ancient greece essay

Ancient Greece - Free Essay Examples And Topic Ideas

Ancient Greece, a civilization known for its significant contributions to art, philosophy, politics, and science, has left a lasting impact on the modern world. Essays on this topic could explore the various city-states, the classical philosophers, the political concepts of democracy and oligarchy, and the advancements in arts and sciences. Furthermore, discussions might delve into the Greco-Persian Wars, the Peloponnesian War, and the enduring legacy of Ancient Greece. We have collected a large number of free essay examples about Ancient Greece you can find at PapersOwl Website. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

How did Ancient Greece’s Geography Affect its Civilization

Ancient Greece was mostly made up of many small and separated islands. Most people today know about the great Greek Philosophers, the Olympics, the battles, so most people should know at least a little of the history of ancient Greece. Many people don't know how Greece came to be a great civilization though. I think that the reason why many democracies and civilizations fought for Greece was because of where Greece was located. Ancient Greece's geography is the thing that […]

History of Ancient Greece

Between the Mediterranean and Aegean seas on a peninsula lies the land of Greece. A land sculpted by mountainous terrain with limited farmable land led the Greeks to be avid seafaring peoples. Ancient Greece has a very rich history separated by various periods that denote their success and decline as a civilization. A rather unconventional ancient civilization, early Greeks did not develop like their contemporaries, but grew to be quite isolated from one another due to the mountainous terrain that […]

Greek and Roman Affects on Western Civilization

After discussing Greek and Roman architecture and engineering in class, I wanted to garner a deeper understanding of just how much of an affect these two cultures had on modern Western Civilizations. For instance, what else have these magnificent cultures contributed to to other aspects of society. This paper will discuss the similarities and differences between the Greeks and Romans, as well as its influence on Western Civilizations that haven't already been discussed in our class. While both Roman and […]

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Culture Ancient Greece and the Odyssey

Ancient Greece had a very unique culture. In The Odyssey by Homer, it teaches us that Ancient Greece was based on fate power(ranking in society) and believing in many gods. Not only Odysseus but his son Telemachus were controlled by fate ancient. The Greek gods were the ones in control of the fate of and his family. Telemachus is a young boy when his father Odysseus leaves Ithaca to fight in the Trojan war. As Odysseus is away Telemachus grows […]

Women in Ancient Greece Theatre Practices

It is taught throughout history books that women were not in the early stages of Greek theatre. As theatre developed in Greece, the role of women in the theatre was greatly diminished. Scholars believe they were banned from the stages, and even from attending the performances. Is this true, or did women play a bigger role than once thought? Women were once the leaders of multiple religious rituals and ceremonies. What provoked the removal of them? Were they really not […]

Ancient Greek Contributions to Western Civilization

Greece has made invaluable contributions to worldwide civilization.  Greece has vastly influenced, Western Civilization, culture, and even our way of thought.    It has been written that Greece is the birthplace of western civilization. One of Greece's invaluable influences of Western Civilization is the arts.  The ancient Greeks were well-known for their temples, art work, and sculptures.  In fact, Greece introduced sculpturing into architecture, as evidenced in their columns, be it what is still used today, Dorian, Ionic and Corinthian design […]

Ancient Greece’s Three Types of Heroes

The definition of the word hero is quite skewed. People tend to have their own definitions and interpretations of what the word means. However, people can usually agree on who a hero is and what makes a person a hero. In most cases, a hero can be described as one who shows great courage and is admired for noble achievements and noble qualities. Greek heroes show all of these qualities. They were admired for achieving incredible mythological feats and were […]

Democracy in Ancient Greece

How did people in Athens and Sparta obtain the right to participate in public life and make decisions affecting the community? To be eligible to participate in government in either Athens or Sparta, one had to be a free male citizen of the polis. Athens had an additional requirement that the individual male be born of Athenian citizens, whereas Sparta had no such requirement. (Brand, 2010). In Athens, there was an additional subclass of people that were disenfranchised known as […]

Pan’s Labyrinth Greek Mythology

Pan's Labyrinth is a 2006 surreal fairytale film in which an 11-year-old girl named Ofelia deals with the reality of her bleak life on a military compound in 1944's fascist Spain with her sickly pregnant mother and her violent stepfather by seamlessly blending fantastical elements with reality. Ofelia in Pan's Labyrinth undergoes labors to reach an ultimate "happy" ending and the film draws from Greek myth, blending ancient narratives with modern culture and politics. Pan's Labyrinth, following the typical hero's […]

Theatrical Lighting in Ancient Greece

Lighting in ancient Greece was lit by daylight and the dramas were frequently designed to take advantage of the position of the sun. There were sites specifically placed to gain the best effects of the natural light. Most plays could begin in the morning and last until the evening, so there was no need for artificial lights. The history of Greek lighting would then evolve to use mirrors with the sun's light to alter the lighting for their plays. If […]

Alexander the Great – King of Macedonia and Ancient Greece

Who is Alexander the Great? Alexander the Great is was the king of Macedonia and Ancient Greece. He may be known as the greatest military commander in history. Alexander the Great was born July 20, 356 BC. Alexander died at a very young age at 32. At a young age he accomplished a lot of things in his short life. Alexander's accomplishments was to do so much in his lifetime even thought it was such a lasting affect to him. […]

An Important Role Free Will in Oedipus the King

Fate is often said to be inevitable, an adverse outcome, condition, or end and free will is the ability to choose at your own discretion. In our everyday life, we make decisions and are often told that life is about making choices. It is because we have free will that we make choices which may lead to positive consequences if the choice is rational and yet other times our decisions lead to negative consequences. Free will plays an important role in Oedipus the King and fate […]

Wars of Ancient Greece

In the ancient Greek world, warfare was seen as a necessary evil of the human condition. Whether it be small frontier battles between neighboring city-states, lengthy city-sieges, civil wars, or large-scale battles between multi-alliance blocks on land and sea, the vast rewards of war could outweigh the costs in material and lives. While there were long periods of peace and many examples of friendly alliances, the powerful motives of territorial expansion, war loot, revenge, honor, and the defense of liberty […]

The Architecture of Ancient Greece

The Greeks set a tone for Western world and art history we know today through their paintings, sculptures, architecture, and many other innovations. Although they were influenced highly from Egypt and Mesopotamia, they would develop their own independent identity. The biggest concern while building what would become such impactive architecture, dealt with the proportion, harmony, and perspective. This would lead to the creation of many temples, theatres, and stadia that would become staple features of their cities/towns antiquity onwards. Greek […]

Alexander the Great the Gleaming Pearl of Ancient Greece

In the history of the ancient world, there are outstanding leaders with strategic minds and the ability to defeat all enemies. Among the most talented kings in the world, the most important one is probably Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great (356 - 323 BC) was the emperor who crushed the mighty Persian Empire and built the Greek Empire. He was a natural military genius and also considered to be a great contributor to the development of the history of […]

Spartan Warfare and Society in Ancient Greece

Introduction Sparta experienced territorial expansion due to its well organized and trained army (Cartledge 3). The Spartans inhabited fertile lands located in Eurotas and Pamisos where they practiced agricultural activities (Cartledge 3). On the other hand, the Helots were pushed to marginalized lands. They were nevertheless allowed by Spartans to live semi-autonomous lives in spite of being slaves. The Spartan helots would also be allowed to serve as warriors (Whitmore 3). This paper will discuss the Spartan warfare and how […]

Sparta and Athens Society Compare and Contrast

The life of a man or a woman in Ancient Greek was really different from the lives we have today. What I say is not about technology but about human rights such as the right to participate in public life. In Ancient Greek, women had no right to elect or to be elected, and only free men had their voice in the government. In Sparta, most people did not have any role for decision making for the community and Spartan […]

