The achievements of ancient Greek civilization are relevant in our time. Achievements of the ancient Greeks. Ancient Greek Studies
Culture Ancient Greece existed since the XXVIII century. BC. and until the middle of the II century. BC. It is also called ancient - to distinguish it from other ancient cultures, and Ancient Greece itself is called Hellas, since the Greeks themselves called their country that way. Ancient Greek culture reached its highest rise and flowering in the 5th-4th centuries. BC, becoming an exceptional, unique and largely unmatched phenomenon in the history of world culture.
The flourishing of the culture of Ancient Hellas turned out to be so amazing that it still evokes deep admiration and gives reason to talk about the real mystery of the "Greek miracle". The essence of this miracle consists primarily in the fact that only the Greek people, almost simultaneously and in almost all areas of culture, managed to reach unprecedented heights. No other people - neither before nor after - could do anything like this.
Giving such a high assessment to the achievements of the Hellenes, it should be clarified that they borrowed much from the Egyptians and Babylonians, which was facilitated by the Greek cities of Asia Minor - Miletus, Ephesus, Halicarnassus, which served as a kind of windows open to the East. However, they used everything borrowed rather as a source material, bringing it to classical forms and true perfection.
And if the Greeks were not the first, then they were the best, and to such an extent that in many respects they remain so today. The second clarification concerns the fact that in the field of economics and material production, the success of the Hellenes may not have been so impressive. However, even here they were not only not inferior to some of their contemporaries, but also surpassed them, as evidenced by the victories in the Persian Wars, where they acted not so much in number as in skill and intelligence. True, militarily, Athens - the cradle of democracy - was inferior to Sparta, where the whole way of life was military. As for other areas of social life and especially spiritual culture, the Greeks were unmatched in all this.
Hellas became the birthplace of all modern forms of state and government, and above all - republics and democracies, the highest flowering of which came during the reign of Pericles (443-429 BC). For the first time in Greece two types of labor were clearly distinguished - physical and mental, the first of which was considered unworthy of man and was the lot of a forced slave, while the second was the only one worthy of a free man.
Although city-states existed in other ancient civilizations, it was among the Greeks that this type of organization of society, which adopted policy form, showed all its advantages with the greatest force. The Greeks successfully combined state and private ownership, collective and individual interests. In the same way, they united the aristocracy with the republic, spreading the values of aristocratic ethics - adversarial principle, the desire to be the first and the best, achieving this in an open and honest struggle - for all citizens of the policy.
Competitiveness was the basis of the entire way of life of the Hellenes, it permeated all its spheres, be it Olympic Games, a dispute, a battlefield or a theatrical scene, when several authors took part in the festive performances, who presented their plays to the audience, from which the best was then chosen.
Polis democracy, excluding despotic power, allowed the Greeks to fully enjoy the spirit freedom, which was the highest value for them. For her sake, they were ready to die. They viewed slavery with deep contempt. This is evidenced by the well-known myth of Prometheus, who did not want to be in the position of a slave even to Zeus himself, the main deity of the Hellenes, and paid for his freedom with martyrdom.
Ancient Greeks lifestyle it is impossible to imagine without understanding the place that occupied them the game. They loved the game. Therefore, they are called real children. However, the game was not easy fun for them or a way to kill time. It permeated all activities, including the most serious. The playful beginning helped the Greeks to get away from the prose of life and crude pragmatism. The game led to the fact that they got pleasure and enjoyment from any business.
The way of life of the Hellenes was also determined by such values as truth, beauty and goodness that were in close unity. The Greeks had a special concept of "kalokagatiya", which meant "beautiful-good". "Truth" in their understanding approached what the Russian word "truth-justice" means, that is. it went beyond the boundaries of "truth-truth", correct knowledge, and acquired a moral value dimension.
Equally important for the Greeks measure, which was inextricably linked with proportionality, moderation, harmony and order. From Democritus, a well-known maxim has come down to us: "The proper measure is beautiful in everything." The inscription over the entrance to the Temple of Apollo at Delphi called: "Nothing too much." Therefore, the Greeks, on the one hand, considered own an inalienable attribute of man: along with the loss of property, the Hellene lost all civil and political rights, ceasing to be a free man. At the same time, the pursuit of wealth was condemned. This feature also manifested itself in architecture, the Greeks did not create, like the Egyptians, gigantic structures, their buildings were commensurate with the possibilities of human perception, they did not suppress man.
The ideal of the Greeks was a harmoniously developed, free man, beautiful in body and soul. The formation of such a person was provided by a thoughtful education and upbringing system... which included two directions - "gymnastic" and "musical". The goal of the first was physical perfection. Its peak was participation in the Olympic Games, the winners of which were surrounded by glory and honor. At the time of the Olympic Games, all wars were stopped. Musical, or humanitarian, direction involved teaching all types of arts, mastering scientific disciplines and philosophy, including rhetoric, i.e. the ability to speak beautifully, conduct dialogue and dispute. All kinds of education rested on the principle of competition.
It all did greek polis an exceptional, unique phenomenon in the history of mankind. The Greeks perceived the polis as the highest good, not imagining their life outside its framework, they were its true patriots.
True, pride in their polis and patriotism contributed to the formation of Greek cultural ethnocentrism, by virtue of which the Greeks called their neighboring peoples "barbarians", looked down on them. Nevertheless, it was precisely such a policy that gave the Greeks everything they needed to show unprecedented originality in all areas of culture, to create everything that constitutes a "Greek miracle".
In almost all areas, the Greeks put forward "founding fathers" who laid the foundation for their modern forms. First of all, this concerns philosophy. The Greeks were the first to create a modern form of philosophy, separating it from religion and mythology, beginning to explain the world from itself, without resorting to the help of the gods, proceeding from the primary elements, which for them were water, earth, air, fire.
The first Greek philosopher was Thales, for whom water was the basis of all that exists. The pinnacles of Greek philosophy were Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. The transition from a religious and mythological view of the world to a philosophical understanding of it meant a fundamental change in the development of the human mind. At the same time, philosophy became modern both by the method - scientific and rational, and by the way of thinking, based on logic and proof. The Greek word "philosophy" has entered almost all languages.
The same can be said about other sciences and, first of all, about mathematics. Pythagoras, Euclid and Archimedes are the founders of both mathematics itself and the basic mathematical disciplines - geometry, mechanics, optics, hydrostatics. IN astronomy Aristarchus of Samos was the first to express the idea of heliocentrism, according to which the Earth moves around a stationary sun. Hippocrates became the founder of modern clinical medicine, Herodotus is rightfully considered the father stories as a science. Aristotle's Poetics is the first fundamental work that no contemporary art theorist can ignore.
Roughly the same situation is observed in the field of art. Almost all types and genres of contemporary art were born in Ancient Hellas, and many of them have reached classical forms and the highest level. The latter primarily refers to sculpture, where the Greeks are rightly given the palm. It is represented by a whole galaxy of great masters headed by Phidias.
This applies equally to literature and its genres - epic, poetry. The Greek tragedy, which reached the highest level, deserves special emphasis. Many Greek tragedies still take place today. Born in Greece order architecture, which has also reached a high level of development. It should be emphasized that art was of great importance in the life of the Greeks. They wanted not only to create, but also to live according to the laws of beauty. The Greeks were the first to feel the need to fill all spheres of human life with high art. They quite consciously strove to aestheticize life, to comprehend the “art of being”, to make a work of art out of their lives.
