1.
Classical Athens
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Athenian democracy was established in 508 BC under Cleisthenes following the tyranny of Isagoras. This system remained remarkably stable, and with a few brief interruptions remained in place for 180 years, the peak of Athenian hegemony was achieved in the 440s to 430s BC, known as the Age of Pericles. The radical politician of aristocratic background, Cleisthenes, then took charge, the reforms of Cleisthenes replaced the traditional four Ionic tribes with ten new ones, named after legendary heroes of Greece and having no class basis, which acted as electorates. Each tribe was in divided into three trittyes, while each trittys had one or more demes —depending on their population—which became the basis of local government. The tribes each selected fifty members by lot for the Boule, the public opinion of voters could be influenced by the political satires written by the comic poets and performed in the city theaters. Most offices were filled by lot, although the ten strategoi were elected, prior to the rise of Athens, Sparta, a city-state with a militaristic culture, considered itself the leader of the Greeks, and enforced a hegemony. In 499 BC Athens sent troops to aid the Ionian Greeks of Asia Minor and this provoked two Persian invasions of Greece, both of which were repelled under the leadership of the soldier-statesmen Miltiades and Themistocles. In 490 the Athenians, led by Miltiades, prevented the first invasion of the Persians, guided by king Darius I, in 480 the Persians returned under a new ruler, Xerxes I. Simultaneously the Athenians led a naval battle off Artemisium. However, this action was not enough to discourage the Persian advance which soon marched through Boeotia, setting up Thebes as their base of operations. This forced the Athenians to evacuate Athens, which was taken by the Persians, subsequently the Athenians and their allies, led by Themistocles, defeated the Persian navy at sea in the Battle of Salamis. It is interesting to note that Xerxes had built himself a throne on the coast in order to see the Greeks defeated, spartas hegemony was passing to Athens, and it was Athens that took the war to Asia Minor. These victories enabled it to bring most of the Aegean and many parts of Greece together in the Delian League. He fostered arts and literature and gave to Athens a splendor which would never return throughout its history and he executed a large number of public works projects and improved the life of the citizens. Hence, he gave his name to the Athenian Golden Age, silver mined in Laurium in southeastern Attica contributed greatly to the prosperity of this Golden Age of Athens. During the time of the ascendancy of Ephialtes as leader of the democratic faction, the conflict marked the end of Athenian command of the sea. The war between Athens and the city-state Sparta ended with an Athenian defeat after Sparta started its own navy, Athenian democracy was briefly overthrown by the coup of 411, brought about because of its poor handling of the war, but it was quickly restored. The war ended with the defeat of Athens in 404
2.
Caryatid
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A caryatid is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term karyatides literally means maidens of Karyai, an ancient town of Peloponnese, the best-known and most-copied examples are those of the six figures of the Caryatid Porch of the Erechtheion on the Acropolis at Athens. One of those original six figures, removed by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century, is now in the British Museum in London, the Acropolis Museum holds the other five figures, which are replaced onsite by replicas. The five originals that are in Athens are now being exhibited in the new Acropolis Museum, the pedestal for the Caryatid removed to London remains empty. From 2011 to 2015, they were cleaned by a specially constructed laser beam, each Caryatid was cleaned in place, with a television circuit relaying the spectacle live to museum visitors. Their bulky, intricately arranged hairstyles serve the purpose of providing static support to their necks. The Romans also copied the Erechtheion caryatids, installing copies in the Forum of Augustus and the Pantheon in Rome, another Roman example, found on the Via Appia, is the Townley Caryatid. Early interior examples are the figures of Hercules and Iole carved on the jambs of a fireplace in the Sala della Jole of the Doges Palace, Venice. In the following century Jacopo Sansovino, both sculptor and architect, carved a pair of female figures supporting the shelf of a marble chimneypiece at Villa Garzoni, near Padua. No architect mentioned the device until 1615, when Palladios pupil Vincenzo Scamozzi included a chapter devoted to chimneypieces in his Idea della archittura universale. In the early 17th century, interior examples appear in Jacobean interiors in England, many caryatids lined up on the facade of the 1893 Palace of the Arts housing the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. In the arts of design, the draped figure supporting an acanthus-grown basket capital taking the form of a candlestick or a table-support is a familiar cliché of neoclassical decorative arts, the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota has caryatids as a motif on its eastern facade. Auguste Rodins 1881 sculpture Fallen Caryatid Carrying her Stone shows a fallen caryatid, robert Heinlein described this piece in Stranger in a Strange Land, Now here we have another emotional symbol. For almost three years or longer, architects have designed buildings with columns shaped as female figures. After all those centuries it took Rodin to see that this was too heavy for a girl. Here is this poor little caryatid who has tried — and failed and she didnt give up, Ben, shes still trying to lift that stone after it has crushed her. The origins of the term are unclear and it is first recorded in the Latin form caryatides by the Roman architect Vitruvius. However, Vitruvius explanation is doubtful, well before the Persian Wars, female figures were used as supports in Greece
3.