Historical Events of Ancient Greece

What importance did the Battles of Marathon and Salamis, and the Punic Wars have for Ancient Greece and Rome? Ancient Greece: The battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC during the first Persian invasion on Greece. Citizens of Athens and citizens of Plataea revolted against the Persian army. The battle was a very big victory for the Greeks. From this victory, they gained confidence in their defense system and a new battle tactic called phalanx. The phalanx tactic is […]

Daily Life in Ancient Greece

Daily life in Greece is much different from ours today. In today's world male and female should have equal rights. Men should help the women clean house, women can mow the lawn, women can build houses and do construction work if they desire to do so. In Greece, it's a totally different story. Men are required to take a roll of being very involved in the community. While the women's lives were ALWAYS being at home doing work around the […]

Ancient Greece Art Essay

Ancient Greece is one of my favorite subjects to talk and learn about. I love the history, the stories, and the art, Greece itself is a masterpiece. However, even though Greece has many legendary art works, there is one that I considered my favorite above all of them. There is a vase called “Ajax and Achilles Playing a Game” by the famous Exekias who was known as an ancient Greek vase-painter and potter. Exekias made many beautiful pieces of artwork […]

Ancient Greece: a Women’s Life

The treatment of Women in Ancient Greece was often based on the social economic class that they were born into, or married into. The rich women had less rights than the poor women. Women that were married to rich men were often confined to their homes. Their only jobs were to manage the house and to give birth to sons for the husband. These women also lived in different parts of the house away from the men. They even ate […]

The Role of Women and Stereotypes in the Greek Society in the Odyssey by Homer

The Odyssey is a classic poem by Homer ha revolves around the narrative of Odysseus an ancient Greek hero. Homer describes a full twenty-year journey that Odysseus spends fighting the Trojan War and traveling back to his family. The most significant theme is the nature and the role of women in Greek society. According to the story, men during the period were dominant and made most of the rules. However, Homer defies and illustrates the disparity in the role of […]

Ancient Greece Modern Comparison Project

Since the Grecian times, poems have been a very integral and influential part of every culture. Poems have affected whole countries at a time by expressing emotion, deep feelings, and a sense of what is beautiful about the world. From India to America, people have always drawn important parts of life and history from poems. A couple of the most unforgettable and prominent poets of all time include Homer and William Shakespeare. For my comparison essay, I will analyze the […]

Ancient Greece at the Met

Old Greek engineers tackle rigor and excellence of craftsmanship which are the trademark of Greek art universally. The methods they fabricated during the early sixth century B.C. still influence modern architecture. According to Sayre, H. M., (2013) there are two main principal orders in Classical and Archaic Greek architecture. They are commonly called Doric and the Ionic. In the Doric order, columns are fluted without any form of base. While with the Ionic order, bases support the columns, which have […]

Unveiling the Tapestry: the Pervasive Influence of Ancient Greece Geography

In the grand tapestry of human history, few threads are as intricately woven into the fabric as the geography of Ancient Greece. Beyond being a backdrop of azure seas and rugged mountains, the geographical features of this ancient land wielded a profound impact on the course of its history, culture, and societal structures. Let's embark on a journey through the undulating hills and craggy coastlines, unraveling the influence of Ancient Greece geography on the shaping of a civilization. The defining […]

Harmonies of History: the Lyre in Ancient Greece

The ancient Greeks, known for their rich contributions to art, philosophy, and politics, also held a profound affinity for music, with the lyre standing as a testament to this cultural passion. This stringed instrument, deeply intertwined with Greek mythology, literature, and daily life, resonates not just with musical notes but also with historical significance. The lyre, with its elegant structure, typically consisted of a soundbox made from tortoiseshell or wood, with arms extending upwards and joined by a crossbar. Strings, […]

Oedipus and the Sphinx

The great sphinx is a famous landmark known around the world for its loin body and a human head. It was built for a pharaoh as a guide in the afterlife. There is so much to learn about the sphinx. Like when and where it as built, ancient Greek myths, and King Khafre (the head of this amazing monument). Not to mention all the astonishing facts about the statue. When and where was the great sphinx built? The sphinx was […]

The Contribution of Ancient Greece to the Western Civilization

The ancient Greeks gave many contributions to the western civilization. They gave the Pythagorean Theory, Hippocratic Oath, limited democracy and more. Today those contributions benefit us. Pythagoras gave the Pythagorean Theory to us. He made a formula (a2+b2=C2); this formula is used to calculate the relationship between the sides of a right triangle. Euclid was a Greek mathematician and is often called the father of geometry. He put together, scientifically arranged, and wrote portions of the mathematics textbook Elements. Very […]

Birthdays: a Wish for the Gods

Birthdays are celebrated to remember personal achievements, show appreciation to those we love and care for, and to simply acknowledge our existence. Although lives are measured by the ceaseless passing of time, birthdays are a time to be remembered. That is how birthdays are defined in America today. The single day that all people have to mark a time in history, celebrate youth or adulthood, highlight milestones, rites of passage, and feel recognized; it is a celebration of life. They […]

Conquests of Alexander the Great

Alexander was set up to succeed his dad Philip II through watchful direction. When his dad kicked the bucket, he had mentored him from multiple points of view and he had additionally set the ground for his successes. Alexander acquired a urbanized people, an efficient military, and philosophical and military training and he used his insight to vanquish Persia and different parts of Asia. His heritage comprised of his despotic governments and utilization of military power as a major aspect […]

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145 Ancient Greece Research Topics and Essay Ideas

🏆 best greek topics to write about, 💡 most interesting ancient greece topics for research, 📌 simple & easy topics about ancient greece, 👍 good ancient greece writing prompts, ❓ research questions about ancient greece.

