Ancient Greek facts Archives

Aristotle: Facts and Information

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Here are some facts about Aristotle.

Aristotle was a scientist and philosopher who was born in Greece in 384 BC. Today he is considered one of the best known and most important of all philosophers.
He was born into a noble and wealthy family. His father was the personal doctor to King Amyntas who helped to bring peace to the Macedonian area.

Aristotle spent much of his life in Athens, then the world’s largest city.
He studied biology, politics, physics, music, languages, poetry and ethics at the school of another well-known philosopher, Plato.
He invented a new science called causality, which explained why events happen. He also devised a new way of looking at situations and events by looking for clues as to what happened.

Aristotle designed a primitive camera, in which the sun shone into a dark box, creating an image. He also made studies of the stars and planets, and wrote books about physics and geology.
Aristotle classified animals into different types, and studied the marine life in the nearby ocean. He believed that living things were created on a scale, ranging from plants to humans.
He made notes to help his students, and also wrote many books and papers. However, only about 30 percent of what he wrote survives today, and many of his works were also edited over the years.
Aristotle was the first known person to say that the continent of Antarctica existed. The Aristotle Mountains, along the north coast of Antarctica are named for him.
Towards the end of his life he tutored Alexander the Great, as well as two other future kings. He founded his own school, called the Lyceum.
He died in 322 BC, aged 62 and has been called the most intelligent man who ever lived. His method of questioning things and many of his ideas have influenced philosophers for many centuries.

What next? Learn more about Ancient Greece by visiting our resources page.

James 32 Comments

Here are some facts about Ancient Athens.

Ancient Athens spanned several thousand years, from about 6,000 BC to about 322 BC. During this time it grew from a small fishing village to the most important city in the ancient world.
Athens was at the centre of an area known as Attica. The area became wealthy and powerful partly because of rich deposits of marble, lead and silver.

The first Olympic Games were held in Athens in 776 BC. They were dedicated to the Greek gods and continued for about 1,200 years, with palm branches given to the winners.
The city’s classical period lasted from 500 to 322 BC. During this time, Athens was a major centre for learning, the arts and philosophy as well as a centre for democracy.
The city’s famous Parthenon temple was built in 438 BC. It was built to precise dimensions, and over the centuries has been used as a mosque and a store room for ammunition.
Plato was one of the most famous people in ancient Athens. He travelled widely, had an advanced knowledge of geometry and founded the world’s first university.
Democracy was invented in ancient Athens, although only men could vote. Voters also had the power to banish politicians from the city for 10 years.
Just like today, the rich people in ancient Athens paid more in taxes. The city also required that anyone up to the age of 50 had to join the military, for up to a year.
Wealthy families had slaves who went shopping, cleaned the house and looked after the children. Women were expected to stay home, rather than go to work.
Meat was rarely eaten, and most residents ate cheese, figs and grapes. Children were taught at home, and learned the works of Homer, as well as how to play the lyre.

What next? Discover more facts about Ancient Greece or learn more about Sparta, another important Ancient Greek city state.

James 49 Comments

Here are some facts about the Ancient Greek Goddess Aphrodite:

Aphrodite was born when Uranus was defeated by Zeus and the New Gods. A drop of Uranus’s blood fell into the Ocean and caused it to foam. From the froth emerged Aphrodite.

Aphrodite was the goddess of love. She had no other jobs or duties except to look pretty and have others fall in love with her.
She wore a girdle with magic powers. The girdle made its wearer seem incredibly attractive to all who looked upon them.
Aphrodite was married to Zeus’s son, Hephaestos. He worked in the forges of the Greek Gods as a blacksmith, making jewellery and weapons.
Aphrodite wasn’t faithful to Hephaestos, and she had many lovers (both men and gods) including: Ares (the god of war), and a handsome human called Adonis.
Aphrodite had quite a few children. Her sons included, Eros and Aeneas, and she had a daughter called Harmonia.
Although Aphrodite was the goddess of love, she could be quite angry and vicious at times. For example, when a man called Glaucus insulted Aphrodite, she decided to punish him. She fed his horses magic water so that when he used them in a chariot race they went mad and crushed him to death. They then ate him!
Aphrodite could also be kind. For example, when the sculptor Pygmalion, one of her loyal followers, could not find a wife, Aphrodite gave life to one of his sculptures. Pygmalion called the living statue Galatea, and they got married.
Aphrodite was closely associated with Cyprus, an island near to where she was ‘born’.
The Roman name for Aphrodite was Venus.

Learn more about some of the other Greek gods and goddesses by clicking the link.