The ancient Greeks showed an exceptional originality in religion. Outwardly, their religious and mythological ideas and cults are not too different from others. Initially, the growing array of Greek gods was quite chaotic and conflicting. Then, after a long struggle, the Olympic gods of the third generation are established, between whom a relatively stable hierarchy is established.
Zeus becomes the supreme deity - the lord of the sky, thunder and lightning. Second after him is Apollo - the patron saint of all arts, the god of healers and a light, calm beginning in nature. Apollo's sister Artemis was the goddess of the hunt and patroness of youth. An equally important place was occupied by Dionysus (Bacchus) - the god of the producing, violent forces of nature, viticulture and winemaking. Many rituals and merry festivals - Dionysius and Bacchanalia - were associated with his cult. The sun god was Geli os (Helium).
The Greek goddess of wisdom, Athena, who was born from the head of Zeus, was especially worshiped by the Hellenes. Her constant companion was the goddess of victory, Nick. The owl was the symbol of Athena's wisdom. The goddess of love and beauty Aphrodite, who was born from sea foam, attracted no less attention. Demeter was the goddess of agriculture and fertility. The competence of Hermes, apparently, included the largest number of duties: he was the messenger of the Olympic gods, the god of trade, profit and material wealth, the patron saint of deceivers and thieves, shepherds and travelers, orators and athletes. He also escorted the souls of the dead to the underworld. in the possession of the god Hades (Hades, Pluto).
In addition to these, the Greeks had many other gods. They liked to invent more and more gods, and they did it with enthusiasm. In Athens, they even erected an altar with a dedication: "to an unknown god." However, the Greeks were not very original in inventing the gods. This was also observed among other peoples. Their real originality lay in the way they treated their gods.
At the heart of the religious beliefs of the Greeks there was no idea about the omnipotence of the gods... They believed that the world is ruled not so much by divine will as by natural laws. At the same time, soars over the whole world, all gods and people irresistible Rock which even the gods cannot change. Fatal fate is beyond the control of anyone, therefore the Greek gods are closer to people than to supernatural forces.
Unlike the gods of other peoples, they are anthropomorphic, although in the distant past, the Greeks also had zoomorphic deities. Some Greek philosophers claimed that people themselves invented gods in their own likeness, that if animals decided to do the same, their gods would be like themselves.
The smooth and most significant difference between the gods and humans was that they were immortal. The second difference was that they were also beautiful, although not all: Hephaestus, for example, was lame. However, their divine beauty was considered quite attainable for humans. In all other respects, the world of the gods was similar to the world of people. The gods suffered and rejoiced, loved and were jealous, quarreled among themselves, harmed and took revenge on each other, etc. The Greeks did not identify, but did not draw an insurmountable line between people and gods. The intermediaries between them were heroes, who were born from the marriage of God with an earthly woman and who, for their exploits, could be introduced to the world of the gods.
The closeness between man and God had a significant impact on the religious consciousness and practice of the Hellenes. They believed in their gods, worshiped them, built temples for them and made sacrifices. But they did not have blind admiration, awe, and even more so fanaticism. We can say that long before Christianity, the Greeks already adhered to the well-known Christian commandment: "Do not make yourself an idol." The Greeks could afford to criticize the gods. Moreover, they often challenged them. A striking example of this is the same myth about Prometheus, who challenged the gods by stealing fire from them and giving it to people.
If other peoples deified their kings and rulers, then the Greeks excluded this. The leader of Athenian democracy, Perikl, at which she reached the highest point, had nothing else at his disposal to convince his fellow citizens of the correctness of his point of view, except for an outstanding mind, arguments, oratory and eloquence.
It has a special originality Greek mythology. Everything that happens in her is as human as the gods themselves, which are told in Greek myths. Along with the gods, a significant place in myths is occupied by the deeds and exploits of "godlike heroes", who are often the main acting limes in the events narrated. IN Greek mythology there is practically no mysticism, mysterious, supernatural forces are not too important. The main thing in it is artistic imagery and poetry, a playful beginning. Greek mythology is much closer to art than religion. That is why she formed the foundation of the great Greek art. For the same reason, Hegel called the Greek religion "the religion of beauty."
Greek mythology, like all Greek culture, contributed to the glorification and exaltation not so much of the gods as of man. It is in the person of the Hellenes that man first begins to realize his boundless powers and possibilities. Sophocles remarks on this: “There are many great forces in the world. But stronger than human there is nothing in nature ”. Even more meaningful are the words of Archimedes: "Give me a fulcrum - and I will turn the whole world." In all this, the future European, transformer and conqueror of nature is already quite visible.
Evolution of Ancient Greek culture
Preclassical periods
In the evolution of the culture of Ancient Greece, they usually distinguish five periods:
- Aegean culture (2800-1100 BC).
- Homeric period (XI-IX centuries BC).
- The period of archaic culture (VIII-VI centuries BC).
- Classical period (V-IV centuries BC).
- The era of Hellenism (323-146 BC).
Aegean culture
Aegean culture often called Crete-Mycenaean, considering the island of Crete and Mycenae as its main centers. It is also called the Minoan culture, after the legendary King Minos, during which the island of Crete, which occupied a leading position in the region, reached its highest power.
At the end of the 3rd millennium BC. in the south of the Balkan Peninsula. In the Peloponnese and the island of Crete, early class societies were formed and the first centers of statehood arose. This process proceeded somewhat faster on the island of Crete, where by the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. the first four states appeared with centers-palaces in Knossos, Festa, Mallia and Kato Zakro. Given the special role of palaces, the emerging civilization is sometimes called "palace".
Economic basis The Cretan civilization consisted of agriculture, which primarily cultivated bread, grapes and olives. Cattle breeding also played an important role. Crafts reached a high level, especially the smelting of bronze. Ceramic production also developed successfully.
The most famous monument of Cretan culture was the Palace of Knossos, which went down in history under the name "Labyrinth" from which only the first floor has survived. The palace was a grandiose multi-storey building that included 300 rooms on a common platform that occupied more than 1 hectare. It was equipped with an excellent water supply and sewerage system, and had terracotta baths. The palace was at the same time a religious, administrative and trade center, it housed craft workshops. The myth of Theseus and the Minotaur is associated with it.
High level in Crete reached sculpture small forms. In the cache of the Knossos Palace, statues of goddesses with snakes in their hands were found, which are full of grace, grace and femininity. The best achievement of Cretan art is painting, as evidenced by the surviving fragments of the paintings of Knossos and other palaces. As an example, we can point to such bright, colorful and juicy drawings as "The Flower Collector", "Cat Trapping a Pheasant", "Playing with a Bull".
The highest flowering of Cretan civilization and culture falls on the 16th-15th centuries. BC, especially during the reign of King Minos. However, at the end of the 15th century. BC. a flourishing civilization and culture suddenly perish. The cause of the disaster, most likely, was a volcanic eruption.
Emerged in the south of the Balkans part of the Aegean culture and civilization was close to the Cretan one. She also rested on palace centers that developed in Mycenae, Tiryns, Athens, Nilos, Thebes. However, these palaces were noticeably different from the Cretan ones: they were powerful citadel-fortresses, surrounded by high (more than 7 m) and thick (more than 4.5 m) walls. At the same time, this part of the Aegean culture can be considered more Greek, since it was here, to the south of the Balkans, in the III millennium BC. the actual Greek tribes came - the Achaeans and the Danaans. Due to the special role of the Achaeans, this culture and civilization is often called Achaean. Each center-yard was an independent state; a variety of relationships existed between them, including contradictions and conflicts. Sometimes they united in an alliance - as was done for the campaign against Troy. The hegemony among them belonged more often to Mycenae.
