2. Who are Some Important People From Greece?

     Many of the important philosophers and leaders from Ancient Greece came from Athens. Today I will write about four famous Greek people- 3 from Athens and 1 from the island of Samos.

Pericles of Athens

     Pericles was a famous leader of Athens. He lived from around 493 BC TO 429 BC.  He was the leader of Athens for twenty years, and during his reign, Athens prospered. Pericles was a great orator, and people loved him. He was the mastermind behind building the Parthenon, and he put in place many laws. Generally these laws were beneficial to the people of Athens, but sometimes his advice turned out to be bad. One such example of this can be found when he made a speech telling the people that if they wanted to go to war with Sparta they needed to do it wholeheartedly and not draw back. The assembly immediately declared war on Sparta. Pericles came up with the strategies for the war, but there was one thing he hadn't thought of: plague. The ships that brought grain to Athens brought plague and death to many thousands of people. The people left alive sent a peace treaty to Sparta and then turned on Pericles. He died of the plague himself in 429 BC.


Socrates

     One thing that Pericles made Athens into was a place of art, philosophy, and science. Two of the world's greatest philosophers were from Athens: Socrates and Plato.
     Socrates ( c. 469- 399 c.) was famous for his discussions with his pupils. He left no writing to us, but he asked many important questions, such as "Can virtue be taught?" and "Do we really understand the world as well as we think we do?". His pupils were extremely loyal to him, but other people accused him of undermining Athenian religion and culture. In 399 BC, he came before a jury that sentenced him to death. Drinking hemlock, he died soon after.

Plato

     We get most of our information about Socrates from Plato, one of his pupils. Also from Athens, Plato did write- a lot- and his writing can be separated into three categories: Socratic (often about Socrates), Middle (in the middle of his lifetime), and Later (in his later years). Plato used dialogues in his writing, and he taught Aristotle. He died around 347 BC.   

Pythagoras

     Pythagoras was a philosopher and scientist from the island of Samos. Born around 570 BC (before Pericles, Socrates, or Plato,) you will often hear his name in math referring to his famous Pythagorean Theorem. However, Pythagoras is not known to actually have written this; it is simply given his name because he perhaps proved and explained the theory that was probably discovered around 800 BC. He made contributions to the musical intervals of a scale and was interested in Astronomy. He wrote that there are three kinds of men: lovers of gain, lovers of honor, and lovers of wisdom. He died around 495 BC.
     One way that the Ancient Greeks still influence us today is through the writing and teaching of philosophers. In my next few posts, I hope to show some more ways that the Greeks still influence us today.