Culture & Thought

The brief but transformative career of Alexander the Great fundamentally reshaped the Greek-speaking world, ushering in the Hellenistic Age.

Stoicism, a philosophical school that emerged concurrently with Epicureanism in the Hellenistic period, offered a powerful and enduring response to the anxieties of a world increasingly characterized by political instability and personal insecurity.

Plotinus (A.

Socrates (c.

Aristotle's Physics and his treatise On the Heavens profoundly shaped scientific thought for over two millennia, dominating Western understanding of the natural world until the time of Galileo.

Aristotle's Physics and his treatise On the Heavens profoundly shaped scientific thought for over two millennia, dominating Western understanding of the natural world until the time of Galileo.

The brief but transformative career of Alexander the Great fundamentally reshaped the Greek-speaking world, ushering in the Hellenistic Age.

The Hellenistic period, following Alexander's conquests, saw the rise of philosophical schools that offered new answers to the challenges of a chaotic world.

The Hellenistic period, a time of widespread uncertainty and social upheaval, gave rise to two dominant philosophical schools: Stoicism and Epicureanism.

The founders of atomism, Leucippus and Democritus, represent a remarkable intellectual leap in ancient Greek philosophy, establishing a view of the world strikingly similar to modern science.

In the latter half of the fifth century B.

Socrates (c.

To truly understand Plato's political philosophy and its enduring influence, one must first grasp the profound impact of Sparta, both in its historical reality and its powerful myth.

Plato, arguably the most influential philosopher in Western history, built his entire philosophical edifice on a fundamental distinction: the separation of reality from appearance.

In stark contrast to Heraclitus's doctrine of perpetual flux, Parmenides of Elea, flourishing in the first half of the fifth century B.

Empedocles, a citizen of Acragas in Sicily who flourished around 440 B.

The sudden ascent of Athens to become the cultural and intellectual powerhouse of ancient Greece is one of history's most astonishing transformations.

Anaxagoras, an Ionian philosopher born around 500 B.

The sudden and remarkable rise of civilization in Ancient Greece remains one of history's most astonishing phenomena.

The Milesian School, originating in the flourishing commercial city of Miletus in Asia Minor, holds a unique place in the history of philosophy as the birthplace of Western thought.

Pythagoras, a figure shrouded in both legend and profound influence, stands as one of history's most intellectually significant individuals.

Heraclitus, an aristocratic citizen of Ephesus flourishing around 500 B.