As in Crete, the basis the economy the Achaean civilization consisted of agriculture and cattle breeding. The palace was the owner of the land, and the entire economy had a palace character. It included all kinds of workshops in which agricultural products were processed, metals were scraped, fabrics were woven and clothes were sewn, tools and military equipment were made.
The earliest monuments of the Achaean culture were of a cult, funeral nature. These include, first of all, the so-called "mine tombs", carved into the rocks, where many fine items made of gold, silver, ivory, as well as a huge amount of weapons have been preserved. Gold burial masks of the Achaean rulers were also found here. Later (XV-XIIJ centuries BC) the Achaeans build more grandiose funeral structures - "domed tombs", one of which - "the tomb of Agamemnon" - included several rooms.
A magnificent monument to the secular architecture was the Mycenaean palace, decorated with columns and frescoes. Also reached a high level painting, as evidenced by the paintings of the surviving walls of Mycenaean and other palaces. Among the most striking examples of murals are the frescoes "Lady with a Necklace", "Fighting Boys", as well as images of scenes of hunting and battles, stylized animals - monkeys, antelopes.
The apogee of the culture of Achaean Greece falls on the 15th-13th centuries. BC, but by the end of the XIII century. BC. it begins to decline, and during the XII century. BC. all palaces are destroyed. The most likely cause of death was the invasion of the northern peoples, among whom were the Dorian Greeks, but the exact reasons for the disaster have not been established.
Homeric period
Period XI-IX centuries. BC. in the history of Greece it is customary to call Homeric. since the main sources of information about him are the famous poems “ Iliad"And "Odyssey". It is also called "Dorian" - meaning the special role of the Dorian tribes in the conquest of Achaean Greece.
It should be noted that the information from the Homeric poems cannot be considered completely reliable and accurate, because they actually turned out to be mixed narratives about three different eras: the final stage of the Achaean era, when the campaign against Troy was made (XIII century BC); Dorian period (XI-IX centuries BC); early archaic, when Homer himself lived and worked (VIII century BC). To this must be added the fictional fiction characteristic of epic works, exaggeration and exaggeration, temporary and other confusion, etc.
Nevertheless, based on the content of Homeric poems and data from archaeological excavations, we can assume that from the point of view of civilization and material culture the Dorian period meant a known break in continuity between eras and even a rollback, since some elements of the already achieved level of civilization were lost.
In particular, was lost statehood, as well as urban, or palace way of life, writing. These elements of Greek civilization were actually reborn. At the same time, the emerging and becoming widespread iron use contributed to the accelerated development of the civilizational beginning. The main occupation of the Dorians was still agriculture and cattle breeding. Horticulture and winemaking developed successfully, and olives remained the leading crop. Trade retained its place, where cattle acted as the "universal equivalent". Although the main form of organizing life was the rural patriarchal community, a future city policy was already emerging in its depths.
Concerning spiritual culture, here the continuity has been preserved. Homeric poems are convincing about this, from which it is clear that the mythology of the Achaeans, which constitutes the basis of spiritual life, remained the same. Judging by the poems, there was a further spread of the myth as a special form of consciousness and perception of the surrounding world. There was also an ordering of Greek mythology, which acquired more and more complete, perfect forms.
The period of archaic culture
Archaic period (VIII-VI cc. BC) became a time of rapid and intensive development of Ancient Greece, during which all the necessary conditions and prerequisites were created for the subsequent amazing takeoff and prosperity. Profound changes are taking place in almost all areas of life. For three centuries, ancient society makes the transition from village to city, from tribal and patriarchal relations to relations of classical slavery.
The city-state, the Greek polis becomes the main form of the socio-political organization of public life. Society, as it were, tries all possible forms of government and government - monarchy, tyranny, oligarchy, aristocratic and democratic republics.
Intensive development Agriculture leads to the release of people, which promotes the growth of crafts. Since this does not solve the "problem of employment", the colonization of near and distant territories, which began in the Achaean period, is intensifying, as a result of which Greece is growing territorially to an impressive size. Economic progress fosters market and trade expansion based on the emerging system of monetary circulation. Started coinage accelerates these processes.
Even more impressive successes and achievements take place in spiritual culture. In its development, an exceptional role was played by the creation alphabetic letter, which became the greatest achievement of the culture of archaic Greece. It was developed on the basis of the Phoenician script and is remarkable for its amazing simplicity and accessibility, which made it possible to create an extremely effective education system, thanks to which there were no illiterates in ancient Greece, which was also a huge achievement.
During the archaic period, the main ethical standards and values ancient society, in which the asserting sense of collectivism is combined with the agonistic (competitive) principle, with the assertion of the rights of the individual and the individual, the spirit of freedom. A special place is occupied by patriotism and citizenship. Protecting your policy is perceived as the highest valor of a citizen. During this period, the ideal of a person is also born, in which the spirit and body are in harmony.
The embodiment of this ideal was facilitated by the arisen in 776 BC. Olympic Games. They were held every four years in the city of Olympia and lasted five days, during which the " sacred world", Ceasing all military operations. The winner of the games was held in high esteem and had significant social privileges (tax exemption, lifelong pension, permanent seats in the theater and on holidays). The three-time winner in the games ordered his statue from the famous sculptor and put it in the sacred grove that surrounded the main shrine of the city of Olympia and all Greece - the Temple of Zeus.
In the archaic era, such phenomena of ancient culture arise as philosophy and spider. Their ancestor was her Fal, for whom they are not yet strictly separated from each other and are within the framework of a single natural philosophy. One of the founders of ancient philosophy and science is also the semi-legendary Pythagoras, whose science, taking the form mathematics, is already a completely independent phenomenon.
Artistic culture reaches a high level in the archaic era. At this time, it takes shape architecture, based on two types of order - Doric and Ionic. The leading type of construction is the sacred temple as the abode of God. The most famous and revered is the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. There is also monumental sculpture - first wooden, and then stone. The most widespread are two types: a nude male statue, known as a kouros (figure of a youth athlete), and a draped female, an example of which was the bark (a girl standing upright).
Poetry is experiencing a real flourishing in this era. The above-mentioned epic poems of Homer "Iliad" and "Odyssey" became the greatest monuments of ancient literature. A little later, Homer was created by another famous Greek poet - Hesiod. His poem "Theogony", i.e. the genealogy of the gods, and the "Catalog of Women" supplemented and completed the work created by Homer, after which ancient mythology acquired a classic, perfect form.
Among other poets, the work of Archilochus deserves special attention, the founder of lyric poetry, whose works are filled with personal sufferings and experiences associated with the difficulties and adversities of life. The same emphasis deserves the lyrics of Sappho, the great ancient poetess from the island of Lesvos, who experienced the feelings of a loving, jealous and suffering woman.
The work of Anacreon, who praised beauty, love, joy, fun and enjoyment of life, had a great influence on European and Russian poetry, in particular on A.S. Pushkin.
Classical period and Hellenism
The classical period (V-IV centuries BC) was the time of the highest rise and flourishing of ancient Greek civilization and culture. It was this period that gave birth to all that will later be called the "Greek miracle."
At this time, it is established and fully reveals all its amazing possibilities. antique polis, in which lies the main explanation of the "Greek miracle". becomes one of the highest values for the Hellenes. Democracy is also at its peak, which owes it primarily to Pericles, an outstanding politician of antiquity.
