The Byzantine Empire and Eastern Roman Empire are recent names used to describe the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on its capital of Constantinople, referred to by its inhabitants simply as the Roman Empire (in Greek Βασιλεία Ῥωμαίων) or Romania ( Ῥωμανία), its emperors continuing the unbroken succession of Roman emperors, preserving Greco-Roman legal and cultural traditions; to the Islamic world it was known primarily as روم ( Rûm "Rome"). Due to the linguistic, cultural, and demographic dominance of medieval Greek, it was known to many of its western European contemporaries as Empire of the Greeks (see also the etymology section). As an outgrowth of the eastern portion of Empire founded in Rome, the Byzantine Empire's evolution into a separate culture from the West can be seen as a process beginning with Emperor Constantine's transferring the capital from Nicomedia in Anatolia to Byzantium, which was renamed Constantinople, on the Bosphorus. Read more...
- ...that the Greeks were the first to develop an alphabet with vowels?
- ...that the Greco-Buddhist art is an artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between the Greek culture and Buddhism, which developed in Central Asia after the conquests of Alexander the Great?
- ...that the Rio–Antirrio bridge between the Peloponnese and mainland Greece is the longest cable stayed-suspended deck in Europe?
- ...that the country's highest mountain, Mount Olympus was said to be the home of the Greek Gods in ancient Greek religion?
- ...that the Olympic Games, originated in Greece 3000 years ago, and that the 1st games of the modern Olympics were held in Greece in 1896, as a revival of the Games?
- ...that the Greek state comprises only the centre of the ancient Greek world, which comprised also Southern Italy, the coastal areas of modern Turkey and the Black Sea, as well as some colonies in North Africa, Southern France and Spain?
- ...that even though the modern Greek state was established in 1832, some areas of Greece were not liberated until after the Balkan Wars?
Literature and philosophy
In Greece, from ancient times down to the present, has been produced countless world-famous poetry in addition to philosophers like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle and historians like Herodotus and Thucydides. Notable figures of modern Greek literature include Odysseas Elytis and Constantine Cavafy.
Sing, O goddess, the anger of Achilles son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans. Many a brave soul did it send hurrying down to Hades, and many a hero did it yield a prey to dogs and vultures, for so were the counsels of Zeus fulfilled from the day on which the son of Atreus, king of men, and great Achilles, first fell out with one another.
Greek art began in the Cycladic and Minoan prehistorical civilization. The art of ancient Greece has exercised an enormous influence on the culture of many countries from ancient times until the present, particularly in the areas of sculpture and architecture. In the West, the art of the Roman Empire was largely derived from Greek models. In the East, Alexander the Great's conquests initiated several centuries of exchange between Greek, Central Asian and Indian cultures. During the Renaissance , the humanist aesthetic and the high technical standards of Greek art inspired generations of European artists.Read more...
Some articles worth reading
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1896 Summer Olympics, Alcibiades, Archimedes, Aspasia, Attalus I, Basiliscus, Battle of Dyrrhachium (1081), Battle of Greece, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine navy, Cleomenean War, Corinthian War, Cretan War (205–200 BC), Demosthenes, Diocletian, El Greco, Epaminondas, Euclidean algorithm, George I of Greece, Greece runestones, Greek mythology, Hippocrates, Manuel I Komnenos, Macedonia (terminology), Orion (mythology), Pericles, Philitas of Cos, Problem of Apollonius, Stamata Revithi, Rhodes blood libel, Slavery in ancient Greece, The Battle of Alexander at Issus, The Penelopiad, Theramenes, Thrasybulus |
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Battle of Artemisium, Battle of Thermopylae, Battle of Kalavrye, Battle of Marathon, Battle of Salamis, Byzantine civil war of 1341–47, Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, First Macedonian War, John Kourkouas, Yannis Makriyannis, Sviatoslav's invasion of Bulgaria, Vikos–Aoös National Park |
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A short video of the main sites at the ancient sanctuary of Delphi in Central Greece. Delphi was considered to be the center of the world by the Greeks and the most important oracle in the Greek world.
Music
Cinema
Architecture
Sculpture
Painting
Science
Philosophy
Literature
Politics
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