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People of GreeceEarly Laws

After the Dark Ages - About 1200-900 BC - and beginning at about 900 BC, the Ancient Greeks had no official laws or punishments.

Murders were settled by members of the victim's family, who would then go and kill the murderer.

This often began endless blood feuds.

It was not until the middle of the seventh century BC that the Greeks first began to establish official laws.

Around 620 BC Draco, the lawgiver, set down the first known written law of Ancient Greece. These laws were so harsh that his name gave rise to our English word "Daconian" meaning an unreasonably harsh law.

Solon,an Athenian statesman and lawmaker, refined Draco's laws and is credited with "democratizing" justice by making the courts more accessible to citizens. Solon created many new laws that fit into the four basic categories of Ancient Greek law. The only one of Draco's laws that Solon kept when he was appointed law giver in about 594 BC was the law that established exile as the penalty for homicide.

Homer

Homer was truly a mysterious poet of epic proportions. There is a myriad of mysteries, incongruities, and discrepancies concerning the history of this perhaps most famous poet. A man responsible for the first written literature is the main claim to fame for Homer, with an extreme amount of people believing him to be the first recorder of former oral, epic poems that served to entertain the ancient Greeks. Homer is most famous for two writings that he composed. These two poems, which coincide with each other to form a pre-quel and sequel duo, are thought by some to have been the backbone of an ancient Greek youth's education. They are the Iliad and Odyssey. The Iliad begins like its counterpart, the Odyssey , in the fact that it begins in a style known as "in media res". This Latin phrase literally translates to, in the middle of things, and this phrase therefore defines the manner in which Homer begins his two epic poems, starting in the middle of a story that he along the way proceeds to fill-in details for. The main discrepancies over Homer's history include his place of birth,

the time that he lived, and the all-encompassing and lacking any solid theories, Homeric Question. This question deals with the much broader-based inquiry into whether there was actually a Homer that existed and who the person or persons were that eventually were grouped by this name. This is by far the largest single mystery of all for any historian, literary critic, or reader of Homer.

Phidias was the single greatest sculptor of Ancient Greece.  He has many pieces from the Parthenon in Greece that still remain intact.  Below are two

examples of these pieces.  Relish in their beauty.

A statue of Athena

Sophocles

Born in 495 B.C. about a mile northwest of Athens, Sophocles was to become one of the great playwrights of the golden age. The son of a wealthy merchant, he would enjoy all the comforts of a thriving Greek empire. He studied all of the arts. By the age of sixteen, he was already known for his beauty and grace and was chosen to lead a choir of boys at a celebration of the victory of Salamis. Twelve years later, his studies complete, he was ready to compete in the City Dionysia--a festival held every year at the Theatre of Dionysus in which new plays were presented.

Quick facts about Archimedes . . . Born About 287 BC in Syracuse, Sicily. At the time Syracuse was an independent

Greek city-state with a 500-year history. Died 212 or 211 BC in Syracuse when it was being sacked by a Roman army. He was

killed by a Roman soldier who did not know who he was. Education Probably studied in Alexandria, Egypt, under the followers of Euclid.

Family His father was an astronomer named Phidias and he was probably related to Hieron II, the king of Syracuse. It is not known whether he was married or had any children.

Inventions Many war machines used in the defense of Syracuse, compound pulley systems, planetarium, water screw (possibly), water organ (possibly), burning mirrors (very unlikely).

Fields ofScienceInitiated

Hydrostatics, static mechanics, pycnometry (the measurement of the volume or density of an object). He is called the "father of integral calculus."

MajorWritings

On plane equilibriums, Quadrature of the parabola, On the sphere and cylinder, On spirals, On conoids and spheroids, On floating bodies, Measurement of a circle, The Sandreckoner, On the method of mechanical problems.

Place inHistory

Generally regarded as the greatest mathematician and scientist of antiquity and one of the three greatest mathematicians of all time (together with Isaac Newton (English 1643-1727) and Carl Friedrich Gauss (German 1777-1855)).

Hippocrates was a Greek physician born in 460 BC on the island of Cos, Greece. He became known as the founder of medicine and was regarded as the greatest physician of his time. He based his medical practice on observations and on the study of the human body. He held the belief that illness had a physical and a rational explanation. He rejected the views of his time that considered illness to be caused by superstitions and by possession of evil spirits and disfavor of the gods.

Hippocrates held the belief that the body must be treated as a whole and not just a series of parts. He accurately described disease symptoms and was the first physician to accurately describe the symptoms of pneumonia, as well as epilepsy in children. He believed in the natural healing process of rest, a good diet, fresh air and cleanliness. He noted that there were individual differences in the severity of disease symptoms and that some individuals were better able to cope with their disease and illness than others. He was also the first physician that held the belief that thoughts, ideas, and feelings come from the brain and not the heart as others of him time believed.

