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[introduction.]

p The wars with Persia marked an important turning point in the history of classical Greece. These wars resulted from the fact that Persia, which as far back as the time of Cyrus had held sway over the rich Greek towns on the coast of Asia Minoi, was aspiring to capture the city-states on the Greek mainland.

In 500 B.C. one of the largest Greek towns in Asia Minor, Miletus, rose up against Persian rule and the remaining Gieek towns in Asia Minor then followed suit. In their search for outside help in the struggle against the vast Persian Empire the insurgent towns turned to the mainland cities for help. The only Greek states to respond to this request were Athens, which sent 20 ships, and Eretria, a small town on the island of Euboea which was only able to send 5 ships. Such help was very limited and insufficient, but after quelling the uprising the Persian King Darius used it as a pretext for declaring war against the Greek mainland states.

The Battle of Marathon

p Darius sent envoys to the Greek city-states who in the name of the "Great King, the King of Kings" demanded "eaith and water”, tokens of complete submission. The majority of the Gieek city-states feeling themselves unable to stand up to Peisian attack complied with this demand. Only two states gave the envoys a different reception: in Athens they were killed and in Sparta they were thrown into a deep well, where they were told thev would find sufficient earth and water.

p In 492 the Persians embarked on their first expedition against Gieece, which proved unsuccessful. The Persian fleet ran into a 61 62 serious storm off the cape of Athos on the Chalcidice peninsula and all the troops were obliged to return home. In 490 a second expeditionary force set sail across the Aegean to the shores of Attica. The troops were disembarked on the island of Euboea where they took the town of Eretria by storm and plundered it taking the inhabitants as slaves.

p The decisive battle between the Greeks and the Persians took place on the eastern shore of Attica near the town of Marathon. The Athenians had only ten thousand troops at their disposal and another 1,000 sent to their aid by the small town of Plataea. The Persian army, several times larger than that of the Greeks, nevertheless suffered a crushing defeat. The Greek troops under the old and experienced commander Miltiades who was familiar with Persian tactics, fought with rare courage and tenacity, inspired by the ideals of patriotism and freedom and devotion to their families: for every one of them it was clear that defeat meant slavery.

A messenger was sent to Athens with the joyful news. Breathing his last he ran onto the square where the old men, women and children had gathered impatiently waiting for news of the battle’s outcome; he summoned up the last ounce of his strength to cry out the one word “victory” and collapsed. The marathon race in present-day Olympics takes its name from this exploit and is run over a distance roughly equal to that between Marathon and Athens.

Xerxes’ Expedition

p After the battle of Marathon there was a pause of 10 years before the resumption of hostilities between the Persians and the Greeks, although the peoples of both countries were well aware that a new war was inevitable. Darius’ death was followed by the habitual unrest at the Persian court on such occasions. Eventually his son Xerxes succeeded him on the throne. Xerxes soon embarked on intensive preparations for a new expedition against Greece, which lasted for four years and included the erection of a bridge across the Hellespont (now known as the Dardanelles) and the construction of a canal through the narrow neck of the Chalcidice peninsula, near treacherous cape Athos.

p The Greeks also made preparations. A defensive alliance was concluded between a number of Greek city-states, led by Sparta. Since Sparta was difficult of access from the sea and famed as the state with the best fighting force in the whole of Greece, they urged for the battle to be fought out on dry land rather than at sea.

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p The state of affairs in Athens at this time was more complicated. The rich landowners, who feared above all else that their estates would be laid waste, supported the Spartan plan of defence. Their interests were represented by the renowned statesman Aristeides.

p He was opposed in this plan by Themistocles who succeeded in gaining a dominant position in Athens purely as a result of his energy, ambition and outstanding abilities. When no more than a little over thirty he was elected as an archon and three years later distinguished himself at the battle of Marathon. Yet still not satisfied, he aspired after still greater fame. He admitted to his friends that "the laurels of Miltiades give me no peace".

p Themistocles considered that the Greeks stood no chance of defeating the Persians on dry land. He insisted that Athens’ future was as a sea power and he did all he could to build up a powerful fleet. He succeeded in setting aside the revenue from the Laurion silver mines, which were considered state property, for the building of warships. The plan for a war with Persia at sea coincided with the interests of the Athenian traders and manufacturers who did not own landed estates.

The third expedition against Greece began in the year 480 B.C. It was led by Xerxes, who by making use of Persia’s subject peoples was able to amass enormous forces. Writers of classical times recorded that these forces totalled almost five million. Even if this was a considerable exaggeration it still remains certain that the Persian strength surpassed that of the Greek army many times over.

