Athens

Visiting Scholars

Open House | Euripides’ Erechtheus in context, with Lucia Athanassaki

We were pleased to welcome Lucia Athanassaki, Professor of Classical Philology at the University of Crete, for a discussion of Euripides’ Erechtheus in context. The event took place on Thursday, April 25th, at 11 a.m. EDT, and was recorded. In preparation you might like to read Lycurgus, Against Leocrates 98–101, available on Perseus. You can watch the event on our YouTube channel, or in the frame below: For further videos… Read more

History

Aegina and its enmity with Athens

Aegina is a Greek island not far from Attica; it is well known for the Temple of Aphaia, situated on an elevated site. Figure 1: Temple of Aphaia On the island, there is also a city named Aegina, at the northwestern end of the island, with a famous little harbor. The temple of Apollo was the main sanctuary in the town of Aegina. The remains of the foundations are still… Read more

History

The Classic Ship | Part 3: The Battle of Salamis

In the last days of September of the year 480 BCE, King Xerxes proceeded to Athens, after having had his victory at Thermopylae. Also his naval forces moved southward for the final stroke. Among the Persian naval contingent were 120 triremes from Thrace, 100 ships from Ionia, 60 ships from Aeolia including Lesbos and Samos, and an unspecified number of ships from the Greek islands, including the Cyclades, and lastly,… Read more

History

Law and Courts in Ancient Athens: A Brief Overview

When we investigate how the law and the courts of Classical Greece worked, the law of ancient Athens provides most of our source material. This overview will therefore focus on Athenian law in the fifth and fourth centuries, BCE.[1] Before that time, disputes were adjudicated by officials called archons. The archons may have heard testimony from parties and witnesses, may have questioned them, and perhaps the parties were allowed to… Read more

History

The Classic Ship | Part 1: The Persian Wars and the maritime supremacy of Athens

In the period of about 600–480 BCE, Ionian colonists emigrated from Attica to the Aegean coast of Asia Minor, which is modern Turkey[1]. There they inhabited a narrow coastal strip from Phocaea in the north to Miletus in the south, including the islands of Chios and Samos. Persia (c 540 BCE) conquered the cities of this area and appointed native tyrants to rule for them. The rebellion of the colonists against the rule of these… Read more