Western civilization was nurtured and shape two and a half thousand years ago
in a small greek state called America and its capital city
athens yet in the early part of the fifth century BC Athens nearly
disappeared
the Acropolis one of the most famous places in the world was in ancient times
the political and religious center of the city
it's very hard but in 480 BC the Acropolis was burnt to the ground
the brave warriors of Athens had been overwhelmed by an invading army of 1
million Persians under the command of the dreaded Xerxes the first the great
king of Persia
it seemed as if the city of Athens was dead and yet in the next 50 years
athens emerged as the cultural capital of the entire Greek world
the cradle of current Western scientific and humanistic thought the Acropolis of
Athens was rebuilt in such a grand manner that it contains some of the
finest temples and monuments in the world
likely awe-inspiring Parthenon
how did happens rise like a phoenix from the ashes to become one of the greatest
cities in history and who were the leaders architects and artists that gave
this city special aura virtually unmatched to this day
yeah
in 460 bc after the Persians left Athens a leader emerged who would enable the
city to reach cultural and militaristic heights
his name was Pericles and he is credited not only with major democratic reforms
but in rebuilding a powerful army and creating some of the greatest monuments
of all time under Pericles 30-year rule the Acropolis the Persians destroyed was
rebuilt in a glorious matter its principal building was the great
Parthenon
but the hill was filled with dozens of smaller temples each a masterpiece of
design and execution
Pericles led the city through a golden age which would make the name of Athens
immortal
this was the era of artists like the sculptor Phidias the time when
philosophers like Socrates and Plato soft eternal truths
this was when Sophocles and Euripides create a Western drama
the Foundation's were laid for almost every aspect of modern Western
civilization even sport
the Pericles come to a deadly plague which decimated a quarter in
athenian population
his accomplishments live on Athens was the pinnacle of a dynamic which had been
building for thousands of years
greece is a land of contrasting often specular landscapes
the ancient Greeks believed its woods and waters were populated by gods and
goddesses and other supernatural creatures and every kind
in fact the land was inhabited by a surprising range of very real creatures
the first people who came here arrived nearly 2,000 years before Christ at the
beginning of the bronze age they belong to a branch of the great indo-european
stock that migrated from the vast plain stretching from Europe to Asia the
earliest Greeks were tribes of warriors who spoke the same language but fought
incessantly struggling for possession of the richest and most fertile land the
first settlements were primitive rural communities then between 1500 and 1200
BC there was a general population bull magnificent palaces arose
they were an appropriate setting for mythical and legendary stories like
those from the poet Homer and adventure yarns like the voyage of the Argonauts
and the trials of Heracles many of these stories are more fiction than fact
but one was thought to be real Homer's epic scale the alien which told of the
war of the Greeks against Troy Troy was the city that fell to a horse filled
with Greek warriors but was there ever really such a city
for thousands of years Troy and the Trojan War were thought to be only a
myth
then beginning in 1870 heinrich schliemann an amateur german
archaeologist began to unearthed the ruins of troy the city had indeed been
destroyed by a great coalition formed by the major city states of continental
grease it was a rare coalition the ancient Greek city-states were usually
in a constant state of war with each other
by the fifth century BC there were about four and a half million Greeks
it was at this time that Athens emerged as the most famous of the city-state's
athens still lives and thrives today the modern city surrounds the Acropolis and
the remains of the ancient city showing thousands of years of continuous human
habitation packed with a population of about five million people
it is often chaotic and polluted still it is a living late vanished
ancient world
in many places the different periods the city has passed through are stacked one
upon the other
but always soaring majestically above the teeming city was the eternal
Parthenon and the other buildings of the Acropolis
the word acropolis means the high part of the city and in fact almost every
city in ancient Greece had a necropolis indeed almost every city began as a
settlement of top such a hill
such sites were natural for its protection against marauding beasts and
enemy armies
even as the ancient city grew and spread the Acropolis was where the most
important people lived the accomplice was where philosophy was debated and
government conducted most significantly the Acropolis was we're gods and
goddesses were worshipped and mysterious sacred rites in the Mycenaean period
around 1200 BC the original huts were replaced by fortifications which later
legend said were built by mythical Giants in 450 BC the Acropolis took on
the architectural appearance that established it as the center of Greek
culture the magnificence of the Acropolis remained intact even after the
decline of Athens following its defeat by Sparta
later in the second century AD the Romans added new walls and buildings
like the spectacular theater of Herodias Atticus during Pericles lifetime
athens was at the height of its splendor yet even as great political and cultural
events were unfolding citizens could lead a comfortable enjoyable daily life
families thrived and people live together in a period of relative bliss
and peace
the Athenians like all ancient Greeks were pious people
they believed in the power of the gods to help them or harm them
so religious festivals were held throughout the year
the head of a family would make periodic sacrifices to the gods they were also
special offerings made for particular occasions as when a family member had
fallen ill or was about to begin a dangerous journey
yeah
the regular festivals climaxed every four years with a great procession to
the Acropolis
this was the pan athenia honoring Athena the city's protector
all residents no matter what their rank or occupation would have been part of
the joyous procession