Pericles and Alcibiades were both descendants of the Alkmeonidai, an ancient Athenian aristocratic family. Pericles (495 – 429 BC) was an influential Athenian politician and general in the fifth...
In the annals of military history, few names command as much respect and admiration as the Spartans . These ancient Greek warriors were legendary for their courage, skill, and ferocity on the...
On the face of it, Spartans might have felt right at home living under the iron fist of the Third Reich given that this city-state—more than any other in the Greek world—- sacrificed individuality on...
We often think of ancient Athens as being the home of democracy, the place where it all started. And this is true. But the shocking truth is that Athens has spent the vast majority of its existence...
Many of the Greek gods and goddesses enjoyed inflicting in pain, suffering, and destruction, but few took as much joy in it as Eris. Eris was the Greek goddess of chaos, strife, and discord...
Eugenics, the science of selectively choosing human genetics, is most synonymous with the modern world and the horrors of Hitler’s ‘final solution’, in which millions of Jews and other ‘undesirable’...
Standing at the spearhead of many of history's greatest battles were battalions of grotesque weapon wielding, combat-trained children, as ready and willing as their parents to die for their city-...
“Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth,” is a law of propaganda often attributed to the Nazi Joseph Goebbels. One such lie has been the notion that Ancient Greeks regularly practiced...
If there is a single event that made Sparta ’ s military legend a seminal moment when the ‘Bronze Lie’ was forged, it is the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC, fought 10 years after Marathon . Nearly...
Menelaus, the mythological king of Mycenaean Sparta, is perhaps best remembered as the husband of Helen of Troy. While lost in his wife’s shadow, his story is inexorably entwined with that of the...
Agamemnon is a major figure in Greek mythology. He was a king of Mycenae, and the supreme commander of the Greeks during the Trojan War. Therefore, he plays a significant role in Homer’s Iliad . As a...
The famous city states of ancient Greece were filled with capable leaders, statesmen, generals, and heroes. Athens, one of the world’s oldest named and inhabited cities, became the leading city state...
The Olympic Games in ancient Greece were a true celebration of a healthy spirit. Originally held to honor the god Zeus, these sport festivities became one of the cornerstones of Western civilization...
The coronavirus is concentrating our minds on the fragility of human existence in the face of a deadly disease. Words like ‘epidemic’ and ‘ pandemic ’ (and ‘panic’!) have become part of our daily...
On the eve of his conception sometime in 495 BC, Pericles’ mother Agariste dreamed of giving birth to a lion. It was then, months later, Pericles was born. Pericles (495 BC – 429 BC) was a legend...
In Sparta , the individual did not matter. Everything was for the preservation and continuous strengthening of the state. They built no walls since they welcomed any to challenge invasion. They lit...