Thermopylae and Salamis

p Part of the Persian army advanced overland along the coast of Thrace and part was transported in ships. The first sea battle took place off the Artemisium promontory on the northern coast of Euboea and the first land battle at Thermopylae, a narrow pass leading from Thessaly into central Greece, so narrow indeed that only one vehicle could go through it at a time. On the western side it was overhung by sheer, forbidding rocks and on the eastern side impassable swamps stretched right down to the sea. It was at this point that a holding "force of Greeks took up their positions under the command of King Leonidas of Sparta.

p An enormous Persian army approached Thermopylae and Xerxes was sure that he would not run into serious resistance at ^his point. He sent word to Leonidas demanding that he lay down his arms, but Leonidas replied in true laconic style, "Come 64 and take them.” The first Persian attacks met with no success. Making skilful use of their position, the Greek detachments defended the pass heroically and held out against the onslaught of the enemy hordes for several days. However, a traitor from among the Greek forces led a large detachment of Persians along mountain paths to the Greeks’ rear. When Leonidas saw that they were being surrounded, he sent a large part of his troops off the field remaining alone with his fellow Spartans to face the enemy. They fell to a man in this unequal struggle. Later a marble statue of a lion was set up in honour of Leonidas at the entrance to the Thermopylae pass.

p While the battle of Thermopylae was in progress a sea battle was also being fought off the Artemisium promontory. The Greeks were victorious, but after the Persian army had succeeded in cutting the Thermopylae pass the fleet was compelled to withdraw to the coast of Attica.

p The Spartan commanders were of the opinion that the fleet should withdraw still further, to the Corinthian isthmus, where they wished to set up—both on sea and dry land—the last line of defence. The Athenians, who had been forced to abandon their native city to be plundered and destroyed by the enemy, were adamant that the battle with the Persian fleet should take place in the narrow straits between the shores of Attica and the island of Salamis. This plan of action was upheld with especial vehemence by Themistocles, who was vindicated by subsequent events.

p With the first light of dawn Xerxes gave orders for his golden throne to be placed on one of the hills overlooking the Attican shore to give him a good view of the battle. However, the outcome of the battle of Salamis was very different from what he had expected. The heavy Persian vessels had difficulty in manoeuvring in the narrow straits, while the smaller and much lighter Greek ships were easily able to ram them. The Persian ships floundered and many of Xerxes’ men were drowned. Soon panic spread among the Persian troops and the ships which were still sea-worthy made a hasty retreat. The Greek fleet gained a decisive victory. As subsequent events showed the battle of Salamis was a turning point in the course of the war.

p After the battle of Salamis, Xerxes was compelled to leave Greece, withdrawing a large part of his troops. However, he left behind between sixty and seventy thousand soldiers under the command of the experienced general Mardonius, and the following year (479 B.C.) two more important battles took place. According to legend they took place on the same day, one on land near the town of Plataea where Mardonius’ troops were dealt a crushing defeat and the Persian army was finally driven out of 65 Greece, and the other at sea off the coast of Asia Minor near Cape Mycale. Soon after this victory the Greek towns in Asia Minor were freed from the Persian yoke.

p However, the Persian war was to last for some years yet. From now on most of the battles were to take place at sea. Following Greek attacks, the Persians gradually withdrew from the islands of the Aegean and the coast of Asia Minor.

Thus, fighting desperately to defend their freedom and their homeland a small, courageous people achieved a brilliant victory over the mighty and once invincible Persian Empire.

The Delian League and the Rise
of Athenian Economic Prosperity

p The victorious conclusion of the war against Persia was of tremendous importance for the whole of Greece. But since in the last years of the struggle the most decisive battles had been fought at sea, it was natural that Athens, the state with the largest fleet, should rise to a position of ascendancy among the Greek states.

p In the course of the hostilities an Athenian naval alliance had been formed. It was joined by the Greek city-states on the Aegean islands and along the coast of Asia Minor as they were gradually freed from the Persian yoke. The size of the alliance grew steadily and at its height it numbered over two hundred nomes.

