Plaka: History: Classical

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 democracy, of truth, beauty and balance. And it also a story of all that is base in humans that lead us 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.

Aspects

Books about the Classical era.
Their democracy
Did Greeks really invent democracy? Didn't they have slaves?
The Parthenon
Words about the "Greek Miracle."

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

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.
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.
478 - 431 The Greek Miracle	It all happened here.
500 - 478 Persian Wars	Twice an outnumbered Greek nation fights off the Persian hosts and secures liberty for the greatness that follows. Chronology 500 -- 492: Ionian Revolt