Ancient Athens On Five Drachmas A Day – Philip Matyszak

Contentment is nature’s wealth Every man should marry. A good wife will make him happy, a bad wife will make him a philosopher I was too honest to be a politician and live hp r] r] r] =3 recognized – simply look for the ugliest man on the premises. If you see a bald¬ ing, scrawny individual with a pot belly, bulging eyes and thick, fleshy lips, you have probably found Socrates, the man that the Oracle at Delphi calls ‘undoubt¬ edly the wisest man alive’.

There are plenty ready to disagree with the Oracle, including the play¬ wright Aristophanes who paid Socrates the compliment of making him the sub¬ ject of an entire satirical play, The Clouds. Socrates (and philosophers in general) are shown as mocking the tra¬ ditional gods of Athens, and teaching dishonest arguments. Aristophanes has a young man learning how to use Sophistic arguments to avoid paying his debts, and is taught by Socrates to disrespect his parents. The impressions [6i] The Stoa of Zeus Eleuthereos, dedicated to the freedom Athens enjoys from Persian domination.

created by Aristophanes will contribute to Socrates’ eventual condemnation and death. They’re a worthless bunch. I know them – you’re talking about pale-faced charlatans, who haven’t any shoes, like those rascals Socrates and Chaerephon. If interested in philosophers, it may be worth making your way over to the south of Athens, to the urban deme of Kollytos, and having a look at the house where, in two years’ time, a muscular little baby called Plato will be born.

He, the greatest of Socrates’ students, will enlarge and develop his master’s work as well as passing his philosophy on to later generations – Socrates, typically, does not bother committing anything to writing. It is also well worth visiting another of Socrates’ hang-outs, the Painted Stoa in the Agora. This was also where the philosopher Zeno used to teach, and indeed, this stoa is so associated with his The Painted Stoa – one of the glories [62] teachings that even today we know his philosophy as Stoicism.

The Painted Stoa is well worth a visit in any case, as it is one of the most famous buildings in Athens. It is also an excellent place to take in studies of philosophy.

In the Agora: the Pouleuterion • the Tholos the dfoyal Stoa • the Stoa of Zeus Eleuthereos • the Thpparcheion the Painted Stoa • the South Stoa § On the Acropolis: the Propylaea the Crechtheion • the Parthenon Useful Phrases 126 Author’s Note 129 Sources of Illustrations 130 Index 131 CONTENTS i GETTING THERE 6 Thermopylae § T>elphi § LAttica § Marathon II THE PIRAEUS 20 The Harbours § Tiraean People § The Long Walls III ORIENTATION 30 Where to Stay $ Athenian Society IV ATHENIAN PASTIMES 48 The Academy § Cock-fights & Taverns § Shopping § Money V MEET THE ATHENIANS 58 (}{yperbolos § Tenkles § Socrates § Thucydides § Thidias Sophocles § LAristophanes VI ACTIVITIES 69 LA Morning at the Pnyx § Tin Afternoon at the Theatre LAn Evening Symposium VII A CITY OF GODS 84 !Jiephaestos & Friends § Sdthena & the Panathenaia The Eleusinian Mysteries § ‘Witchcraft & Superstition VIII RITES OF PASSAGE 103 lMilitary Service § Funerals § Weddings IX MUST-SEE SIGHTS 109 In the Agora: the Fouleuterion • the Fholos the Foyal Stoa • the Stoa of Zeus Eleuthereos • the Fipparcheion the Fainted Stoa • the South Stoa § On the Acropolis: the Fropylaea the Crechtheion • the Farthenon Useful Phrases 126 Author’s Note 129 Sources of Illustrations 130 Index 131 GETTING THERE Kallidromon widens the pass to a rela¬ tively wide 30 yards or so.

Here, at the ‘middle gate’, there is a ruined wall where the Greeks originally made their stand. Later, when all was lost, they fell back to the east and fought to the death on a low hill, where a stone lion now stands in their memory. Further along, three marble pillars stand near the ‘east gate’. The first con¬ tains a verse to the memory of Megistias the seer, who foresaw disaster yet chose to stay with the 300. It was written by Megistias’ friend Simonides, the great elegiac poet who lived in Athens until his death 20 years after the battle.

You see here the great Megistias’ tomb Who slew the Medes, fresh from Sperchios’ fords. The wise seer clearly foresaw his death, Yet would not forsake the Spartan cause.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

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