During the classical period, Greece is experiencing a stormy economic development, which is further enhanced after the victory over the Persians. The economy was still based on agriculture. Along with it, crafts are intensively developing - in particular, the smelting of metals. Growing fast commodity production, in particular grapes and olives, and as a result there has been a rapid expansion of exchange and trade. Athens is becoming a major trade center not only within Greece, but throughout the Mediterranean. Egypt, Carthage, Crete, Syria, Phenicia are actively trading with Athens. Construction is underway on a large scale.
The highest level reaches . It was during this period that such great minds of antiquity as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle create. Socrates was the first to focus not on the issues of cognition of nature, but on the problems of human life, the problems of good, evil and justice, the problems of man's cognition of himself. He also stood at the origins of one of the main directions of all subsequent philosophy - rationalism, the real creator of which was Plato. For the latter, rationalism fully becomes an abstract theoretical way of thinking and extends to all spheres of being. Aristotle continued the line of Plato and at the same time became the founder of the second main direction of philosophy - empiricism... according to which the real source of knowledge is sensory experience, directly observable data.
Along with philosophy, other sciences are also successfully developing - mathematics, medicine, history.
Art culture is experiencing an unprecedented flowering in the era of the classics, and above all - architecture and urban planning. A significant contribution to the development of urban planning was made by Gipodam, an architect from Miletus, who developed the concept of a regular city planning, according to which functional parts were distinguished in it: a public center, a residential area, as well as trade, industrial and port areas. The main type of monumental building is still a temple.
The Acropolis of Athens has become a true triumph of ancient Greek architecture, one of the greatest masterpieces of world art. This ensemble included the front gate - the Propylaea, the temple of Nika Apteros (Wingless Victory), the Erechtheion and the main temple of Athens Parthenon - the temple of Athena Parthenos (Athena Virgin). The Acropolis, built by architects Iktin and Kalikrat, was located on a high hill and, as it were, hovered over the city, could be seen far from the sea. Parthenon aroused particular admiration, which was decorated with 46 columns and rich sculptural and relief decoration. Plutarch, writing about his impressions of the Acropolis, noted that it included buildings "grand in size and inimitable in beauty."
Among the famous architectural monuments, there were also two structures classified as the seven wonders of the world. The first was the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, built on the site of a beautiful predecessor temple that bore the same name and was burned by Herostratus, who decided to become famous in such a monstrous way. Like the previous one, the restored temple had 127 columns, inside it was decorated with magnificent statues by Praxiteles and Scopas, as well as beautiful picturesque pictures.
The second monument was the tomb of Mavsol, the ruler of Kariy, which later received the name "Mausoleum in Gali-Karnas". The structure had two floors 20 m high, the first of which was the tomb of Mavsol and his wife Artemisia. On the second floor, surrounded by a colonnade, sacrifices were kept. The roof of the mausoleum was a pyramid crowned with a marble quadriga, in the chariot of which there were sculptures of Mavsol and Artemisia. Around the tomb were statues of lions and galloping horsemen.
In the era of classics, the Greek sculpture. In this genre of art, Hellas is recognized as indisputable superiority. Antique sculpture is represented by a whole galaxy of brilliant masters. The greatest of these is Phidias. His statue of Zeus, which was 14 m high and adorned the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, is also one of the seven wonders of the world. He also created a statue of Athena Parthenos, 12 m high, which was located in the center of the Athenian Acropolis. Another statue of him - the statue of Athena Promachos (Athena the Warrior), 9m high - depicted a goddess in a helmet with a spear and embodied the military power of Athens. Besides the named creations. Phidias also took part in the design of the Athenian Acropolis and in the creation of its plastic decoration.
Among other sculptors, the most famous are Pythagoras of Regia, who created the statue of "The Boy Taking Out a Thorn"; Miron - the author of the sculptures "Discobolus" and "Athena and Marsyas"; Polycletus is a master of bronze sculpture, who created "Dorifor" (Lancer) and "Wounded Amazon", and also wrote the first theoretical work on the proportions of the human body - "Canon".
The late classics are represented by the sculptors Praxitel, Skopas, Lysippos. The first of them was glorified primarily by the statue of "Aphrodite of Cnidus", which became the first nude female figure in Greek sculpture. The art of Praxiteles is characterized by a wealth of feelings, exquisite and subtle beauty, hedonism. These qualities were manifested in such of his works as "Satyr pouring wine", "Eros".
Skopas participated with Praxiteles in the plastic design of the temple of Artemis in Ephesus and the mausoleum in Halicarnassus. His work is distinguished by passion and drama, grace of lines, expressiveness of poses and movements. One of his famous creations is the statue of the Bacchae in the Dance. Lysippos created a bust of Alexander the Great, at whose court he was an artist. Other works include the statues "Hermes Resting", "Hermes tying a sandal", "Eros". In his art, he expressed the inner world of a person, his feelings and experiences.
In the era of the classics, the Greek literature. Poetry was represented primarily by Pindar. who did not accept Athenian democracy and expressed in his work nostalgia for the aristocracy. He also created iconic hymns, odes and songs in honor of the winners of the Olympic and Delphic Games.
The main literary event is the birth and flowering of the Greek tragedy and theater. The father of the tragedy was Aeschylus, who, like Pindar, did not accept democracy. His main work is "Chained Prometheus", whose hero - Prometheus - became the embodiment of man's courage and strength, his godlike character and willingness to sacrifice his life for the sake of freedom and the well-being of people.
In the work of Sophocles, who glorified democracy, Greek tragedy reaches the classical level. The heroes of his works are complex natures, they combine a commitment to the ideals of freedom with wealth. inner peace, the depth of psychological and moral experiences, spiritual subtlety. His most famous tragedy was "Oedipus the King."
The art of Euripides, the third great tragedian of Hellas, reflected the crisis of Greek democracy. His attitude towards her was ambivalent. On the one hand, she attracted him with the values of freedom and equality. At the same time, she frightened him by letting an unreasonable crowd of citizens, according to their mood, decide too important issues. In the tragedies of Euripidal, people are shown not "what they should be", as was the case, in his opinion, with Sophocles, but "what they really were." His most famous creation was Medea.
Along with the tragedy, it is successfully developing comedy, Whose "father" is Aristophanes. His plays are written alive, close to spoken language... Their content was made up of topical and topical topics, among which one of the central was the topic of peace. Aristophanes' comedies were accessible to the common people and were very popular.
Hellenism(323-146 BC) was the final stage of ancient Greek culture. During this period, the high level of Hellenic culture as a whole is preserved. Only in some areas, for example, in philosophy, does it fall somewhat. At the same time, there is an expansion of Hellenic culture on the territory of many eastern states that arose after the collapse of the empire of Alexander the Great. where it connects with oriental cultures. It is this synthesis of Greek and Eastern cultures that forms that. what is called culture of Hellenism.
Her education was influenced primarily by the Greek way of life and the Greek education system. It is noteworthy that the process of spreading Greek culture continued after Greece fell into dependence on Rome (146 BC). Politically Rome conquered Greece, but Greek culture conquered Rome.
Of the areas of spiritual culture, science and art developed most successfully in the Hellenistic era. In science the leading positions are still held by mathematics, where such great minds as Euclid and Archimedes work. Through their efforts, mathematics not only progresses in theoretical terms, but also finds wide applied and practical application in mechanics, optics, statics, hydrostatics, and construction. Besides, Archimedes is the author of many technical inventions. Astronomy, medicine, and geography are also making significant progress.
