roman Empire. Part of the broader era of classical antiquity, the classical Greek era ended after Philip II's unification of most of the Greek world against the common enemy of the Persian Empire, which was conquered within 13 years during the wars of Alexander the Great, Philip's son.

The period of the 5th century BC in classical Greece is generally considered as beginning in 500 BC and ending in 404 BC, though this is debated. This century is essentially studied from the Athenian viewpoint, since Athens has left more narratives, plays and other written works than the other Greek states. If one looks at Athens, our principal source, one might consider that this century begins in 510 BC, with the fall of the Athenian tyrant and Cleisthenes's reforms. If one looks at the whole Greek world, however, we might place its beginning at the Ionian Revolt in 500 BC, that provoked the first Persian invasion of 492 BC. The Persians were finally defeated in 490 BC. A second Persian attempt failed in 480–479 BC. The Delian League then formed, under Athenian hegemony and as Athens' instrument. Athens' excesses caused several revolts among the allied cities, which were all put down by force, but Athenian dynamism finally awoke Sparta and brought about the Peloponnesian War in 431 BC. After both sides were exhausted, a brief peace occurred, and then the war resumed to Sparta's advantage. Athens was definitively defeated in 404 BC, and some internal Athenian agitations ended the 5th century in Greece.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Classical Athens</span> City-state in ancient Greece

The city of Athens during the classical period of ancient Greece was the major urban centre of the notable polis (city-state) of the same name, located in Attica, Greece, leading the Delian League in the Peloponnesian War against Sparta and the Peloponnesian League. Athenian democracy was established in 508 BC under Cleisthenes following the tyranny of Isagoras. This system remained remarkably stable, and with a few brief interruptions, it remained in place for 180 years, until 322 BC. The peak of Athenian hegemony was achieved in the 440s to 430s BC, known as the Age of Pericles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Sparta</span>

The history of Sparta describes the history of the ancient Doric Greek city-state known as Sparta from its beginning in the legendary period to its incorporation into the Achaean League under the late Roman Republic, as Allied State, in 146 BC, a period of roughly 1000 years. Since the Dorians were not the first to settle the valley of the Eurotas River in the Peloponnesus of Greece, the preceding Mycenaean and Stone Age periods are described as well. Sparta went on to become a district of modern Greece. Brief mention is made of events in the post-classical periods.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to democracy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athenian democracy</span> Democratic regime in 5th- and 4th- century-BCE Athens

Athenian democracy developed around the 6th century BC in the Greek city-state of Athens, comprising the city of Athens and the surrounding territory of Attica. Although Athens is the most famous ancient Greek democratic city-state, it was not the only one, nor was it the first; multiple other city-states adopted similar democratic constitutions before Athens. By the late 4th century BC, as many as half of the over one thousand existing Greek cities might have been democracies. Athens practiced a political system of legislation and executive bills. Participation was open to adult, free male citizens Adult male citizens probably constituted no more than 30 percent of the total adult population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athenian Revolution</span> Revolt by the people of Athens

The Athenian Revolution was a revolt by the people of Athens that overthrew the ruling aristocratic oligarchy, establishing the almost century-long self-governance of Athens in the form of a participatory democracy – open to all free male citizens. It was a reaction to a broader trend of tyranny that had swept through Athens and the rest of Greece.

References

  1. Stanton, G.R. Athenian Politics c800–500BC: A Sourcebook, Routledge, London (1990), p. 76.
  2. Andrews, A. Greek Society (Penguin 1967) 197
  3. E. Harris, A New Solution to the Riddle of the Seisachtheia, in 'The Development of the Polis in Archaic Greece', eds. L. Mitchell and P. Rhodes (Routledge 1997) 103
  4. Aristotle Politics 1273b 35–1274a 21.
  5. Fornara-Samons, Athens from Cleisthenes to Pericles, 24–25
  6. Aristotle, Constitution of the Athenians , §3.