View source for Ancient Greeks- From Archimedes to Zeno!

From Archimedes to Zeno!

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*Archimedes* was a great mathematician who lived from around 287 to 212
B.C. He went to a famous school of learning in Alexandria, Egypt.
Archimedes was able to tell fool's gold from real gold. He also found
that gold is equal to silver in weight. Archimedes invented a leverage
<glossary-greece.html> system to pump water out of ships. -- Ryan D.

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*Aristotle* wrote books about physics, poetry, zoology, biology,
politics, governments, and more. He was born in 384 B.C. His father was
the personal physician of the King of Macedonia. When Aristotle turned
17, he went to Athens to study with Plato. Aristotle thought of an
axiomatic <glossary-greece.html> system and deductive reasoning
<glossary-greece.html>. He said that the goal of humankind was to
achieve happiness and people still think that now. -- Kevin Q.

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*Democritus* developed the atomic theory of his teacher, Leucippus,
which taught that matter consists of tiny particles called atoms. He
believed in common sense. He emphasized well-being based on cheerfulness
and freedom fromworry. -- Patrick G.

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*Derosthenes* was an Athenian statesman who is considered the greatest
Greek orator <glossary-greece.html>. He was born in 384 B.C. and
orphaned when he was only seven years old. Derosthenes was puny and
clumsy as a boy and no one believed that he was going to become the
worlds greatest orator. He died in 322 B.C. -- Michael R.

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*Euclid* brought together most of the knowledge of the mathematics known
as geometry. He started defining things like points and lines. Euclid
set down general rules called axioms. His way of geometry was called
Euclidean geometry. He lived around 300 B.C. -- Elyas B.

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*Herodotus* was the first Greek historian. When he was young, Herodotus
travelled a lot. He may have seen something that gave him the idea to do
all the writing he did. Herodotus wrote nine books on the rise of the
Persian Empire. We know a lot more about the Persians because of his
books. Herodotus lived from 484 to 425 B.C. -- Jenny S.

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*Hesiod* was a famous poet who wrote two chief poems: "Theogony" and
"Works and Days." He and Homer were the two major poets between 700 and
500 B.C. We know about Hesiod, but all of his poetry has been lost. --
Abbey L.

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*Hipparchus* ruled Athens in 527 B.C., with his brother Hippias. Their
father was also a ruler in Athens. Hipparchus brought poets like
Anacrean and Simonides to Athens to help with literature. He was killed
in 514 B.C. by two young nobles who were trying to kill his brother and
overthrow the government. -- Jeff S.

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*Hippocrates* was a famous Greek doctor. He founded one of the four
schools of medicine. He developed the Hippocratic oath, which is a code
of ethics that doctors still take today. -- Jeff S.

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*Homer* was one of the first great European writers. He wrote famous
Greek poems that a lot of people knew. Homer was blind, but he still
wrote and said great poetry. He greatly influenced our knowledge of how
oral poetry is created. -- Paul N.

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*Pericles* was an Athenian leader who believed in democratic reform. He
also started the trial by jury system. Pericles started a building
program that produced the Parthenon. In battle, he defeated Persian
invaders, but later started a battle that led to the fall of Athens.
Pericles lived from 490 to 429 B.C. -- Tanos G.

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*Pindar* was the greatest lyric poet in ancient Greece. Pindar wrote
poems made for music. He lived from 522-443 B.C. Pindar. was a deeply
religious man. He invented the Pindaric odes, which were tributes to
athletic victories. -- Jason B.

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*Plato *was a brilliant student of Socrates and later carried on his
work. He gathered Socrates' ideas and wrote them down. Plato founded the
world's first university. He wrote down his teachings and people all
over the world, even today, study the Greek philosophers. -- Kristen G.

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*Socrates *was a philospher <glossary.html> who spent his life seeking
true knowledge. He taught his followers to search for answers about
man's role in our universe. Socrates' best accomplishment was teaching
new ideas. He questioned Athenian values and was accused of "forming an
idea of revolt." He was sentenced to death by the Greek government. --
Katie A.

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*Solon* rewrote laws in Athens to make them easier to understand. The
Athenians gave him full power to reform the constitution. Solon was a
poet until he started working with the law. He was known to be one of
the seven wise men in Greece. When Solon died, a democracy
<glossary-greece.html> was formed because of his influence. -- Charlotte P.

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*Thucydides *was a Greek historian who was born in Athens. He worked
hard to record things as they happened. During the Peloponnesian War,
Thucydides served as a general. He lived from about 607 to 400 B.C. and
became known for revealing how human nature works. -- Rebekah C.

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*Xenophan* was born in Athens and lived from 434 BC to 533 BC. Xenophon
was in a Greek war and was the captain of his men. He wrote a book
called /Hellenica/.. When he wrote this book, the world understood the
city-state of Sparta. Today, we can learn about Sparta in the same way.
Xenophan also wrote a book called Cyropaedia. It was his most famous
book. -- Allison M.

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*Zeno *was a philosopher who tried to prove that motion was impossible.
He wrote four paradoxes <glossary-greece.html>to try to prove his
argument. Though he lived from 490 to 430 B.C. His methods still
interest philosophers and scientists today -- Doug K.

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[[Category:History]]