Hippocrates traveled throughout Greece practicing his medicine. He founded a medical school on the island of Cos, Greece and began teaching his ideas. He soon developed an Oath of Medical Ethics for physicians to follow. This Oath is taken by physicians today as they begin their medical practice. He died in 377 BC. Today Hippocrates is known as the "Father of Medicine".

Euclid (ca. 325-ca. 270 BC)

    

Greek geometer who wrote the Elements , the world's most definitive text on geometry. The book synthesized earlier knowledge about geometry, and was used for centuries in western Europe as a geometry textbook. The text began with definitions, postulates ("Euclid's postulates "), and common opinions, then proceeded to obtain results by rigorous geometric proof. Euclid also proved what is generally known as Euclid's second theorem: the number of primes is infinite. The beautiful proof

Euclid gave of this theorem is still a gem and is generally acknowledged to be one of the "classic" proofs of all times in terms of its conciseness and clarity. In the Elements

, Euclid used the method of exhaustion and reductio ad absurdum. He also discussed the so-called Euclidean algorithm for finding the greatest common divisor of two numbers, and is credited with the well-known proof of the Pythagorean theorem.

Neither the year nor place of his birth have been established, nor the circumstances of his death, although he is known to have lived and worked in Alexandria for much of his life. In addition, no bust which can be verified to be his likeness is known.

Pythagoras of Samos

Born: about 569 BC in Samos, IoniaDied: about 475 BC

Pythagoras of Samos is often described as the first pure mathematician. He is an extremely important figure in the development of mathematics yet we know relatively little about his mathematical achievements. Unlike many later Greek mathematicians, where at least we have some of the books which they wrote, we have nothing of Pythagoras's writings. The society which he led, half religious and half scientific, followed a code of secrecy which certainly means that today Pythagoras is a mysterious figure.

Pythagorean Theorem

Let's build up squares on the sides of a right triangle. The Pythagoras' Theorem then claims that the sum of (areas of) the two

small squares equals (the area of) the large one.

In algebraic terms, a2 + b2 = c2 where c is the hypotenuse while a and b are the sides of the triangle.

The theorem is of fundamental importance in the Euclidean Geometry where it serves as a basis for the definition of distance between two points. It's so basic and well known that, I believe, anyone who took geometry

classes in high school couldn't fail to remember it long after other math notions got solidly forgotten.

Socrates

Although Socrates (470-399 BCE) is the central figure of these dialogues, little is actually known about him. He left no writings, and what is known is derived largely from Plato and Xenophon.

Socrates was a stone cutter by trade, even though there is little evidence that he did much to make a living. However, he did have enough money to own a suit of armor when he was a hoplite in the Athenian military. Socrates' mother was a midwife. He was married and had three sons. Throughout his life he claimed to hear voices which he interpreted as signs from the gods.

It appears that Socrates spent much of his adult life in the agora (or the marketplace) conversing about ethical issues. He had a penchant for exposing ignorance, hypocrisy, and conceit among among his fellow Athenians, particularly in regard to moral questions. In all probability, he was disliked by most of them.

However, Socrates did have a loyal following. He was very influential in the lives of Plato, Euclid, Alcibiades, and many others. As such, he was associated with the undemocratic faction of Athens. Although Socrates went to great lengths to distinguish himself from the sophists, it is unlikely that his fellow Athenians made such a distinction in their minds.

Socrates is admired by many philosophers for his willingness to explore an argument wherever it would lead as well as having the moral courage to follow its conclusion.

Plato

Born: 427 BC in Athens, GreeceDied: 347 BC in Athens, Greece

The Peloponnesian War was fought between Athens and Sparta between 431 BC and 404 BC. Plato was in military service from 409 BC to 404 BC but at this time he wanted a political career rather than a military one. At the end of the war he joined the oligarchy of the Thirty Tyrants in Athens set up in 404 BC, one of whose leaders being his mother's brother Charmides, but their violent acts meant that Plato quickly left.

In 403 BC there was a restoration of democracy at Athens and Plato had great hopes that he would be able to enter politics again. However, the excesses of Athenian political life seem to have persuaded him to give up political ambitions. In particular, the execution of Socrates in 399 BC had a profound effect on him and he decided that he would have

nothing further to do with politics in Athens.

Plato left Athens after Socrates had been executed and travelled in Egypt, Sicily and Italy. In Egypt he learnt of a water clock and later introduced it into Greece. In Italy he learned of the work of Pythagoras and came to appreciate the value of mathematics.

Plato's main contributions are in philosophy, mathematics and science. However, it is not as easy as one might expect to

discover Plato's philosophical views. The reason for this is that Plato wrote no systematic treatise giving his views, rather he wrote a number of dialogues (about 30) which are written in the form of conversations.