• Mesopotamian and Ancient Greek Civilizations Comparison Socially, the two civilizations were very different; the Greeks were known for their strong sense of democracy, while the Mesopotamians were ruled by kings and queens. The ancient Mesopotamian and Greek civilizations were two of […]
• Mathematics in Ancient Greek Architecture One of the pillars of the art of architecture has been mathematics, and the development of this science in Ancient Greece enabled Ancient Greek architects to create beautiful buildings.
• The Architecture of Ancient Greece Found in Los Angeles This paper is aimed at presenting an exploration of the reinterpretations of the stylistics period of the Ancient Greek epitomized in the architecture of the ancient Greece.
• Polytheism of Ancient Greek and Babylonians Compared Turning on to the cult and political organization the gods do participate in the political and governance structures of the societies.
• Ancient Greek Philosophers: A Critical Evaluation of Their Impact on Modern Thought However, according to the article, it is imperative to note that neither reason nor the quest for evidence started with the ancient Greeks, but the pre-Socratic philosophers endeavored to identify a single underlying standard that […]
• The Concept of Deduction in Ancient Greek and Egyptian Mathematics The work of the famous and great Ancient Greek mathematicians has played a vital role in permeating every aspect, section, and part of life, especially from the sector of sending the rockets into space, accounting, […]
• The Role of Poets and the Place of Poetry in Ancient Greece The Muse is the giver of gifts and in this case it is the gift to create words that are melodious to the ear but at the same time the power to move the hearts […]
• Suffering in the Ancient, Roman and Greek Periods It can be noted that in all cases suffering was seen as evil in some quarters of the ancient world as is seen today.
• History: Ancient Greek Olympics Hence, the myth concerning the emergence of the Olympic Games involves Zeus. The Olympic Games owed their integrity and significance to religion.
• The Impact of Ancient Greek Civilization and Architecture on Modern Culture The connection between ancient Greek architecture and modern culture in the United States is evident because of the presence of similar constructions and continuous use of terms that originated from that civilization.
• Comparison Between Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece’s Burial Rituals On the other hand, the burial rituals of the ancient Greeks in the period of 750BCE and 700BCE were affected by the age of geometry.
• Ancient Greek Culture, Philosophy and Science A few early Greek philosophers of the 6th century BCE began forming theories about the natural formations of the cosmos that went beyond the commonly held beliefs of the divine beings in the sky2.
• History of Ancient Greek It was the accuracy and correctness of the prediction that daunted astronomers for years to come. This event hailed a new set of astronomers who tried to figure out the means to predict such future […]
• Ancient Egypt vs. Ancient Greece In this paper, the researcher seeks to investigate the extent to which Ancient Egypt became Greek and the extent to which it remained the same during and after the rule by Ancient Greece.
• Art History: Female Figures in Ancient Greek Sculpture The development of female figures in ancient Greek sculpture was noticeable during those times; each period added something new; the influence of other countries and their cultures was reflected in almost each piece of work, […]
• BBC Ancient Greece: The Greatest Show on Earth The presenter of this video talks about the importance of theater culture to the people of ancient Athens. In the days of the ancient Greeks, the people of Athens learned the latest news from theatrical […]
• The Ancient Greek Play Antigone by Sophocle In the play, it is evident that pride is used by people to create laws that challenge the divine law from gods.
• Greek City-States – Ancient History Using the case of the early Greek poleis, this paper shows that commercialisation and changing attitudes about leadership have changed the nature of states.
• The Philosophy of Ancient Greece Overall, it is possible to argue that the philosophy of ancient Greece is mostly associated with the names of such prominent thinkers as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.
• Comparing and Contrasting the Confucius Ideas With Ancient Greek Thinkers As far as the body and the soul interacted, Plato also commented on the things that the soul could be influenced by the work or the actions of the body.
• Deduction in Ancient Greece and Egypt Mathematics and the use of formulas have played an important role in the development of the modern world. The Golden Ratio concept was used in this part of the world.
• Visual Arts: Ancient Art of the Greeks Ancient art plays a significant role in helping the individuals of the current generation explain the civilizations of the ancient past. Fresco painted the Bull-leaping fresco from Knossos art to depict the civilizations of the […]
• The Ancient Greek Society: Role of Religion In the cultural sense, the phrase ‘ancient Greece’ refers to the way of life of the ancient Greek people as depicted in their mode of worship, language, governance, entertainment and their understanding of the physical […]
• Ancient Greek Civilization: Culture and Arts To begin with, the earliest period of Greek history was the Bronze, and it is characterized by the usage and production of essential tools and the formation of two civilizations, which further contributed to the […]
• Ancient Egyptian and Greece Literature The history of literature began in the Bronze Age with the invention of writing in Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. In Egypt, hieroglyphs and the similarity of drawings were used for writing.
• Ancient India and Greece Sculptures Comparison As far as the key differences between the Ancient Indian and the Ancient Greek sculptures are concerned, the concept of aesthetics deserves to be mentioned.
• City States in Ancient Greece and Renaissance Italy Similarities According to Spencer the invasion by the Dorians was one reason that strengthened the growth of the city states. In Italy, the city-states authority belonged to rich and the gentries.
• Pride in Ancient Greek This paper discusses the character and behavior of two Heroes in the Iliad with the aim of explaining the Geeks’ concept of pride.
• The Democracies of Ancient Greece and the Roman Republic Any democracy which, at least formally, is based on the power of the majority, equality of citizens, protection of their rights and freedoms, a system of separation of powers, and electability of authorities implies a […]
• Culture of Ancient Greece in The Odyssey by Homer The Odyssey is one of the oldest and most well-known epics in the world. This can be attributed to Homer’s ability to describe the culture and life of the people of the ancient era with […]
• Ancient Greek vs. Roman Sculpture in the Late Classical Period The left-hand drops her clothes onto the jar of water, the head is turned to the left, and the right hand is extended in front of the pudenda.
• The Ancient Greek Culture Impact on Western Civilization The most significant public structures in the city were gathered around the temple in the city’s center, which served as the power headquarters.
• Art of Ancient Greece: The Diadoumenos Statue The marble statue of the Diadoumenos depicts an athlete with a victory armband and is a reconstruction of the original based on Roman marble spears. Polykleitos’ sculpture is a typical example of the classical period […]
• Ancient History of Greek Civilization In ancient Greece, the body was the material means of constructing and transmitting social values; the body’s visual representation exemplified the moral codes of the time.
• The Art of Ancient Greece: The Marble Head of Athena The art of Ancient Greece played an essential role in the development of the culture and art of humankind. In Greece, the first principles of democracy in history were formed within the framework of a […]
• Democracy in Ancient Greece and Today From the lecture, I discovered that the word democracy partly originates from the word demes which means the small division of the bigger sections that Athens was divided into during the ancient time.
• Venus de Milo, Sculpture of Ancient Greece Art The statue also depicts the story of the Judgment of Paris. The findspot of the figure of the goddess is still unknown, and it cannot be said where exactly it was found.
• Art History: The Prehistoric Aegean, Ancient Greece The relationship between curvilinear forms in Minoan art and the primary role of nature is that nature provided the curvilinear shapes and forms that formed the basis for the artwork.
• The Mindset and Ancient Greek Philosophy Metaphysics studies the nature of reality, the structure of the world, the origin of man, God, truth, matter, mind, the connection between mind, body, and free will, and the correlation between events.
• Ancient Greek History: The Most Important Events of the Period Ancient Greece was home for most of the famous personalities of the ancient world. The introduction of Olympic Games was one of the most significant events in Ancient Greek History.
• Scientific Approach to Magic in Ancient Greece 2 The dual attitude towards magic in Ancient Greece is deeply rooted in those people’s focus on knowledge and the use of the scientific method that was born during that period.
• Women in Ancient Greek and Roman Art The ancient Greek and Roman art, both textual and visual, are a rich source of information on the social history of women in these cultures.
• The Ancient Greek and Republican Roman Architects The ancient Greek and Roman architects sought to express cultural and aesthetic perspectives guided by the adoration of classical qualities such as maturity, moderation, order, balance, and harmony.
