Noted Greeks of Antiquity
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In the southeastern corner of Europe lies the country of Greece. In Classical, Hellenistic, and Byzantine times Greece covered the area of Turkey, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Libya, and southern Italy. After 700 BC, the greatest intellectual concentration known to man began to develop there. There are a number of reasons why this happened. Greece’s ideal climate allows time for intellectual reflection; man does not have to struggle year- round with the elements just to survive. Like the other great ancient civilizations of Egypt, India and China, Greece lies on a sea. Because of the Mediterranean Sea, Greece developed social and commercial intercourse with all of the then known world. Concurrently with this increasing contact with the rest of the world, philosophers and would-be philosophers from all over the Greek world began to gather in Athens, making her the intellectual capital of Greece. This gathering of the best minds of Greece, resulted in a cross-fertilization of ideas, which lead to the laying of the foundation of every art and science. Other centers of culture also developed somewhat later in such places as Alexandria, Byzantium and Pergamum. The Greek philosopher of antiquity realized that there was a great difference between animate and inanimate things. He concluded that all animate things have a soul. But he also concluded that man’s soul is much superior to that of all other living things. He then considered the origin of the universe and that of man. He saw that there was an unseen world as well as a visible one. His conscience and belief in an ethical life developed very early. He believed that man had a specific purpose. But regardless of what philosophical school he belonged to, he believed that he must constantly endeavor to improve himself. This resulted in the universal Greek philosophy that man must continuously strive for excellence. But to lead the proper life, certain basic questions had to be answered. What is life? What is the purpose of life? What is the universe? What is the soul? All these questions can be summarized by one question: What is the truth? And this is what all the philosophers sought to discover. In addition to philosophy, the Greeks of antiquity had many other interests and pursued numerous other fields. Besides having a strong desire for knowledge, they were also motivated by the more materialistic desires of fame, fortune and adventure. The endeavors of the Greeks of antiquity resulted in the practice of every conceivable art and science. These included: art, architecture, astronomy, athletics, biology, chemistry, cookery, drama, engineering, geography, geology, history, hymnography, literature, mathematics, medicine, military science, music, philology, philosophy, physics, poetry, religion, rhetoric, statesmanship, sculpture, theology and travel. In the literary field they labored in all of these areas: apology, biography, criticism, encomiums, epics, fables, grammar, lexicography, letters, maxims, myths, novels, poetry, proverbs, paradoxes, rarities, riddles, and satire.
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About the Book
The ancient Greeks had a spectacular civilization which was involved in every art and science. Approximately 3,000 names have come down to us of key personalities that contributed to this culture. We have the work of only one-quarter of these and fragments of the work of the remainder. This book describes the known work of 704 of these ancient personalities. There are many books that give the lives of the more famous of these ancient Greeks. There are a number of biographical dictionaries that give one line descriptions of many more of these ancients. This book, though, is an attempt to describe the major points about all ancient Greek personalties of which anything is known. It is a handy encyclopedia in which one can quickly find the salient features of any ancient Greek personality. Each article in this book has the following order: The personality’s name is stated. This is followed by his birth and death years or whatever of these can be approximated. The first sentence of the text gives the areas in which the personality was active. Then there is a description of whatever is known about the character and life of the personality. The article concludes with the material or intellectual accomplishments of the personality.
About the Author
John Antonakos is a retired electrical engineer who holds degrees in physics and electrical engineering. He was employed as an electrical engineer for over forty years, thirty-two of which were with the United States Army at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J. He has always been interested in history, biography, linguistics and ethnography, and has read widely in these fields. Being of Greek background, he is especially interested in exploring his roots. In connection with these interests, in addition to this book, Noted Greeks of Antiquity, he has written or is writing books on the following Greek subjects: a compendium of the Greek language, a history of the district of Mani in Laconia, the experiences of his wife Eva during World War II, and the biographies of the noted Greeks of the Middle Ages.