Greece gave humanity brilliant philosophers and scientists, gave origin to thousands of modern words and explained some physical phenomena. Interesting facts about Ancient Greece will allow the reader to get to know this cradle of world civilization better.
1. Ancient Greece consisted of about one and a half thousand individual city-states, the largest of which was Athens. Despite the fact that each of the policies had its own laws and army, conflicts between them were commonplace.
2. Greek cities were ruled by a meeting of all adult males or a college of the richest citizens, who were called oligarchs - "the ruling minority."
3. Wealthy Greek women led an idle lifestyle and considered looking at jewelry as the only worthy occupation. They did not work, did not learn to read and write, and took special milk slaves to feed their own babies.
4. Women who disagree with this state of affairs were called getters. They were educated, led an independent lifestyle and very rarely married, as they were considered bad wives.
5. The average life expectancy for women in ancient Greece was 36 years, for men - 45. Infant mortality was very high, half of the children died in the first year of life.
6. The expression "do your bit" came to us from Greece. Lepta was the hundredth part of the drachma (the ancient Greek monetary unit), which was a very small bargaining chip.
7. On the first coins, the faces of gods and heroes were minted in full face. On such images, the nose was erased very quickly, so later the Greeks switched to profiles.
8. The concept of democracy appeared in ancient Greece. Local residents were paid for participating in elections, which ensured a very high voter turnout.
9. The ancient Greeks were the first to make mathematics a theoretical discipline. The works of Pythagoras, Euclid, and Archimedes form the basis of modern algebra textbooks.
10. It was customary to engage in physical exercises naked.
11. The first 13 Olympic Games consisted of only one discipline - running.
12. Ancient athletes were awarded with olive wreaths, branches and olive oil in amphoras.
13. Hellenes did not drink pure wine. They mixed the intoxicating drink with salt water (fresh water was too expensive) in a ratio of 1:7. The mixture was drunk throughout the day as a soft drink.
14. The city of Athens was named after the Greek goddess. It was she who gave the city the best gift - an olive tree. Poseidon competed with her, he gave water to the townspeople. At first they were delighted, but when they found out that she was salty, Athena was recognized as the winner.
15. According to ancient legends, the philosopher Diogenes lived in a barrel. In fact, the famous Greek was sheltered in a large clay vessel pithos, which was buried in the ground to store grain in it.
16. The first tourist guide was written in the 2nd century AD. and it was called "Description of Hellas." In ten books, the author of the work, Pausanias, invites you on a journey to the most interesting places in Greece, describes temples, statues, theaters and talks about the local way of life.