p To begin with all members of the alliance enjoyed absolutely equal rights. Each nome or city had one vote in the general council which convened on the island of Delos, where the common treasury was also kept. The revenue consisted of contributions from the individual members of the league, the amount of which was proportional to their size. Since the military command was in the hands of the Athenians the decisive political voice in the affairs of the league was also bound to be theirs sooner or later. The naval alliance was gradually replaced by Athenian sea power, the partners becoming subjects from whom tribute was exacted. The treasury was then transferred to Athens, Athenian officials were sent out to all the member-cities and nomes, and things went so far that any attempts to withdraw from the league were treated as revolts and cruelly put down by Athenian military might.

p The setting up of the Delian League and the victory over the Persians furthered the expansion of slavery, trade and commerce in Athens. The total number of slaves was several times more than in the period before the Persian wars. There was nothing 66 surprising in this fact, since the bulk of the prisoners taken during the war had been turned into slaves. The slave trade also grew apace. Pirates used to capture large quantities of slaves and then sell them at the slave markets which existed in almost all sizable towns of the Athenian state. Sometimes slaves were sold by auction. They were treated like domestic animals, having to undress, show their teeth and run when being inspected by prospective buyers. Prices for slaves varied considerably: those with no qualifications were sold very cheaply, while skilled craftsmen (such as armourers) and educated slaves (such as teachers and physicians) fetched very high prices.

p Slave labour was made use of above all in workshops. As a rule these were quite small, each employing about ten or twelve slaves. Large quantities of slaves were also used for the heaviest work of all—in the Laurion silver mines.

p The lot of the slaves in Athens as in all other slave-holding societies was extremely hard. The slaves were deprived of all rights and were treated as chattels which could be bought or sold and which owners could treat as they pleased with impunity. As a result every free Athenian, even the poorest of peasants, looked on slaves with contempt.

p The formation of the Delian League and the victory over the Persians meant that the Athenian trading ships could now sail in safety not merely to any part of the Aegean and the coast of Asia Minor but also through the Hellespont to the countries bordering on the Black Sea. Athens’ trade links were expanding steadily and one of the Athenian statesmen of that time was able to remark: "All the products of the world flow into her (Athens —Trans.} and we enjoy the good things of other lands as easily as our own.”

p From Thrace and the Black Sea coast came corn, which never grew in sufficient quantities on the infertile soil of Attica. Other imports were timber, pitch, honey, leather and salt fish from the Black Sea coast; ivory from Africa, spices from the East and iron and copper from Italy. Finally there was also the living cargo of slaves imported from many lands. The main Athenian exports were olive oil, wine, metalware and pottery.

The Athenian port of the Piraeus situated a few miles from Athens became an important town in its own right with crowded streets, ringing with many languages, and its harbour always full of ships from distant lands. The port’s annual turnover ran well into the millions and large trade deals were concluded there. A large variety of merchants’ guilds and unions were set up. Since coinage from many different countries passed through the Piraeus, people were employed to organise the exchange of money. Gradually these simple transactions were replaced by more complex 67 financial deals. Individual merchants or groups of merchants were lent large sums of money at fixed rates of interest, or money changers would guarantee to hold sums in safe keeping for a certain period and make a profit on them in the meantime. Some of the Athenian money changers engaged in this kind of transaction succeeded in making large fortunes. Such, briefly, was the development of Athenian overseas trade and the financial and credit transactions bound up with it.

The Zenith of Athenian Democracy

p The growth of the Athenian fleet during the Persian wars was closely bound up with the development of democracy. In Athens every citizen engaged in the ranks of the heavy infantry (which made up the hard core of the army) was obliged to provide his armour at his own expense. Since such armour was fairly expensive, only those receiving a decent income could afford it. In the fleet, on the other hand, sailors and helmsmen required no such armour and were thus mainly recruited from the ranks of the poor, the "floating mob" as they were contemptuously referred to by the noble and rich Athenians. As the fleet grew and assumed a more and more important role in the war, the influence of the demos made itself increasingly felt in the political life of the republic. As a result, the democratic reforms introduced earlier by Solon and Cleisthenes were taken one stage further.

p The most outstanding political figure of this period was Pericles, the scion of an ancient noble family whose father Xanthippus had won fame as conqueror of the Persians in the famous battle off Cape Mycale. Pericles headed the Athenian democracy and for fifteen years he was universally recognised as the leader of the whole state. He was a skilled politician and brilliant orator. The people called him "the Olympian”, the thunder and lightning of his oratory putting him on a par with Zeus. However, he only addressed the people on rare occasions, maintaining that each speech should be an event making a lasting impression on the minds of all who heard it.

p Under Pericles the Athenian state reached the zenith of its power and prosperity. The city was embellished with magnificent works of architecture, sculpture and paintings. On the Athenian Acropolis buildings were erected which even in their ruined state today still delight the beholder with their amazing perfection of form: the famous Parthenon (the temple of Athena Parthenos), the Propylaea (the monumental gateway to the Acropolis), and the Erechtheum (a temple built in honour of the legendary Athenian King Erechtheus).

