Ancient Greece: History and Heritage

During a brief 50 year period during the 5th century BC, Ancient Greece -- or more specifically the city-state of Athens in Ancient Greece -- enjoyed its so-called Golden Age.

This was a period of great political and cultural achievements that we still look back to today as one of the sources of Western civilization.

Until the 5th century BC, Athens had been ruled by a series of tyrants, but now, under the rule of Cleisthenes and later Pericles, it became a democracy (Greek for "rule by the people"). All male citizens had a part in running the city-state. They could ask questions or have debates in the Assembly (the ruling body of Athens).

Citizens could bring cases in front of a jury of their peers (there were no judges or lawyers).

Taxes were collected and the proceeds were used to maintain the city, pay public servants and equip the army and the navy. The rich were taxed more heavily than the poor.

During the Golden Age, Athenian dramatists, such as Aeschylus, Aristophanes, Euripides and Sophocles, wrote tragedies or comedies that are still performed today.

Athens produced great philosophers too, including Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. The 20th century British philosopher spoke for many when he wrote: "The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato".

The ancient Greeks made breakthroughs in the fields of science and medicine. Greece's renowned scientists and doctors included Archimedes, Pythagoras and Hippocrates. Some of the philosophers wrote on the sciences too (for example, Aristotle wrote on astronomy, zoology and many other fields of science).

Athens and Ancient Greece excelled in the fine arts too. Their wonderful architecture and sculpture in particular have always been greatly esteemed. Ancient Greek temples such as the majestic Parthenon in Athens and sculptures such as Laocoön and His Sons have been admired and imitated over the centuries.

In today's world we use many concepts and words drawn from from Ancient Greece and more particularly from Athens. These include words such as democracy, tragedy, comedy, the names of the major sciences (including astronomy, biology, geology, physics and zoology), the names of major medical fields (including cardiology, dermatology, neurology, and oncology) and thousands more specialized words for scientific and medical concepts (such as myocarditis).