Erechtheion
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The Erechtheion or Erechtheum is an ancient Greek temple on the north side of the Acropolis of Athens in Greece which was dedicated to both Athena and Poseidon. The temple as seen today was built between 421 and 406 BCE and its architect may have been Mnesicles, and it derived its name from a shrine dedicated to the legendary Greek hero Erichthonius. The sculptor and mason of the structure was Phidias, who was employed by Pericles to build both the Erechtheum and the Parthenon, some have suggested that it may have been built in honor of the legendary king Erechtheus, who is said to have been buried nearby. Erechtheus was mentioned in Homers Iliad as a king and ruler of Athens during the Archaic Period, and Erechtheus. It is believed to have been a replacement for the Peisistratid temple of Athena Polias destroyed by the Persians in 480 BC, the need to preserve multiple adjacent sacred precincts likely explains the complex design. The main structure consists of up to four compartments, the largest being the east cella, the entire temple is on a slope, so the west and north sides are about 3 m lower than the south and east sides. It was built entirely of marble from Mount Pentelikon, with friezes of black limestone from Eleusis which bore sculptures executed in relief in white marble. It had elaborately carved doorways and windows, and its columns were decorated, they were painted, gilded and highlighted with gilt bronze. The building is known for early examples of egg-and-dart, and guilloche ornamental moldings, the Theory of Mouldings, p22, J. H. Janson 1926, has detailed drawings of some of the decorations. On the north side, there is another large porch with six Ionic columns, and on the south, the famous Porch of the Maidens, with six draped female figures as supporting columns. An olive tree remains on the Western side of the Erechtheus, though it was planted there in modern times by Sophia of Prussia, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, in honour of the Athenians. In front of the statue, a golden lamp called asbestos lychnia made by the sculptor Callimachus burned continuously with its asbestos wick and was refuelled once a year. The eastern part of the building was dedicated to Athena Polias, while the western part served the cult of Poseidon-Erechtheus and held the altars of Hephaistus and Voutos, according to the myth, Athenas sacred snake lived there. The snake was fed honey-cakes by Canephorae, the priestesses of Athena Polias, by custom the women of the ancient family of Eteoboutadae, the snakes occasional refusal to eat the cakes was thought a disastrous omen. The Erechtheion underwent extensive repairs and reformation for the first time during the 1st century B. C. after its burning by the Roman general Sulla. The intact Erechtheum was extensively described by the Roman geographer Pausanias, the building was altered decisively during the early Byzantine period, when it was transformed into a church dedicated to the Theometor. With this alteration many architectural features of the ancient construction were lost and it became a palace under Frankish rule and the residence of the Turkish commanders harem in the Ottoman period. Athenian legend had it that at night the remaining five Caryatids could be heard wailing for their lost sister, Elgin attempted to remove a second Caryatid, when technical difficulties arose, he tried to have it sawn to pieces
4.
