SEEKING ANSWERS

Ancient Greeks sought to bring order and balance to all things. They asked questions to attempt to make sense of the world around them. Most Greeks were not satisfied with randomness and chaos. Relationships of all kinds were explored. Relationships between numbers and relationships between shapes were studied. Man's relationship to each other and the gods was examined as well. Nature was also observed for clues that would help the Greeks understand why things in the world behaved the way they did. Many discoveries made by Ancient Greeks are still impacting our culture today. Modern algebra, geometry, astronomy, zoology, botany, geology, biology, philosophy, government and history all have roots in Ancient Greece.

In Ancient Greece each citizen had the right to be heard.

BY THE PEOPLE

BIRTHPLACE OF DEMOCRACY

To keep wealthy land owners from having all the say in public matters and to keep these same men from becoming tyrants with all the power, the people of Athens developed a system of government called democracy. Many of the other Greek city-states followed Athens' lead and also adopted this system of government. Democracy allowed every citizen to be heard and to have a voice in how things were run in Athens. Each man represented himself.

It did not matter if you were rich or poor, as long as you were male, had been born in the city-state of Athens and were not a slave, you could speak at any public assembly to state your case and let your point of view be known. These men also had the right to vote. All citizens were expected to participate whenever there was something to vote on. This was considered their duty. At least 6000 citizens had to be present for an assembly meeting to begin.

Sometimes if the citizens were tired of a politician or did not trust him anymore they would vote to have him leave the city-state for ten years. This was called ostracism. To be ostracized a man had to receive more than 6000 votes.

DISCOVERING THE SCIENCES

DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE

Hippocrates was the famous Greek doctor that the Hippocratic oath is named after. He is considered the founder of modern medicine. Doctors today still take the Hippocratic oath. This oath is the basis of all medical ethics and defines how doctors should act towards their patients and practice medicine to their benefit. Hipppocrates wrote many books on medical topics. His teachings explained how everything in the body works together and that to truly understand one part of the body you have to know how it interacts with the other parts.

If you were sick and went to Hippocrates, he would ask you questions about your symptoms. He would also ask you about what you had been eating and doing lately. After taking all your answers into consideration he would recommend a treatment, probably an herbal cure.

STARS IN THEIR EYES

Early Greek astronomer Aristarchus made the discovery that the earth moved around the sun. Many thought that the sun revolved around the earth. A fellow astronomer named Anaxagoras, detected that the moon's light is reflected from the sun. Hipparchus, also an astronomer, located and cataloged some 850 stars.

WATER WONDERS

A Greek inventor, known as Archimedes, built the first water pump. He discovered a way to move water from a lower location to a higher one. This type of device consisted of a large, wooden, spiral screw inside a tight fitting tube-like container that was operated by turning a crank handle. The screw pushed the water through the tube up to the higher level. This type of pump is still in use today in places like Africa. It is used to help irrigate the land for farming and is still called an Archimedes' screw or pump.

Archimedes also discovered a law of physics quite by accident one day. By stepping into a tub of water that had been filled to the very brim, he realized as the tub overflowed, that the amount of water pushed out of the tub was equal to the volume of his body. This simple discovery and observation helped him to understand how things float.

TRIANGULAR TRIUMPH

Scholars such as Archimedes, Euclid and Pythagoras worked out basic rules of mathematics that we still use in geometry today. Pythagoras discovered that certain characteristics of the right-angled triangle are always consistent. He and others believed that the key to unlocking the world's mysteries lay in numbers and mathematical relationships.

MAKING SENSE OF THE UNIVERSE

MYTHS

Ancient Greeks did not believe in just one god, they believed in many gods and goddesses. They also believed that these gods and goddesses lived high atop Mount Olympus and were immortal even though they looked and behaved just like humans. Greek gods and goddesses fell in love, married, quarreled, had children, made mistakes and often got themselves into big trouble. The Greeks had many stories about their gods and goddess. These stories were told over and over again. Everyone in Greece knew which gods were married to which goddesses. They could tell you all about the children of the gods and goddesses and all about every deed and misdeed of each of these immortals.

Apollo was the Greek god of the sun.

Each god or goddess had special influence over one area or part of Greek life. Zeus was the king of the gods. It was not wise to displease him. If he was mad he would roar, making thunder and then throw lighting bolts. Apollo made the sun rise and set. Hermes helped and led people's souls to the underworld. Poseidon was responsible for storms at sea and even earthquakes.

DISBELIEVER

Socrates was a famous Greek philosopher who wanted people to question their religious beliefs and examine the meaning of all things such as good, evil, truth, justice and courage. He believed that it was important for people to develop their mind so they could question things and think for themselves and not just accept what they were told. This made many people angry and they thought he was a danger to them and society. Socrates was finally forced to kill himself by drinking hemlock, which is poisonous.

Philosophers would openly debate with their students to help them find answers to important questions about life and the universe.

EACH ONE TEACHING ONE

Plato, Aristotle and Socrates were three of the greatest Greek philosophers. Socrates never wrote down any of his ideas or teachings. Most of Socrates' teaching was done in discussion groups where students and teachers debated the merit of their ideas openly and freely. Plato, one of Socrates students, took the time to transcribe many of Socrates philosophies, writing them as dialogues between teacher and pupil. Eventually, Plato started an academy of his own. One of his students, Aristotle went on to become the tutor of Alexander the Great.