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The Parthenon; | |||||||
| the plays of Sophocles, | ||||||||
| Aeschylus, Aristophanes & Euripides; the history of Thucydides, Herodotus and Xenophon; the philosophy of Socrates and Plato; the leadership of Themistocles & Pericles; | ![]() |
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| sculpture, | ||||||||
| architecture, poetry. | ||||||||
| 336 Accession of Alexander |
Alexander became King in Macadonia upon the murder of his father and began the conquests that defined the beginning of the Hellenistic era. |
More than these artifacts it is the ideas and practice of democracy, truth, beauty and balance. And it also a story of imperialism, aristrocacy, pride and war. The Greek miracle and the Greek tragedy. It is the story of how the West began. It is a compelling human story of the best and the worst in us. |
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| 359 - 336 Macedonia rising | Under Philip, a power arises to the north that threatens the weak Athens. | |||||||||||
| 404
- 359 Late Classical |
No longer a political force in an active sense, Athens still was the home of Socrates (killed 399) and Plato. | |||||||||||
| 431
- 404 The Peloponnesian War |
For reasons small and petty, Athens and Sparta tangled, the one a naval power the other a land one. Over time they exhausted each other; Sparta won and the chance for more to be created died. |
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| 478
- 431 The Greek Miracle |
It all happened here. | |||||||||||
| 490 - 478 Persian Wars | Twice an outnumbered Greek nation fights off the Persian hosts and secures space for what follows. | |||||||||||