5th century BC

Curiosity killed the cat is a common cliché alluding to a negative connotation for questioning. However, everyone dies so is questioning really an awful thing? To the Athenians against Socrates, yes, but Socrates opinion is the exact opposite. Things must be questioned , but the intention for questioning is equally as important. This is where people may have been confused with Socrates which lead to his indictment. Indeed, Socrates claim is true and with the right intentions, it has the potential for an individual to gain wisdom and knowledge. Socrates has gained many slanders and criticisms from the Athenians because he questions authorities and respected business men of Athen to reveal them as ignorant in their expertise. His interrogations destroy the beliefs of those who are being questioned, leaving them frustrated and lost without offering an alternative explanation. Not only does he cause them to question their beliefs, he embarasses them by publicly challenging what the wisdom they think they obtain. His inquisition of others’ creeds and conducts cause the person to feel as if they are being attacked, but that is not the case. Socrates isn’t interested in attacking the person, but, is interested in exploiting false beliefs. He sees it as his duty to pursue those who think they have wisdom for two reasons: He wants to have wisdom and know of truth because he is wise in the fact that he knows nothing. Thus his curiosity makes him eager to speak with them. The second…

While Greece had many forms of government (which also reflects their need not to gravitate to one extreme in terms of government), the Greeks are commonly known for the origination of Democracy, in Athens. The Athenian government was reformed many times until the 5th century, when they reached a form of democracy that fully represented all Athenian citizens. They were pushed to do so both from their appreciation of human nature, and their value of the middle class. In a writing by Aristotle…

fairly homogenous throughout the city-states as well, with an infantry formed from hoplites, and in the fifth century and later, a navy. However, in regards to Athenian…

How can you determine one great polis more important from another? In the late fourth century, Athenian philosophers began to immerge bringing with them the idea of educating “the whole person. Sparta, on the other hand, still only focused on education for the military. Along with Sparta only concern being the military, they also do not have a steady economy. Athens, however, was very steady regarding economics. Also, in Athens, we see a happy and enjoyable social environment. Around the 4th…

Aristophanes was a Greek playwright living in Athens during the Peloponnesian War whose comedies typically satirized the democracy and society. He wrote the comedy “The Acharnians” to establish the problems with the democracy leading Athens. He believes a successful democracy in Athens could only be possible if the troubles damaging the democracy were fixed. For Aristophanes, democracy in Athens is possible if greed is eliminated, equality achieved, and empathy developed because these three…

Athens and Sparta were two city-states in the land of Ancient Greece. In fact, they were the largest of them all. Athens was a very calm and creative city who was known for thriving in politics and economy. They were also very laid back. In Athens, you could get a good education and major in whichever subject you chose. Focusing on scholastics, they allowed serving in the military to be a choice, not a requirement. However, Sparta was a very strict city that is remembered especially for their…

Freedom, is supposed to be the basis upon which the United States of America was founded, a nation in which all beliefs and views are considered in equal measure to each other. Yet are US citizens truly free? According to the ancient Greek city-state Athens, freedom was the privilege of being civically engaged in lawmaking and everyday governance of the community. Athenian citizens would scoff at the idea that freedom is the ability to pursue happiness and pleasures, because to them those…

Dear Cousin Betty, The war here is getting challenging and harder every moment. But I have hopes that we are going to win and get it all over with. The Persians attacked the Ionians and because we have nothing against the Ionians they asked us to allied with them. But they also asked some Greek city-states for help. The Spartan army was going against the Persians, but one thing has to be clear the Persians didn’t attack us directly we were asked to ‘group up’ with the Ionians and with Greek…

up an art history timeline if a statue is not properly dated to the correct era. This is case the regarding the Piombino Apollo, a statue found at sea in 1832 with a complex history of study where it eventually made its way to the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. The statue looks extremely archaic, like a kouros, but some more advanced stylistic evidence on the statue contradict the earlier claim regarding an archaic date and places it in a later Hellenistic one. The problematic relationship…

In the play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar there are many different characters all having different parts. Each of the four main character has their own big part in the story, and each have different sides to them. Each character has a different part, either killing Caesar of giving pay back to the killers. The four main characters in the play are Julius Caesar, Marc Antony, Marcus Brutus, and Mr. Cassius. It could be said that each of the characters in the play could be change the name of the…