• Ancient Greek Mythology: Deities of the Universe Hades is the eldest son of Kronos and Rhea, the god and the guardian of the Underworld, the realm of the dead.
• Democracy Emergence in Ancient Greece and Why Plato Was Opposed to It The result of this war was the defeat of Athens by Sparta at the end of the fifth century which led to the overthrow of many democratic regimes.
• The Hetaerae Women of Ancient Greece In the Greek society, the hetaerae women consisted of women who were liberal and commanded great influence in the society. The hetaerae women were noble in one aspect of the other.
• Oedipus the King and Ancient Greek Culture Oedipus consults the servant who was sent to abandon him as a child and it is revealed that he was the child of Laius and Jocasta.
• Origin of the Olympics in the Ancient Greek Society It exhaustively explains the importance of the Olympic Games to the Greek society in the ancient times and the significance they played in shaping the locals lives.
• Western Civilization: Ancient Greek Theater However, the modern theater has become more commercialized and has become a potential arena of political, social, and cultural discourses, increasingly involving the masses.”Theatre, which had been dominated by the Church for centuries, and then […]
• Democracy and Dictatorship in Ancient Greece and Today Recalling the speech of Thucydides, democracy is when the power is in the hands of not a minority but of the whole people when all are equal before the law when political life is free […]
• The Changes of the Ancient Greeks’ Conceptions of Heroism Through the Times According to the primary task of the essay, it is necessary to say, that the characters of Iliad, Odysseus, and the conclusions by Socrates belong to various epochs of Greek history.
• The Culture of Ancient Greece The Archaic period and the Classical periods are separated by the Persian Wars and the reign of Alexander the Great is taken as separating the Classical from the Hellenistic periods.
• Ancient Greek Sports: Boxing, Wrestling, Running So, one can conclude that the cruelty of a blow increased, and for this reason, ancient gloves can be regarded to be offensive weapons.
• Public Speaking in Ancient Greece and Roman Empire With this in mind, investigation of some main peculiarities of the development of art of public speaking public can help to understand its peculiarities better.
• Ancient Greek Temples Architecture This temple was built using the Ionic order and formed the Seven Wonders of the World. Another known and oldest temple that used this order is the Apollo Bassae constructed in 420 BC.
• Ancient Greece Heroes: The Iliad and The Knight’s Tale It is rather tempting to see the later work as a reflection of the ancient Greek story, but Chaucer’s work is rather a re-evaluation of the old story.
• Ancient Greek Philosophy: Socrates and Plato Comparison Being the most praised Socrates pupil, he devoted a lot of his works to Socrates figure, trying to investigate his point of view and present it to the audience.
• Ancient Greek Art and Sculpture It is possible to trace this change through examining two sculptures pertaining to different periods of Ancient Greek art. Of course, to understand art, it is necessary to understand the epoch.
• Ancient Greek Civilization History He criticized the government for tyranny and as a result, he is considered the father of democracy in Greek Sacred disease refers to epilepsy.
• Infanticide in Ancient Greece In most ancient societies, children were the property of the parents, and those children who the parents deemed unfit were killed or sold into slavery.
• Ancient Greek Democracy That Still Makes People Strive for Perfection Thus, Greek dreams of a perfect society where everyone is happy resulted in the creation of the first democracy in the world.
• Music in the Ancient Greece The history of music in ancient Greece dates back to the 6th century BCE when the first music lessons were introduced in the learning institutions. The ‘clappers’ were the other category of music instruments that […]
• Transformation of the Ancient Greece Art At first, it is necessary to examine the sculptural works which belong to the archaic period of the Greek culture. The techniques that one can see in the sculptures of the Archaic Period were rejected.
• Concepts of Ancient Greek Culture In particular, one can speak about the establishment of a civic state, the adoption of new approaches to education and science, the development of new artistic forms, and more critical attitude toward those people who […]
• The Evolution of the Division of Labor Theory Starting From Ancient Greek Economists to the Present The theories of other great economists on the division of labor theory will also be explored and finally comparing them to the modern theory of division of labor.
• Ancient Greek History: Athens The works of these historians give an opportunity to state that in spite of the fighting and dying in wars, the Athenians contributed to the good of their polis.
• Mythology’s Role in the Ancient Greece – God Poseidon He was believed to be the creator and the controller of the sea therefore, people gave him respect and they make him to become angry. Poseidon was a god of the sea and therefore was […]
• Gods and Humans: Myths of Ancient Rome and Greece Remembering the main idea of the myths which is to portray the creation of the specific natural phenomena via the God’s actions, the relationships between people and Gods cannot be rejected in the book.
• Women’s Roles in Ancient Greece and Rome
• Water and Womanhood in Ancient Greece
• The Significance of Honor and Respect in Ancient Greece
• The Goddess of Love, Desire, and Beauty, Aphrodite, was Worshipped by Ancient Greece for Many More Reason
• Humanity As In Ancient Greece An Analysis Of Greek Influence And Literature
• Women in Time: Ancient Greece and 19th Century Norway
• To What Extent Has the Theater of Ancient Greece Changed the Acts of Modern Day Theater
• The History and Use of Pantomime in Theatrical Dance from Ancient Greece to Ballet D’Action
• Types Of Governments Of Ancient Greece And Rome
• How the Texts of Architects Vincent Scully and R.E. Wycherley Depict the Culture of Ancient Greece
• The Worship of the Roman Dionysos in Ancient Greece
• Women in Lysistrata and Women of Ancient Greece
• The Study of Behaviorism in the Ancient Greece in the 19th and 20th Centuries
• The Importance Of Hospitality In Ancient Greece Versus The Dark Ages
• What Role Did Socrates Play in Ancient Greece
• The Value of the Individual, Virtue, Honor, Humanity, and Love in Ancient Greece
• The Importance of the Fertility Goddesses Demeter and Persephone in the Society of Ancient Greece
• The Strict Laws and Penalties in Ancient Greece Market Places and the Male Domination in Greek Societis
• The Topic Of Fate Of Ancient Greece During The Golden Age
• Women of Ancient Greece and Rome
• Things Fall Apart:The Cultures of Ancient Greece and The Lower Niger
• The Forms in Which Theater and Drama Took in Ancient Greece in the 5th Century
• The Importance of Athletics in Ancient Greece and the History of the Olympics
• How Did Ancient Greece Influence Western Civilization
• Feminism And The Power Struggle Of Women In Ancient Greece
• The Influence and Effects of Geography on the Economic, Religious, Philosophy, Art and Literature Advancement of Ancient Greece
• The Portrayal and Views on Women in Ancient Greece
• The Perception of Gender in the Literature of Ancient Greece and Middle Age
• The Impact Of Freedom On Ancient Greece And Modern America
• The Insignificance Of Women And Ancient Greece
• The Olympic Games: its Origins, Sources and Images in the Art of Ancient Greece
• Exploring the Integrity of Gender Distinctions Made in the Literature on Ancient Greece
• What Features of Modern Europe Have Been Traced Back to Ancient Greece and Rome
• The Role Of Women In Ancient Greece As Depicted In Homer’s The Odyssey
• The Prejudiced Attitude on the Role of Women in Ancient Greece
• The Question of Infanticide in Ancient Greece Based on Several Texts
• The Role of Gods and Their Human-like Personalities in Ancient Greece
• The Roles of Women in Ancient Greece and the Reasons for their Subordina
• The Legend of Oedipus the King of Thebes in Ancient Greece
• The Relationship Between Slave and Master in Ancient Greece
• The Music of Ancient Greece and the Instruments We Still Use Today
• The Significance of the Tragic Plays Written by Sophocles in Ancient Greece
• How Did Ancient Greece’s Geography Affect Its Civilization?
• What Role Did Socrates Play in Ancient Greece?
• How Has the American Society Been Influenced by Ancient Greece?
• What Was Greek Law?
• Why Was Ancient Greece the First Civilization to Develop Democracy?
• What Role Did Tribalism and Racism Play in Ancient Greece?
• How Did Ancient Greece Influence Western Civilization?
• What Were the Characteristics of Oligarchy and Democracy in Ancient Greece?
• Who Did the Ancient Greeks Worship?
• What Was the Importance of Religion in Ancient Greece?
• Who Was a Citizen in Ancient Greece?
• What Were the Ancient Athenians Like?
• Was Greek Law Formally Written Down?
• What Rights Did Women Have in Ancient Greece?
• Who/What Are the Main Legends and Myths About?
• What Is the History Behind the Olympics Games?
• Who Were Slaves in Ancient Greece?
• What Did the Theaters Look Like in Ancient Greece?
• Who Were the Famous Mathematicians or Philosophers of Ancient Greece?
• What Was “Medicine” Like in Ancient Greece?
• How Were Plato’s Divisions Different From Athenian Democracy?
• What Are the “Famous” Wars From Ancient Greece?
• How Did Athenian Democracy Differ From Modern Democracy?
• What Were the Major Ancient Greek City-States?
• Exactly What Was the Oracle at Delphi and How Did It Work?
• What Were the People Like in Ancient Greece?
• Why Did Greece Spread So Far West and South?
• What Was the New Idea of Male Homosexuality About in Ancient Greece? How Was It Derived?
• What Was the True Name of Ancient Greece?
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ancient Greek civilization summary

