The People of Ancient Greece – A guide to the General Public

Important to History of Greece King Leonidas – King of the Spartan Military, Battle of Thermopylae Claim to fame – Leonidias was the military leader that helped to slow the advancing Persian army into Greece. His sacrifice at Thermopylae helped the rest of Greece to get organized and defend the homeland.

Draco – Lawmaker, Tyrant of Athens Draco was a tyrant (leader) of Athenian government in the years before the Persian War. He was responsible for rewriting the written code of law for Athens, to make it more effective Draco instituted some very unpopular ideas, such as debt slavery Debt slavery was the idea that the poor of Athens had to submit themselves as slaves to those they owed. This would work off the debt. The Poor of Athens did not react well to this, and threatened civil war

Solon – Lawmaker (contemporary of Draco), Tryant of Athens Solon was given law powers after Draco instituted some very unpopular ideas. He reformed many of Athens’ laws, including debt slavery. He outlawed it. Solon kick-started Greece’s foreign trade and economy, instituting the export of grapes and olives, two of Greece’s main crops.

Greeks that contributed to Western Civilization (in one form or another) Aeschylus – Greek playwright who wrote many plays, only seven of which still survive. Famous for: his play The Oresteia, a play about the family of Agamemnon, the commander of Greek forces at Troy. Sophocles – Greek playwright; probably the most important (he wrote the most plays, and was more famous than Aeschylus) Famous For: his play Oedipus the King, a play about a boy who becomes King of Athens; inadvertently marries his mother and kills his father

Greek Poetry Homer – Greek poet, famous for his epic poems (poems that are long and tell a tale) Famous For: His two greatest epic poems that survived The Illiad – the story of the Greek war against Troy, fought to bring back Helen to Greece. The heroes of the story are Achillies, the great Greek warrior, and Hector, the great Trojan warrior. Achillies is killed in the battle for Troy. The Odyssey – this is the story of Odysseus, one of the Greek soldiers in the Trojan War. He angers Poseidon, the god of the sea, and for punishment is cursed to travel for years back home to Greece. His adventures are required reading for most school children.

Greek Historians Herodotus – Greek historian, called the “Father of History”. Herodotus was the first scholar to research facts and test them in a storytelling format. Famous for: his history of the Persian Wars in Greece. His work was the first in history to tackle an historical event. Thucydides – Greek historian in the style of Herodotus. Famous For: his history of the Peloponnesian Wars between Athens and Sparta. His story showed how this war affected both city states and Greece herself.

Greek Sculpture Phidias – Greek Sculptor Famous For: his statue at the Temple of Olympia (a temple to the gods of Mt. Olympus). The statue of Zeus in this temple was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Greek Science Pioneers Archimedes – Greek science pioneer Famous For: his discovery of the principle of the lever. He realized that work could be made easier by applying force opposite the weight of the object being lifted. Estimated the value of Pi The principle of water displacement – legend has it that Archimedes was getting into a bath when he suddenly realized that his weight was displacing a volume of water. He shouted “Eureka” and proceeded to record his thoughts. Hippocrates – Greek scientist, pioneer of the medical arts Famous for: his ideas about medicine, especially the idea that doctors and people in the medical field should “first do no harm”, in modern times doctors swear to this in the Hippocratic Oath, named for him

Greek Mathematicians Euclid (YOO-klid) – Greek mathematician and experimenter Famous For: his discovery and formulation of Geometry. Known as the ‘Father of Geometry’. survived!! Euclid wrote a book called Elements, around 300 BC. This book would be used to teach geometry until the early 20th century! That is 23 centuries that his work on geometry Pythagoras – Greek Mathematician Famous for: his work with triangles. He concluded that a right triangle with sides a, b, and c will measure ….called the Pythagorean Theorem and it is the basis for all triangle based geometry and algebra.

Greek Philosophers Socrates – Greek Philosopher and teacher; “the Father of Philosophy” Famous For: advancing the thoughts of philosophy through questions & answers. “An unexamined life is not worth living” His “Socratic Method” is a question and answer method still used in modern education

Plato – Greek Philosopher, student of Socrates (28 when Socrates died) Famous for: his written work, The Republic, where he sets forth his ‘ideal society’. These ideas would dominate philosophical thought for 1500 years. Ideal society not a democracy Humans divided into three ‘natural’ classes Farmers and artisans Warriors Rulers Smartest, wisest man in society would rule as the ‘philosopher-king’

Aristotle – Greek philosopher, Student of Plato; considered by many philosophers as the greatest in history Famous for: his ideas on logic, his formulation of how to understand a problem (these ideas are used 1200 years later to form the scientific method) Aristotle basically wrote about all the knowledge of the day, and summarized it in his written works