Panathenaic Games
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The Panathenaic Games were held every four years in Athens in Ancient Greece since 566 BC. They continued into the 3rd century AD and these Games incorporated religious festival, ceremony, athletic competitions, and cultural events hosted within a stadium. The competitions for which this came to be known were only part of a much larger religious occasion. These ritual observances consisted of numerous sacrifices to Athena as well as Poseidon, a sister-event to the Great Panathenaea was held every year - the Lesser Panathenaea, which was 3–4 days shorter in celebration. The competitions were the most prestigious games for the citizens of Athens, the first Great Panathenaea was held during the rule of Peisistratos in 566 BC, and was modelled on the Olympic Games. Peisistratos also added music and poetry competitions, which were part of the Pythian Games, the games were divided into games for Athenians only, and games for Athenians and any other Greeks who wanted to participate. These games in only the Athenians were allowed to participate were somewhat different. These included a race from the Piraeus to the Acropolis, mock infantry and cavalry battles, a javelin throw on horseback, the apobatai, the pyrriche. The prestigious event was a four-horse chariot race and the received a prize larger than for any of the athletic contests. In later years there was also a rowing competition, the procession to the Parthenon was more important than the games themselves. During the Great Panathenaia, a robe was made by the women of Athens for the statue of Athena. There was also a large sacrifice made to Athena, the hekatombe and the meat from the animals was used in an enormous banquet on the final night of the festival. Many scholars believe that this procession is the theme of the inner Ionic Parthenon Frieze, award ceremonies included the giving of Panathenaic amphora which were the large ceramic vessels that contained the oil given as prizes. The winner of the race received as a prize one-hundred. The Panathenaea also included poetic and musical competitions, prizes were awarded for rhapsodic recitation of Homeric poetry, for instrumental music on the aulus and cithara, and for singing to the accompaniment of the aulus and cithara. In addition, the Games included a reading of both the Odyssey and the Iliad, the athletic events were staged at the Panathenaic Stadium, which is still in use today. The Panathenaic stadium has hosted modern Olympic Games in 1870,1875,1896,1906 and 2004, the Panathenaic Games held contests in a number of musical, athletic, and equestrian events. Due to the fact there were so many contests held
5.
Ancient Greek
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Ancient Greek includes the forms of Greek used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around the 9th century BC to the 6th century AD. It is often divided into the Archaic period, Classical period. It is antedated in the second millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Hellenistic phase is known as Koine. Koine is regarded as a historical stage of its own, although in its earliest form it closely resembled Attic Greek. Prior to the Koine period, Greek of the classic and earlier periods included several regional dialects, Ancient Greek was the language of Homer and of fifth-century Athenian historians, playwrights, and philosophers. It has contributed many words to English vocabulary and has been a subject of study in educational institutions of the Western world since the Renaissance. This article primarily contains information about the Epic and Classical phases of the language, Ancient Greek was a pluricentric language, divided into many dialects. The main dialect groups are Attic and Ionic, Aeolic, Arcadocypriot, some dialects are found in standardized literary forms used in literature, while others are attested only in inscriptions. There are also several historical forms, homeric Greek is a literary form of Archaic Greek used in the epic poems, the Iliad and Odyssey, and in later poems by other authors. Homeric Greek had significant differences in grammar and pronunciation from Classical Attic, the origins, early form and development of the Hellenic language family are not well understood because of a lack of contemporaneous evidence. Several theories exist about what Hellenic dialect groups may have existed between the divergence of early Greek-like speech from the common Proto-Indo-European language and the Classical period and they have the same general outline, but differ in some of the detail. The invasion would not be Dorian unless the invaders had some relationship to the historical Dorians. The invasion is known to have displaced population to the later Attic-Ionic regions, the Greeks of this period believed there were three major divisions of all Greek people—Dorians, Aeolians, and Ionians, each with their own defining and distinctive dialects. Often non-west is called East Greek, Arcadocypriot apparently descended more closely from the Mycenaean Greek of the Bronze Age. Boeotian had come under a strong Northwest Greek influence, and can in some respects be considered a transitional dialect, thessalian likewise had come under Northwest Greek influence, though to a lesser degree. Most of the dialect sub-groups listed above had further subdivisions, generally equivalent to a city-state and its surrounding territory, Doric notably had several intermediate divisions as well, into Island Doric, Southern Peloponnesus Doric, and Northern Peloponnesus Doric. The Lesbian dialect was Aeolic Greek and this dialect slowly replaced most of the older dialects, although Doric dialect has survived in the Tsakonian language, which is spoken in the region of modern Sparta. Doric has also passed down its aorist terminations into most verbs of Demotic Greek, by about the 6th century AD, the Koine had slowly metamorphosized into Medieval Greek
6.