Learn about the history and culture of ancient greece.

ancient Greek civilization , The period between the end of the Mycenaean civilization (1200 bce ) and the death of Alexander the Great (323 bce ) that significantly influenced later Western culture in politics, philosophy, and art.

Little is known about the earliest period of ancient Greek civilization, and many extant writings pertain only to life in Athens. Ancient Greece at its height comprised settlements in Asia Minor, southern Italy, Sicily, and the Greek islands. It was divided into city-states— Athens and Sparta were among the most powerful—that functioned independently of one another. There were frequent wars between Athens, Sparta, and their allies, including the Peloponnesian War (431–404 bce ) and later the Corinthian War (395–386 bce ).

Some city-states, including Athens, were governed by an early system of democracy that served as a precursor for later systems of government in the Western world. An interest in athletic competition was prevalent in ancient Greek culture, and the first Olympic Games were held in 776 bce .

Ancient Greek culture continued on in the writings of its philosophers, notably Plato and Aristotle ; its historians, notably Thucydides ; and in the literature of Homer , the presumed author of the Iliad and the Odyssey .

The ancient Greeks also contributed to developments in art and architecture through the numerous sculptures and temples they constructed—the buildings of the Athenian acropolis, for example—to memorialize their deities.

History 101: Ancient Greece

From artistry to politics, ancient Greece left a considerable impression on world history. Learn why Greek and Roman gods share so many similarities, how the alphabet got its name, and how the legacy of ancient Greece has evolved over thousands of years.

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• Essays on Ancient Greek Literature and Culture

Essays on Ancient Greek Literature and Culture

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In this book one of the world's leading Hellenists brings together his many contributions over four decades to our understanding of early Greek literature, above all of elegiac poetry and its relation to fifth-century prose historiography, but also of early Greek epic, iambic, melic and epigrammatic poetry. Many chapters have become seminal, e.g. that which first proposed the importance of now-lost long narrative elegies, and others exploring their performance contexts when papyri published in 1992 and 2005 yielded fragments of such long poems by Simonides and Archilochus. Another chapter argues against the widespread view that Sappho composed and performed chiefly for audiences of young girls, suggesting instead that she was a virtuoso singer and lyre-player, entertaining men in the elite symposia whose verbal and musical components are explored in several other chapters of the book. Two more volumes of collected papers will follow devoted to later Greek literature and culture.

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Essays on Ancient Greek Literature and Culture pp i-ii

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Essays on Ancient Greek Literature and Culture - Title page pp iii-iii

• Greek Poetry before 400 BC

Copyright page pp iv-iv

Contents pp v-vii, illustration and tables pp viii-viii, places of original publication pp ix-xii, preface pp xiii-xiv, editions and abbreviations pp xv-xviii, introduction to volume 1: greek poetry before 400 bc pp 1-20, 1 - early greek elegy, symposium and public festival (1986) pp 21-58, 2 - one that got away: archilochus frr. 188–92 and horace odes 1.4 and 5 (1987) pp 59-73, 3 - miles ludens the problem of martial exhortation in early greek elegy () pp 74-84, 4 - lies, fiction and slander in early greek poetry (1993) pp 85-118, 5 - greek table-talk before plato (1993) pp 119-134, 6 - the theognidea : a step towards a collection of fragments (1997) pp 135-150, 7 - early greek iambic poetry: the importance of narrative (2001) pp 151-176, 8 - ancestors of historiography in early greek elegiac and iambic poetry () pp 177-197, 9 - sympotic praise (2002) pp 198-226, 10 - early expatriates: displacement and exile in archaic poetry () pp 227-255, 11 - from archaic elegy to hellenistic sympotic epigram (2007) pp 256-272, 12 - sex and politics in archilochus’ poetry (2008) pp 273-285, 13 - wandering poets, archaic style (2009) pp 286-316, 14 - epigram as narration (2010) pp 317-390, 15 - historical narrative in archaic and early classical greek elegy (2010) pp 391-415, 16 - stobaeus and early greek melic, elegiac and iambic poetry (2010) pp 416-449, 17 - marathon in fifth-century epigram (2010) pp 450-465, 18 - the trojan war in early greek melic, iambic and elegiac poetry (2010) pp 466-497, 19 - performing and re-performing helen:stesichorus’ palinode (2010) pp 498-516, appendix 1 - the metre of known opening lines of strophai and antistrophai of stesichorus’ poems pp 514-514, appendix 2 - the use of the article in citations pp 515-516, altmetric attention score, full text views.

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The Art & Culture of Ancient Greece

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The ancient Greeks were masters at picking up ideas from other cultures, mixing these with their own innovations and producing unique contributions to world culture . Greek sculptors adored the human form, painters loved to tell stories on Greek pottery , and the Greek architectural orders can still be seen around the world today in all sorts of buildings. With fine Mediterranean weather, the Greeks were an outdoor people and it is then, perhaps no coincidence that they developed open-air theatre , political meetings and philosophical discussions.

In this collection, we examine the major aspects of the culture and thinking of the ancient Greeks, from temple architecture to how to live a good life. We also consider aspects of their religion - another outdoor activity - their diet, medicine and music .

A Greek comedy play followed a conventional structure. The first part was the parados where the Chorus of as many as 24 performers entered and performed a number of song and dance routines. Dressed to impress, their outlandish costumes could represent anything from giant bees with huge stingers to knights riding another man in imitation of a horse or even a variety of kitchen utensils. In many cases the play was actually named after the Chorus, e.g., Aristophanes ' The Wasps .

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Ancient Greek Sculpture

Ancient Greek Pottery

Greek Architecture

Ancient Greek Theatre

Ancient Greek Literature

Ancient Greek Music

Greek Philosophy

Ancient Greek Religion

Food & Agriculture in Ancient Greece

Ancient Greek Medicine

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The Aegean Sea. Photo by Krista Rossow/National Geographic

The sea was never blue

The greek colour experience was made of movement and shimmer. can we ever glimpse what they saw when gazing out to sea.

by Maria Michela Sassi   + BIO

Homer used two adjectives to describe aspects of the colour blue: kuaneos , to denote a dark shade of blue merging into black; and glaukos, to describe a sort of ‘blue-grey’, notably used in Athena’s epithet glaukopis, her ‘grey-gleaming eyes’. He describes the sky as big, starry, or of iron or bronze (because of its solid fixity). The tints of a rough sea range from ‘whitish’ ( polios ) and ‘blue-grey’ ( glaukos ) to deep blue and almost black ( kuaneos , melas ). The sea in its calm expanse is said to be ‘pansy-like’ ( ioeides ), ‘wine-like’ ( oinops ), or purple ( porphureos ). But whether sea or sky, it is never just ‘blue’. In fact, within the entirety of ancient Greek literature you cannot find a single pure blue sea or sky.

Yellow, too, seems strangely absent from the Greek lexicon. The simple word xanthos covers the most various shades of yellow, from the shining blond hair of the gods, to amber, to the reddish blaze of fire. Chloros , since it’s related to chloe (grass), suggests the colour green but can also itself convey a vivid yellow, like honey.

The ancient Greek experience of colour does not seem to match our own. In a well-known aphorism, Friedrich Nietzsche captures the strangeness of the Greek colour vocabulary:

How differently the Greeks must have viewed their natural world, since their eyes were blind to blue and green, and they would see instead of the former a deeper brown, and yellow instead of the latter (and for instance they also would use the same word for the colour of dark hair, that of the corn-flower, and that of the southern sea; and again, they would employ exactly the same word for the colour of the greenest plants and of the human skin, of honey and of the yellow resins: so that their greatest painters reproduced the world they lived in only in black, white, red, and yellow). [My translation]

How is this possible? Did the Greeks really see the colours of the world differently from the way we do?

J ohann Wolfgang von Goethe, too, observed these features of Greek chromatic vision. The versatility of xanthos and chloros led him to infer a peculiar fluidity of Greek colour vocabulary. The Greeks, he said, were not interested in defining the different hues. Goethe underpinned his judgment through a careful examination of the theories on vision and colours elaborated by the Greek philosophers, such as Empedocles, Plato and Aristotle, who attributed an active role to the visual organ, equipped with light coming out of the eye and interacting with daylight so as to generate the complete range of colours.

