7-34

7.34 Describe the purposes and functions of the lyceum, the gymnasium, and the Library of Alexandria, and identify the major accomplishments of the ancient Greeks. (H) · The **Lyceum**, like the other famous Athenian gymnasia (the Academy and Cynosarges) was more than a space for physical exercise and philosophical discussion, reflection, and study. · The Lyceum contained cults of Hermes, the Muses, and Apollo, to whom the area was dedicated and belonged. · The Lyceum was also used for military exercises, the marshaling of troops, and for military displays. It encompassed a fairly large area, including large open spaces, buildings, and cult sites. · The Lyceum was also the place for meetings of the Athenian assembly before the establishment of a permanent meeting area on the Pnyx hill during the fifth century BC · The Lyceum was a place of philosophical discussion and debate well before Aristotle founded his school there in 335 BC. · The Lyceum was an important early milestone in the development of Western science and philosophy. The complex itself, named for its sanctuary to Lycian Apollo, dates from before the 6th century BC, while Aristotle founded his famous school there in 336BC. Aristotle walked in the lyceum's stoae and grounds as he lectured, surrounded by a throng of students, so the philosophical school he founded was called the Peripatetics. · The **gymnasium** functioned as a training facility for competitors in public games. · Gymnasium was also a place for socializing and engaging in intellectual pursuits. The name comes from the Greek term //gymnos// meaning naked. Athletes competed in the nude, a practice said to encourage aesthetic appreciation of the male body. Some early tyrants feared gymnasia facilitated politically subversive erotic attachments between competitors. · The gymnasium supplied the means of training and competition formed part of the social and spiritual life of the Greeks from very early on. · The contests took place in honor of heroes and gods, sometimes forming part of a periodic festival or the funeral rites of a deceased chief. The free and active Greek lifestyle (spent to a great extent in the open air) reinforced the attachment to such sports and after a period of time the contests became a prominent element in Greek culture. · The victor in religious athletic contests, though he gained no material prize other than a wreath, was rewarded with the honors and respect of his fellow citizens. Training of competitors for the greater contests was a matter of public concern and special buildings were provided by the state for such use, with management entrusted to public officials. A victory in the great religious festivals was counted an honor for the whole state. · Its association with the culture of gymnasia is attested to by Plato, who identifies those states that "especially encourage the use of gymnasia" as being notable for their pederastic traditions. · The **Library of Alexandrina** is a major library and cultural center, founded by Alexandria the Great, and located on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea in the Egyptian city of Alexandria. · The Royal Library of Alexandria was once the largest in the world. It is usually assumed to have been founded at the beginning of the 3rd century BC during the reign of Ptolemy II of Egypt after his father had set up the temple of the Muses, the Musaeum (whence we get "Museum"). It is an attempt to rekindle something of the brilliance that this earlier center of study and erudition represented. A. **Thales of Miletus** also known as **Thales the Milesian** (624-546 BC), was a pre Socratic Greek philosopher and one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Many regard him as the first philosopher in the Greek tradition as well as the father of science. B. **Pythagoras of Samos** (582 BC –507 BC) was an [|Ionian] ([|Greek]) mathematician, astronomer, scientist and [|philosopher], founder of the mathematical, mystic, religious, and scientific society called [|Pythagoreans]. He was called Pytha-goras because Pythian oracle predicted his birth. He is best known for the [|Pythagorean Theorem] which bears his name. Known as "[|the father of numbers]," Pythagoras made influential contributions to [|philosophy] and religious teaching in the late 6th century BC. C. **Hippocrates of Cos II** or **Hippokrates of Kos** (460-370 BC) was ancient Greek physician of the Age of Pericles, considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine. He is often referred to as “The Father of Medicine” in recognition of his lasting contributions to the field as the founder of the Hippocratic School of medicine. In particular, he is credited with greatly advancing clinical medicine, summing up the medical knowledge of previous schools, and prescribing practices for physicians through the Hippocratic Oath. D. Great trio of ancient Greeks. **Socrates** (470-399 BC) is widely credited for laying the foundation for Western philosophy. He is quite possibly the most important and influential philosopher in the history of western civilization (though strong cases could also be made for Plato, [|Aristotle], and [|Jesus]). Socrates disparages the pleasures of the senses, yet is excited by beauty; he is devoted to the education of the citizens of [|Athens], yet indifferent to his own sons. The trial and execution of Socrates was the climax of his career and the central event of the dialogues of Plato. Socrates admits in court that he could have avoided his trial in the first place by abandoning philosophy and going home to mind his own business. After his court conviction, he could have avoided the death penalty by escape (as he was well able to do so and had willing accomplices). The reason behind his concord with the state's mandate forms a valuable philosophical insight in its own right, and is best articulated by the dialogues themselves, especially The Crito. By far the most important source of information about Socrates is **Plato** (427-347 