THE STOIC PHILOSOPHY OF THE METALEXANDRIAN AGE

With the creation of the huge empire of Alexander the Great, many things changed in the political, social, psychological and philosophical life of the ancient Greeks. The small city-states of Greece ceased to exist. In those cities, citizens were accustomed to holding certain important roles for the political life of their place. Suddenly becoming citizens of a vast empire, their concerns and moods changed. At this critical juncture, the new philosophy came to play an important role in the spiritual support of individuals.

The Stoic philosophy, which was developed during the Hellenistic times and evolved until the end of the Roman times is divided into ancient, middle and new Stoa. The founder of the ancient Stoa was Zeno (333-262 BC), who was known for his simplicity and ethos. In contrast to the dualism between Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy, Zeno turned to the archaic philosophy of Heraclitus. He believed that every real being, even the soul or God, is considered bodily. He also believed that matter is in constant change but the fixed base of the spirit ensures the unity of the world. In his opinion, this unity makes all beings related and this is the sympathy of everything that leads to world harmony. He also advocated that the universe was created on the basis of a certain design by a creative mind and that everything that happens in it has a purpose.

Passions, such as desire, pleasure, fear and sorrow, were attributed by Zeno to a wrong judgment. Also, according to the philosopher, scientific knowledge is necessary in order for the moral act to take place. Zeno divided people into sages and fools, considering as sages those free from passions and like God.

The most systematic of the philosophers of the ancient Stoa, however, was Chrysippus (280-210 BC). He taught that the universe ignites from time to time to become again from the beginning and in fact the same as before. He also considered the soul to be a fiery substance that is born in the blood and dies with the body. He believed that the senses, sexual ability, language and logic are parts of the soul. Finally, he stressed that the human will is free and allows the ego, after thought, to take responsibility for its actions.

An important representative of the middle Stoa was Panaitios (185 - 109 BC). He justified human passions and recognized logic as the regulator of spiritual balance. He also emphasized that the will of man cannot be changed even by God.

Panaitos considered that the superiority of man is due to his logic and distinguished in him four spiritual impulses: for knowledge, for social coexistence, for the conquest of goods and for peace of soul. According to the philosopher, wisdom, justice, bravery and self-control develop from these impulses.

Poseidonios (135-51 BC) also belonged to the Middle Stoa. In his conceptions coexisted Greek and Eastern wisdom, mysticism with rationalism, belief in both miracles and causation, theoretical and empirical thinking, personal observation and historical tradition. As a carrier of life in the organic world he considered heat, a fiery breath that is identified with speech. He also believed that the world was a huge living organism with a soul of reason. Poseidonios considered the human soul to be fiery and argued that harmony and beauty arise from the opposites of the world.

Poseidonios believed that logic distinguished man from animals and that this was the driving force behind the evolution of civilization and not necessity. From a moral point of view, the philosopher advocated that man ought in thought and action to follow his logic because only in this way can he live a life in accordance with his nature. Finally, he believed that for human happiness, in addition  to virtue, there must also be health, strength and other goods.

The representatives of the new Stoa belong to the first two Christian centuries. Their views approach Platonism, advocate man's relationship with God, and emphasize love for fellow human beings. A well known representative of the new Stoa was the slave Epictetus (50-135 AD). He believed that within man there is a space that is inaccessible to material power and to the temptation of external goods. He also believed that being indifferent to things which he can not control, someone can get rid of passions. An admirer of the Epictetus was Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD), who wrote that knowing that everything changes, one can not desire anything and be afraid of anything outside, submitting to the natural course of the world and thus cultivating his inner freedom, which is in accordance with his rational nature.

PLATO'S EXCITING THEORIES

The greatest of Socrates' disciples was Plato (427-347 BC). This philosopher believed that the soul had known the meanings of things in the period before it came on Earth. Thus all knowledge in the terrestrial world is essentially a memory of what the soul had seen before it entered the body and then forgot. So, when the soul sees in the earthly world things that resemble its formerly superhuman forms, it awakens and feels nostalgia for the eternal archetype. This state evokes true love or otherwise "Platonic love", that is, the soul's desire to know the real beings and to imitate them in the earthly world.