Goethe also noted that ancient colour theorists tended to derive colours from a mixture of black and white, which are placed on the two opposite poles of light and dark, and yet are still called ‘colours’. The ancient conception of black and white as colours – often primary colours – is remarkable when compared with Isaac Newton’s experiments on the decomposition of light by refraction through a prism. The common view today is that white light is colourless and arises from the sum of all the hues of the spectrum, whereas black is its absence.

Goethe considered the Newtonian theory to be a mathematical abstraction in contrast with the testimony of the eyes, and thus downright absurd. In fact, he claimed that light is the most simple and homogeneous substance, and the variety of colours arise at the edges where dark and light meet. Goethe set the Greeks’ approach to colour against Newton’s for their having caught the subjective side of colour perception. The Greeks already knew, Goethe wrote, that: ‘If the eye were not Sun-like, it could never see the Sun.’

Today, no one thinks there has been a stage in humanity when some colours were ‘not yet’ being perceived

Another explanation for the apparent oddness of Greek perception came from the eminent politician and Hellenist William Gladstone, who devoted a chapter of his Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age (1858) to ‘perceptions and use of colour’. He too noticed the vagueness of the green and blue designations in Homer, as well as the absence of words covering the centre of the ‘blue’ area. Where Gladstone differed was in taking as normative the Newtonian list of colours (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet). He interpreted the Greeks’ supposed linguistic poverty as deriving from an imperfect discrimination of prismatic colours. The visual organ of the ancients was still in its infancy, hence their strong sensitivity to light rather than hue, and the related inability to clearly distinguish one hue from another. This argument fit well with the post-Darwinian climate of the late 19th century, and came to be widely believed. Indeed, it prompted Nietzsche’s own judgment, and led to a series of investigations that sought to prove that the Greek chromatic categories do not fit in with modern taxonomies.

Today, no one thinks that there has been a stage in the history of humanity when some colours were ‘not yet’ being perceived. But thanks to our modern ‘anthropological gaze’ it is accepted that every culture has its own way of naming and categorising colours. This is not due to varying anatomical structures of the human eye, but to the fact that different ocular areas are stimulated, which triggers different emotional responses, all according to different cultural contexts.

So was Goethe right that the Greek experience of colours is quite peculiar? Yes, he was. There is a specific Greek chromatic culture, just as there is an Egyptian one, an Indian one, a European one, and the like, each of them being reflected in a vocabulary that has its own peculiarity, and not to be measured only by the scientific meter of the Newtonian paradigm. The question then is: how can we hope to understand how the Greeks saw their world?

L et’s begin with the colourimetric system, based on the Color Sphere created in 1898 by an American artist named Albert Henry Munsell. According to this model, any colour sensation can be defined through three interacting aspects: the hue , determined by the position in the Newtonian spectrum, by which we discriminate one colour from another; the value or lightness, ranging from white to black; and the chroma , which corresponds to the purity or saturation of the colour, depending on the wavelength distribution of light. Fire-red and sky-blue are highly saturated, whereas grey is not at all.

Add to these the concept of saliency , that is, the capacity of a colour to catch visual attention, and the defective definition of blue and green that Gladstone interpreted as a symptom of colour-blindness can be explained since the linguistic definition of hue is proportionate to the saliency of a colour. That is why red, the most salient colour, is the first to be defined in terms of hue in any culture ( eruthros in Greek), while green and blue are generally first perceived as brightness because they are less salient colours, and are slowly focused as hues later. This means that in some contexts the Greek adjective chloros should be translated as ‘fresh’ instead of ‘green’, or leukos as ‘shining’ rather than ‘white’. The Greeks were perfectly able to perceive the blue tint, but were not particularly interested in describing the blue tone of sky or sea – at least not in the same way as we are, with our modern sensibility.

This model is helpful for describing the different ways in which a chromatic culture can segment the huge range of possible combinations of the three dimensions by privileging one or the other. A culture might emphasise hue or chroma or value, each with varying intensity. And so the Munsell model is useful in that it helps to demonstrate the remarkable Greek predilection for brightness , and the fact that the Greeks experienced colours in degrees of lightness and darkness rather than in terms of hue.

However, the Munsell model doesn’t completely explain how the Greeks perceived colour since it leaves out the richness of the ‘colour event ’ – the subjective, felt perspective of colour that Goethe so valued. For the Greeks, colour was a basic unit of information necessary to understanding the world, above all the social world. One’s complexion was a major criterion of social identity, so much so that contrasting light women and dark men was a widespread cliché in Greek literature and iconography, rooted in the prejudice that the pale complexion of women is due to their living in the darkness of the domestic sphere, whereas men are tanned and strengthened by physical exertion and outdoor sports. So the Greek word chroa/chroiá means both the coloured surface of a thing and the colour itself, and is significantly related to chros , which means ‘skin’ and ‘skin colour’. The emotional and ethical values of colour cannot be forgotten in trying to discern Greek chromatic culture.

Homer calls the sea ‘winey’, alluding not so much to the water’s tint as to the shine of the liquid inside a cup

Of use are two further parameters, in addition to the Munsell model and the subjective value of colour. There is the glitter effect of colour, which is produced by the interplay of the texture of the object and the light conditions, and there is the material or technological process by which a certain colour is obtained in the practice of painters and dyers. With these in hand, the full range of Greek colours will come into view – even the notorious ‘curious case’ of porphureos, the chromatic term most difficult to grasp.

Not only does porphureos not correspond to any definite hue, placed as it is on the borderline between red and blue (in Newtonian terms), but it is often applied to objects that do not appear straightforwardly ‘purple’, as in the case of the sea. (The fact that the sea can appear purple at sunset is not sufficient to explain the frequency of this epithet in Greek literature.) When the sea is called porphureos , what is described is a mix of brightness and movement, changing according to the light conditions at different hours of the day and with different weather, which was the aspect of the sea that most attracted Greek sensitivity. This is why Homer calls the sea ‘winey’, which alludes not so much to the wine tint of the water as to the shine of the liquid inside the cups used to drink out of at a symposium. As shown by the naval friezes and the aquatic animals painted inside many drinking vessels, vase painters turned the image around, so that the surface of the drink suggested the waving of the sea. Porphureos conveys this combination of brightness and movement – a chromatic term impossible to understand without considering the glimmer effect.

The material effect of shimmering under the light rays is well-caught by Aristotle within a discussion on the colours of the rainbow (one of them being violet). In his Meteorology , he states:

The same effect [as in the rainbow] can also be seen in dyes: for there is an indescribable difference in the appearance of the colours in woven and embroidered materials when they are differently arranged; for instance, purple is quite different on a white or a black background, and variations of light can make a similar difference. So embroiderers say they often make mistakes in their colours when they work by lamplight, picking out one colour in mistake for another.

The luminous quality of purple textiles is due to the particular manufacturing of porphura , the material from which the dye was drawn. Purple dye was produced as early as 1200 BCE in Phoenicia from urine, sea water, and ink from the bladder of murex snails. To extract the snails, the shells were put in a vat where their putrefying bodies excreted a yellowish liquid that would be boiled (the verb porphurō means ‘swirling’ besides ‘growing/dying purple’). Various nuances from yellow to green, to blue, to red could be obtained, depending on how much water was added and when the boiling process was stopped. The red and purple tones were greatly prized in antiquity because of the costliness of the process (one mollusc providing just a few drops of undiluted juice) and the colour did not easily fade – on the contrary, it became brighter with weathering and sunlight. This is why purple was associated throughout antiquity – and beyond – with power, prestige and glorious beauty, worn for centuries by Emperors and kings, cardinals and Popes.

