Thucydides, Plato, Aeschylus

The Athenians

It is said that Western civilization owe its existence to the Greeks All the great systems and ideas found in Europe and America can be easily traced back to the Greek city-states . The significant contributions of Hellenistic thought is evident in governance . The Greeks introduced to the world a concept of rule by the majority that gave birth to democracy . They also gave the the world an idea of fair trial by creating the jury system in the court of law . The Greeks transformed the way the planet viewed entertainment

by conceptualizing a form of drama called tragedy and comedy . In the world of sports their greatest contribution is the creation of the Olympics . These are just a few of the brilliant innovations and revolutionary ideas that came from Hellenism

Greece is composed of city-states that were autonomous . From these political set-up and geo-political differentiation among neighboring territories , a city-state would soon come to prominence . Among these independent political units , there was greater than Athens

The greatness of Athens can be partially explained by the equally astounding achievements of her sons . In the field of philosophy we have some of the most acute minds in the history of mankind . What would the scientific and legal world be without the penetrating and thought provoking ideas of Socrates , Plato , Xenophon , and Alcibiades to name a few

But what really made the Athenians great is not only their discovery and genius . They made their mark because they dared to be different And not only that , their leaders and heroes encouraged them to wear their distinction with pride and show the world their virtues because they believe that what they have is a much more improved alternative to whatever the norm . The Athenians were at the forefront of change and the people in the 21st century were still feeling the impact of their undaunted courage to strive to become the leader of the pack in ancient Greece

Socrates the teacher par excellence who founded the Athens school of Philosophy was disgusted by the prevalent modes of philosophical analysis . He urged the Athenians to embrace a different route , one that is very much unlike the common practice of the day . It was so radical in fact that the Athenians turned against Socrates . But they could not understand that Socrates just wanted them to become distinct and better than the rest

James Coloiaco , in his book Socrates Against Athens , pointed out that the people was wrong in judging Socrates

In condemning Socrates , Athens condemned a philosopher whose moral message threatened to transform fundamentally the identity of the polis . In to reform itself along Socratic principles , Athens would have had to discard many of its traditional values and pursue a profoundly different understanding of the purpose of human life (p 142

It was both a blessing and curse for Socrates to be such a visionary The Athenians at this point could not fully grasp what he is aiming at

Coloiaco then explaining the...