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p Famous scholars and philosophers opened schools in Athens and the Athenian theatre was considered the best in the whole of Greece. Pericles surrounded himself with the most outstanding figures from the world of science and art, his entourage including the philosopher Anaxagoras, the sculptor Phidias, and the playwright Euripides. Pericles dreamt of Athens becoming the "school of Hellas".

p Pericles initiated a series of important democratic reforms. Election rights were increased and election by lot was introduced. Pay for state office now permitted the poor man to hold office. Later participation in the sessions of the Popular Assembly was also to be remunerated. A "theatre money" fund was established, making theatre tickets available to the poorest sections of the population. In Athens the theatre represented not merely a spectacle or entertainment but a means of political education as well.

p This was the period which saw Athenian democracy at its zenith. The whole life of the state was administered by the Popular Assembly, which as the supreme organ decided the most important matters of both home and foreign policy. The Assembly was convened every tenth day. Every Athenian citizen had the right to speak and was able to put forward whatever proposals he thought fit, up to and including new laws. Pericles’ reform introduced universal franchise, and general direct participation in the affairs of the state. Every citizen had the right not merely to vote for the election of new state officers, but himself to stand for election to any post.

p Apart from the Popular Assembly other democratic institutions also existed in the Athenian republic, such as the heliaea or court of dicasts, which consisted of 6,000 members. The heliaea was not merely an organ of justice; it had legislative functions as well. In addition, there was the Council of 500, whose duty it was to ensure that laws which had been adopted were enforced and to keep a check on the activities of those in office. In order to avoid bribery and corruption, elections to the heliaea and the Council of 500 involved the casting of lots: first more candidates than the required number were chosen and then lots were cast between them. Finally, there was the board of strategoi or generals (ten in all) which was of particular importance during the time of Pericles, since he himself was elected strategos ten years running. Elections to this body did not involve the casting of lots but were by proposal of personal candidates.

p Such was the republican and democratic structure of Athens at the time of Pericles. At first glance it appears an ideal model not merely for the classical period but for subsequent ages as well. The dominant role of the Popular Assembly, universal 69 franchise, elections by lot among selected candidates, pay for state office—what could be more democratic and just? However, if we take a closer look at the Athenian state structure one essential problem emerges. Who in fact enjoyed these democratic benefits and privileges? The whole population or only part of it, and if only part, then which part?

p The slaves were deprived of all political and civil rights. Thus this section of the population—a very significant one numerically —was completely barred from enjoying the benefits of democracy. The same also applied to the metics.

p This leaves only the free population, which of course was numerically much smaller than the slaves and metics put together. Yet, even they did not all participate in political life, since women were totally excluded.

Clearly, then, Athenian democracy was of a somewhat narrow and limited variety, a democracy of a privileged minority. 70 Athenian democracy was typical of that obtaining in a slave-holding society, in which rights and privileges are granted only to a particular section of the free population.

The Peloponnesian War

p The Peloponnesian War was the biggest war in the history of classical Greece. It lasted for twenty-seven years (with short intervals) and led to a serious crisis in Greek society.

The main cause of the war was the rivalry between the two main groups of Greek city-states, the Athenian Empire and the Peloponnesian League. Attempts by Athens to extend her influence over certain cities of the League led to bitter Spartan resistance. The cities of Corinth and Megara in the Peloponnesian League were important trade centres, and frequently competed successfully with Athens. Political contradictions added to the rivalry, since Athens supported the democratic strata of the population throughout the whole of Greece, including the cities of the Peloponnesian League, while Sparta supported the interests of the aristocrats in all the Athenian cities. In these circumstances it was not difficult to find a suitable pretext for starting a war.

