Greece - Korina Miller [12]
Greek Orthodox Church
Although Constantinople fell in 1453 under Turkish Ottoman rule, Islamic doctrine tolerated the Byzantine Orthodox faith, which the Turks designated a secular administrative body. Paradoxically, while the exarchs (Orthodox bishops) retained spiritual authority over the Greek people, this enabled the Church to become the custodian of Greek identity by maintaining the links with tradition, culture and language. (However, there were tremendous political and economic advantages to embracing Islam and mass conversions were still common.)
These days, the Church still does not have the same Church–State separation as many other Western countries. The Church is vocal about its strong opposition to non-Orthodox denominations and continues to influence political public policy (eg after years of controversy, cremation was only recently legalised in Greece). For more on religion, Click here.
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Democracy
The seafaring city-state of Athens, meanwhile, was still in the hands of aristocrats when Solon was appointed arhon in 594 BC with a mandate to defuse the mounting tensions between the haves and the have-nots. He cancelled all debts and freed those who had become enslaved because of them. Declaring all free Athenians equal by law, Solon abolished inherited privileges and restructured political power, establishing four classes based on wealth. Although only the first two classes were eligible for office, all four could elect magistrates and vote on legislation, forming the basis of a mainly representative civic governance model. Solon’s reforms have become regarded as a harbinger of the ideological democratic system found in most current Western legal traditions.
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Scientists have recently discovered a bronze and wood astronomical instrument, known as the Antikythera Mechanism, which helped the ancients plot the four-year Olympiad cycle.
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Classical Age
During Greece’s archetypal golden age, from the 6th to 4th centuries BC, many of the city-states enjoyed increased economic reform, political prosperity and greater cultural creativity. The historians Herodotus and Thucydides documented political narratives and wrote of significant events of the time. Literature and drama also bloomed during this period, led by notable figures such as Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles who contributed dramatic tragedies, and Aristophanes who inspired political satire with his comedies; their contributions still influence current Western culture. Athens in particular reached its zenith, especially once the territorial wrangling between Athens, Sparta, and the Persians (see The Persian Wars, Click here) had been resolved.
After defeating the Persians, the disciplined Spartans retreated to the Peloponnese, while Athens basked in its role as liberator. In 477 BC it founded the Delian League, the naval alliance that was based on Delos and was formed to liberate the city-states still occupied by Persia, and to defend against further Persian attack. The alliance included many of the Aegean islands and some of the Ionian city-states in Asia Minor. Swearing allegiance to Athens and making an annual contribution to the treasury of ships (later just money) were mandatory and Athens punished recalcitrant members of the alliance; the league, in effect, transformed into an Athenian empire.
Indeed, when Pericles became leader of Athens in 461 BC, he moved the treasury from Delos to the Acropolis. He used the treasury’s funds to construct new buildings and grander temples on the Acropolis, to replace those destroyed by the Persians, and to link Athens