In art, architecture and sculpture have been the most successful. IN architecture along with traditional sacred temples, civil public buildings are widely built - palaces, theaters, libraries, gymnasiums, etc. In particular, the famous library was built in Alexandria, where about 799 thousand scrolls were kept. The Museion was also built there, which became the largest center of science and art of antiquity. Among other architectural structures, the Alexandria lighthouse with a height of 120 m, which is included in the seven wonders of the world, deserves to be distinguished. Its author was the architect Sostratus.
Sculpture also continues the classical tradition, although new features appear in it: internal tension, dynamics, drama and tragedy increase. Monumental sculpture sometimes takes on grandiose dimensions. Such, in particular, was the statue of the sun god Helios, created by the sculptor Jerez and known as the Colossus of Rhodes. The statue is also one of the seven wonders of the world. She had a height of 36 m, stood on the coast of the harbor of the island of Rhodes, but crashed during an earthquake. This is where the expression "a colossus with feet of clay" came from. Famous masterpieces are Aphrodite (Venus) of Milo and Nika of Samothrace.
In 146 BC. Ancient Hellas ceased to exist, but the ancient Greek culture still exists today.
Ancient Greece had a huge impact on the entire world culture. Without it, there would be no modern Europe. The Eastern world would be very different without Hellenic culture.
The role of the Ancient Greek civilization in the history of mankind is great, complex and multifaceted. It was not only a powerful civilizational breakthrough. Ancient Greece acted as a kind of historical workshop, where many blanks were created, which received their further processing and improvement within the framework of subsequent civilizations. Democracy and private property, human freedom and civic duty, materialism and idealism, all these most important components of modern civilizational development were born in Ancient Greece. It is no coincidence that in the history of Europe the concept of rebirth is associated with Antiquity, with Ancient Greek civilization. People of subsequent centuries looked for a fulcrum in it for the further development of the spiritual world of man, science and culture, for the most important achievement of ancient Greek civilization was the flourishing of the human personality. It is the Greek philosopher Protagoras who owns the words: Man is the measure of all things.
The paradox of history is that, relying on slavery, the Ancient Greek civilization for the first time gave an example of a free man and a free organization of human community. City-states existed before Ancient Greece. But it was the Greeks who, as if taking a step back from the power of the tsars, back to the communal structure, were able to create democratic societies-policies, provided those samples of democratic self-determination of people, which later served as a subject of study for those who thought about a more just structure of society.
It is to the first free community of Greeks in history that we owe the emergence of scientific thinking as a type of worldview. The Greeks created the foundations of philosophical science in its dialectical unity of the idealistic and materialistic views of the world. It was they who, realizing the importance of the past for the present and the future, created the science of history. Ethics and geography, psychology and trigonometry, physics and anatomy, these and many other sciences owe the ancient Greeks not only their birth, but also their names. Ancient Greece is the homeland of many conceptual ideas that have become scientific truth today: the atomic structure of matter, the rotation of the Earth around its axis, planets around the Sun, etc. But many of their specific inventions have entered our world today. It is hard to believe, but the first alarm clock was invented by Plato, and the modern taxi meter is based on the mechanism created by the Alexandrian mechanic Godon.
The contribution of Ancient Greece to world culture and art is unique. Today, in our stores, next to the books of Tolstoy, Nabokov, Hemingway, you can see Homer's Iliad and Sappho's poems. And we perceive them as a natural part of our modern culture... Ancient Greece gave the world theater, genres of tragedy and comedy. Their best examples still do not leave the stage, and many generations have discovered in the tragedies of Aeschylus and Sophocles, the comedies of Aristophanes, their innermost and purely contemporary meaning. The architecture, sculpture and painting of Ancient Greece have long been included in the treasury of world culture, in a number of its highest examples, which include the temple of Athena-Virgin Parthenon, the Discobolus of Myron, and Aphrodite of Kinda Praxiteles, and Nika of Samothrace - a symbol of triumphant victory. When talking about ancient Greek art, we often use the word for the first time. In the first half of the 5th BC. the painter Polygont was the first to overcome the archaic flatness and constraint of images. His multi-figured compositions created the illusion of the depth of space. Myron was the first in sculpture to be able to convey the moment of transition of the body from one movement to another. The first painter in the modern sense of the word to apply chiaroscuro (the basis on which modern painting developed) was Apollodorus of Athens. But, probably, the most important thing that the Ancient Greek civilization gave us is that ideal of harmonious beauty of man, which, with all the diversity of culture of subsequent millennia, remained unsurpassed. Not hiding from themselves the tragic underside of life, the Greeks had an amazing ability to enjoy life, see and sing of its beauty.
Section V. Chapter 2. Ancient Roman civilization
1... Ancient roman civilization maritime civilization
In the center of the Mediterranean Sea on the Apennine Peninsula, another ancient Roman maritime civilization appeared. Its creation was facilitated by favorable geographic and climatic conditions. From the north, the Apennine Peninsula is protected by the Alps, from the east by the Adriatic Sea. From the southeast, the peninsula is separated from the Balkans by the Ionian Sea, to the west from Sardinia and Corsica by the Tyrrhenian Sea. In the northwest, the peninsula was washed by the waters of the Ligurian Sea. The coastline of the Apennine Peninsula is much less developed than in Greece, there are no seas dotted with islands, so navigation has not received the same development as in Greece. The Apnnna mountains stretched along the entire peninsula, dividing it into three large regions - northern, central and southern. Major rivers, except for the river Pad (present-day Po), there are few on the peninsula. Many small rivers, full and stormy in winter and especially during spring floods, almost dried up in summer, which made them of little use for navigation.
The climatic conditions of the Apennine Peninsula were diverse. So, the north was in a temperate climate zone, with cold rains, snow and night frosts, and the central and southern parts of the peninsula were warmed by subtropics with mild and warm weather, abundant rains, which contributed to the emergence of a rich flora and fauna. The mountain slopes of the Apennines were covered with dense forests, where pines, firs, spruces, oaks, elms, beeches, chestnuts grew, cypresses, laurels, myrtles, acacia, and palm trees grew in the valleys and on the coast. From the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. under the influence of the Greeks, olive groves, apricot and peach orchards appeared on the peninsula. In the mountains and forests there were wild boars, wolves, foxes, bears, as well as various small animals and birds. In ancient times, the inhabitants of the peninsula tamed bulls, sheep, pigs. The ancient Greeks, surprised by the rich vegetation and the abundance of livestock, called the southern part of the peninsula the country of calves, Italy. This name later spread to the entire Apennine Peninsula.
Italy is relatively poor in minerals. There were small deposits of gold, silver, iron, copper, and tin. The central Apennines were rich in marble and building stone, Campania was famous for clay, and the mouth of the Tiber gave the inhabitants of Italy salt.