The Course of the War up to 421 B.C.

p The war began in 431 B.C. when the Spartans invaded Attica. Pericles who was in command of the Athenian army decided that the Athenians should fight a defensive war on land. While the Spartan troops were laying waste the fields of Attica the people fled the countryside and sought refuge behind the fortified walls of Athens. Pericles had overlooked the fact that such an influx into the city could lead to a grave food shortage and the outbreak of various diseases and epidemics. The people protested when these disasters befell them and for the first time in fifteen years Pericles was not elected strategos. The following year he died from some epidemic, possible plague.

p The reins of government then passed into the hands of representatives of the Athenian democracy who were in favour of conducting the war more vigorously. Among these one Cleon came to the fore, a master-tanner, one of the so-called leaders of the demos. He was a skilled orator, bold politician and an advocate of carrying on the war to a victorious conclusion. On his instance the Athenian fleet was sent into the attack off the coast of the Peloponnesus. In 425 B.C. the Athenians captured Pylos thus 71 gaining an important foothold in Messenia, and then the island of Sphacteria opposite, taking prisoner a detachment of Spartan crack troops, later to be used as hostages.

The position was extremely grave for the Spartans and they decided to transfer the main field of action to the north, to Thrace, where a number of city-states were waiting for just such an opportunity to break free of Athenian control. The Spartans sent a large part of their armed forces to Thrace under the leadership of the skilful commander Brasidas. A number of Athenian cities were captured and in 422 a large battle took place near the city of Amphipolis in the course of which both commanders, Brasidas and Cleon, fell. Soon afterwards the peace of Nicias was concluded between Athens and Sparta (intended to last for a period of 50 years) named after Nicias, the Athenian representative.

The Sicilian Expedition

p However, this peace was to be no more than a temporary lull. In Athens military groupings made their appearance once more: this time the main advocate for renewing hostilities was one Alcibiades. This striking figure was a nephew of Pericles, who from the days of his youth had been renowned for his physical beauty, education and oratorial gifts. Yet at the same time he was considered, not without reason, to be an unprincipled political adventurist.

p Alcibiades proposed the invasion of Sicily and also dreamt of conquering southern Italy and even Carthage. Such plans met with warm response from wide sections of the Athenian populace. In 415 preparations were started for the Sicilian expedition: a fleet consisting of 260 vessels was made ready, and an army numbering 40,000 soldiers.

p However, on the eve of the fleet’s departure from Athens a strange and unexpected event took place. The faces of the herms (square pillars carrying busts of Hermes, the travellers’ god) which stood at crossroads in the city were found mutilated. This was interpreted as an ill omen, especially as it was rumoured that the name of Alcibiades was linked with this act of sacrilege. Nevertheless, the expedition set sail, and the Athenian forces captured the Sicilian town of Catana and then proceeded to lay siege to Syracuse. Initially, the siege was successful, but at this point a government ship arrived from Athens, demanding that Alcibiades return to face immediate trial on a charge concerning the profanation of the mysteries. Alcibiades complied with this demand but en route for Athens he managed to escape and went over to the side of the Spartans.

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p After Alcibiades’ departure, events in Sicily took a turn for the worse. The siege of Syracuse dragged on and meanwhile a detachment of Spartan reinforcements came to the aid of the besieged. After receiving reinforcements themselves, the Athenians decided to risk a naval battle. The engagement ended in a defeat, and the Athenian forces under Nicias and Demosthenes started to withdraw inland. This withdrawal ended in complete disaster: the generals were taken prisoner and executed and seven thousand Athenians were taken as slaves and sent to work in the stone quarries.

As a result of the Sicilian disaster Athenian sea power declined and a number of large cities and islands took the opportunity to break away from Athens.

The Subsequent Course of the War

p Parallel with the disastrous outcome of the Sicilian expedition Athens suffered a series of setbacks in Attica itself. In 413 B.C. Sparta made an open breach of the peace treaty, and on Alcibiades’ advice used a strongly armed detachment to occupy the town of Dekeleia, a fine strategic point some fifteen miles from Athens. Instead of the former episodic raids the Spartans now started to rally their forces on the territory of Attica. As a final blow in this chain of disasters 20,000 Athenian slaves went over to the side of Sparta.

p This succession of setbacks for the Athenians was seen by many as a result of the democratic form of government. In 411 B.C. the enemies of democracy took advantage of the delicate situation to carry out a revolution. Power was taken over by the Council of 400 and the democratic constitution was abolished. When rumours of this revolution reached the Athenian fleet, which was then moored off the coast of Asia Minor, the sailors mutinied and hailed Alcibiades as their commander, the latter by this time having quarrelled with Sparta. The oligarchy was overthrown and Alcibiades gained several victories over the Peloponnesian fleet, after which he returned in triumph to Athens. Soon afterwards he was elected strategos by the Popular Assembly and granted unlimited powers. However, subsequent failures and defeats of the Athenian fleet compelled Alcibiades to leave Athens once again, this time for ever.

