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2. Aristotle
The Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) made significant and lasting contributions to nearly every aspect of human knowledge, from logic to biology to ethics and aesthetics. Though overshadowed in classical times by the work of his teacher Plato, from late antiquity through the Enlightenment, Aristotle’s surviving writings were incredibly influential. In Arabic philosophy, he was known simply as “The First Teacher”; in the West, he was “The Philosopher -
3. Euclid
Euclid (yōˈklĭd) [key], fl. 300 B.C., Greek mathematician. Little is known of his life other than the fact that he taught at Alexandria, being associated with the school that grew up there in the late 4th cent. B.C. He is famous for his Elements, a presentation in thirteen books of the geometry and other mathematics known in his day. The first six books cover elementary plane geometry and have served since as the basis for most beginning courses on this subject. The other books of the Elements t -
4. Homer
Homer (c. 750 BCE) is perhaps the greatest of all epic poets and his legendary status was well established by the time of Classical Athens. He composed (not wrote, since the poems were created and transmitted orally, they were not written down until much later) two major works, the Iliad and the Odyssey; other works were attributed to Homer, but even in antiquity their authorship was disputed. In conjunction with Hesiod, Homer acts as a great pool of information for the Greeks about their gods. -
5. Pericles
The so-called golden age of Athenian culture flourished under the leadership of Pericles (495-429 B.C.), a brilliant general, orator, patron of the arts and politician—”the first citizen” of democratic Athens, according to the historian Thucydides. Pericles transformed his city’s alliances into an empire and graced its Acropolis with the famous Parthenon. His policies and strategies also set the stage for the devastating Peloponnesian War, which would embroil all Greece in the decades following -
8. Archimedes
Another Greek mathematician who studied at Alexandria in the 3rd Century BC was Archimedes, although he was born, died and lived most of his life in Syracuse, Sicily (a Hellenic Greek colony in Magna Graecia). Little is known for sure of his life, and many of the stories and anecdotes about him were written long after his death by the historians of ancient Rome.
Also an engineer, inventor and astronomer, Archimedes was best known throughout most of history for his military innovations like his s -
9. Cleisthenes
: Cleisthenes of Athens, Cleisthenes also spelled Clisthenes (born c. 570 BCE—died c. 508), statesman regarded as the founder of Athenian democracy, serving as chief archon (highest magistrate) of Athens (525–524). Cleisthenes successfully allied himself with the popular Assembly against the nobles (508) and imposed democratic reform. Perhaps his most important innovation was the basing of individual political responsibility on citizenship of a place rather than on membership in a clan -
.Alexander the Great
One of the greatest military geniuses in history, Alexander the Great was born in 356 B.C. in Pella, Macedonia. The son of Philip of Macedon, who was an excellent Army General and organizer. His mother was Olympias, princess of Epirus.
At the age of 20, Alexander assembled forces in Greek Cities in Corinth that recognised him as their Leader. His Army mainly consisted of Macedonian soldiers and also some Greeks. He then invaded the Persian Empire, but whilst he was at war in Thrace, some Greek -
6. Pythagoras
It is sometimes claimed that we owe pure mathematics to Pythagoras, and he is often called the first "true" mathematician. But, although his contribution was clearly important, he nevertheless remains a controversial figure. He left no mathematical writings himself, and much of what we know about Pythagorean thought comes to us from the writings of Philolaus and other later Pythagorean scholars. Indeed, it is by no means clear whether many (or indeed any) of the theorems ascribed to him were in -
10. Hippocrates
The works of Hippocrates provided much of the basis for the subsequent development of medical science. Before Hippocrates’ writings, Greeks considered illness chiefly as a spiritual malady, both caused and cured according to the whims of the gods. Though Hippocrates served as the central figure in ancient Greek medicine, other practitioners both paved the way for and elaborated upon his accomplishments