Athens Articles

Aspasia of Miletus (470-410 BCE, approximately) is best known as the consort and close companion of the great Athenian statesman Pericles. She was a metic (a person not born in Athens) and, accordingly, was not allowed to marry an Athenian and had to pay a tax to live in Athens. She bore Pericles a son, also named Pericles, out of wedlock. Her life is inextricably... [continue reading]

Aspasia was born around 470 B.C. in Miletus in Asia Minor. She was likely born into a wealthy family, because she was known to have been highly educated and well versed. How she arrived in Athens is the source of some debate among scholars. A few sources suggest that she traveled there when her older sister married Alcibiades, who had been ostracized... [continue reading]

Much of the craftsmanship of ancient Greece was part of the domestic sphere. However, the situation gradually changed between the 8th and 4th centuries BC, with the increased commercialization of the Greek economy. Thus, weaving and baking were done only by women before the 6th century BC. After the growth of commerce, slaves started to be widely used... [continue reading]

A distinctive red and black colour scheme characterises most of the painted pottery of sixth- and fifth-century Athens. The colours result from the skilful exploitation of the high iron content of Athenian clay by an ingenious process of differential firing. The black areas of a black or red-figured pot were coated in a fine solution of the same clay... [continue reading]

Hipparchia was the wife of Crates, a very popular Athenian philosopher. She was also notable for her brazen abandonment of her aristocratic upbringing for life as a Cynic. Though not much is known about Hipparchia, her importance in the history of ancient Greek women is undeniable. She was an educated philosopher, she was outspoken, and she was unconventional... [continue reading]

The Classical Athenian Agora began to take shape under the ruling of Kimon. He took power around 479 B.C., as the Athenian people ostracized Themistocles. As a respected general who had led many victories for Athens in the Persian Wars, he was easily accepted as a new leader. Kimon is widely known in ancient history as a beautifier of the arid Athenian countryside... [continue reading]

The Agora was the central gathering place for all of Athens, where social and commercial dealings took place. Arguably, it's most important purpose was as the home base for all of the city-state's administrative, legal and political functions. Some of the most important, yet least acclaimed, buildings of ancient history and Classical Athens were located... [continue reading]

Pausanius was a 2nd century CE writer who traveled extensively, taking notes on points of interest, and recorded his travels in `guide books’ which could be used by tourists visiting the sites described. Born in Lydia, in Asia Minor (present day Turkey) Pausanius traveled to Macedonia, Jerusalem, Egypt and Rome and wrote of seeing the ruins of the... [continue reading]

The great statesman Pericles was credited with bringing Athens into its "golden age", at a pinnacle of culture, wealth, and influence that few other cultures have achieved in history. Under Pericles, Athens became the legendary city that we think of today, with its democratic political ideals, magnificent columned temples, and artistic innovations... [continue reading]

Plato, whose dialogues on Truth, Good and Beauty have significantly shaped Western thought and religion, wrote and taught under a nickname. His real name was Aristocles. Names In Ancient Greece In ancient Greece a child was given the name of the grand-parent; the grand-father if a boy and grand-mother if a girl. The remembrance of the dead was a sacred... [continue reading]