p A decisive factor during the next stage of this long, drawn-out war was the participation of Persia, which gave strong support to Sparta. Athenian power was on the wane, particularly after the crushing naval defeat in the Hellespont at the battle of Aegospotamos (Goat River) in the year 405 B.C. After defeating the 73 Athenian fleet, Lysander laid siege to the city of Athens itself, which was forced to surrender to him in the spring of 404. The conditions were that the whole of the Athenian fleet was to be handed over to Sparta, the famous Long Walls leading from Athens to the Piraeus were to be demolished and Sparta was to be recognised as the leading power in Hellas.

Supported by the Spartan troops, and Lysander in particular, an anti-democratic government was able to assert itself in Athens. However, the tyrannical oligarchy of the Thirty was to be short-lived, and in 403 the democratic constitution was restored.

The Results of the Peloponnesian War

p Of all the states which took part in this war it was undoubtedly Athens which lost the most. The peasantry was impoverished, trade was disrupted and by the end of the war the treasury had been drained dry. Athens was no longer mistress of the seas.

p Sparta also found herself in dire straits after the war. Officially she had become the leading power in the Greek world but this role proved to be beyond her capacity. By way of compensation for the help they had given Sparta, the Persians demanded the surrender of all the Greek cities of Asia Minor. Sparta not unnaturally refused to comply, and relations between the two powers deteriorated until war broke out between them in Asia Minor. After several Spartan successes, Persia formed an antiSpartan coalition of various Greek states including Thebes, Argos, Corinth and Athens and the so-called Corinthian War started. This war ended with a peace which, while acknowledging Sparta’s supremacy, laid down that the Persian king should be the supreme arbiter in Greek affairs.

p Soon afterwards Sparta began to interfere in the internal affairs of Thebes, supporting as ever the local aristocracy. However, a democratic revolution took place in the town, the Spartan garrison was driven out and the Theban government concluded an alliance with Athens. This once again gave weight to Athens’ power and even led to the formation of a second Athenian naval alliance. However, this alliance was of much smaller proportions than its predecessor, consisting merely of Athens and the Aegean islands, while the member-states by now possessed far greater autonomy.

p War then broke out between Thebes and Sparta. The Theban commander Epaminondas, the first to employ the strategical device of "sloping ranks" (bringing the left flank further forward than the main body of the troops), gained a brilliant victory in 74 371 at Leuctra (not far from Thebes) over the hitherto undefeated Spartans. After this victory Epaminondas invaded the Peloponnesus but did not succeed in taking Sparta.

Thus it can be seen that the Peloponnesian War brought about an abrupt shift in the balance of power. The history of Greece in the first half of the fourth century B.C. abounds in internecine strife and numerous individual poleis strove to establish their hegemony, although all proved unable to defend or preserve it. A general upheaval affected Greek society, as was reflected in the economic decline and the interminable feuds or what a contemporary referred to as helium omnium contra omnes.

Greek Culture. The Role of Athens

In the fifth and fourth centuries B.C., in particular during the time of Pericles, Athens was the chief focus of Greece’s political and cultural life. This great city, of an enormous size for that age—numbering some two hundred thousand inhabitants—was a centre of intellectual ferment. At all hours of the day its streets and squares were thronged with people, for the public life took place entirely out of doors. Public activities were amazingly varied: popular assemblies, mass processions and festivals, political, philosophical and legal disputes and theatrical entertainments, etc. Every Athenian citizen participated in the affairs of the Popular Assembly, listened to legal and intellectual arguments, went to the theatre, and in all these ways took a direct part in the political and cultural life of his city.

Philosophy

p One of the most outstanding achievements of the ancient Greeks in the field of culture and thought was the philosophy which they bequeathed to posterity, philosophy which contains the seeds of all subsequent philosophical concepts and systems.

p The first stage in the development of early Greek philosophy was natural philosophy which appeared in the seventh and sixth centuries in the Greek cities on the coast of Asia Minor. The philosophers of this school, Thales, Anaximenes and Anaximander, strove to define the essence of the visible world and represent the first naive materialists.

p An outstanding phenomenon of that age was the philosophical system devised by Heraclitus of Ephesus (c. 540-c. 480 B.C.). Those fragments of his works which have survived permit us to regard him as the first dialectical philosopher. "All things flow," 75 he wrote. "You cannot step into the same river twice.” Heraclitus taught the contradictory nature of existence, approaching every phenomenon as a conflict of opposites. "Justice is strife,” he wrote, "and all things happen through strife and must do so.”