Aristotle

Born: 384 BC in Stagirus, Macedonia, GreeceDied: 322 BC in Chalcis, Euboea, Greece

Aristotle was born in Stagira in north Greece, the son of Nichomachus, the court physician to the Macedonian royal family. He was trained first in medicine, and then in 367 he was sent to Athens to study philosophy with Plato. He stayed at Plato's Academy until about 347 -- the picture at the bottom of this page, taken from Raphael's fresco The School of Athens, shows Aristotle and Plato (Aristotle is on the. right). Though a brilliant pupil, Aristotle opposed some of Plato's teachings, and when Plato died, Aristotle was not appointed head of the Academy.Whereas Aristotle's teacher Plato had located ultimate reality in Ideas or eternal forms, knowable only through reflection and reason, Aristotle saw ultimate reality in physical objects, knowable through experience. Objects, including organisms, were composed of a potential, their matter, and of a reality, their form; thus, a block of marble -- matter -- has the potential to assume whatever form a sculptor gives it, and a seed or embryo has the potential to grow into a living plant or animal form. In living creatures, the form was identified with the soul; plants had the lowest kinds of souls, animals had higher souls which could feel, and humans alone had rational, reasoning souls. In turn, animals could be classified by their way of life, their actions, or, most importantly, by their parts.

Though Aristotle's work in zoology was not without errors, it was the grandest biological synthesis of the time, and remained the ultimate authority for many centuries after his death. His observations on the anatomy of octopus, cuttlefish, crustaceans, and many other marine invertebrates are remarkably accurate, and could only have been made from first-hand experience with dissection. Aristotle described the embryological development of a chick; he

distinguished whales and dolphins from fish; he described the chambered stomachs of ruminants and the social organization of bees; he noticed that some sharks give birth to live young -- his books on animals are filled with such observations, some of which were not confirmed until many centuries later.

AeschylusThe "Father of Tragedy," Aeschylus was born in 525 B.C. in the city of Eleusis. Immersed early in the mystic rites of the city and in the worship of the Mother and Earth goddess Demeter, he was once sent as a child to watch grapes ripening in the countryside. According to Aeschylus, when he dozed off, Dionysus appeared to him in a dream and ordered him to write tragedies. The obedient young Aeschylus began a tragedy the next morning and "succeeded very easily."

Aeschylus was the first dramatist to give dignity and meaning to tragedy. Also, as his own producer and stage manager, he designed special costumes for his actors; pioneered in the use of masks; enlarged the stage;

and was the first dramatist to have any sort of setting for his plays. Altogether, it is probable that few men in the entire history of the theater, have had such far reaching effect on their chosen

profession as Aeschylus, Father of Greek Drama.

HerodotusDynasty XXVI

490-c. 431 B.C.E

Herodotus was a Greek historian in the fifth century B.C.E. His birth was around B.C.E. References to certain events in his narratives suggest that he did not die until at least 431 B.C.E, which was the beginning of the Peloponesian War. In his later years, Herodotus traveled extensively throughout the Eastern Mediterranean. There, he visited the Black Sea, Babylon, Phoenicia, and Egypt. He is best known for his work entitled Histories. Because of this, Cicero claimed him to be the Father of History. Histories is the story of the rise of Persian power and the friction between Persia and Greece. The battles that are described are the ones fought at Marathon, Thermopylae and Salamis. His story is the historical record of events that happened in his own lifetime. The first Persian War took place just before he was born, while the second happened when he was a child. This gave him the opportunity to question his elders about the events in both wars to get the details he wanted for his story.

Thucydides

Thucydides (between 460 and 455 BC), was an ancient Greek historian, and the author of The History of the Peloponnesian War, which recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta and Athens. This work is widely regarded a classic, and represents the first work of its kind.

Thucydides is generally regarded as one of the first true historians. Unlike his predecessor Herodotus (often called "the father of history") who included rumors and references to myths and the gods in his writing, Thucydides assiduously consulted written documents and interviewed participants in the events that he records. Certainly he held unconscious biases - for example, to modern eyes he seems to underestimate the importance of Persian intervention - but Thucydides was the first historian who seems to be attempting to be completely objective. By his discovery of historic causation he created the first scientific approach to history.

Philip II of Macedon  [382-336 BCE; assassinated]

Macedonian king who created the military, political & cultural order that his son, Alexander, used to transform the history of the eastern Mediterranean & western Asia. Philip was himself personally responsible for reversing the crumbling political power of Macedonia in the central Balkan peninsula through his reorganization of the army & invention of the long pike [sarissa], a weapon that gave his phalanx a formidable advantage over enemy forces. Though initially regarded by Greeks as a barbarian, Philip--a master of diplomacy as well as military tactics--became the self-appointed peace-keeper among the feuding city states of Greece. As champion of a Pan Hellenic order, he forged a league to expel Persians from Greek cities in western Asia Minor. Though Philip himself was killed before achieving that goal, Alexander quickly turned his father's achievements & vision into a whirlwind campaign that gave Macedonians control of the whole Persian empire.