Ancient Greece
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Ancient Greece was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th-9th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and this was followed by the period of Classical Greece, an era that began with the Greco-Persian Wars, lasting from the 5th to 4th centuries BC. Due to the conquests by Alexander the Great of Macedonia, Hellenistic civilization flourished from Central Asia to the end of the Mediterranean Sea. Classical Greek culture, especially philosophy, had a influence on ancient Rome. For this reason Classical Greece is generally considered to be the culture which provided the foundation of modern Western culture and is considered the cradle of Western civilization. Classical Antiquity in the Mediterranean region is considered to have begun in the 8th century BC. Classical Antiquity in Greece is preceded by the Greek Dark Ages and this period is succeeded, around the 8th century BC, by the Orientalizing Period during which a strong influence of Syro-Hittite, Jewish, Assyrian, Phoenician and Egyptian cultures becomes apparent. The end of the Dark Ages is also dated to 776 BC. The Archaic period gives way to the Classical period around 500 BC, Ancient Periods Astronomical year numbering Dates are approximate, consult particular article for details The history of Greece during Classical Antiquity may be subdivided into five major periods. The earliest of these is the Archaic period, in which artists made larger free-standing sculptures in stiff, the Archaic period is often taken to end with the overthrow of the last tyrant of Athens and the start of Athenian Democracy in 508 BC. It was followed by the Classical period, characterized by a style which was considered by observers to be exemplary, i. e. classical, as shown in the Parthenon. This period saw the Greco-Persian Wars and the Rise of Macedon, following the Classical period was the Hellenistic period, during which Greek culture and power expanded into the Near and Middle East. This period begins with the death of Alexander and ends with the Roman conquest, Herodotus is widely known as the father of history, his Histories are eponymous of the entire field. Herodotus was succeeded by authors such as Thucydides, Xenophon, Demosthenes, Plato, most of these authors were either Athenian or pro-Athenian, which is why far more is known about the history and politics of Athens than those of many other cities. Their scope is limited by a focus on political, military and diplomatic history, ignoring economic. In the 8th century BC, Greece began to emerge from the Dark Ages which followed the fall of the Mycenaean civilization, literacy had been lost and Mycenaean script forgotten, but the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet, modifying it to create the Greek alphabet. The Lelantine War is the earliest documented war of the ancient Greek period and it was fought between the important poleis of Chalcis and Eretria over the fertile Lelantine plain of Euboea. Both cities seem to have suffered a decline as result of the long war, a mercantile class arose in the first half of the 7th century BC, shown by the introduction of coinage in about 680 BC
7.
Polis
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Polis, plural poleis literally means city in Greek. It can also mean a body of citizens, in modern historiography, polis is normally used to indicate the ancient Greek city-states, like Classical Athens and its contemporaries, and thus is often translated as city-state. The term city-state, which originated in English, does not fully translate the Greek term. The poleis were not like other primordial ancient city-states like Tyre or Sidon, which were ruled by a king or a small oligarchy, the term polis, which in archaic Greece meant city, changed with the development of the governance center in the city to signify state. Finally, with the emergence of a notion of citizenship among landowners, the ancient Greeks did not always refer to Athens, Sparta, Thebes, and other poleis as such, they often spoke instead of the Athenians, Lacedaemonians, Thebans and so on. The body of citizens came to be the most important meaning of the polis in ancient Greece. The Greek term that meant the totality of urban buildings. Plato analyzes the polis in The Republic, whose Greek title, Πολιτεία, the best form of government of the polis for Plato is the one that leads to the common good. The philosopher king is the best ruler because, as a philosopher, in Platos analogy of the ship of state, the philosopher king steers the polis, as if it were a ship, in the best direction. Books II–IV of The Republic are concerned with Plato addressing the makeup of an ideal polis, in The Republic, Socrates is concerned with the two underlying principles of any society, mutual needs and differences in aptitude. Starting from these two principles, Socrates deals with the structure of an ideal polis. According to Plato, there are five main classes of any polis, producers, merchants, sailors/shipowners, retail traders. Along with the two principles and five classes, there are four virtues. The four virtues of a just city include, wisdom, courage, moderation, with all of these principles, classes, and virtues, it was believed that a just city would exist. Publication of state functions, laws, decrees, and major fiscal accounts were published, synoecism, conurbation, Absorption of nearby villages and countryside, and the incorporation of their tribes into the substructure of the polis. Many of a polis citizens lived in the suburbs or countryside, most cities were composed of several tribes or phylai, which were in turn composed of phratries, and finally génea. They had the right to vote, be elected into office, and bear arms, metics could not vote, be elected to office, bear arms, or serve in war. They otherwise had full personal and property rights, albeit subject to taxation, slaves, chattel in full possession of their owner, and with no privileges other than those that their owner would grant at will
8.
