A Day in Athens - Research Paper Example

A DAY IN ATHENS Being a young, energetic, creative, imaginative and ingenious artist of 28 years, I had drawn in my mind various sketches of the dreamland of the ancient Greece and its central city i.e. Athens, on the basis of my study on ancient civilization. I had utmost desire to visit the ancient Athens during the period when the democratic system and literary developments were in their budding i.e. during 700 BCE. Athens had been the centre of art and literature, culture and civilization, logic and philosophy, science and wisdom, and political evolution and democracy for centuries. “The name of Athens in Ancient Greek was Athenai (pronounced roughly At-he-na). This is a plural form: the city was called (in what would translate into English as) The Athenses since it was originally a group of villages which coalesced into a city.” (athensinfoguide.com) The country has not only produced such intellectual giants like Acacius, Achaeus, Parmenides, Thales, the Seven Sages, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and others, but also the poets, writers, painters, sculptors, and playwrights of exceptional talent including Achermus, Achilles, Aedesius, Bacchylides, Demetrius, Eubulides, Homer, Sophocles and others also belonged to that magnificent civilization that ruled over the entire world through the outstanding pieces of art, philosophy, literature, medicine, mathematics and science created in the ancient Greece, which enlightened almost all corners of the globe at large. “No other city has contributed more to the civilization of mankind than Athens. It is the place where Socrates was born, Plato, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides and many others. It is the place that humanism and democracy were born. The intellectual light that Athens created will always be alive.” (Retrieved from sikyon.com) It was the moment of extreme delight for me when natures provided this young lady with a splendid opportunity of entering the ancient Athens, from the 21st century of technological revolution, and closely examine the political, social, cultural, economic and religious institutions on the one hand, and everyday life of the general public of ancient Athens on the other. It was a golden Thursday morning of September 756 BCE, when I woke up from deep sleep, and found myself in the magical city of ancient Athens. The cool breeze was blowing touching delicately my feelings and emotions. I left the bed and helped the women in preparing breakfast. The women had put on very simple dresses just to protect their bodies from the intensity of the weather. They had decorated their ears and noses with simple but elegant ornaments. The houses were decorated with the sculptors and paintings of the gods and goddesses made by the famous artists of that era in order to commemorate these gods. The women were busy in feeding, bathing and rearing the young ones. I took almonds and apples as my morning brunch and walked out of my house to observe the life in the city. The streets were neat and clean and people were going here and there to get engaged in their everyday chores. Being the vital city of trade and commerce, the individuals were selling spices, crops and weapons in the streets. There were the individuals from the elite class riding on horseback and their slaves were running amuck along with their slowly driven horses. I found no woman in the streets; rather, an overwhelming majority of the women were confined to their houses busy in weaving, knitting, cooking and cleansing their houses. During my excursion into the city, I came across the social stratification existed in Athens. There were upper, middle and lower classes in the city: the upper class ruled over the other two and was served by the slaves, servants and lower stratum. The rulers, politicians and nobles belonged to this class. The middle class consisted of traders, warriors and philosophers, while the lower stratum consisted of slaves and servants. “Within the Greek states people were divided between free men, which included the wives and children of these landowning citizens, and slaves. Greek states were governed by free men in a system of government called an oligarchy, or rule by the few, for some years but during the later years of this period tyrants, or single powerful men, took control of whole cities.” (encyclopedia.com) I also observed an educational institution, where the young males from upper class were being taught by the I moved to the fields, where I observed the mentors teaching the sophisticated young students the extracts from Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, which consisted of the heroic deeds displayed by the kings, warriors and generals during wars. The young individuals were also learning geometry, astrology, astronomy and gymnastics from the educational institution. My curiosity took me at the centre of the city, where I found the magnificent edifice belonging to the poleis. It was the matter of great excitement that the bands and tribes had turned into society in Athens, where the responsible citizens had started delegating powers to the Athenians on the noble foundations of equality, justice, freedom and fair play. Though the city was not being ruled by the common people, yet they had their imperative share in respect of articulating the plans and devising the strategies related to the affairs of the general public. I went out in fields where I found the peasants and farmers working diligently in the fields. It was the month of September, and the picking season had set in Olives and grapes were being picked from the fields with the help of laborers, slaves and workers. “Grapes were usually picked during this season, and either kept for eating or made into wine.” (ancientgreece.com) Since the slaves had no legal status, they could be used by the upper stratum of society without giving any legal status to these slaves; it is therefore they had to perform every duty they were asked for. I found no lady working in the fields, but young and beautiful slaves were there to serve the nobility. “Fully one quarter of the population was made up of slaves, usually prisoners captured during the many clashes that extended Greek influence overseas.” (eyewitnesstohistory.com) These slaves provided much of the manpower that fueled the burgeoning economy, working in shipyards, quarries, mines, and as domestic servants. At evening, these slaves served the nobility during their stay at theatre, where the tragedies and comedies were staged for the entertainment of the nobles of the ancient city of Athens. Olympic Games had been started for the last 20 years from 776 BCE after the interval of 4 years in Athens in order to pay tributes to the services rendered by the brave generals to the king of gods and goddesses i.e. Zeus. The young men belonging to the elite stratum had opportunity to perform their skills, abilities and strengths in Olympic Games. “The Ancient Greeks held the Olympics every 4 years. This 4-year period was known as an "Olympiad" and was used as a reference point for dating events throughout Greece.” (ancienthistory.about.com) I witnessed the running competition from a hill and enjoyed a lot. Thus, my day in ancient Athens of 756 BCE came to an end, and I returned to 21st century again, where there is noise, industrialization, technological advancements and IT developments, far from the peaceful and tranquil life of ancient Athens, which gave birth to countless disciplines and subjects still being taught by the contemporary universities without having any class stratification or social discriminations. REFERENCES: Davis, William Stearns. (1912) Readings In Ancient History Freeman, Charles. (1999) The Greek Achievement Ancient Athens of Greece (Retrieved from http://www.sikyon.com/Athens/athens_eg.html) http://heritage-key.com/greece/polis-was-ancient-greek-city-state-greatest-political-system-ever Life in Ancient Greece http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3425500071.htmlhttp://www.athensinfoguide.com/history.htm Everyday Life in Ancient Greece (Retrieved from http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/ancientgreece.htm) Ancient Greek Everyday Life (http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/Life/) Gill, N. S. (2006) Ancient Olympic Games - 101 on the Ancient Olympic Games http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/olympics/p/olympicgames.htm Read More