The conquest of knowledge, according to Plato, takes place through dialogue. Through this, the meanings and the relations between them are determined. Meanings contribute to the approach of eternal and pre-existing ideas, which are, according to the philosopher, the real beings and the cause of everything that happens in the world. In fact, the idea of ​​the good was considered by Plato as the ultimate purpose of the world.

For the soul, the philosopher formulated the following theory: The soul once inhabited the world of ideas but the laws of the earthly world forced it to enter the body and come to the earthly world. Depending on its actions on earth, the soul after the death of the body is either released immediately and returns to the divine world or enters successively into bodies of other living organisms, until it is completely cleansed of its faults and can one day return to the divine world.

According to Plato, the soul is not an idea but a relative of it. Also, the way for the soul to know the divine, the ideal is to become the same as it. In order for the soul to know the beautiful and the good, it must become beautiful and good itself. Finally, in order to know God, the soul must know the idea of ​​the good, which, as foretold, is the ultimate purpose of the world.

Plato believed, like his teacher, Socrates, that no one is bad at will but only because he does not know good. This implies that the knowledge of good leads to virtue, so virtue is instructive.

In a political level, Plato believed that the purpose of the state is the spiritual and moral promotion of its citizens, so the good politician must move towards their achievement. In the ideal city, according to the philosopher, there are three categories of citizens: Professionals, security guards and lords. The professionals form the largest team of citizens and with their work they maintain the rest. The guards protect the state in case of external and internal dangers. Finally, the lords come from the guard class, after careful selection, and aim to rule.

According to the philosopher, the guards must acquire music and gymnastics education. The first contributes to knowledge and the second to will. However, in order not to use their skills only for their own benefit and not for the common good, Plato considered that the guards should not have property but instead are required to stay in camps and be feeded there.

Finally, as far as the lords are concerned, they should have at the highest level the virtues of the guards and always act guided by the happiness of all the whole group of citizens.

 

THE TURN OF SOPHISTIC THOUGHT TO MAN AND HIS SOUL

The 5th BC century was undoubtedly a time of important historical events and intellectual achievements of the Greek world. Between the Persian and the Peloponnesian War, architecture, painting, sculpture, theater, philosophy, rhetoric presented an admirable activity of a high level. The center of the cultural flourishing of the Greek world of the 5th century was the city-state of Athens and this century became known in history as the Golden Age of Pericles.

The focus of the philosophical thought of the golden age presents a significant shift. There is a decrease in its cosmological interest and a turn towards man and his soul. The philosophical movement that first dealt with these great issues was the sophistry.

The sophists were interested not only in the issues of human knowledge and practice but also in psychology, behavior, positions and relationships within society, social phenomena and culture. They were moving from city to city to teach as professionals rhetoric, dialectics, ethics, political theory, mythology, music theory, astronomy and meteorology. Their goal was to make their students as capable as possible in thinking, speaking and acting, in order to be as successful as possible in their lives and to contribute to social developments.

The father of sophistry was Protagoras (490/485 - 420/ 415 BC), who supported the uninterrupted variability of things. He believed that things can not be said to be one way or another but that they are as everyone sees them at every moment. He also argued that man can know nothing about the gods because they are invisible and human life is short.

Another extremely important sophist was Gorgias (490 / 483 - 380 / 376 BC). He opposed the Eleatic belief that facts are almost illusions and defended common sense and the daily experience of people as the only criteria for knowledge. He also argued that the human crisis is based not on objective truths but on current, unproven and often contradictory perceptions and prejudices. The denial of the absolute truth, led Gorgias to the belief that man has no knowledge but only an opinion of reality.

Gorgias was the first philosopher who strongly believed in the power of speech. So at first he turned his attention to rhetoric, which was for him a way of convincing man of what the rhetor was seeking each time. He was, therefore, the first to study the effect of speech on the human psyche. He stated that "speech can stop fear and sadness, can activate joy and can increase compassion". He argued that  speech is for the soul what drugs are for the body. He said that art, magic and religion are based on the same principle as speech, which seek to "charm" the soul and "transform" it into the state they want.

A third important sophist was Antiphon (480 BC - 410 BC). He argued that nature and law are opposite. Nature does not distinguish between Greeks and barbarians, free and slaves. For his happiness someone must give importance to natural law over man's law.