So the curious case of porphura shows how the effects of movement, variation and luminosity went along with resonances of preciousness. (Gold was also appreciated for similar reasons, and it is not by chance that the heroes and gods from Homer to Philostratus are often attired in gold and porphura .) By moving beyond the Newtonian model, a clearer picture of the Greek chromatic world emerges. However, there is one lingering question about the Greek perception of colour: why, after all, did the Greeks value brightness so much? The philosophers that inspired Goethe offer a clue.

T he first pre-Socratic philosopher to mention colour was Parmenides, who wrote in the fifth century BCE that ‘changing place and altering in bright colour’ are among the characteristics that mortals ascribe to reality, ‘trusting them to be true’. Then came Empedocles, with a fragment that compares the mixing of the four elements that build the sensible world to the work that painters do when mixing different pigments in variable proportions:

As when painters decorate votive offerings – men through cunning well-taught in their skill – who when they take the many-coloured pigments in their hands, mixing in harmony more of these and less of those, out of them they produce shapes similar to all things, creating trees and men and women and beasts and birds and fishes nurtured in water and long-lived gods highest in honours

The effect of splendour was likely important to Empedocles’ concept of colour, as he explained the production of all colours through the mixture of two elements, fire and water, which correspond respectively to white (light) and black (darkness), and are considered the two extremes in the chromatic continuum.

Plato’s list of primary colours includes white, black, red, and the ‘brilliant and shining’ – to us, not a colour at all

During the second half of the fifth century BCE, Democritus argued that the nature of colours depends on the interaction between visual rays, daylight and the atomic structure of objects. He considered brilliance to be a factor as important as hue for defining colours. Moreover, in explaining the various colours as mixtures of a basic set of four (white, black, red and green), or as mixtures of the primary mixtures, he considered the mixture of red and white (corresponding to the golden and copper-colour) plus a small amount of green (adding a sense of freshness and life) to give ‘the most beautiful colour’ (probably gold). He regarded purple as a particularly ‘delightful’ colour, on the grounds that it comes from white, black and red, the presence of white being indicated by its brilliance and luminosity. The same appreciation of brilliance is found in Plato, whose account of vision in Timaeus is centred on the interaction of three factors, namely: the fire internal to the observer’s eye; daylight; and the ‘flame’ (that is, again, the light) transmitted by the coloured object. Plato’s list of primary colours includes white, black, red and, most remarkably, the ‘brilliant and shining’, which to us is not a colour at all.

Aristotle differs from Plato on crucial points in metaphysics and psychology. Nevertheless, he shares Plato’s predilection for brilliant colours. In On Sense and the Sensible , he devotes a chapter to colour where he argues that the various colours arise from different proportions in the mixtures of white and black. These last two, moreover, correspond in his view to the fire and the water in the physical bodies, and determine the transparent medium as light and darkness respectively. Red, purple, green and dark blue, kuanoun, are primary mixtures of white and black, the remaining colours resulting from mixtures of the primary ones. Purple, red and green are ‘most pleasant’ to the eye as they are endowed with a peculiar reflectivity, which is due to the neat proportion of light and darkness in their composition.

Aristotle elaborates on the aesthetic assumptions of his predecessors and makes explicit statements on colour being an indicator of vitality and vigour, both in the world and in painting (which recalls the need to take into account the emotional meaning of a colour). Indeed, Aristotle describes the embryo’s development in his biological work On the Generation of Animals by an analogy with painting practice:

In the early stages [of the embryo’s formation] the parts are all traced out in outline; later on, they get their various colours and softnesses and hardnesses, quite as if a painter were at work on them, the painter being nature. Painters, as we know, first of all outline the figure of the animal and after that go on to apply the colours.

What is more visible in painting to Aristotle’s eyes, so as to help to explain the embryo’s growth, is how the pairing of line and colour works: first the drawing of an outline provides the essential features of an image, then comes colour to add ‘flesh’ and the beauty of life. It is most noteworthy that a similar attitude emerges from a number of ancient descriptions of the aesthetic effect produced by the colouring of statues, pervaded by the celebration of the brightening and enlivening properties of colour. For instance, the character of Helen in Euripides’ tragedy, in complaining about the devastating events caused by her beauty, wishes for her colours to be erased from a statue, so as to eliminate her fatal charm. The literary evidence has recently received striking corroboration on this subject from important archaeological reconstructions of ancient sculptural polychromy. The effect sought by applying the most brilliant (and saturated) colours was exactly one of splendour, along with energy, movement and life.

So Goethe was right. In trying to see the world through Greek eyes, the Newtonian view is only somewhat useful. We need to supplement it with the Greeks’ own colour theories, and to examine the way in which they actually tried to describe their world. Without this, the crucial role of light and brightness in their chromatic vision would be lost, as would any chance to make sense of the mobility and fluidity of their chromatic vocabulary. If we rely only on the mathematical abstractions of Newton’s optics, it will be impossible to imagine what the Greeks saw when they stood on their shores, gazing out upon the porphureos sea stretching into the distant horizon.

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Ancient Greek Democracy

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Updated: June 5, 2023 | Original: August 23, 2018

In the year 507 B.C., the Athenian leader Cleisthenes introduced a system of political reforms that he called demokratia, or “rule by the people” (from demos , “the people,” and kratos , or “power”). It was the first known democracy in the world. 

This system was comprised of three separate institutions: the ekklesia, a sovereign governing body that wrote laws and dictated foreign policy; the boule, a council of representatives from the ten Athenian tribes and the dikasteria, the popular courts in which citizens argued cases before a group of lottery-selected jurors. Although this Athenian democracy would survive for only two centuries, its invention by Cleisthenes, “The Father of Democracy,” was one of ancient Greece’s most enduring contributions to the modern world. The Greek system of direct democracy would pave the way for representative democracies across the globe.

Who Could Vote in Ancient Greece?

“In a democracy,” the Greek historian Herodotus wrote, “there is, first, that most splendid of virtues, equality before the law.” It was true that Cleisthenes’ demokratia abolished the political distinctions between the Athenian aristocrats who had long monopolized the political decision-making process and the middle- and working-class people who made up the army and the navy (and whose incipient discontent was the reason Cleisthenes introduced his reforms in the first place). 

Ostracism, in which a citizen could be expelled from Athens for 10 years, was among the powers of the ekklesia.

However, the “equality” Herodotus described was limited to a small segment of the Athenian population in Ancient Greece . For example, in Athens in the middle of the 4th century there were about 100,000 citizens (Athenian citizenship was limited to men and women whose parents had also been Athenian citizens), about 10,000 metoikoi, or “resident foreigners,” and 150,000 slaves. Out of all those people, only male citizens who were older than 18 were a part of the demos, meaning only about 40,000 people could participate in the democratic process.

The Ekklesia

Athenian democracy was a direct democracy made up of three important institutions. The first was the ekklesia, or Assembly, the sovereign governing body of Athens. Any member of the demos—any one of those 40,000 adult male citizens—was welcome to attend the meetings of the ekklesia, which were held 40 times per year in a hillside auditorium west of the Acropolis called the Pnyx. (Only about 5,000 men attended each session of the Assembly; the rest were serving in the army or navy or working to support their families.) 

At the meetings, the ekklesia made decisions about war and foreign policy, wrote and revised laws and approved or condemned the conduct of public officials. (Ostracism, in which a citizen could be expelled from the Athenian city-state for 10 years, was among the powers of the ekklesia.) The group made decisions by simple majority vote.

The second important institution was the boule, or Council of Five Hundred. The boule was a group of 500 men, 50 from each of ten Athenian tribes, who served on the Council for one year. Unlike the ekklesia, the boule met every day and did most of the hands-on work of governance. It supervised government workers and was in charge of things like navy ships (triremes) and army horses. It dealt with ambassadors and representatives from other city-states. Its main function was to decide what matters would come before the ekklesia. In this way, the 500 members of the boule dictated how the entire democracy would work.