On the territory of the Apennine Peninsula, which became the heart of the ancient Roman civilization, there lived a population (both local and alien), which was very different in linguistic, ethnic and cultural terms. The most ancient population of the peninsula were Mediterranean peoples: Ligurs in Italy, Sicans on the island of Sicily, Corsa on the island of Corsica, Sardis on the island of Sardinia. At the end of the 2nd early 1st millennium BC. in the area of the Mediterranean basin, there were massive movements of tribes. From Illyria, the Danube basin and western regions In Asia Minor, various tribes migrated to the peninsula in waves, among which the most numerous were the Indo-Europeans Italics. The oldest population of the peninsula was partly pushed back into the alpine mountain valleys, partly exterminated or assimilated by newcomers. In the 1st millennium BC. the bulk of the inhabitants of the peninsula were the Italic tribes, of which the Latins stood out, who gave the name of the region they occupied, Latius, the Oscans, the Umbras and the Sabean tribes, among which the most numerous were Samnites. Many small tribes lived around Latium, including the Sabines. As a result of the mixing of the Latin and Sabine tribes, the Romans appeared. The area to the northwest of the Tiber River, at the mouth of which the city of Rome was founded, was inhabited by the Etruscans. The Romans called them Tuski, the Greeks called them Tyrrhenians, and they called themselves Rasenes. The Etruscans came to the peninsula from the East, probably from the western regions of Asia Minor. They had a writing system based on the Phoenician alphabet. The surviving inscriptions (9 thousand) do not yet allow us to understand the language of the Etruscans. The Etruscans were considered excellent metallurgists, builders, and experienced sailors. Dominating the sea, they were engaged in sea robbery. In the III century. BC. the Romans conquered the Etruscans and subsequently Romanized them. Many of their achievements in construction, artistic culture and ideology were borrowed from the Etruscans. The Romans never denied that they owe their writing, culture, many religious rites and institutions to the Etruscans. Young men from noble families were sent to the Etruscans to study. Greek myths penetrated into Rome through Etruria. In the course of a long ethnocultural mixing by the 1st century. BC. on the Apennine Peninsula, a single Italic people with a single Latin language was formed.
Part of the population of the Apennine Peninsula were Greek colonies. Already in VIII-VI BC. the Greeks inhabited the shores of southern and central Italy, as well as the island of Sicily. Large shopping centers were created on the basis of the Greek colonies. Greek colonists brought the culture of olive growing and viticulture, the technique of ceramic and metallurgical production to the peninsula. Greek handicrafts, agricultural techniques, military affairs, scientific knowledge, art and religious representations had a strong impact on the formation of ancient Roman civilization. The population of the Apennine Peninsula was also influenced by the Carthaginians, whose colonies were located in the west of Sicily and in Sardinia.
So, the Ancient Roman civilization was formed under the influence of several factors:
the presence of an all-Italian cultural fund, in particular, tribal legends, traditions in ceramics and jewelry art;
the presence of Greek influence, including through the colonists;
highlighting the significant role of Etruscan influence.
Favorable natural conditions and the influence of more advanced civilizations contributed to the rapid formation and development of the Ancient Roman civilization.
Ancient Roman civilization covers the period from the VIII century. BC. (April 21, 753 BC the legendary date of the founding of Rome) to the V century. AD (August 23, 476, the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed). In its development, civilization goes through three stages: the era of the Kings (VIII-VI centuries BC), the Republic (VI-I centuries BC), Empire (I century BC, V century AD). The era of the Empire, in turn, is subdivided into the Early Imperial period (the era of the principate): 31 BC. 284 AD, and Late Imperial Period (Dominatrix): 284 476 AD.
Civilization of Tsarist Rome
The most ancient period in the history of Rome was called Tsarist (VIII-VI centuries BC). The inhabitants of Latium, the center of the origin of the Ancient Roman civilization, lived in clans, each of which occupied its own territory (pag), i.e. was a territorial community. From the union of such communities, Rome arose. It appeared at the junction of the regions of 3 separate tribal associations. Tribes (tribes) consisted of unions of clans (curiae). Each tribe had 10 curiae, each curia 10 genera. Thus, there were 100 clans in each tribe, and the population of the entire community consisted of 300 clans. All members of the clan associations were considered members of the community. These were patricians (descendants of the fathers), and initially only they were considered as full citizens. Each clan had its own name, which was borne by everyone entering the clan association.
The social organization of archaic Rome still retained the features of tribal relations. The head of the state was a tsar who was elected for life. He presided over the Senate, served as a priest, military leader (led the militia of the citizens of the legion), legislator, judge. The highest body was the Senate Council of Elders, where there were 300 senators, one from each clan. People's assemblies (kuriyatnye comitia), in which representatives of the curiae participated, approved the decisions of the senate, resolved issues of war and peace with neighboring peoples. The main socio-economic unit of the community was the family (surname). She was like a miniature community: the head of the family, children, grandchildren, slaves. The family had private plot and could get her plot on a public field of spare arable communal land. Agriculture was then the main occupation of the Romans, although military campaigns against neighbors in the struggle for land and booty were of great importance in their life. Hikes usually started in March and ended in September.
As has been said, only patricians were considered full members of the Roman community, i.e. those who belonged to a noble family. But there was another social stratum of the plebeians. Most likely, these were settlers and residents of the conquered areas. They were personally free, but did not have any rights, could not own urban land, did not receive a plot from the public field. The plebeians were engaged in craft, trade, entered under the patrician patronage, from whom they could receive land. These dependent people (clients) obeyed the patrician, accompanied him in war and peacetime, publicly showed him signs of respect. The lowest stratum of the population of Rome were slaves. They were replenished from among the prisoners of war, bought from neighboring tribes or passing slave traders. Bonded slavery was an important source of replenishment of the number of slaves. According to ancient judicial customs, the person who borrowed was obliged to return it with interest. Otherwise, he was brought to court, and he had to either return the debt or compensate for it by selling his children, wife or himself into slavery. Debt law was especially strengthened when Rome fell under the rule of the Etruscan conquerors. In the VII century. the rulers of the Etruscan city of Tarquinia subdued Rome.
The Etruscan kings ruled until 510 BC. The most prominent figure among them is Servius Tullius (ruled 578-534 BC), the penultimate Roman king. He is considered a great reformer of the most ancient period of Roman civilization, who largely determined its further republican history. He divided Rome into territorial districts, which were also called tribes, but were already administrative units instead of the three old tribes. 4 urban and 17 rural tribes were created on a territorial, not consanguineous basis. The entire population was rewritten and divided into two parts: those liable for military service and those exempted from military duties. The division was based on physical fitness for military service and property status. The entire male population was divided into 5 property categories. Each category nominated a certain number of hundreds of military units (centuries). Each century was not only a military, but also a voting unit in elections to government bodies. In total, 193 centuries were created, of which 98 of the first category (18 hundred mounted soldiers and 80 foot soldiers), i.e. consisting of the wealthiest members of the community. Thus, the richest got the majority at the popular meetings. In fact, it was the dictatorship of the patricians, but, at the same time, the reforms of Servius Tullius dealt a serious blow to the clan nobility, strengthened the territorial community, made it possible for an unnatural person to advance, but who had acquired wealth on his own. As a result of the conspiracy of the senators, Servius Tullius was killed. His policy was continued by his son-in-law Tarquinius the Proud. However, he was soon expelled. The Senate abolished the royal power. The time of the Roman Republic began.
It was the Greeks who first presented to people and began to develop philosophy as a separate science that studies the universal laws of the movement of nature, the thinking of society, the system of a set of views on the world and the place occupied by man in it. For the first time ancient greek philosophers(Plato, Socrates, Aristotle) engaged in research into the aesthetic and ethical relationship of man to the world. Exclusively philosophical approaches to the implementation of any scientific task lie at the foundation of ancient Greek science. For this reason, it is impossible to single out specific scientists who dealt only with scientific problems. Absolutely all scientists of Ancient Greece were thinkers and philosophers and possessed a solid knowledge of philosophical categories.
