Ancient Athens - the cradle of Greek culture

One of the most beautiful and glorified ancient cities with a powerful economy, access to the sea, beautiful temples - Ancient Athens, named after one of the most revered goddesses of Greece, Athens. On the Greek Olympus, she was known as the patroness of the war, sciences, crafts, and also had extraordinary wisdom. The city, named in honor of this deity, should not yield in greatness and power to its patroness.

Occurrence

The capital of Ancient Greece grew on the site of an elevated hill - the Acropolis. According to legend, in 1825 BC. E. The first king of Attica, Cecrop, erected a fortress on the top of the Acropolis, having laid the city on this place. It was not without the participation of the gods that this construction took place. Athena argued with the ruler of the seas and oceans Poseidon, in honor of whom the city will be named, and who will later become his patron. The judges were the supreme gods of Olympus, led by Zeus. The competing gods were given the task: "Who will bring a useful gift to the inhabitants of the city, he will become his patron." Poseidon presented the Ancient Athenians with sunlight, striking his trident in the rock, and Athena, thrusting a spear into the rock, brought the Greeks an olive tree. The gods of Olympus bowed to the gift of Poseidon, but the goddesses and Cecrops supported the patroness of the war. The dispute won Athena and not in vain, because under her patronage, Athens achieved a high economic, political and cultural development. And in honor of the lost Poseidon, the Greeks soon erected a temple. The city grew noticeably due to the migration to its safe cliffs of the people, which had to emigrate because of the constant raids of nomadic tribes.

The heyday of Athens

High development of the city reached during the reign of Pisistratus. This cruel, but intelligent king believed that it was the lazy people who threatened his power and could raise the people to revolt. It was with him that the huge market square of Agora was built, to which buyers from all over the world came. It was very easy to trade the Greeks, as they, as residents of the island state, had access to the sea. Ancient Greece could not be distinguished by farming and breeding of animals. Athens was no exception, the main reason for this was the rocky surface of the earth, on which nothing grew. But on trade Greeks earned in full. Tsar Pisistrat was a famous builder: the temples of Apollo and Zeus of Olympus were erected precisely during his reign. Temple of Apollo, he completed the time, but the abode of Zeus to build continued Antiochus IV Epifan. But it was not destiny to build a temple in a short period of time. The Roman conqueror Sulla destroyed it, and only Governor Adrian completed the construction.

Historians believe that it was Pisistratus who laid the foundation of the famous temple - the Parthenon. His story is quite dramatic. Not long lasting, it was destroyed by the Persians, and only the ruler Pericles managed to rebuild it. Work on a beautiful and rich temple was invited to the famous sculptor Phidias, the author of one of the Seven Wonders of the World - the statue of Olympian Zeus . His sculpture of Athena was so beautiful that the rulers did not dare erect other structures on the Acropolis.

If we believe the conclusions of archaeologists who examined the teeth of the remains of the inhabitants of that era, the Ancient Athenians fell from the plague epidemic or, as it was still called, typhoid fever that raged there in 430-423. Because of this incurable disease a third of the population of the state died, the famous city of Ancient Athens fell.