Positions on the boule were chosen by lot and not by election. This was because, in theory, a random lottery was more democratic than an election: pure chance, after all, could not be influenced by things like money or popularity. The lottery system also prevented the establishment of a permanent class of civil servants who might be tempted to use the government to advance or enrich themselves. However, historians argue that selection to the boule was not always just a matter of chance. They note that wealthy and influential people—and their relatives—served on the Council much more frequently than would be likely in a truly random lottery.

The Dikasteria

The third important institution was the popular courts, or dikasteria. Every day, more than 500 jurors were chosen by lot from a pool of male citizens older than 30. Of all the democratic institutions, Aristotle argued that the dikasteria “contributed most to the strength of democracy” because the jury had almost unlimited power. 

There were no police in Athens, so it was the demos themselves who brought court cases, argued for the prosecution and the defense and delivered verdicts and sentences by majority rule. (There were also no rules about what kinds of cases could be prosecuted or what could and could not be said at trial, and so Athenian citizens frequently used the dikasteria to punish or embarrass their enemies.)

Jurors were paid a wage for their work, so that the job could be accessible to everyone and not just the wealthy (but, since the wage was less than what the average worker earned in a day, the typical juror was an elderly retiree). Since Athenians did not pay taxes, the money for these payments came from customs duties, contributions from allies and taxes levied on the metoikoi. The one exception to this rule was the leitourgia, or liturgy, which was a kind of tax that wealthy people volunteered to pay to sponsor major civic undertakings such as the maintenance of a navy ship (this liturgy was called the trierarchia) or the production of a play or choral performance at the city’s annual festival.

The End of Athenian Democracy

Around 460 B.C., under the rule of the general Pericles (generals were among the only public officials who were elected, not appointed) Athenian democracy began to evolve into something that we would call an aristocracy: the rule of what Herodotus called “the one man, the best.” Though democratic ideals and processes did not survive in ancient Greece, they have been influencing politicians and governments ever since.

Modern representative democracies, in contrast to direct democracies, have citizens who vote for representatives who create and enact laws on their behalf. Canada, The United States and South Africa are all examples of modern-day representative democracies.

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ENCYCLOPEDIC ENTRY

Democracy (ancient greece).

Democracy in ancient Greece served as one of the first forms of self-rule government in the ancient world. The system and ideas employed by the ancient Greeks had profound influences on how democracy developed, and its impact on the formation of the U.S. government.

Social Studies, Ancient Civilizations

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The ancient Greeks were the first to create a democracy . The word “ democracy ” comes from two Greek words that mean people ( demos ) and rule ( kratos ). Democracy is the idea that the citizens of a country should take an active role in the government of their country and manage it directly or through elected representatives . In addition, it supports the idea that the people can replace their government through peaceful transfers of power rather than violent uprising or revolution . Thus, a key part of democracy is that the people have a voice.

The first known democracy in the world was in Athens. Athenian democracy developed around the fifth century B.C.E. The Greek idea of democracy was different from present-day democracy because, in Athens, all adult citizens were required to take an active part in the government. If they did not fulfill their duty they would be fined and sometimes marked with red paint. The Athenian definition of “citizens” was also different from modern-day citizens: only free men were considered citizens in Athens. Women, children, and slaves were not considered citizens and therefore could not vote.

Each year 500 names were chosen from all the citizens of ancient Athens. Those 500 citizens had to actively serve in the government for one year. During that year, they were responsible for making new laws and controlled all parts of the political process. When a new law was proposed, all the citizens of Athens had the opportunity to vote on it. To vote, citizens had to attend the assembly on the day the vote took place. This form of government is called direct democracy.

The United States has a representative democracy. Representative democracy is a government in which citizens vote for representatives who create and change laws that govern the people rather than getting to vote directly on the laws themselves.

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Related Resources

Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History Essays

Geometric art in ancient greece.

Terracotta krater

Attributed to the Hirschfeld Workshop

Bronze horse

Bronze man and centaur

Terracotta pyxis (box with lid)

Terracotta neck-amphora

Department of Greek and Roman Art , The Metropolitan Museum of Art

October 2004

The roots of Classical Greece lie in the Geometric period of about ca. 900 to 700 B.C., a time of dramatic transformation that led to the establishment of primary Greek institutions. The Greek city-state (polis) was formed, the Greek alphabet was developed, and new opportunities for trade and colonization were realized in cities founded along the coast of Asia Minor, in southern Italy, and in Sicily. With the development of the Greek city-states came the construction of large temples and sanctuaries dedicated to patron deities, which signaled the rise of state religion. Each polis identified with its own legendary hero. By the end of the eighth century B.C., the Greeks had founded a number of major Panhellenic sanctuaries dedicated to the Olympian gods .

Geometric Greece experienced a cultural revival of its historical past through epic poetry and the visual arts. The eighth century B.C. was the time of Homer, whose epic poems describe the Greek campaign against Troy (the Iliad ) and the subsequent adventures of Odysseus on his return to Ithaca (the Odyssey ). A newly emerging aristocracy distinguished itself with material wealth and through references to the Homeric past. Their graves were furnished with metal objects, innately precious by the scarcity of copper, tin, and gold deposits in Greece.

Evidence for the Geometric culture has come down to us in the form of epic poetry, artistic representation, and the archaeological record. From Hesiod ( Erga  639–40), we assume that most eighth-century B.C. Greeks lived off the land. The epic poet describes the difficult life of the Geometric farmer. There are, however, few archaeological remains that describe everyday life during this period. Monumental kraters, originally used as grave markers, depict funerary rituals and heroic warriors. The presence of fine metalwork attests to prosperity and trade. In the earlier Geometric period, these objects, weapons, fibulae, and jewelry are found in graves—most likely relating to the status of the deceased. By the late eighth century B.C., however, the majority of metal objects are small bronze figurines—votive offerings associated with sanctuaries.

Votive offerings of bronze and terracotta , and painted scenes on monumental vessels attest to a renewed interest in figural imagery that focuses on funerary rituals and the heroic world of aristocratic warriors and their equipment. The armed warrior , the chariot, and the horse are the most familiar symbols of the Geometric period. Iconographically, Geometric images are difficult to interpret due to the lack of inscriptions and the scarcity of identifying attributes. There can be little doubt, however, that many of the principal characters and stories of Greek mythology already existed, and that they simply had not yet received explicit visual form.

Surviving material shows a mastery of the major media—turning, decorating, and firing terracotta vases; casting and cold-working bronze; engraving gems; and working gold. The only significant medium that had not yet evolved was that of monumental stone sculpture—large-scale cult images most likely were constructed of a perishable material such as wood. Instead, powerful bronze figurines and monumental clay vases manifest the clarity and order that are, perhaps, the most salient characteristics of Greek art.

Department of Greek and Roman Art. “Geometric Art in Ancient Greece.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/grge/hd_grge.htm (October 2004)

Further Reading

Coldstream, J. N. Geometric Greece . New York: St. Martin's Press, 1977.

Garland, Robert. The Greek Way of Death . Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1985.

Hornblower, Simon, and Antony Spawforth, eds. The Oxford Classical Dictionary . 3d ed., rev. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

Langdon, Susan, ed. From Pasture to Polis: Art in the Age of Homer . Exhibition catalogue. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1993.

Lawrence, A. W. Greek Architecture . 4th ed., rev. by R. A. Tomlinson. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1983.

Padgett, J. Michael, ed. The Centaur's Smile: The Human Animal in Early Greek Art . Exhibition catalogue. Princeton: Princeton University Art Museum, 2003.

Pedley, John Griffiths. Greek Art and Archaeology . 2d ed. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1998.

Schweitzer, Bernhard. Greek Geometric Art . New York: Phaidon, 1971.

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