Other important representatives of sophistry were Prodicus, Thrasymachus and Kritias. The latter was the first to deal with the forms of states, the discoveries and the history of civilization. Finally, Hippias was the "encyclopedist" of sophistry. He wrote introductions to dialectics, geometry, astronomy, music, rhythm and dealt with problems of art theory, prehistory and linguistics.

The importance of sophistry was that it brought to the center of the study man, his knowledge and practice, founded dialectics and logic, initiated psychology, took an interest in social problems and studied the origin of language, art and culture in general.

2 CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHERS WHO COMBINED IONIAN WITH DORIC ARCHAIC THOUGHT

Archaic Ionian and Doric philosophical thought clearly laid the foundations of European philosophy. With the passage to the classical period, the Greek philosophers pondered the pre-existing opposing conceptions and formulated their own. Through their theories, then, they tried to logically marry the "immovable" of the Ionians with the "unchanging" of the Dorian philosophers.

Thus the classical era begins with two important Greek Combinatorial philosophers, Empedocles (494-434 BC) and Anaxagoras (500-428 BC).

Empedocles, therefore, taught that the universe is composed and decomposed by four unchanging "rhizomes": water, earth, air and fire. In his view, each genesis and decay is caused by mixing the four aforementioned "rhizomes" in different proportions for each morphology. This view was later accepted by the Atomic philosophers. In addition, Empedocles described the universe as immovable in its entirety according to the Eleatic model but as moving in its parts according to the Heraclitean model.

Anaxagoras' interests were a little different. He was the first to raise the issue of nutrition. He sought to explain how from the food we put in the mouth, things are formed that did not exist before, that is, flesh from non-flesh, bones from non-bones, etc. He finally came to the conclusion that matter is composed of molecules of all kinds, forms, shape, size and number. He also argued that in every physical body there are molecules of all kinds. For example, water and bread contain elements of the same nature as our body, so there are no simple elements, "rhizomes" (water, air, earth, fire). In addition, according to Anaxagoras, the amount of matter remains constant. Finally, Anaxagoras considered the Mind as a driving force for the processes of genesis, which for him was a substance completely different from the components of matter. Thus he continued the notions of the division of the concept of substance into matter and energy.

4 ANCIENT GREEK PHILOSOPHERS SEARCH FOR THE PRINCIPLE OF THE WORLD

The archaic era of Greek history was very important for the evolution of Greek and European culture. The main reason is that then the foundations of philosophical thought were laid. The general social and political conditions in the life of the Greeks contributed in this direction. In the 6th century BC the kingdom and the aristocracy were set aside. New social classes, such as those of the merchants and artisans, emerged between the ranks of the wealthy landowners and the poor workers. In the context of social change, the way of thinking has changed. Belief in myth ceased and the human mind began to wonder about nature, spirit, knowledge, practice, society and the law. A special field of intellectual creation that is a testimony to the new spiritual interests of the Greeks of the archaic period is their lyric poetry.

Until the 6th century BC the Greeks tried to attribute the creation of the world to anthropomorphic deities, for whom they had created a rich set of myths. The first steps of philosophy were based on these myths. So the first perception of the series of events that gave birth to the world was this:

1) Initially there was a chaotic situation.

2) The chaotic state was fertilized by some sperm.

3) The produced material result was divided into parts.

4) Then the celestial bodies and the phenomena were formed.

5) Life was born.

The first important philosopher to attempt to interpret the world was Thales (625-546). He considered water as the beginning of the world. After traveling to the east gaining rich knowledge, he systematically engaged in astronomy, mathematics, geography and engineering. In place of the mythical deities of the seas and rivers, he put the natural element of water as part of the world, arguing that it has life in it and favors its development.

In 610 - 546 BC the philosopher Anaximander also lived. He set "Infinity" as the beginning of the world, which expressed the physical existence of the mythical entities Chaos, Night, Air, Ocean. Beginning with infinity, Anaximander proceeded to formulate the concept of the Incorruptibility of Matter.

