c. 525/524–456/455 BC
Aeschylus and the Tragic Stage
Aeschylus was a playwright and veteran of the Persian Wars. Seven complete plays survive, including the Oresteia, the only complete trilogy preserved…
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Athens
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c. 450–404 BC
Alcibiades: Ambition and Betrayal
Alcibiades was an Athenian aristocrat, general and political celebrity. His shifting loyalties made him one of the most controversial figures of the…
Read story →c. 446–c. 386 BC
Aristophanes and Political Comedy
Aristophanes is the best-preserved writer of Old Comedy. Eleven complete plays survive, including The Clouds, Lysistrata, The Birds and The Frogs.
Read story →384–322 BC
Aristotle and the Lyceum
Aristotle studied at Plato's Academy, taught Alexander of Macedon and later established the Lyceum in Athens. His surviving works cover logic, biology,…
Read story →c. 470–c. 400 BC
Aspasia of Miletus
Aspasia came from Miletus and lived in Athens as the partner of Pericles. Ancient authors connected her with rhetoric, philosophy and intellectual…
Read story →13–29 August 2004
Athens 2004: The Olympic Games Return Home
From 13 to 29 August 2004 Athens hosted the Summer Olympic Games, which had begun in their modern form in the city…
Read story →1834
Athens Becomes the Capital
Athens became the capital of Greece in 1834. The decision shifted government from Nafplio and launched a major programme of planning, construction…
Read story →First century BC–Late Antiquity
Athens in the Roman Period
Under Roman rule Athens lost its empire but retained enormous cultural authority. Roman emperors, officials and students supported monuments, schools and festivals…
Read story →508/7 BC
Cleisthenes and the Birth of Athenian Democracy
In 508/7 BC Cleisthenes introduced reforms that reshaped Athenian citizenship and institutions. The new system reduced the political importance of old regional…
Read story →Main church and mosaics, late eleventh century
Daphni Monastery
Daphni Monastery stands on the ancient Sacred Way between Athens and Eleusis. Its katholikon is one of the finest examples of Middle…
Read story →Archaic and Classical periods
Education in Athens and Sparta
Education in Athens and Sparta aimed to prepare young people for adult roles, but access, content and institutions differed. Modern comparisons often…
Read story →Prime minister from 1910 in several periods
Eleftherios Venizelos and the Reform of Greece
Eleftherios Venizelos became prime minister of Greece in 1910 after rising to prominence in Cretan politics. His governments introduced constitutional, administrative, educational…
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