Plaka: History: Classical


The Plaka > >
		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; sculpture, architecture, poetry.


			More than these artifacts -
	it is the ideas and practice of

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.

democracy, truth, beauty and balance.

And it also a story of all that is base in humans that seek to turn away from these ideals.

The Greek miracle and the Greek tragedy. It is the story of how the West began. It is a compelling universal human story of the best and the worst in us.

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.

Aspects

Did Greeks really invent democracy? Didn't they have slaves?

The Parthenon

Books about the Classical era.

Words about the "Greek Miracle."

Links
For a good source of information on this period, check out Perseus

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 liberty for the greatness that follows.

Chronology