Aristotle, who was the teacher of Alexander the Great, would often respond with “I do not know” to many questions asked by the courtiers. “Why does the king even pay you if you do not know anything?” asked one courtier. “The king pays me only for what I know,” replied Aristotle. “If he paid me … Read more
In Mitilene [on the island of Lesbos] there is abundance of everything. It has also given birth to famous individuals like Pittacus, one of the Seven Sages, the poet Alcaeus, and others. At the same time, Sappho flourished, who was something extraordinary; as far as memory goes, no other period had a woman who could … Read more
Competitions in ancient Greece, at the Olympic, Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian Games, were a unique aspect of this rich culture because the main prize was not money but the glory symbolized by a wreath made of olive, laurel, or pine branches. The winners were the greatest pride of their cities and were celebrated as heroes, … Read more
Skopas was a sculptor and architect from the later classical period of Greece (4th century BC), originally from the island of Paros. He is among the six most famous sculptors of ancient Greece, alongside Myron, Phidias, Polykleitos, Praxiteles, and Lysippos. He belonged to the Attic sculptural school, which he led for a time together with … Read more
The sphere of music begins in ancient Greece with Pythagoras who, it is said, heard the harmony of sounds in the intervals of the octave, fifth, and fourth when he passed by a blacksmith’s workshop where hammers struck an anvil. This inspired him to discover the connection between vibration, frequency, and pitch. Pythagoras considered the … Read more
Although its origins are tied to temporal, spatial, and ethnic constraints, the art of ancient Greece is still recognized today, after two and a half millennia, as a unique, timeless, universal value. Greek artists managed to create works that embody their philosophical, ethical, and aesthetic ideas, which have a symbolic value much deeper than it … Read more
Although we know a lot about art, philosophy, medicine, mathematics, and other sciences of ancient Greece, the cradle of Western culture and civilization, in the depths of time lies the heart of ancient Greece from which everything we know about this culture was born, and those are the mysteries. Almost all great artists, playwrights, philosophers, … Read more
One of the questions that has always intrigued historians is how ancient peoples traveled and transported heavy loads. Excavations by Greek archaeologists between 1956 and 1962 revealed that ancient engineers, two thousand years before the invention of the steam locomotive, devised a simple concept of a railway. This was the diolkos, an ancient track that … Read more
The phenomenon of death is deeply connected to human life, our intuitions and fears, expectations and perceptions. With our birth, we begin a sublime and painful process of daily transformations, during which fundamental questions about life and our role in the existential drama gradually arise in our consciousness. In this way, we discover new insights … Read more
O, Higija, the youngest among the goddesses, if I could live with you until the end of my life, and you were favorably inclined towards me… only with you, oh, beautiful Higija, everything shines and blooms, and mercy brings joy. No one is happy without you. Arifron Sikionski (5th – 6th century), Hymn to Higija … Read more