p One of the great materialist philosophers was Democritus of Thrace (fifth-fourth centuries B.C.). His basic premise was that the world consists of atoms and void. Atoms he defines as the most minute uniform particles of matter. These atoms, in his interpretation, are in motion within the void, strike against one another, and merge, and the resulting combinations give rise to all phenomena of the visible world. Democritus’ views were remarkable for their logical consistency: for him everything in the universe was based on the movement of matter (material atoms).

p Another outstanding Greek philosopher, Plato (427-347 B.C.), was the founder of a completely different philosophical trend— idealism. Plato was a scion of the Athenian aristocracy and this was borne out by his convictions.

p To Plato the essence of the world was Ideas, by which he understood the objective content of knowledge, made up of concepts. Ideas constitute a special "ideal world" lying beyond the limits of the immobile stars. Men are capable of conceiving of this world of ideas only as a result of the fact that before entering their bodies, their souls inhabit these stars, from which vantage point they are able to behold the world of ideas. Consequently Plato’s teaching contains a negative if not actually contemptuous approach to matter, which he regards as something rough and amorphous, only of value in so far as it is imbued with spirituality in the form of Ideas. This teaching was to be the cornerstone of all subsequent idealistic systems and theories.

p Greek philosophy reached its zenith at the time of Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), a scholar endowed with an encyclopaedic mind who represented as it were a synthesis of the whole of classical science and philosophy.

p In his philosophical system Aristotle attempted to combine the materialism of Democritus and Plato’s idealism, and in this lay the weakest and most vulnerable point of his philosophy, for idealism and materialism are incompatible and mutually exclusive. Nevertheless, Aristotle expressed many valuable thoughts and tenets which proved of enormous significance for the subsequent development of philosophy. Among these is his teaching on the unity of form and content (matter). Aristotle was not merely a philosopher but an extremely versatile scholar who turned his energies to a variety of fields, such as logic, astronomy, natural sciences, problems of language and versification.

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Classical Greek philosophy still retains its universal significance and represents a fundamental contribution to the treasurehouse of world culture.

Historiography

p History is a Greek word, a fitting tribute to the fact that it made its first appearance in Greece.

p Herodotus, a native of the town of Halicarnassus on the coast of Asia Minor who lived in the fifth century B.C., is generally regarded as the "father of history”. His Hine-volume work generally known as History was mainly devoted to the GrecoPersian wars, although the author makes large digressions to include part of the history of Egypt, Persia and Scythia.

p Another great historian was the Athenian Thucydides (460- 395 B.C.) who wrote a memorable account of the Peloponnesian War, in which he himself had taken part. It is an outstanding piece of historical writing, providing the first examples of various devices and methods of historical criticism, and representing an attempt to furnish an impartial account of historical events.

p Another outstanding Athenian historian was Xenophon (430- 355 B.C.), author of a number of historical writings, of which the most famous is his Anabasis.

Aristotle also compiled a number of historical writings many of which have not come to us. Of those that have been preserved the most interesting is his Politics which provides a historical outline of the development of the Athenian state and a systematic exposition of the basic principles of the Athenian constitution. These basic works of the Greek historians laid the foundation for the subsequent development of historical science in classical times.

Literature and the Theatre

p The Greeks made an equally brilliant contribution in the realm of the arts. In the theatre, poetry, the plastic arts and architecture the genius of the Greek people was to leave its mark for all time.

p The theatre in Greece performed an important social function. Originally linked with religion, it later became one of the most important features of Greek political life. It was in Greece that the two main theatrical genres—comedy and tragedy—came into being and developed. They represented a synthesis of various elements—dance, pageant, and games bound up with the cult of 77 Dionysus, the god of wine. During the Great Dionysia, solemn processions held in honour of Dionysus, the chorus, dressed in goat skins to represent the companions of the god—satyrs (half men, half goats)—sang hymns relating numerous myths linked with Dionysus. From this custom developed the later tragedies— the actual word tragedy means "song of the goat".

p Theatrical performances originally took place on public squares but they were later held in permanent buildings. The Greek theatre consisted of an open-air amphitheatre with a round stage in the centre. One of the largest of the Athenian theatres was built on a slope of the Acropolis hill and seated 30,000.

