The oceans of time will cover us over, like waves closing over the head of a sailor, leaving not a ripple, to use an image that inspired abject terror in the seafaring Greeks. Really, why do any of us even bother to show up for our own existence as if we have a choice , for all the difference we ultimately make?
Driven to pursue our lives with single-minded passion, we are nevertheless, as the Greek poet Pindar put it in the fifth century b. Such an endeavor demands a great deal of individual striving, because what counts is nothing less than outstanding accomplishments.
The deeper, and humbler, sources of the ethos dated back even further, to a time of anomie and illiteracy—the Greek Dark Ages, scholars used to call the period that followed the mysterious destruction of the great palace kingdoms of the Bronze Age around b.
The wondrous ruins left behind—the massive bridges and beehive tombs, the towering edifices inscribed with indecipherable lettering—spoke of daunting feats of engineering. Clearly there had been a previous age when mortals had realized possibilities all but unthinkable to lesser specimens. Those people had mingled so closely with immortals as to assume an altogether new, heroic category of being, celebrated in tales sung by ordinary Greeks. The reverence is embedded in The Iliad , which extols Achilles as the greatest of all the legendary Greek heroes—the man who, given the choice, opted for a brief but exceptional life over a long and undistinguished one.
If I voyage back to the fatherland I love, my pride, my glory dies. Living so that others will remember you is your solace in the face of the erasure you know awaits. What is most startling about their existential response is its clear-eyed rejection of transcendence. The cosmos is indifferent, and only human terms apply: Perform exceptional deeds so as to earn the praise of others whose existence is as brief as your own.
But an ethos of the extraordinary poses a practical problem. Most people are, by definition, perfectly ordinary, the ancient Greeks included.
Ultimately, they found a solution to this problem in propounding a kind of participatory exceptionalism, encouraging a shared sense of identity that also made them highly competitive. Merely to be Greek was to be extraordinary. In vanquishing the vastly superior forces of this world empire, the Greeks had given their poets a contemporary feat to sing about. Herodotus initiated his Histories —which is to say, initiated the practice of history itself—with these words:.
The Greco-Persian Wars helped convert the ethos of the extraordinary from ancestor reverence into a motivational agenda. And nowhere were this pride and this pushing more assertively on display than in fifth-century Athens, where business was conducted within sight of the Acropolis. The architectural splendors, proof of undaunted genius and vitality, had arisen out of the ruins to which the older shrines of the Acropolis had been reduced in b.
The democracy that had gradually developed in Athens added considerably to the ethos of supreme distinction. Elevation in the minds of others, now and in the future, went hand and hand with demonstrations of power:.
If that meant stoking political hubris, Pericles was more than ready. Quite the contrary, he celebrated the real-life deeds of imperial Athens as indelible proof of superiority:. Even, or especially, a democratic society with an exceptionalist heritage—as Plato and his fellow Athenians were hardly the last to discover—may prove unprepared to respond wisely when arrogance takes over and expectations go awry.
Neither Socrates nor Plato ever challenged the Greek conviction that achieving a life that matters requires extraordinary effort and results in an extraordinary state. Some of the best-known sophists, for example, were foreign-born. It was part of what made Athens Athens—openness to foreign goods, new ideas, and, perhaps most importantly, odd people and strange ideas.
The city had more than its fair share of prominent homegrown eccentrics. Hippodamus, the father of urban planning, was known for his long hair, expensive jewelry, and cheap clothing, which he never changed, winter or summer. Athenians mocked Hippodamus for his eccentricities, yet they still assigned him the vital job of building their port city, Piraeus. The writer Diogenes, who regularly ridiculed the famous and powerful, lived in a wine barrel; the philosopher Cratylus, determined never to contradict himself, communicated only through simple gestures.
Then there was that greatest of Athenian oddballs, Socrates. Never before or since have a man and a city been so perfectly matched. Eccentric, barefoot, and stubborn, Socrates occupied that precarious position that all geniuses do, perched between insider and outsider. He was far enough from the mainstream to see the world through fresh eyes, yet close enough to it that his insights resonated.
Socrates loved Athens and would never consider living—or dying—anywhere else. He chose the latter. Socrates is remembered as a great philosopher, but he was first and foremost a conversationalist, pioneering conversation as a means of intellectual exploration.
The Athenians were not foodies—most people, no matter their social stature, were satisfied with a hunk of bread, onions, and a small handful of olives. Overall, their caloric intake was remarkably low.
Aristophanes, the satirist, credited the meager Athenian diet with keeping their bodies lean and their minds sharp. As a city dating back to antiquity, Athens is an interesting case study of architecture and is home to a variety of styles, from Greco-Roman to Neoclassical to modern.
The idea of the title is credited to Melina Mercouri — former actress, activist, and Minister of Culture — and her French homologue, Jack Lang. It operated from to on the ground floor of the FIX brewery but has since been closed for renovation. It should reopen later this year. We and our partners use cookies to better understand your needs, improve performance and provide you with personalised content and advertisements. To allow us to provide a better and more tailored experience please click "OK".
Sign Up. Travel Guides. Videos Beyond Hollywood Hungerlust Pioneers of love. Ethel Dilouambaka. Athens has experienced almost every form of government. The ancient Olympic games were never held in Athens. Athens is home to the first known democracy.
This site uses cookies and by continuing to browse it you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Read our cookies policy. Athens was the largest and most influential of the Greek city-states.
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