BC), who depicts him as a multi-faceted character. Plato was also a mathematician, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the western world. Plato is widely believed to have been a student of Socrates and to have been deeply influenced by his teacher's execution. E. **Herodotus** was a Dorian Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC (484–425 BC) and is regarded as the “father of history”. He is almost exclusively known for writing //The histories//, a collection of 'inquiries' about the places and peoples he encountered during his wide-ranging travels around the Mediterranean. **Thucydides** (460 -400 BC) was an ancient Greek historian, and the author of the //History of the Peloponnesian War//. **Homer** was a legendary early Greek poet and aoidos. ("singer") traditionally credited with the composition of the //Iliad// and the //Odyssey//. The poems are often dated to the 8th or 7th century BC; whether Homer himself was the actual writer of his works, or whether they were largely gradationally built through oral transmission, is debated by scholars. **Aeschylus** (525-456 BC) was a playwright of Ancient Greece. Often called the “Father of Tragedy”, he is the earliest of the three Greek tragedians whose plays are not entirely lost, the others being Sophocles and Euripides. **Sophocles** (495-406 BC) According to the Suda he wrote 123 plays; in the dramatic competitions of the Festival of Dionysus (where each submission by one playwright consisted of four plays; three tragedies and a satyr play), he won more first prizes (around 20) than any other playwright, and placed second in all others he participated in (Lloyd-Jones 1994: 8). **Euripides** (480–406 BC) was the last of the three great tragedians of classical Athens. Ancient scholars thought that Euripides had written ninety-five plays, although four of those were probably written by Critias. Eighteen of Euripides' plays have survived complete. Euripides is known primarily for having reshaped the formal structure of traditional Attic tragedy by showing strong women characters and smart slaves, and by satirizing many heroes of Greek mythology. **Aristophanes** (446-388 BC) was an Old Comic dramatist. F. The **Parthenon** is a temple, built in the 5th century BC on the acropolis of Athens. It is the most famous surviving building of ancient Greece, and has been praised as the finest achievement of Greek architecture. Its decorative sculptures are considered one of the high points of Greek art. The Parthenon is an enduring symbol of ancient Greece and of Athenian democracy, and is regarded as one of the world's greatest cultural monuments. G. The **Greek alphabet** has been used to write the Greek language since about the 9th century BC. It was the first alphabet in the narrow sense, that is, a writing system using a separate symbol for each vowel and consonant alike. It is the oldest alphabetic script in use today. The letters are also used to represent numbers – Greek numerals. In addition to being used for writing modern Greek, its letters are today used as symbols in mathematics and science, particle names in physics, as names of stars, in the names of fraternities and sororities, in the naming of supernumerary tropical cyclones, and for other purposes. The Greek alphabet originated as a modification of thePhenician alphabet and in turn gave rise to the Gothic, Glagolitic, Cyrillic, and Coptic, as well as the Latin alphabet. The Greek alphabet is also considered a possible ancestor of the Armenian alphabet. It is unrelated to Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, earlier writing systems for Greek. Morison, William, The internet encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2006, from http://www.iep.utm.edu/l/lyceum.htm#H2 Crystal, Ellie, Crystalinks, Ancient Greece, Feb. 2007, from http://www.crystalinks.com/libraryofalexandria.html Wikipedia Foundation, Inc., Feb. 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki Barba, Robertta H., SJSU Virtual Museum, The history of Mathematics, Science, and Technology, 1996, from http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/Museum/aamenu.html#top
 * Euclid**, is also referred to as **Euclid** **of Alexandria**, ([|330 BC] – [|275 BC]) lived in the city of [|Alexandria], [|Egypt], is often considered to be the "father of [|geometry]". His most popular work, Elements is one of the most successful [|textbooks] in the history of mathematics. Euclid also wrote works on [|perspective], [|conic sections], [|spherical geometry], and possibly [|quadric surfaces]. Neither the year nor place of his birth have been established, nor the circumstances of his death.
 * Aristotle** (384-March 7, 322 BC) was a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. He wrote on diverse subjects, including physics, poetry (including theater), biology and zoology, logic, rhetoric, politics, government and ethics. Aristotle defines philosophy as "the knowledge of being."
 * Acropolis** is literally the edge of a town or a high city. For purposes of defense, early settlers naturally chose elevated ground, frequently a hill with precipitous sides, and these early citadels became in many parts of the world the nuclei of large cities which grew up on the surrounding lower ground. The most famous example of the kind is the acropolis of Athens, which, by reason of its historical associations and the famous buildings erected upon it, is generally known without qualification as simply "The Acropolis".
 * Didymaion**: Just outside of Didyma (ancient Greek city) was the sanctuary. For the last two kilometers of its length the Sacred Way was lined with the seated statues of members of the Branchidae family, male and female. Whether the name //Didyma// refers to "twin" temples, or to temples of the twins, Apollo and Artemis, whose own cult center at Didyma was only recently established, or whether there is a connection to Cybele Dindymene, “Cybele of Mount Dindymus”, is mooted.
 * Sources:**