Greece

Plato

Plato was born to a wealthy family in Ancient Greece, and was the student of the great philosopher Socrates. After the death of his teacher, Plato founded the first university, called ‘The Academy’. Plato wrote down his teachings in the form conversations called dialogues. The most famous of his dialogues are ‘The Republic’ and ‘The Death of Socrates’. The Republic describes what Plato thought would be a better form of government than the government of Athens. The work also famous for it’s literary style.

Hesiod

   

Hesiod was a Greek epic poet who flourished in Boeotia around 700 B.C. He, alongside Homer, was the most respected of the old Greek poets. His epic poem ‘Theogony’ describes the origins of the gods, and his ‘works and days’ deals with subjects like farming, morality and country life. In ‘works and days’, Hesiod divided time into five ages. The first is the golden age, ruled by Cronus, when people lived extremely long lives ‘without sorrow of heart’. The second is the silver age, ruled by Zeus. The third is the bronze, an epoch war, the first is the heroic age, which was the time of Trojan war. The fifth and last age, is the iron age which is corrupt present. The ‘Theogony’ presents the descent of the gods, and is one of the key documents for Greek mythology. He was also the author of a large number of lost or fragments of poems. Hesiod probably lived shortly after Homer, in a village called Ascra. He worked as a shepherd in the mountains, and then, as a peasant on a hard land when his father died. While tending his flock, the muses, was murdered b the sons of his host in Oeneon. Later, his bones were brought to Orchomenus where a monument was erected in the market place in his honour. Hesiod’s works are very important because he spoke about his experiences through his poetry. He lived during the classical era of Greece, which was an exciting period when Greek civilization flourished in all it’s glory. Hesiod’s works give us a meaningful insight into this momentous era.

Plato

Aristotle

Herodotus 

Herodotus is sometimes called ‘the father of history’. He lived in turkey during the fifth century BC, and wrote about Greek and Persian wars. Herodotus wanted to record what actually happened, rather than talking about the Gods and Goddesses. His purpose was to describe the war between the Persians and the Greeks – the struggle for supremacy between Europe and Asia, between civilization and barbarism, between freedom and despotism. Herodotus’ work is significant because he had travelled widely, and his ‘history’ is one of the primary sources for information on ancient lands and peoples. There are extensive details relating to the spiritual practices and beliefs of the Greeks and other peoples. He described analyzed warfare and politics, and his writings strongly influenced future historians.