Mathematical research
At the top of the mathematical Olympus is the proud figure of Pythagoras. This ancient Greek mathematician created the multiplication table used by today's schoolchildren, revealed the secret right triangle and embodied it in the theorem that bears his name, studied the proportions and properties of integers. It was Pythagoras who argued that beauty is harmonious, i.e. it can be enclosed in mathematical formula... And the proof of this is the discovery of the relationship of the musical to the fundamental tone as 1 to 2, fifths 2 to 3, etc. “The whole heaven is also a number” - such is the whole life of the great.
Medicine
The founder of modern medicine is Hippocrates, a famous ancient Greek physician, author of a treatise on the integrity of the human body. He developed the theory of an individual approach to each patient, introduced the indispensable maintenance of a medical history, instilled the foundations of medical ethics. Hippocrates paid special attention to the moral character of doctors and came up with the famous oath, which is initiated into the profession of all who receive a medical degree. His immortal rule "Do no harm to the patient" is still relevant today.
History
The author of monumental works on history is Herodotus, who laid the foundation for Greek historiography, and a little later Xenophon continued his work. The very first historical works of Herodotus were devoted to significant political events experienced by the author himself. In his writings, he tried to reliably illuminate the life of society in conjunction with political and economic situations.
Periodization of the history of Ancient Greece, a brief x-rist of each period.
The history of Ancient Greece is divided into three stages.
First (Crete-Mycenaean civilization)- this is the emergence, flourishing and fall of early class societies and the first state formations of Greece II millennium BC eh... (history of Crete and Achaean Greece). In their structure, they resembled the ancient Eastern ones. This process for the local autochthonous population (Pelasgians) was accelerated by the movement of the Achaean Greeks from the north, from the Danube territories, to the territory of the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula at the end of the 3rd millennium BC. They managed to create their own statehood and original culture.
At the end of the II millennium BC. e. radical socio-economic, political, cultural and ethnic changes are taking place. Since the XII century. BC e. a new tribal group is moving to the territory of Balkan Greece - the Dorian Greeks, who destroyed the Mycenaean civilization.
Second phase, the actual polis stage of development of already ancient Greece, includes the time that came after the death of the Mycenaean statehood in XII-XI centuries BC e. up to the last third of the 4th century. BC eh... opening the already polis stage in the development of ancient Greece. It includes three periods:
1. Homeric, or prescriptive ( dark ages), XI-IX centuries. BC e. It is characterized by the dominance of tribal relations in the territory of Balkan Greece.
2. Archaic Greece (VIII-VI centuries BC) - the formation of polis structures, the period of the Great Greek colonization and early Greek tyranny.
3. Classical Greece (V-IV centuries BC) - the heyday of the ancient Greek poleis, their economy, the period of the highest cultural achievements of the ancient Greeks.
After the eastern campaign of Alexander the Great and the creation of the system of Hellenistic states, third stage ancient greek history - the era of Hellenism (last third of the 4th century BC - 30 BC). The last date marks the formal end of the history of Ancient Greece. This is almost three centuries, during which huge Hellenistic states were created with an extensive economy and a syncretic culture that included both Western and Eastern elements. This stage ends at the end of the 1st century. BC e., when the Hellenistic states, experiencing aggressive on the part of Rome and the Parthian state, were conquered by them.
In 30 BC. e. the last of the Hellenistic states, Ptolemaic Egypt, loses its independence and becomes the prey of Rome. Since then, the history of the regions of Ancient Greece and the former Hellenistic states has been radiated within the framework of history Ancient Rome.
The main achievements of the culture of the ancient Greeks
Policy was an independent political, economic and cultural unit, an association of free citizens. Since the 6th century BC, the majority of polis established a democratic form of government, which protected the rights of all citizens, made them conscious and active participants in political life.
Almost all the citizens of the policies were literate. City-states were ruled collectively by their free citizens. It was a kind of slave-owning democracy, it brought up a special perception of the world among the Greeks, because a free and politically active person became a social ideal.
It was such a person who was the main object and meaning of culture.
the hero of the culture of Ancient Greece is a real person. Even the Greek gods have a human likeness, possess human dignity and abilities: they make mistakes, quarrel, jealous, slander, etc.
The Greeks highly appreciated the poise, calmness, measure of the actions of a person who was a free citizen and took part in the leadership of the state. Hence the absence of gigantomania in Greek art, hence the desire to fit the structure and sculptures into the natural environment. An example of that successful fit into the landscape is the Acropolis complex in Athens. Or the sculpture of Aphrodite of Milo. The height of the figure corresponds to the growth of an average Greek girl, there is no pomp and ostentatious grandeur in her, but there is so much peace and beauty brought up female body, expressed in marble.
For Heraclitus, in Greek culture, man is regarded as a mortal GOD, and GOD - as an immortal man (anthropomorphism).
This trait permeates not only art, but also philosophy, science, mythology, the entire worldview. Already the early philosophical systems of Anaxileander, Parmenides, Pythagoras, Democrat, Heraclitus, "logos", dialectics in the structure of the world. The famous expression of Heraclitus that it is impossible to enter the same river twice, became over time the starting point for the development of dialectics as a principle of philosophical thinking. In ancient Greek philosophy, the materialistic atomistic doctrine (Democrat) and idealism (Socrates and Plato) originate. In ancient Greece, a new branch of knowledge arose - history. The "father of history" Herodotus conceived the chronicle-descriptive form of the study of society. Aristotle in scientific work"Politics" formed the first theory of the state. The Greek scientist Euclid laid the foundations of geometry, Archimedes - mechanics.
Ancient Greece is the birthplace of European theater. At the end of the 5th and beginning of the 4th century BC, theaters were already in more and more large Greek cities. "Theater" - c word, translated means "Place for spectacles."
In Athens, a theater was set up on the slopes of the Acropolis. It was one of the largest theaters in Hellas - for 17 thousand spectators. Everything that was said on the stage was clearly audible even in the last rows. They put on performances 2-3 times a year. The performances began in the morning and lasted until the evening for several days in a row. Several plays were shown every day. The plays were funny or sad (tragedy or comedy). The tragedies of Aeschylus ("The Persians") were very popular. The tragedy of Sophocles "Antigone" was very popular. And the famous author of comedies in the middle of the 5th century BC was the Athenian Aristophanes (the play "Birds").
In Greece, once every 4 years, a nationwide sports competition - games (in the city of Olympia) was held. Behind the legend, the Olympic Games were founded by the famous hero Hercules. The first games - 776 BC They have been held since 1000 years, by the time they were banned at the request of Christians (4th century AD). They were resumed in 1896. Since then, they have become worldwide and are held in different countries in turn.
Homer "Iliad" and "Odyssey" XIII century BC.
The statue of Athena Palaada In the Parthenon ("Temple of the Virgin") was made by Fizia (11 m high) - from ivory and gold.
In architecture, the Greeks were famous for their columns. They used three types of columns: Dorian, Ionian, Corinthian. Often, instead of columns, the Greeks used stone statues that supported the roof or cornice with their bodies. Such statues-columns in the form of men are called Atlanteans, and in the form of women, caryatids. These types of columns have been used by architects around the world.
Sculpture: Famous Greek sculptors - Physias, Myron, Polycletus and others.