Anaximander's version of the creation of the world is interesting. He considered that from "infinity" was secreted the "fertile", that is, the sperm of the hot and the cold. Thus a cold nucleus that eventually formed the earth's mass was surrounded by warm material, which exploded creating the rest of the celestial bodies. Anaximander considered temperature transitions as a mechanism for the creation of life. Finally, Anaximander was the first to claim that man came from other species of animals.

Anaximenes (585-525 BC) considered air as a basic element of the world and believed that all material bodies and natural phenomena are created by its thickening and dilution. By air he meant matter and energy together. He also taught that the air was before the birth of the universe and remains forever its basic essence, advancing the issue of cosmogony in cosmology. Considering hot, cold, wet and dry as states of the air, he tried to understand the qualities of matter and the explanations of quantities.

Heraclitus (540-480 BC) was the fourth and most important materialist philosopher of the archaic era. This philosopher considered the universe as a fire that transforms into various forms. He also taught that "Τhis world, the same for all in general, neither god nor man made it but it has always been and is will be an eternal fire, which lights up in moderation and goes out in moderation."

Explaining the structure of the world, the philosopher formulated the notion that fire first turns into sea and half of it into land while the other half into currents. All this becomes fire again.

One of the well-known views of Heraclitus was that "Everything changes and nothing remains constant."

9 PAINTRESSES OF ANCIENT GREECE

Greeks but much more foreigners when thinking of ancient Greek culture, associate it almost exclusively with male historical figures. Indeed, the position of the majority of women in ancient Greece was at home. However, there were some women who, breaking the status quo of the time, dealt with creative areas of the human spirit, thus gaining an important place in the history of human civilization.

Since I personally love the art of painting, I would like to mention briefly, in the first phase, some Greek women artists who were distinguished in this field in antiquity.

So, let's begin with Alexandra. 

Alexandra was the daughter of the Greek painter, Neokles and lived

THE HISTORIC ISLAND OF DELOS: Images from the interesting Greek TV programme "The time machine" ("Η μηχανή του χρόνου").

Most foreigners visiting Greece usually have in mind various cosmopolitan islands that are offered for tourism and entertainment. But how many people know the enchanting island of Delos in the Cyclades complex?

PREHISTORIC SETTLEMENTS AND BUILDINGS IN GREECE AND IN CYPRUS

Positions of Prehistoric Settlements in Greece. National Archeological Museum of Athens	The first residential buildings in Greece  are estimated to have been built  during the Paleolithic period, around  20000 BC. These were huts. During  the Neolithic period (7000-3500 BC)  the inhabitants of the Greek area  began to settle in permanent  settlements engaged in agriculture.  Then the "property of the land" begins  to exist.
National Archeological Museum of Athens.
Prehistoric Settlement in Dimini,  Magnisia, Greece. National Archeological Museum of Athens	Prehistoric Settlement in Dimini,  Magnisia, Greece. National Archeological Museum of Athens
Prehistoric Settlement in Dimini,  Magnisia, Greece. National Archeological Museum of Athens	Prehistoric Settlement in Sesklo,  Magnisia, Greece.
Ruins at the prehistoric settlement in Lianokladi, Lamia, Central Greece. "Palaiomylos" position.	Ruins at the prehistoric settlement in Lianokladi, Lamia, Central Greece. "Palaiomylos" postition.
Reconstruction of a prehistoric settlement in Dispilio, Kastoria, North Greece.	Prehistoric settlement in Choirokoitia, Cyprus.
Prehistoric settlement in Sarkos, Ios, Cyclades.	Prehistoric settlement in Akrotiri, Thera, Cyclades.
Neolithic house with elliptical plan in Hamezi, Crete.	Survey plan of a neolitic house with elliptical plan in Hamezi, Crete.
Representation of a prehistoric house in Thessaly. National Archeological Museum of Athens.	Representation of a prehistoric house in Thera, Cyclades, Greece.

SCENES FROM THE ATHENIAN ACROPOLIS' RESTORATION

Acropolis Museum	Acropolis Museum
Acropolis Museum	Acropolis Museum
Acropolis Museum	Acropolis Museum
Acropolis Museum	Acropolis Museum
Acropolis Museum	Acropolis Museum
Acropolis Museum	Acropolis Museum
Acropolis Museum	Acropolis Museum
Acropolis Museum	Acropolis Museum