History, culture and religion
Classical Greece dates from the first Olympic Game in 776 B.C .and the end of the period is the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. Ancient Greece is considered the cultural foundation of Western Civilization. Even though it was invaded by the Roman, its cultural heritage was preserved by the Roman Empire, which carried a version of the Greek model to many parts of Europe, and shaped the way modern a democratic civilization performs. Ancient Greek civilization has influenced language, politics, educational systems, philosophy, religion, art and architecture, through out the Renaissance period and still to this day.
Major wars of the period
The Persian Wars (500 – 448 B.C.) against Persian Empire, 431 B.C. the Peloponnesian War led by two opposing coalitions of Sparta and Athens, and the expansion wars led by Alexander the Great.
| Leonidas I, king of Sparta, in the monument of Thermopylae - source |
Famous people of the period
The poets : Homer, Hesiod, Pindar, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, and Sappho
The politicians: Themistocles, Pericles, Lysander, Epaminondas, Alcibiades, Philip II of Macedon, and his son Alexander the Great
The philosophers: Plato, Aristotle, Heraclitus of Ephesus, Parmenides, Democritus, Herodotus, Thucydides and Xenophon
Hellenistic period began in 323 B.C. with the death of Alexander and ends with annexation of the Greece by Rome in 146 B.C. The importance of Greece declined and the land were separated into three main centres. The Roman conquest ended with the division of the Empire into East and West. Constantinople was declared as the new capital since the importance of Byzantium Empire had grown. The Greeks became identified with Byzantine civilization. The figures of Constantine the Great and Justinian played a very important role in the founding of Christianity. The Turkish invasion came at the hands of the Ottomans in 1453. Their rule is known as the years of darkness, in which cultural development was suppressed. The Greeks fought for independence winning in the Revolution of 1821 - 1827. Greece went through a period of cultural revival following the formation of the first Hellenic Republic in 1831. This is considered as the rebirth of the Greek nation, finally being able to form a single entity from its multi-faceted culture.
| Homer - source |
Historical development of Hellenic republic
Greece achieved independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1829 and until the end of the first half of the 20th century it gradually added neighbouring islands and territories with Greek-speaking populations. During World War II, Greece was first invaded by Italy and then occupied by Germany. Civil war broke out with fighting between supporters of the king and Communist rebels until 1949. Greece joined NATO in 1952. However, in 1967 a military dictatorship, which suspended many political liberties and forced the king to flee the country, gained power. The junta ruled over Greece 7 years.
| Otto, first King of modern Greece - source |
The 1974 democratic elections and a referendum created a parliamentary republic and abolished the monarchy. In 1981 Greece joined the EC (now the EU); it became the 12th member of the European Economic and Monetary Union in 2001. Currently, the Greek Republic orientates its focus toward common European economic and social security issues.
Greece is a Parliamentary Republic. The President has a ceremonial role and leader of the majority party in the Parliament is chosen as the Prime Minister. Greece has a codified constitution and a written Bill of Rights written 11 June 1975; amended March 1986 and April 2001. Two major political parties dominate the political system. In 1981, the Panhellenic Socialist Movement formed the socialist government and subsequently ruled the country for most of the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. Since 2004 it served as the main opposition party.