The statues were cast from bronze or carved from white marble, which were painted. The Greeks never portrayed ugly people, they considered only beauty to be portrayed. The most famous statues are "Discoboy" Myron, "Aphrodite of Milo" by an unknown sculptor, a statue of Apollo of Belvedere and "Hercules with a Lion" by Lissippos.
Ancient Greek Studies
Greece has long been famous not only for its developed art, architecture and philosophy, but also for talented scientists who were ahead of their time. But why did the inhabitants of Hellas manage to make such a big leap in development? How did the process of transformation of the primitive system into the ancient civilization take place?
Preconditions for the development of scientific thought in Greece
Huge impact on development of Greek culture and the sciences had geopolitical factors: close proximity to such ancient civilizations as Egypt and Babylon facilitated the exchange of knowledge inherited from past generations.
Most known to us ancient greek scientists spent a significant part of their lives traveling. , for example, spent his youth in Egypt, where he studied mathematics, geometry and natural sciences. Feeling that this was not enough, the great scientist went to Babylon, from where he returned to his homeland as a wise old man.
The first Greek traveler, records of which have survived and have survived to this day, was Hannon. The expedition led by him was organized by the Senate of Carthage. The goal was very difficult, but necessary - the colonization of new lands in the western part of the African continent. Rounding the Strait of Gibraltar, many galleys with more than 30,000 settlers on board reached the tropics. When the expedition began to feel a lack of provisions, Gannon ordered to deploy the fleet and go back to Carthage. The unusual climate and the hostile attitude of the natives towards the Greeks did not allow them to settle in a new place, but after travel gannon received new information about a distant land.
Another world famous ancient Greek scientist who is rightfully considered the "father of history" - Herodotus, was inspired by stories about voyage of Gannon, and at the age of 20 he also went on a sea voyage, the purpose of which was to explore distant lands. At that time, the Pythagorean school had already begun to put forward versions that the earth had the shape of a ball, but Herodotus, not supporting such a theory, decided to independently prove the opposite.
Herodotus' zeal for wandering was also facilitated by the fact that he came from a wealthy family with extensive trade ties. From early childhood, the future historian often met with people from different countries, listened with concentration to their stories about distant wanderings and dreamed of creating his own expedition.
In 464, Herodotus went from his native Halicarnassus to Egtpet, where he visited Memphis, Thebes and Heliopolis - the city of the Sun. With the meticulousness of a real naturalist, he described the floods of the Nile, studied the habits of crocodiles, and studied the religious rites of the Egyptians. His records allowed scientists of our time to learn a lot about the structure of the ancient world, decipher part of the hieroglyphic writing and restore the living conditions of the subjects of the pharaoh.
In addition, Herodotus discovered for the first time among his contemporaries that the African continent stretches far beyond the northern tropic. Before him, people believed that Africa could be easily rounded and returned through the Strait of Gibraltar.
The journey of Herodotus was really long - he visited Babylon, after which he went to the shores of the Caspian Sea. In his notes, the scientist describes the Caspian as a sea that has no connection with others, and is "on its own."
A century after the death of Herodotus, the Greek geographer went on another expedition, this time to the north. astronomer Pytheas... In 340, he set out on a rather risky voyage on a single ship. First, his expedition landed on the shores of the Iberian Peninsula, the territory of modern Spain. Further, the ship passed along the coast of France, and entered the English Channel, mooring to the island of Albion (modern England). There he met the locals, noting their friendliness, honesty and ingenuity. The ancestors of the modern British were actively trading in tin, the deposits of which were then the only ones in all of Europe.
At this, Pytheus did not satisfy his interest, and continued sailing up to the Scandinavian Peninsula. According to his notes, the length of the day was reduced to two hours, which indicates that he crossed the Arctic Circle. As Pytheas mentioned, it was impossible to continue the journey further, since he reached the edge of the Earth. He turned to the east and swam to the mouth of the Rhine, meeting the Ostion and Germanic peoples there. Then the expedition sailed to the Elbe, after which it returned back to its homeland. The total duration of his wanderings was a little more than a year, during which time Pytheus managed to make several important scientific discoveries... He learned that the moon affects the ebb and flow, and polar Star changes its position depending on the position of the observer.
From such travels, the Greeks learned a lot, gaining information that was inaccessible to their contemporaries from neighboring countries. Having a developed science, the inhabitants of Hellas were able to use the data to explain the patterns in nature, developed thoughts about the universe.
The most important branch of science, which received fast development in the period of antiquity, there was mathematics. Unlike the Egyptians, who used mathematics and geometry for a purely practical purpose, the Greeks tried to express patterns in the world around them through numbers. They believed that all natural phenomena have a clear structure and sequence that can be calculated, having sufficient knowledge for this. After two millennia Galileo Galilei he formulated this idea in his own way: according to his words, "the book of nature is written in the language of mathematics."
One of the important achievements of the Greeks is the invention of the counting board (abacus). With the help of this tool, calculations have been greatly simplified in trade, construction and in everyday life. In addition, the Greeks developed their own notation for numbers.
Significant contribution to the development of geometry, mathematics and natural sciences, made the legendary the scientist of antiquity Pythagoras. Returning from his wanderings, he founded the school of the "Pythagoreans", which was a kind of secret spiritual order. The Pythagoreans began to develop the idea that numbers rule the world, studied the influence of mathematics on natural phenomena, architecture and music. Pythagoras was the first to introduce the concept of axioms and theorems, the theory of numbers and the foundations of deduction.
The great scientist of antiquity Democritus made a prophetic discovery in his time - he believed that all the matter around us consists only of the smallest particles - atoms and the voids separating them from each other. This doctrine was called "atomism" and was able to explain many natural phenomena.
Development of medicine and natural science
One of the prerequisites for increasing life expectancy in the ancient world was the development of medicine and giving it the status of an exact science. One of the pioneers in this field was Hippocrates... Many of his works have survived to this day, although modern scholars question the fact that Hippocrates personally wrote all the chapters. Most likely, the main theses were gradually supplemented by his students as they gained experience.
The great philosopher of antiquity Aristotle, who was engaged in purely theoretical reflections in the first half of his life, by his mature age he plunged into the study of the structure of the world, in particular - the study of plants, anatomy of animals and humans. His works were used by his contemporaries, both for teaching and for practical purposes.
The theoretical and empirical knowledge gained by ancient scientists during their wanderings and practical activities allowed Greece to make a huge leap forward in development. Unfortunately, most of this knowledge is considered lost, only a small fraction of information has reached our time, but it is also invaluable.
The Greeks gave medieval scholars an initial store of knowledge that was used for further research. Their theory about the structure of the world, the shape of the Earth and the atomic structure of matter seem truly brilliant and prophetic, even from the point of view of modern science. It is difficult to imagine what the ancient researchers could have reached if their country had not been carried away by war strife that weakened science.
Dodecanese
The southeast of the Aegean archipelago is occupied by a group of islands, which are united under the general name Dodecanese, that is, the "Twelve Islands". Greek name islands differs from Russian (with an emphasis on the last syllable): Dodekanisos, since the toponym is formed from "dodecade" (a dozen).
Hero of Greece - Prince Alexander Ypsilanti
Ugly stars. George Vasiliad.
Meteors. Meteor rocks
In central Greece, in the northwestern part of Thessaly, between the peaks of Hasia and Pindos, where the Thessalian plain ends, giant cliffs create a fantastic sight that can be considered unique throughout the world. There are no descriptions regarding these rocks, neither in mythology, nor by the Greek or foreign historians of Meteora.