Athena
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Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is the goddess of wisdom, craft, and war in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Minerva is the Roman goddess identified with Athena, Athena is known for her calm temperament, as she moves slowly to anger. She is noted to have fought for just reasons. Athena is portrayed as a companion of heroes and is the patron goddess of heroic endeavour. She is the patroness of Athens. The Athenians founded the Parthenon on the Acropolis of her city, Athens. Veneration of Athena was so persistent that archaic myths about her were recast to adapt to cultural changes, in her role as a protector of the city, many people throughout the Greek world worshipped Athena as Athena Polias. While the city of Athens and the goddess Athena essentially bear the same name, Athena is associated with Athens, a plural name, because it was the place where she presided over her sisterhood, the Athenai, in earliest times. Mycenae was the city where the Goddess was called Mykene, at Thebes she was called Thebe, and the city again a plural, Thebae. Similarly, at Athens she was called Athena, and the city Athenae, Athena had a special relationship with Athens, as is shown by the etymological connection of the names of the goddess and the city. According to mythical lore, she competed with Poseidon and she won by creating the olive tree, the Athenians would accept her gift and name the city after her. In history, the citizens of Athens built a statue of Athena as a temple to the goddess, which had piercing eyes, a helmet on her head, attired with an aegis or cuirass, and an extremely long spear. It also had a shield with the head of the Gorgon on it. A large snake accompanied her and she held Nike, the goddess of victory, therefore, Mylonas believes that Athena was a Mycenaean creation. On the other hand, Nilsson claims that she was the goddess of the palace who protected the king, a-ta-no-dju-wa-ja is also found in Linear A Minoan, the final part being regarded as the Linear A Minoan equivalent of the Linear B Mycenaean di-u-ja or di-wi-ja. Divine Athena also was a weaver and the deity of crafts, whether her name is attested in Eteocretan or not will have to wait for decipherment of Linear A. Perhaps, however, the name Theonoe may mean she who knows divine things better than others. Thus for Plato her name was to be derived from Greek Ἀθεονόα, Plato also noted that the citizens of Sais in Egypt worshipped a goddess whose Egyptian name was Neith, and which was identified with Athena. Neith was the war goddess and huntress deity of the Egyptians since the ancient Pre-Dynastic period, in addition, ancient Greek myths reported that Athena had visited many mythological places such as Libyas Triton River in North Africa and the Phlegraean plain
9.
Kanephoros
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The role was given to a virgin selected from amongst the aristocratic or Eupatrid families of Athens whose purity and youth was thought essential to ensure a successful sacrifice. The passage continues, “inally, when I had grown to be a girl, I was a kanephoros. The cult practice of bearing the basket in a sacrificial procession may date back to the Minoan period, however, the role is also referred to in myth with the abduction of Oreithyia by Boreas. A girl who acted as kanephoros would have advertised the place of her family in Athenian society. The depiction of the kanephoros in art presents an interesting problem, unlike the ephebos there are few representations of such girls, possibly because of the restriction on mentioning the name of honourable women in ancient Greek society. Excluding the Parthenon there are only some 44 images of girls, otherwise she must be identified by her dress since while serving her office the kanephoros wore a distinctive full-length mantle, for example in the kylix by Makron, Toledo, Ohio 1972.55. This would solve the problem of the absence of the basket bearers from the processional frieze. Arsinoe II is mentioned as kanephoros on the Rosetta stone, edinburgh University Press,2003, ISBN 0-7486-1643-8,2003. Girls and Women in Classical Greek Religion, goff, Barbara E. Citizen Bacchae, Women’s Ritual Practice in Ancient Greece. University of California Press,2004, ISBN 0-520-23998-9, the Kanephoros and her Festival Mantle in Greek Art, American Journal of Archaeology, Vol.99, No
