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There is no official separation between Archaic and Classical Greece. The first period was a beginning; the second, a fulfilment. During the Archaic period, Greek civilization
emerged as a cohesive force, even though the characteristic political unit was still the independent city-state. Having learned from their ancestors to carve, build, and write, the Classical Greeks honed these skills
and created some of the finest temples, theatres, statues, plays, and essays the world has ever seen.The Greeks accomplished all of this even though they were divided into feuding city-states and threatened by
foreign invaders. During the opening years of the 5th century BC, the Persian army and fleet came dangerously close to conquering Greece. Towards the end of the century, Sparta and Athens bled each other in the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC), and innumerable other wars were fought between the city-states.Classical Greece knew the arts of war, but
its greatest achievements lay in other spheres, symbolized appropriately by the deeds of one city-state, Athens. In the Peloponnesian War, Sparta would eventually triumph over Athens, but only by transforming itself
into a kind of barracks society, where life was regimented from childhood to death. In contrast, Athens upheld the ideal of democracy, bested Sparta in many battles, and despite ultimate defeat won a moral victory that
lasted through the ages. The Greek statesman Pericles
delivered a famous speech in 429 in honour of Athenian soldiers who had fallen in battle. In it he gave this advice to the citizens: "Fix your eyes on the greatness of Athens as you have it before you day by day, fall in love with her, and when you feel her great, remember that this greatness was won by men with courage, with knowledge of their duty, and with a sense of honour in action."
Athenian greatness was clear for all to see. High above the city, glistening white in the Mediterranean sun, stood the Acropolis
, the citadel that was the traditional site of Athenian temples. On the Acropolis was the Parthenon, one of the most magnificent buildings the world has ever
known. Athens nurtured four of the world's greatest playwrights: Aeschylus,
Aristophanes, Euripides, and Sophocles
. The philosophers Plato and Socrates
were teaching in Athens when Pericles delivered his funeral oration. These great poets and playwrights spoke words that still seem wise today. For example:Aeschylus: "It is in the character of very few men to honour
without envy a friend who has prospered."
Aristophanes: "Under every stone lurks a politician." Euripides: "In this world, second thoughts, it seems, are best." Plato: "The life which is unexamined is not worth
living." Socrates: "Bad men live that they may eat and drink, whereas good men eat and drink that they may live." Sophocles: "No man loves life like him that is growing old."
The wisdom of Athens came from writers who knew that the world—even Athens—was sometimes bad. The evil that lurked in the streets of even this most enlightened city is apparent in the fate of Socrates. He
did not suffer fools gladly, and Athens had its share of fools—some of whom took offence at his frank description of "bad men". In 399 BC, in his seventieth year, Socrates was convicted of "corrupting the youth" through
his teachings, and sentenced to death. Rejecting any possibilities of escape he took his own life by drinking poison hemlock.Despite this tragedy, Athens continued to attract great philosophers. Plato continued to teach, and about 30 years after the death of Socrates, he acquired his
most renowned pupil— Aristotle, the son of the court physician to the king
of Macedonia. Aristotle became the leading figure not only in Greek
philosophy, but in the entire history of western thought. He in turn had as pupil one of the most remarkable men in history—
Alexander the Great.Towards the middle of the 4th century BC a new power emerged in Macedonia, Aristotle's native land. Under the direction of
Philip II, the country conquered the adjoining regions of Thessaly and Thrace.
Secure in his power, but uncomfortable in the knowledge that the cultured city-states to the south considered him a barbarian, Philip hired Aristotle to come to Macedonia and tutor the young prince, Alexander. Thus it
happened that one of the world's greatest philosophers was a teacher to one of history's greatest soldiers. With Alexander's rise to power after the assassination of Philip in 336, a new age would begin in Greece.
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