p The greatest Greek tragedians were Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. Aeschylus (525-456 B.C.) wrote some 80 tragedies of which only seven have survived. The most interesting of these tragedies is Prometheus Bound based on the myth of Prometheus, who taught man to obtain fire and thus sowed the seeds for the development of culture and civilisation. By stealing fire from Olympus, Prometheus incurred the wrath of Zeus, who punished him by having him chained to a rock and subjected to terrible torture. Aeschylus depicts Prometheus as a rebel bravely defying the all-powerful gods.

p Sophocles (496-406) lived during Athens’ Golden Age. He is reputed to have written no less than 120 tragedies of which again only seven have been preserved for posterity. In Sophocles’ tragedies we find the development of one of the most prevalent ideas in classical thought—the idea of fate and revenge. One of the best treatments of this theme is to be found in the tragedy King Oedipus, where vengeance, even in the case of an involuntary crime, is presented as inevitable.

p The third great tragedian was Euripides (480-406 B.C.) who wrote ninety tragedies, eighteen of which have survived. The most famous of these are Medea, Hippolytus, The Bacchae and Iphigenia in Tauris.

p Euripides’ plays were remarkable for their psychological penetration which makes vivid individuals of all his characters. In the works of Euripides the role of the chorus, which had been considerable in the plays of his predecessors, becomes definitely secondary, the main focus being directed on the characters.

p A second genre also made its appearance in Greek drama—the comedy which grew up out of the popular farces (or mimes) and the light-hearted or jocular rites connected with the cult of Dionysus.

The leading exponent of this genre was Aristophanes (446- 385 B.C.). Eleven of his plays have come down to us, the most famous being The Wasps, The Clouds, The Frogs, Lysistrata and The Knights. Aristophanes’ comedies are of a clearly political 78 nature. Their author belonged to moderate demociat ciicles and came down hard on all extreme democratic forms and their champions such as Cleon.

Greek Art and Architecture

p Side by side with these great literary achievements we aie confronted with further unsurpassed examples of Greek native genius in the realm of architecture and the plastic arts.

There were three main orders of Greek architecture distinguished by the different tvpes of columns or pillars— Doric, Ionian and Corinthian. The two main schools of Greek sculpture were the Athenian, the most famous representative of which was Phidias, and the Peloponnesian, whose greatest exponent was Polyclitus. Greek sculptors evolved what we term the canon—i.e., normal proportions for the human figure.

The brilliant achievements of Greek sculpture and architecture are well illustrated by the monuments of the age of Pericles in Athens. During this period talented artists flocked to Athens from all over the Greek world. Among them were the great sculptor Phidias, the leading architect of the times Ictinus and the leading painters Polygnotus and Parrasius. The most important works of art with which Athens was embellished at that time were statues of the gods and public buildings distinguished by their superb grace and form. Among the buildings of particular note erected in Athens were the Parthenon and the Propylaea on the Acropolis and the Odeon in the lower town.

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p The Parthenon, a temple dedicated to Athena, traditionally called the House of the Maiden by the Athenian populace, was a magnificent building of white marble, designed by the outstanding architects Ictinus and Callicrates, decorated inside and out with remarkable sculptures. Inside the temple there stood an enormous statue of the Goddess Athena fashioned in ivory and gold, complete with a golden helmet and spear, the work of Phidias.

p Another magnificent work of Phidias was the colossal bronze statue of Athena Promachos, or Athena the Warlike, formed from the spoils taken at Marathon. The statue stood at the highest point on the Acropolis so that the golden spear shining in the sunlight could be seen at a great distance and served ships as a beacon.

p Another of Phidias’ masterpieces was the colossal statue of Zeus in the temple of Zeus in Olympia.

p The Propylaea was the monumental gateway to the Acropolis. It consisted of a coveied marble colonnade with four side entrances and four marble halls on each side of the main gateway, one of which was decorated with the works of famous painters, 80 chief among whom was Polygnotus. A wide marble staircase led up to the Propylaea.

p The third enormous building erected during the time ot Pericles was the Odeon, a theatre designed for musical and poetic contests. Unlike the other theatres, the Odeon was covered in lor the sake of better acoustics. It was built in imitation of Xerxes tent which had been captured from the Persians. The sloping root of the Odeon was supported on beams fashioned, so legend had it from the masts of Persian ships. Thus the Odeon served as a monument to the liberation of Greece from the Persian invasion.

The achievements of the ancient Greeks in the spheres of philosophy, literature and art constitute an imperishable part of mankind’s cultural heritage.